KOCHI: The Byzantine Football Club recently produced a heartwarming success story — almost a fairytale. The Kochi-based club, founded back in 2004 by P O Jobin and K A Basheer recently won the EDFA Super League, also called Cochin Premier League. They outperformed teams with better resources and experienced footballers like Golden Threads FC and Central Excise.
Byzantine FC comprises youngsters aged between 16 and 21, which makes their victory even more glorious. The club does not charge these players for the training they receive either.
More than being a professional football club, BFC is an academy focused on training young players. Its former members have gone on to play in the Santosh Trophy or joined other teams to build a career in football.
Though they started small, they have now the 2021-22 Super League victory in their kitty, which will lead them to an opportunity to play in the qualifiers of the Kerala Premier League — the premier football division for men in the state.
“We started playing out of the passion for the game. Back in 2004, there weren’t many academies in the region. Footballers didn’t have a platform to try and pursue a career in football. We haven’t charged a single penny from those we train to date. The idea was to give youngsters opportunities,” says club owner Jobin.
The Super League-winning team was trained by Dr Rajeesh T Chacko, who is part of the physical education department of the Rajagiri School of Engineering & Technology. They have been training at the ground of St Peter’s Senior Secondary School in Kadayiruppu.
The team’s assistant coach, Subod Sukul, has a C-Licence in coaching. They are captained by B Unnikrishnan. “Coaches who have a wealth of experience came on board to train these youngsters for free. We only had training sessions once a week during the league, but we still managed to beat teams who were training throughout the week. It has been a slow but steady progress and we hope that by 2026, we will have a good setup in place. This is a big step for us. We can now aim to make an impact at a big banner like the KPL,” added Jobin. The club is also planning to conduct coaching camps for youngsters.