ARA FC

Ahmedabad Racquet Academy Football Club (commonly known as ARA FC Gujarat) is an Indian professional football club based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. They have competed in the I-League 2nd Division. ARA FC is the first professional team from Gujarat to compete in the nationwide league. The club also competes in GFA Senior Division League.

Their reserve and youth teams play in both Hero Sub-Junior League and Hero Elite League, while women team is member of Indian Women's League.

History

Academy and early years

Ahmedabad Racquet Academy (ARA) started its journey as a professional multi-sports academy in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which mainly consists of racquet sports and has been running since 2011 and began participating in Ahmedabad Junior league. The football club was among the newest projects established by the academy in recent times as an initiative by owner Vikram Patel.

Formation of club

The existing academy owned by Patel emerged as ARA FC in 2016 to ensure development of football in the Indian state of Gujarat. On 19 July 2018, their academy were accredited and given two stars based on eligibility criteria, which allowed them to play in Youth League U18. ARA as a club became affiliated with Gujarat State Football Association (GSFA) in 2017, and began competing in the ADFA Premier Division League.

2018–present

On 20 November 2018, AIFF nominated ARA for proposed inclusion in the 2018–19 2nd Division League. On 7 December, it was announced that ARA FC would be one of nine clubs to play that season. Thus the Ahmedabad-based club became the only team from the state competing in a domestic tier league.

In their maiden I-League 2nd Division in the 2018–19 season, ARA finished on fourth place in Group A with 11 points in 8 matches as Lonestar Kashmir progressed to the final round.

They were nominated for participating in the 2021 I-League Qualifiers, since emerging victorious in Gandhinagar Premier League. They began their journey with a 1–1 draw against Corbett FC on 5 October at the Bangalore Football Stadium but did not advanced to the final round.

Home stadium

ARA FC plays its home matches at the EKA Arena, which has a capacity of 20,000 spectators. The stadium is located in Kankaria Lake, Ahmedabad, and has additional 10,000 temporary seats on the pitch area.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Current squad

Current technical staff

Honours

League

*Gujarat SFA Club Championship
**Champions (1): 2022
*ADFA Ahmedabad District League 2nd Division
**Champions (1): 2017
*ADFA Ahmedabad District League 1st Division
**Champions (2): 2018 2021-22
*Gandhinagar Premier League
**Champions (1): 2020–21

Cup

*Heritage Cup Jaipur
**Champions (1): 2020

Women's team

*Gujarat Women's League
**Champions (1): 2021

Records

;Key
*Tms. = Number of teams
*Pos. = Position in league
*Attendance/G = Average league attendance

Managerial record

updated on 25 October 2020

Notable former players

''For current and former notable ARA FC players with a Wikipedia article, see: ARA FC players''.

Women's team

ARA FC has its women's football team that competes in the Indian Women's League, the highest division of Indian women's football. Before the kick-off of 2021–22 Indian Women's League season, four teams including ARA Women from four states played each other once in April 2022, in the qualifying round at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi and they qualified for the final round after topping the group.

See also

* List of football clubs in India

References

External links

ARA Football Club
at ''the-aiff.com''
Team info
at ''spotik.in''
Team info
at ''Global Sports Archive''
ARA FC archives
at ''ANI News''

{{Football in India

Football clubs in Gujarat
I-League 2nd Division clubs
Sports clubs established in 2016
2016 establishments in Gujarat
Sport in Ahmedabad