Football Club Kerala is an Indian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. The club made its debut in national level football through the

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

in 2017–18. They also compete in the

Kerala Premier League Kerala Premier League is a state-level top football league organized by the Kerala Football Association and played in the state of Kerala, India. For sponsorship reasons it is officially known as the Scoreline Kerala Premier League. Structur ...

Name

FC Kerala is a crowd-funded venture that started in 2014 with aim of reaching out to football fans in the state better than predecessors who hit financial crisis. The name FC Kerala was set up to make it ''Kerala's own club''. Narayana Menon, CEO of the club said that its main aim is to become ''Football team of the people.''

History

FC Kerala, formed in 2014, began its journey by playing in

, a professional league organised by

Kerala Football Association The Kerala Football Association (abbreviated ''Kerala FA''), formerly the Travancore-Cochin Football Association, is one of the 37 Indian state football associations that are affiliated to the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The Kerala F ...

. After three years, the club made its debut in

. FC Kerala claimed victory in the first match after overcoming Fateh Hyderabad 2–1. In the 2019–20 2nd Division League, FC Kerala played 7 matches in group C and earned 9 points, but later pulled out to financial crisis. In December 2022, the club participated in Dausa Gold Cup in Rajasthan, in which they won title with 1–0 win over I-League side Rajasthan United in final.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Stadium

FC Kerala uses the

Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium Thrissur Corporation Stadium is a football stadium owned by Thrissur Municipal Corporation. Situated in Thrissur city, it is also known as Palace Stadium. It is one of the oldest stadiums in Kerala, India and has capacity to hold 15,000 people. ...

as their home ground. It has

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

and seating capacity of 15,000 spectators. Opened in 1978, it is commonly known as ''Palace Stadium'' or ''TMC Stadium''.

Supporters

A recognised Thrissur-based fan club by the name Red Warriors has been in support since 2017. The Municipal Corporation Stadium has seen an average attendance close to 15,000.

Current squad

Current technical staff

:''As of 20 August 2020''

Youth programmes

In 2020, FC Kerala announced that they are opening a residential Football Academy in

. Currently, the club runs a Soccer School in Thrissur, where close to 800 children, aged between 5 and 20, train under the guidance of India's finest football coaches. With the launch of Residential Academy, FC Kerala gives the chances to youth players to be associated with the professional way of the FC Kerala family. FC Kerala also aims at personality development of the players thus moulding them as future citizens. The club's U-13, U-15 and U-18 teams have participated in the respective AIFF Youth I-League tournaments, while the U-9, U-10, & U-11 play in the regional AIFF Baby League tournaments. The youth teams (various age divisions) of FC Kerala play at the Thrissur Corporation Stadium, St. Alosius School Ground and Sri Kerala Varma College Ground.

Honours

League

:Semi-final (1): 2018–19

Cup

*Dausa Gold Cup **Winners (1): 2022

References

{{Kerala Sports FC Kerala Association football clubs established in 2014 Football clubs in Kerala I-League 2nd Division clubs 2014 establishments in Kerala