Sikkim Himalayan Sporting Club (sometimes known as Gangtok Himalayan SC) 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

Gangtok Gangtok is a city, municipality, the capital and the largest populated place of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is also the headquarters of the East Sikkim district, Gangtok District. Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayas, Himalayan range, at an e ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

. The club usually participated in 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 ...

, then second tier of

Indian football league system The Indian football league system is the league structure of football club competitions in India. The highest level of men's club football competition in India is the Indian Super League. Indian Women's League, founded in 2016, is the highest l ...

, and the

Sikkim Premier Division League The Sikkim Premier League is a highest state-level football league in Sikkim, India, organised by Sikkim Football Association. It started with 8 teams in 2011. United Sikkim FC is the only team to have won two consecutive and three league titl ...

. The club is also a frequent participant of the

Sikkim Gold Cup The Sikkim Gold Cup, known as the Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup, is an Indian football tournament held in Sikkim and organized by Sikkim Football Association (SFA). Past champions include New Road Team of Nepal in 2007, Three Star Club of Nepal in ...

, a premier club tournament in the state.

History

Formation and journey

Gangtok Himalayan FC (originally known as Sikkim Himalayan SC) was founded in 2012 in Gangtok, the capital city of the Indian state Sikkim, and affiliated with

Sikkim Football Association Sikkim Football Association ( SFA; is the state governing body of football in Sikkim, India. It is affiliated with the All India Football Federation, the sports national governing body. History The Sikkim Football Association was formed in the ...

(SFA). Since then, they have been participating in various domestic and amateur tournaments regionally. The club was founded by Tenzing Lamtha. In October 2014, Gangtok Himalayan participated in Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup and reached to the semi-finals, but their journey ended with a 2–1 defeat to

ONGC FC Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Football Club, also known as ONGC FC, was an Indian professional football club from Mumbai in Maharashtra, India. The club was affiliated with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. It has competed in the Nationa ...

. In September 2015, former India international Arjunan Shanta Kumar was appointed as manager of the club. In January 2016, they were officially certified by the

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry o ...

to participate in the I-League 2nd Division, the second tier of

football in India Association football, Football in India has historically been among the top 3 most popular sport in terms of players participation and TV viewership, together with long time number one cricket and re-emerging kabaddi. India's current top domest ...

, after finishing 2nd in the Sikkim Premier Division League. This move began a new chapter for Gangtok-based side as they became one of first professional football clubs from the

North East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

. 2016 was the most successful season for Gangtok Himalayan, in which they participated in the I-League 2nd Division,

Durand Cup The Durand Football Tournament, commonly known as Durand Cup, is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Shimla. Hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) and All India Football Federation ...

, Sikkim Gold Cup and Sikkim Premier Division League. After finishing 2nd in the group A of the

2015–16 I-League 2nd Division The 2015–16 I-League 2nd Division was the ninth edition of the I-League 2nd division, the second-highest division in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country ...

, Gangtok Himalayan qualified for the 2015–16 I-League 2nd Division final round. There they finished as 5th and failed to qualify for the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

2016 Durand Cup The 2016 Durand Cup was the 128th edition of the Durand Cup since the tournament's founding in 1888. 12 teams competed in the tournament hosted at the Ambedkar Stadium and Harbaksh Stadium in Delhi from 28 August 2016. The final took place at t ...

, the Himalayans finished 5th, behind

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

in the group A with 6 points. In 2019, they reached to the final of 39th edition of the Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup final defeating Royal FC Siliguri 3–1, but lost the title winning match to Mohammedan Sporting by 2–1 margin. In that year, Gangtok Himalayan lifted ''Independence Day Football Tournament'' trophy defeating Sikkim Aacraman FC via penalty shoot-out.

I-League fate

The All India Football Federation were all set to invite bids for vacant spots in the I-League and Gangtok-based Sikkim Himalayan was one of the front-runners to join, but it was not materialized.

2020–present

In 2020, Gangtok Himalayan went to

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

for participating in the 18th Aaha! Rara Gold Cup, but their journey ended after a 3–0 defeat to

Three Star Club Three Star Club is a Nepali professional football club based in Patan, Lalitpur, that competes in the Qatar Airways Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, the top flight of Nepalese football. The club was previously known as the ''Laxmi Bank ...

in quarter-finals.

Rivalry

Gangtok Himalayan has a rivalry with their fellow Sikkim based club

United Sikkim FC United Sikkim Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Gangtok, Sikkim. Founded in 2011, the club usually competed in the Sikkim Premier Division League. United Sikkim is the only club from Sikkim to have played in the ...

, whom they usually face in regional tournaments including Sikkim Premier Division League. The rivalry is commonly referred to as "Sikkim Derby". Both the clubs mostly use

Paljor Stadium Paljor Stadium (also spelled Palzor Stadium) is a football stadium located in Gangtok, Sikkim, India. The stadium is currently home to Sikkim Premier Division League clubs. It holds 30,000 people. The stadium also hosts matches of the Sikkim ...

as their home ground. One of their most memorable matches was on 9 November 2019 during Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup, and Gangtok Himalayan won by 3–1.

Stadium

For I-League 2nd Division, the club announced that they would play their home matches at the 30,000 seater Paljor Stadium in the capital of Sikkim, Gangtok. The club has also used the stadium for matches of regional tournaments like Sikkim Premier Division League. It was opened in 1943 and 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 ...

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Past internationals

*The players below had senior or age-level international cap(s) for their respective countries or autonomous regions. Players whose name is listed, represented their countries before or after playing for ''Gangtok Himalayan SC''. * Palsang Lama (2013–2015) * Tashi Samphel (2016–2018) * Tashi Tsering (2009–2010) * Tsering Dhundup (2007–2008) * Pema Lhundup (2018–2019) * Yogesh Gurung (2013–2014) * Karma Tsewang (2015–2017) * Stephen Harry (2017–2018)

Honours

League

**Champions (1): 2014 **Runners-up (1): 2016,

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Cup

* Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup **Runners-up (1): 2019 *Independence Day Football Tournament **Champions (1): 2019 *Kohima Royal Gold Cup **Champions (1): 1996 *Darjeeling Gurkha Gold Cup **Runners-up (1): 2012 *Gyalyum Chenmo Memorial Gold Cup **Runners-up (1): 2018 *Bimal Ghosh Memorial Trophy **Runners-up (1): 2019

Other departments

Youth football

The club has been operating various youth men's teams for regional tournaments. In 2013, their U-14 team took part in Snow Lion Cup, hosted by United Sikkim.

Futsal

Gangtok Himalayan has men's

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...