The Uttarakhand Super League (USL) is a top state-level

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 ...

league sanctioned by both 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 ...

and

Uttarakhand State Football Association The Uttarakhand State Football Association (USFA) is the governing body of football activities in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and the Uttarakhand football team. It is affiliated with the All India Football Federation. It sends state teams ...

, that represents the sport in the state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

. The league is organized by the Uttarakhand Adventure Sports Pvt. Ltd. with the goal of promoting football throughout the state. The league began in July 2016 with fourteen teams playing the inaugural season.

History

In early March 2016 it was announced that Uttarakhand Adventure Sports Pvt Limited, with permission from the

and the

, would launch a franchise-based

league based on the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

. Virendra Singh Rawat was announced as the first technical director of the league while former

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

international

Baichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

was announced as the brand ambassador for the league. According to Rawat, the league would help footballers from Uttarakhand develop: "Uttarakhand footballers will be biggest beneficiary of the USL as they will get chance to play with foreign football players. The sport will be promoted in a professional manner and each player playing in the tournament will be paid money". In June 2016 it was announced that the fourteen teams were finalized for the league, as well as the squads for the teams after a bidding process. The first edition of the USL would kick off from 10 July 2016. After the first season, Pauri Platoons emerged as the inaugural winners, defeating Nainital FC Lakes on penalties, 3–2, on 9 August 2016.

Competition format

Fourteen teams are divided in two groups of seven before the top four teams from each group qualify for the finals. The qualified teams will then play until grand final to determine the champion.

Teams

The following teams participated in Uttarakhand Super League:

Final result(s)

References

{{Sports leagues of India

Sports leagues established in 2016 2016 establishments in Uttarakhand

History

Competition format

Teams

Final result(s)

See also

References