Viva Kerala Football Club (also known as Chirag United Club Kerala) was an Indian professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in the city of

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The club was originally formed in 2004, as ''Viva Kerala''. They participated in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, and

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 ...

, then top tiers 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 ...

, alongside

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 ...

. The club was dissolved in 2012. Chirag United Kerala was one of the most talented and the youngest sides in the I-League, but were referred as one of the unluckiest sides in the league.

History

Formation and journey

Chirag United Club Kerala was formed on 8 August 2004 in

. The club officially took off on 19 August in a ceremony at the FACT grounds. The club was formed by a group of businessmen who felt the need for the state's representation in country's top football league, the

(NFL). Viva Kerala's name is the result of a contest, won by Dr. P Ramakrishnan of Ernakulam. Chirag Kerala won the 2005–06 season of Kerala State Football League,India – List of Kerala League Champions
''rsssf.com''.

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around th ...

. Retrieved 17 August 2021. their only regional title. In September 2006, they emerged victorious in ''Tirur All-India Football Tournament'' in

Tirur Tirur is a Municipality in Malappuram district in the Indian state of Kerala spread over an area of . It is one of the business centers of Malappuram district and is situated west of Malappuram and south of Kozhikode, on the Shoranur–Manga ...

, beating Travancore Titanium XI 1–0. They also reached the final of ''E. K. Nayanar Memorial Football Gold Cup'' in 2007 but lost at the end to Ghanaian side Nania Accra FC, by 3–0 margin. In 2007, the opportunity for an NFL spot came in the way of Second Division NFL. Viva surprised everyone by finishing second in its group and qualified for the final phase. In the final phase, Viva Kerala finished as runners-up of the Second Division NFL to book their place in the I-League 2007–08 on 6 April 2007. The club along with Salgaocar, were relegated to 2nd division at the end of I-league 2007–08, for the first time in the league history. In the next season Viva Kerala were promoted for the 2009–10 season, after finishing as runners-up of the

2009 I-League 2nd Division The 2009 I-League 2nd Division season ran from February 2009 to 19 April 2009. Initially 15 teams were divided in three groups of five teams and then the top two teams in each group were advanced to final round of qualification. Four teams wer ...

. In 2010, it was announced that I-League clubs needed to complete the AFC club licensing criteria; Viva signed P. K. Kunhikrishnan (A-licensed coach) as the new head coach. In August 2011, Chirag Computers was announced as the to be new majority owners and the club name would change to Chirag United Club Kerala. Pradeep and chintha

In June 2011, Chirag Computers bought the financially troubled Viva Kerala FC. They took over a 60% stake in the club while original owners retained a 40% stake. They also changed the name of the club to Chirag United Club Kerala. Chirag Computers have also said that they might move the team to

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

if they do not find a suitable stadium in

. The name of the team was officially changed to Chirag United Club Kerala on 6 August 2011. While the new owners announced that team will be based in Kerala for the

2011–12 I-League The 2011–12 I-League was the fifth season of the I-League. The season began in October 2011 and ended in May 2012. Salgaocar are the defending champions, having won their maiden title in the previous season. The current edition has a tota ...

, there were talks of shifting the team to Kolkata after the season. This would leave the state of Kerala without representation in the

. Many supporters of the club had come out strongly against this idea. Finally the club got dissolved in 2012.

Last season (2011–12)

Chirag were eliminated from the Federation Cup in the group stages when they lost all three group D matches;Federation Cup 2011 standings
''Goal.com''. Retrieved 17 September 2021 Coach K.P. Kunhikrishan was replaced by Sri Lankan Pakir Ali.Pakir Ali to coach United Kerala
''The Hindu''. Retrieved 17 September 2021 Pakir was sacked in February after a poor run; Biswajit Bhattacharya was appointed as the technical director and was put in charge of the team. Chirag finished second to last at 12th in the 2011–12 I-League season, Pailan Arrows had finished 13th were exempted from relegation as a "developmental team", and so Chirag relegated. I League table 2011-12Sabeeth hat-trick pushes Chirag out
''The Hindu''. Retrieved 17 September 2021 Players may have had difficulty being paid when Chirag Computers may not have released sponsorship money to the club, and the club got dissolved.

Crest

The Chirag Crest was very colourful. It shows a yellow shield with the words ''"Chirag United Kerala"'', which is imposed over a Coconut tree and a

Soccer ball A football (also known as football ball, soccer ball, or association football ball specifically in the United Kingdom) is the ball used in the sport of association football. The name of the ball varies according to whether the sport is called " ...

Stadiums

Ever since their creation Chirag United Kerala have played in multiple stadiums. For their first three

seasons Chirag used the Municipal Corporation Stadium which holds a capacity of 80,000 in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...

, and

Jawahar Municipal Stadium Jawahar Municipal Stadium is a stadium in Kannur, India. It is mainly used for football matches. It has a capacity of 30,000 people for football matches. In 2012, Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 Novemb ...

which holds a capacity of 30,000 in

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hu ...

They then after getting bought by Chirag Computers decided to move to the Jawarharlal Nehru International Stadium in

which boasts a capacity of 70,000 and has working floodlights. They played all their home games of

at the Jawarharlal Nehru International Stadium.

Rivalries

Chiang United Kerala shared rivalries with other Kerala-based clubs including Kerala Police FC, SBI Kerala,

FC Kochin Football Club Kochin was an Indian association football club based in Kochi, Kerala. In the 1990s, it was the only football club from Kerala to play in the National Football League, then top tier of Indian football league system. FC Kochin play ...

, Travancore Titanium XI and Quartz Calicut, whom they faced in both the domestic and regional leagues.

Ownership

The club was established in 2004 by a group of businessmen with an objective to represent

in higher circles of domestic football in India. Interestingly, the name of the club was arrived upon through a public contest organised by the promoters of the club. The club was ran by Musli Power X-tra Kunnath Pharmaceuticals. In July 2011, Chirag Computers came in and brought full stake in the club, changing the name to Chirag United Club Kerala.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Notable former players

''For all former notable Chirag United Kerala players with a Wikipedia article, see: Chirag United Club Kerala players''.

Honours

League

* National Football League II **Runners-up (1): 2006–07 *

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 ...

**Runners-up (1): 2009 *

Kerala Football 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 ...

**Champions (1): 2005–06 **Runners-up (1): 2004–05 * Kerala State Club Football Championship **Runners-up (1): 2005 * National Football League III **Champions (1): 2006–07

Cup

* Tirur All-India Football Tournament **Champions (1): 2006 * EK Nayanar Memorial Gold Cup **Runners-up (1): 2007