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Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established in May 2014 during the inaugural season of the Indian Super League. The club played their inaugural match on 13 October 2014, losing 1–0 to
NorthEast United NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...
. The Blasters are the three time runners up of the Indian Super League. They first entered the final in
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, where they lost 1–0 to  ATK after an injury time goal from them. In
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
, they were again defeated 4–3 by ATK, this time through penalties in the final. The club entered the final for the third time in
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, where they were defeated 3–1 by Hyderabad FC through penalties. The Blasters plays home games at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. In most of the seasons since the club's founding, Kerala Blasters have held the record for the highest league attendance, regularly attracting audiences of over 40,000 per game. The Blasters shares rivalry with fellow South Indian neighbours Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC, with whom they contest in the
South Indian Derby The South Indian Derby, also known as the Southern Derby or Southern Rivalry, is the name given to a football derby contested by any two of the three professional football clubs from South India—Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC and Kerala Blaster ...
. The Blasters are one of the most widely supported clubs in Asia and has one of the largest social media following among the football clubs from the continent. The club is also known for their fan base, including the
supporters' group A supporters' group or supporters' club is an independent fan club or campaign group in sport, mostly association football. Supporters' groups in continental Europe are generally known as ultras, which derives from the Latin word ultrā, mean ...
called Manjappada, which has gained a reputational for being one of the most vocal and passionate fan clubs in Asia. The club's crest features an elephant holding a football with its trunk, denoting Kerala's deep connection with the sport. The club's traditional kit consist of yellow and blue colours scheme, with yellow being the primary colour and identity of the club ever since the beginning.


History


Formation

In early 2014, 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 ...
—the governing body of association football in India, announced they would accept bids for the ownership of eight franchises from selected cities for the inaugural season of Indian Super League (ISL). On 13 April 2014, it was announced the rights to the Kochi franchise had been won by former India national cricket team captain Sachin Tendulkar and entrepreneur
Prasad V Potluri Potluri Vara Prasad (born 8 September 1970), popularly known as "PVP", is a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist and educationalist. He owns the film production company called PVP cinema. He also founded Telugucinema.com in 1997 which was the ...
. On 27 May 2014, the club's official name, Kerala Blasters FC, was announced. Indian international
Mehtab Hossain Mehtab Hossain (born 5 September 1985) is an Indian professional footballer and coach who last played for Madan Maharaj as a defensive midfielder. During his career, Hossain has played for both of the Kolkata football giants, Mohun Bagan and ...
was the first player signed by the club, as he was the first one to be picked up by the Blasters during the first domestic draft. The management also selected seven other Indian players for their inaugural season. On 13 August 2014, former England international goalkeeper
David James Dewi, Dai, Dafydd or David James may refer to: Performers *David James (actor, born 1839) (1839–1893), English stage comic and a founder of London's Vaudeville Theatre *David James (actor, born 1967) (born 1967), Australian presenter of ABC's ''P ...
was chosen as the first head coach and marquee player of the team. On 21 August 2014, the club participated in the international draft; the management selected seven foreign players for the team. Michael Chopra,
Iain Hume Iain Edward Hume (born 30 October 1983) is a Canadian football manager and former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He began his career at Tranmere Rovers in 2000, and six years later moved to Leicester City for an initial £5 ...
, Pulga,
Erwin Spitzner Erwin Spitzner (born 29 April 1994) is a Brazilian football defender who plays for EC São Bernardo. Biography Erwin Spitzner was born in São Bento do Sul, Brazil. He started his career in the Clube Atlético Paranaense U19 side and made h ...
, Pedro Gusmão,
Cedric Hengbart Cedric () is a masculine given name invented by Walter Scott in the 1819 novel ''Ivanhoe''.Sir Walter Scott, Graham Tulloch (ed.), ''Ivanhoe'', vol. 8 of The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels, Edinburgh University Press, 1998, , "explanator ...
and
Raphaël Romey Raphaël Romey (born 26 February 1981) is a French professional footballer who currently plays as a defender for Fréjus Saint-Raphaël. Kerala Blasters On 21 August 2014, Romey was drafted by Indian Super League The Indian Super League ( ...
were the seven foreign players drafted to Kerala Blasters. Along with them, the club directly signed
Penn Orji Penn Ikechukwu Orji (born 4 April 1991) is a Nigerian football player who plays for Vasco S.C. in the Goa Professional League as a central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may pl ...
, Jamie McAllister,
Andrew Barisic Andrew Barisic ( hr, Andrew Barisić; ; born 22 March 1986 in Canberra, ACT) is an Australian footballer who currently plays for Albury Wodonga Football Association side Wangaratta City. Club career Born in Canberra, Barisic began his care ...
, Stephen Pearson and
Colin Falvey Colin Falvey (born 20 June 1985) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Career Ireland Falvey was born in Cork. He was a trainee and youth player at English clubs Gillingham and Carlisle United, but began his ...
in the remaining foreign players slots.


Inaugural season

Kerala Blasters played their first game on 13 October 2014 against NorthEast United at the
Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, also known as Sarusajai Stadium, is a football stadium in Guwahati, Assam, India. It is the current home ground of NorthEast United FC. Besides hosting football matches, the stadium is also used for athletics. It ...
; they lost the game 1–0 after Koke scored in the 45th minute. On 21 October, the club's first-ever goal was scored by Iain Hume during their second match, which was against
Chennaiyin Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded in Au ...
. Despite Hume's goal, the Blasters lost the game 2–1. The Blasters first win came in their fourth game, which was played against
Pune City Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...
; Chinadorai Sabeeth and Penn Orji scored the club's goals, leading to a 2–1 victory. After playing their first five matches away from home, Kerala Blasters hosted their first home match on 6 November 2014 against Goa. A goal by Milagres Gonsalves led to a 1–0 victory in front of 49,517 fans at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Kochi). The Blasters qualified for the playoffs on 9 December 2014 with a 1–0 victory over Pune City. After finishing in fourth place during the regular season, the side played their first semi-finals match on 13 December 2014 against Chennaiyin. Despite not being considered the favourite to win the two-legged tie, they won the first leg at home 3–0 with goals from
Ishfaq Ahmed Ishfaq Ahmed (born 17 March 1983) is a former Indian footballer who currently works as the assistant coach of Kerala Blasters FC in Indian Super League. He is also a member of the AIFF technical committee. Ishfaq is one among the two professi ...
, Iain Hume, and
Sushanth Mathew Sushanth Mathew (born 18 May 1981) is a retired Indian professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder, who currently works as a technical director and coach in academies. Career Sushanth was born in the Ambalavayal, Wayanad, ...
. During the second leg in Chennai, the Blasters were about to suffer a massive setback. Despite entering the second leg with a three-goal advantage, Chennaiyin drew the tie level by winning in regular time 3–0. In
extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
, however, Stephen Pearson scored the decisive goal in the 117th minute to win the tie 4–3 to enter the final. In the final, Kerala Blasters played ATK at the
DY Patil Stadium The DY Patil Stadium, also known as DY Patil Sports Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium at D. Y. Patil campus at Nerul in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was designed by Hafeez Contractor. It is a privately owned ground and is the home of D.Y. ...
in Mumbai. Hume should have given Blasters the lead after 55 minutes, but he took too long alone in front of the goalkeeper, allowing the defenders to eventually block his shot. The match was destined to go to extra time until ATK were given a corner kick in the last minute, and headed the ball at the near post. As a result, the Blasters lost the match 1–0 despite dominating it throughout the 90 minutes.


2015 season

After the 2014 season, the club announced David James would not return to the club as the head coach and marquee player, and on 12 May 2015, it was confirmed that former England Under-20 head coach Peter Taylor would take over the manager role at the club. The club signed a new roster of foreign players, which includes
Carlos Marchena Carlos Marchena López (; born 31 July 1979) is a Spanish retired footballer, and a manager. Mainly a central defender with an aggressive approach, he also played as a defensive midfielder. Most of his professional career (nine years) was spen ...
as the marquee signing. The first match of the season was played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium against NorthEast United where the Blasters won 3–1 with goals from
Josu Josué Prieto Currais (born 27 February 1993), commonly known as Josu, is a Spanish footballer who plays as a left back or a left midfielder for CF Peralada. Club career Journeyman Born in Langreo, Asturias, Josu emerged through FC Barcelona' ...
,
Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...
, and
Sanchez Watt Herschel Oulio Sanchez Watt (born 14 February 1991) is an English professional footballer who last played as a forward or winger for Wealdstone. He has represented England at under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels, and he is also eligible t ...
. They drew their next match against Mumbai City and then lost their next four matches, which led to the dismissal of Peter Taylor as head coach. Assistant coach Trevor Morgan was in charge for one match before Terry Phelan was named as the head coach for the rest of the season. The Blasters ended their second season in the last place of the league table.


2016 season

In an effort to rebuild the team after failing to qualify for the semi-finals in the previous season, the Blasters announced the signing of
Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and rep ...
as their head coach on 21 June 2016. A week later, the club announced the signing of Northern Ireland international
Aaron Hughes Aaron William Hughes (born 8 November 1979) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Hughes played mainly at centre back, but was also used at right back or left back, as well as anywhere in midfield. He i ...
as their marquee player for the season. The season began with a 1–0 defeat away from home against NorthEast United. The Blasters struggled early in the season, as they failed to score goals. After the return of C.K. Vineeth from his loan-spell with Bengaluru FC, Blasters solved their goal-scoring issue. He scored four goals from his first five matches which includes a winner against FC Goa and a brace over Chennaiyin FC. In order to qualify for semi-final, Blasters needed to avoid a defeat against North East United FC. Vineeth's only goal in the 66th minute helped Blasters to beat North East United 1-0 to seal the second place behind Mumbai City FC in the league table. After finishing in second place during the regular season, the Blasters played third-placed
Delhi Dynamos Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...
in the first leg of the semi-finals, which took place in Kochi. The Blasters won the match 1–0 through Kervens Belfort's 65th-minute goal. During the second leg in Delhi, the Dynamos won in extra time 2–1, which meant the scores became tie on aggregate and the match went to penalty shootout where the Blasters won it 3–0 to enter the final. In the final, the Blasters played host to ATK and got the lead early through Mohammed Rafi before ATK equalized soon after and the match went into a penalty shootout. Despite taking the lead early in the shootout, the Blasters lost 4–3; it was their second finals defeat in three seasons.


2017–18 season

After losing in the previous season's finals, Steve Coppell rejected a new contract extension so the club appointed former
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
assistant manager
René Meulensteen Reinhard Jozef Petrus Meulensteen (born 25 March 1964) is a Dutch former footballer and coach who is currently assistant coach of the Australia national soccer team. He spent the early parts of his career working in the Netherlands before taking ...
as their new manager. Blasters released all of their foreign players and signed some more, including former Manchester United players Dimitar Berbatov and Wes Brown. Sandesh Jhingan was appointed as the captain and the club re-signed their leading goalscorer from the first season Iain Hume. The Blasters won only one of their first eight games that season, leading to the sacking of Meulensteen. Fan-favourite manager David James returned to the squad as caretaker. The Blasters won five of the remaining ten matches and finished sixth in the 2017-18 Indian Super League season. They were eliminated in the first round of the
Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...
.


2018–19 season

Having failed to qualify for the previous season's semi-finals, the Blasters signed a three-year deal with manager David James. With a new roster, Kerala Blasters had one of their worst seasons ever, won only one and drawn six of their twelve fixtures, leading to the sacking of James. This was the season that witnessed the club's rising star Sahal Abdul Samad's emergence as Blasters' mainstay in midfield. After the international mid-season break, the Blasters appointed
Nelo Vingada Eduardo Manuel "Nelo" Martinho Bragança de Vingada (born 30 March 1953) is a Portuguese football manager. Managerial career Early years Vingada was born in Serpa. His first steps as a professional football manager were in Belenenses, and then ...
as their new manager for the remaining six matches. Of the remaining games, the team had only one win and three draws and finished ninth in the league. They were eliminated from the Super Cup in the qualifying round of the tournament.


2019–20 season

After a disappointing season, the Blasters appointed
Eelco Schattorie Eelco Schattorie (born 18 December 1971) is a Dutch football manager. Career Born in Swalmen, Schattorie started as a youth and assistant coach, later becoming the caretaker manager and finally Technical Director for Youth Development with Du ...
as their new manager. The club released all of their foreign players and signed a new roster that included Cameroon-born
Raphaël Messi Bouli Raphaël Éric Messi Bouli (born 23 April 1992), or simply Messi Bouli or Messi B, is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chinese second division club Nanjing City and represented the Cameroon national team. Club ca ...
and former Nigeria international Bartholomew Ogbeche as forwards. Blasters beat their arch-rivals ATK on the season's first day. Throughout the season, the team was hit by injury concerns. Defender Sandesh Jhingan, who captained the club for the last two seasons, was out of action with an ACL injury and newly signed Brazilian defender
Jairo Rodrigues Jairo Rodrigues Peixoto Filho (born 31 December 1992 in Goiânia) commonly known as Jairo, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a centre-back for V.League 1 club Hoang Anh Gia Lai. Career As a youth player Jairo played for Goiás EC and Sa ...
was also injured. Both defenders missed the entire season and Rodrigues played a few matches in the start.
Gianni Zuiverloon Gianni Michel Eugene Zuiverloon (; born 30 December 1986) is a Dutch former footballer who plays as a centre back. Club career Early career Zuiverloon was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He started his football career at the age of six at Feye ...
and
Mario Arqués Mario Arqués Blasco (born 14 January 1992) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a midfielder who plays for Malaysia Super League club Kelantan. Club career Arqués was born in Alicante, Valencia. A product of Villarreal CF's youth system, he ...
and other players were also hit by minor injuries in the season; they missed some of the crucial fixtures. The Blasters finished the season in seventh place in the table.


2020–21 season

From the 2020-21 season onwards, the management decided to build a new strategy at the club. As a part of this, the Blasters appointed
Karolis Skinkys Karolis Skinkys (born 16 November 1989) is a Lithuanian football executive, who currently works as the sporting director of the Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters FC. Early life and education Karolis was born on 16 November 1989 in the Li ...
as their new
sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...
on 15 March 2020. On 22 April 2020, the club officially announced the appointment of
Kibu Vicuña José Antonio Vicuña Ochandorena (born 20 November 1971), commonly known as Kibu Vicuña, is a Spanish professional football manager. He is the current manager of the club Diamond Harbour. Coaching career Early career After playing for the Uni ...
as their new manager. Fan-favourite defender Sandesh Jhingan left the club on 21 May 2020 by mutual consent, ending his six-year association with the Blasters. The Blasters decided to rely more upon young Indian players and extended the contracts of Sahal and
Rahul KP Rahul Kannoly Praveen (born 16 March 2000) commonly known as Rahul K P, is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters and the India national team. Club career Youth and ear ...
until 2025. They signed Nishu Kumar on a four-year deal from Bengaluru FC. The Blasters only extended the contract of Sergio Cido among the foreign players and signed a new roster of them under the supervision of the new sporting director. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the seventh season of ISL was decided to take place in 3 venues in Goa behind closed doors. Same as in the previous season, the team suffered an early setback, with this time, captain Sergio Cidoncha suffering a ligament injury on his right ankle during their third match against Chennaiyin FC, ruling out for the remainder of the season. It took the Blasters seven games to register their first victory of the season, winning against Hyderabad FC 2–0. The team were affected by injuries, lesser compared to the previous season. They lost 18 points from winning position, which includes 4 losses after taking the early lead. The club had the worst defensive performance in their history conceding 33 goals in 18 games and had only 3 wins. On 17 February 2021, after a 4–0 loss against Hyderabad FC on 16 February, Kibu Vicuna and the management decided to part ways on mutual consent. Assistant manager
Ishfaq Ahmed Ishfaq Ahmed (born 17 March 1983) is a former Indian footballer who currently works as the assistant coach of Kerala Blasters FC in Indian Super League. He is also a member of the AIFF technical committee. Ishfaq is one among the two professi ...
was appointed as the interim head coach for the remaining 2 games of the season. The club's fortunes remained largely unchanged in the season as they finished tenth place in the league table.


2021–22 season

After another disappointing season, the club appointed Ivan Vukomanović as their head coach on 17 June 2021. The Blasters started their pre-season camp in July 2021, and played the most number of friendlies across all ISL clubs prior to the season. In August, the club confirmed their participation in the
2021 Durand Cup The 2021 Durand Cup is the 130th edition of Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament in Asia. Like its previous edition, the tournament was hosted in West Bengal, instead of its traditional venue, Delhi. The tournament is jointly hosted by t ...
, thus competing in the tournament for the first time in its history. After three league stage matches, they were knocked out of the tournament, following their defeat over
Delhi FC Delhi Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Delhi. Founded in 1994, the club competes in both I-League and Delhi Premier League. The club will compete in 2023–24 I-League, the second tier of Indian football, followin ...
on 22 September. On 19 November, the Blasters played their first match of the
2021–22 Indian Super League season The 2021–22 Indian Super League season is the 8th season of the Indian Super League (ISL) Since its formation and 26th season of the top division of the Indian football league system. The start date and fixtures for the first 11 rounds were a ...
against ATK Mohun Bagan, which they lost 4–2. The club won their first match of the season by defeating Odisha on 5 December by 2–1. This victory was Kerala Blasters' first ISL victory in 11 months. After their defeat in the opening match of the season, the Blasters remained unbeaten for the next 10 games, until they were beaten by the southern rivals Bengaluru on 30 January. In between the unbeaten run, the Blasters moved to the top spot in league table for the first time in 7 years during the middle of the season. After Mumbai City's defeat against Hyderabad on 6 March, the Blasters qualified for the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season. When the regular phase of the season ended, Vukomanović's Blasters side broke many club records in terms of the number of wins, total number of goals and clean-sheets, points-per-game, and achieved a positive goal difference for the first time in the club's history. With the Blasters winning 2–1 on aggregate against
Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...
from both the semi-finals, they qualified for the finals of the ISL for the third time in their history. They faced Hyderabad in the final on 20 March, which they lost in the penalty shoot-out. It was the club's third defeat in an Indian Super League final.


2022–23 season

On 4 April 2022, the club announced a three-year contract extension of head coach Ivan Vukomanović till 2025. It was the first time that the club has renewed the contract of a first-team head coach in its history.


Crest, colours and kits

The crest and colours for Kerala Blasters were announced at the club's official launch on 15 September 2014.


Crest

The club's crest is designed around the elephant, one of Kerala's main symbols, to reflect its place in Kerala's culture and festivities, and to represent the state's sporting legacy. The elephant holds a football with its trunk, denoting the state's deep connection with the sport. The elephant is a symbol of unity, power, and pride; it also symbolises the heritage, culture, spirit, and passion of Kerala, and its love for football.


Colours

Since its inception, the club colours have been yellow and blue. Yellow is the club's primary colour as well as its main identity. According to former co-owner Sachin Tendulkar, yellow stands for determination and faith. During their inaugural season, the club wore yellow shirts and blue shorts and this was used until the 2016 season. For the 2017–18 season, the Blasters introduced an all-yellow kit with a different shade of yellow. Here the blue remained as the secondary colour that flows across the side of the shirt. This kit was used for the 2018–19 season, after which the team returned to its traditional yellow and blue kit with the same shades as the previous season. In 2020, a new jersey in the club's customary yellow and blue colours was launched, with this time, the blue coming in the arms. The kit which pays homage to the state of Kerala also had horizontal lines that run along the breadth of the jersey. The club's away colours for the first three seasons were yellow shirts and white shorts. For the 2017–18 season, the club introduced the all-black jersey with yellow stripe on the bottom of arms and shorts and this was used until the 2019–20 season. In 2020, the Blasters launched a new blue away kit with a distinctive pattern. This kit was launched by the club as a dedication to their fans, who were missed at the stands due to COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the Blasters launched a contest for the fans to design the club's first-ever third kit for the 2020–21 season. The third kit which had a white and gold colour scheme, designed by one of the fan was released by the club as an honour to the sacrifices and contribution of the frontline workers, who have been relentlessly working to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.


Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors


Stadium

Kerala Blasters play their home matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the city of Kochi. The stadium is multipurpose but is mostly used for football. It has hosted games of both the Indian national
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 ...
and cricket teams, and has hosted National Football League and I-League clubs FC Kochin and
Chirag United Club Kerala 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 wh ...
. The stadium was also a venue for the Indian Premier League side Kochi Tuskers Kerala and was selected as a venue for the
2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 17th FIFA U-17 World Cup, a biennial international football tournament contested by men's under-17 national teams. Organised by FIFA, the tournament took place in India between 6 and 28 October 2017, after the ...
. As a part of the FIFA event, the stadium was renovated and new seats were fitted and its capacity was reduced to 50,000 and later to 41,000, taking into account security issues. The stadium received the Best Pitch of the Season Award of the League in the 2018-19 season of Indian Super League. In 2019, Greater Cochin Development Authority proposed the installation of solar panels in the stadium, which would make it the first such venue in Kerala and the third in the country to be powered by solar energy.


Support

Kerala Blasters are known in the ISL for their fanatical supporters. Averaging over 55,000 fans a game, the Blasters had the highest average attendance in most of the seasons they have played and it fell to 37,500 in 2017 because safety regulations reduced the stadium's capacity to 41,000 as a part of 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup where Kochi was a venue. According to former India international player Pappachen Pradeep, "In Kerala, the people support football tirelessly. It doesn't matter if the team wins or loses, they are always there in high numbers. I've played at places like Kolkata, where if the team loses two-three matches on the spin, the numbers in the stadium diminish. There is nothing like that in Kerala." However Kerala Blasters have seen reduction in the average attendance below 30,000 on two seasons. During 2018–19 season, the Blasters had an average attendance of 16,432 and it became 17,500 in 2019–20 season. According to
Fox Asia Fox was a pan-Asian pay television channel, owned and operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of Disney International Operations. The network operated six subnetworks, all solely branded as Fox; one pan-Asian feed meant for E ...
, , the Blasters are the fifth most-popular Asian club on social media, becoming so in 2018 within the four years of its existence and were the youngest club among the list. They are also the most followed Indian club on social media. In February 2021, Kerala Blasters became the first Indian club to attain two million followers on
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
. According to a research in 2021, the club has the joint-fastest growing social media account on Instagram in Asia and sixth across the world in terms of fans interaction among all the football clubs. The Blasters are also known for having one of the most vocal and passionate
supporters group A supporters' group or supporters' club is an independent fan club or campaign group in sport, mostly association football. Supporters' groups in continental Europe are generally known as ultras, which derives from the Latin word ultrā, mean ...
known as Manjappada. Founded in 2014, they are one of the largest and most active supporters group in the country. The group has also won the award for the 'Best Fan Club' at the
Indian Sports Honours Indian Sports Honours are awards given annually by the RPSG Group in association with the Virat Kohli Foundation to outstanding sports personalities from India. The awards were founded in 2017. 2017 Awards The inaugural 2017 award ceremony was h ...
for two times in 2017 and 2020.


Rivalries


South Indian Derby

The club's main rivals are their South Indian neighbours, Chennaiyin FC and Bengaluru FC.


Chennaiyin FC

Kerala Blasters have developed a rivalry with fellow southern club Chennaiyin FC from the inaugural season of the Indian Super League itself. Former Chennaiyin head coach and player
Marco Materazzi Marco Materazzi (; born 19 August 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. Early in his career, Materazzi played with various Italian teams in Serie B and Serie C, and with Everton in the Premier League. He spent two per ...
was sent off when the clubs played each other in the 2014 semi-final and was then given a one-match suspension in 2016 after he was involved in a scuffle between a Chennaiyin player and a Kerala Blasters player. This incident led Kerala Blasters fans to wear masks of
Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...
at the return leg in Kochi, intensifying the rivalry between the clubs. The meetings between the two clubs later came to be known as the
South Indian Derby The South Indian Derby, also known as the Southern Derby or Southern Rivalry, is the name given to a football derby contested by any two of the three professional football clubs from South India—Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC and Kerala Blaster ...
. Bengaluru FC became a part of the South Indian Derby, when they joined Indian Super League in 2017.


Bengaluru FC

The Blasters have also developed a rivalry with Karnataka-based club Bengaluru FC, which started in 2017 before Bengaluru began playing in the ISL. The rivalry stems from the competition between both clubs fan bases; Manjappada of the Blasters and Bengaluru's West Block Blues. The South Indian Derby between the Blasters and Bengaluru is often known as the ''Real South Indian Derby''.


Rivalry with ATK Mohun Bagan

The Blasters shares an intense rivalry with the Kolkata based club
ATK Mohun Bagan ATK Mohun Bagan FC () is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club, which was formed as a merger between the football section of m ...
. Even before the inception of Indian Super League, the states of Kerala and West Bengal had a long lasting rivalry in the
Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...
. The club's rivalry with ATK started at the 2014 final, which ATK won in extra time. Both clubs once again met at the final in
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
, which the Blasters lost on penalties. In 2020, ATK merged with the football section of multi-sport club Mohun Bagan to form ATK Mohun Bagan.


Ownership and finances

In April 2014, it was announced that the former India cricket captain Sachin Tendulkar, along with PVP Ventures, won the bidding for the Kochi franchise in Indian Super League. A consortium named Blasters Sports Ventures Private Limited (BSVPL) was established to oversee the administration and operations of the club. Tendulkar said that he took a stake in the club because he wanted to help popularise football in India and to see Kerala return to its former glory as a footballing state. In May 2014, he said; "People used to call me Master Blaster. I'm supporting Kerala, Kochi team. I hope the entire Kerala will be behind our football team. That's why we thought of naming it as Kerala Blasters FC." PVP group owned 60 percent of the club. In October 2015,
Securities and Exchange Board of India The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulatory body for securities and commodity market in India under the ownership of Ministry of Finance within the Government of India. It was established on 12 April 1988 as an executive ...
, imposed a fine of ₹30 crore on PVP Group for not complying with diclosure terms, pushing the club into financial uncertainty. To overcome the financial crisis, Tendulkar partnered with the club's main sponsor Muthoot Group, bought 40 percent from PVP Group's stake and acquired the majority stake at the club. In June 2016, it was confirmed that a consortium led by industrialist
Nimmagadda Prasad Nimmagadda Prasad (born 11 October 1961) is an Indian industrialist from Andhra Pradesh, India. He is known for his ventures in the Pharmaceutical and Television industries, and is involved in philanthropic activities through Nimmagadda Fou ...
,
Telugu film Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...
actors Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and film producer Allu Aravind have purchased 80 percent stake at the club. The 20 percent stake of the club remained with Tendulkar. In September 2018, Tendulkar sold his remaining stake at the club to its majority shareholders for personal reasons, stating; "A piece of my heart will always beat for Kerala Blasters". In January 2021, the consortium was renamed as Magnum Sports Private Limited. The consortium also includes Anil Yerramreddy, the global CEO of MOURI Tech. Nikhil Bhardwaj, son of the majority shareholder Nimmagadda Prasad is the director of the club. Magnum Sports Private Limited also owns the Pro Kabaddi League team Tamil Thalaivas and in 2020, entered in a partnership with Serbian volleyball club Radnicki Belgrade to form Radnicki Blasters, which plays in the Serbian First Division tournaments.


Sponsorship

On 29 September 2014, it was announced Kerala-based Muthoot Pappachan Group would be the title sponsor for Kerala Blasters. Under the original agreement, the company would sponsor the Blasters for one season with the option to extend the sponsorship. On 24 October that year, a month later, the Blasters announced the German sports manufacturer Puma would be the kit sponsors for the 2014 season. Both sponsorships continued in 2015 and Muthoot remained as title sponsor into the 2016 season. In June 2019, the Blasters signed a five-year deal with
Jain University Jain University, officially JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), is a private deemed-to-be-university in Bangalore, India. Originating from Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, it was conferred the deemed-to-be-university status in 2009. In August ...
to be the presenting sponsor of the club. In September 2020, the club signed a long-term deal with Statsports as their performance partner. On 7 November 2020, the Blasters announced its association with BYJU'S, the world's largest EdTech company, as their new title sponsor on a five-year deal. In December 2021, the Blasters announced its association with MOURI Tech, an enterprise solutions provider as official partners ahead of the 2021–22 season.


Players


First-team squad


Out on loan


Personnel


Current technical staff


Management

{, class="wikitable" , - ! scope="col", Position ! scope="col", Name ! scope="col", , - , Director of Operations , Nikhil Bhardwaj , , - , Sporting Director ,
Karolis Skinkys Karolis Skinkys (born 16 November 1989) is a Lithuanian football executive, who currently works as the sporting director of the Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters FC. Early life and education Karolis was born on 16 November 1989 in the Li ...
, , - , Technical Advisor of Reserves & Head of Grassroots Development , Tomasz Tchórz , , - , Director of Academy and Women's Team , Rajah Rizwan , , - , Team Manager , Manish Kochar , , - , Chief Financial Officer , Mohit Thadi , , - , Chief Marketing Officer , Antony Manu , , - , Chief Revenue Officer , Joby Joseph , , -


Statistics and records


Season by season

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center" ! rowspan="2" , Season ! colspan="8" ,
League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...
! rowspan="2" , Finals ! rowspan="2" ,
Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...
!Other competitions ! colspan="2" , Top league scorer(s) , - ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Durand Cup !Player !Goals , - ,
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, 14 , 5 , 4 , 5 , 9 , 11 , 19 , 4th , bgcolor="silver" align="center" , Runners-up , rowspan="3" , ''Did not exist'' ▼ , rowspan="3" , ''Did not exist for ISL clubs'' ▼ ,
Iain Hume Iain Edward Hume (born 30 October 1983) is a Canadian football manager and former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He began his career at Tranmere Rovers in 2000, and six years later moved to Leicester City for an initial £5 ...
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, 14 , 3 , 4 , 7 , 22 , 27 , 13 , 8th , DNQ , Antonio German Chris Dagnall , 6 , - ,
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
, 14 , 6 , 4 , 4 , 12 , 14 , 22 , 2nd , bgcolor="silver" align="center" , Runners-up , C.K. Vineeth , bgcolor=#ERF5B5, 5 🇮🇳 , - , 2017–18 , 18 , 6 , 7 , 5 , 20 , 22 , 25 , 6th , DNQ , Round of 16 , rowspan="2" , ''Tournament Suspended'' ,
Iain Hume Iain Edward Hume (born 30 October 1983) is a Canadian football manager and former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He began his career at Tranmere Rovers in 2000, and six years later moved to Leicester City for an initial £5 ...
, 5 , - , 2018–19 , 18 , 2 , 9 , 7 , 18 , 28 , 15 , 9th , DNQ ,
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, Slaviša Stojanović
Matej Poplatnik Matej Poplatnik (born 15 July 1992) is a Slovenian footballer who plays as a forward for Ilirija 1911. Career Poplatnik started his senior career with Zarica Kranj, before joining Triglav Kranj in 2012. He made his Slovenian PrvaLiga debut ...
, 4 , - , 2019–20 , 18 , 4 , 7 , 7 , 29 , 32 , 19 , 7th , DNQ , rowspan="2" , ''Tournament Suspended'' , DNP , Bartholomew Ogbeche , bgcolor=#FFE4B5 align=center, 15 ⭐ , - ,
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Álvaro Vázquez Álvaro Vázquez García (born 27 April 1991) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Indian Super League club FC Goa. Club career Spain and Swansea City Born in Barc ...
Jorge Pereyra Díaz , 8


Managerial history

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center" , - !Name!!Nationality!!Period!!Note , - , scope=row style=text-align:left, , align=left, , align=left, 2014–2015,
2017–2018 , Player-manager (2014–2015) , - , scope=row style=text-align:left, , align=left, , align=left, 2015 , , - , scope=row style=text-align:left, , align=left, , align=left, 2015 , Caretaker , - , scope=row style=text-align:left, , align=left, , align=left, 2015–2016 , , - , scope=row style=text-align:left, , align=left, , align=left, 2016–2017 , , - , scope=row style=text-align:left, , align=left, , align=left, 2017 , , - , scope=row style=text-align:left, , align=left, , align=left, 2019 , Interim-manager , - , scope=row style=text-align:left, , align=left, , align=left, 2019–2020 , , - , scope=row style=text-align:left, , align=left, , align=left, 2020–2021 , , - , scope=row style=text-align:left,
Ishfaq Ahmed Ishfaq Ahmed (born 17 March 1983) is a former Indian footballer who currently works as the assistant coach of Kerala Blasters FC in Indian Super League. He is also a member of the AIFF technical committee. Ishfaq is one among the two professi ...
, align=left, , align=left, 2021 , Interim-manager , - , scope=row style=text-align:left, Ivan Vukomanović , align=left, , align=left, 2021– ,


Team records

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - , +Most goals , - ! scope="col", Rank ! scope="col", Player ! scope="col", Goals , - !1 , , , align=center, 15 , - !2 , , , align=center, 11 , - !3 , , , align=center, 10 , - !4 , , , align=center, 9 , - !4 , , , align=center, 9 , - !5 , , , align=center, 8 , - !5 , , , align=center, 8 , - !5 , , , align=center, 8 {, class="wikitable sortable" , - , +Most appearances , - ! scope="col", Rank ! scope="col", Player ! scope="col", Total Appearances , - !1 , , , align=center, 82 , - !2 , , , align=center, 78 , - !3 , , , align=center, 66 , - !4 , , , align=center, 59 , - !5 , , , align=center, 54


Reserves and academy


Kerala Blasters Reserves

On 20 February 2018, the All India Football Federation, the organising body for Indian football announced the Kerala Blasters and six other ISL sides would field a reserve team in the I-League 2nd Division, India's second division football league. The team began playing in March 2018, when it was coached by Renjith TA. The team's best performance came out in 2020 as they won the
2019–20 Kerala Premier League The 2019–20 Kerala Premier League Season was the seventh season of the Kerala Premier League. The season featured 10 teams which was divided into 2 groups and were played on a home-and-away format. The season kicked off on 15 December 2019. Fo ...
after defeating the reserve side of Gokulam Kerala FC in a Penalty shootout.


Kerala Blasters Youth and Academy

The Kerala Blasters youth system, which is known as KBFC Young Blasters, consists of three teams from the under-18, under-15 and under-13 age groups.


In media

Kerala Blasters were featured in the Manorama's programme 'Blasting out with Blasters', which shared in-depth interviews with the players and behind-the-scenes footages from the club's camp during the 2017–18 season. On 19 November 2020, a day ahead of the 2020–21 ISL season, the Blasters released
Yennum Yellow ''Yennum Yellow'' (English: ''Always Yellow'') is an EP produced by Kerala Blasters as a tribute to its fans. It is the first ever musical album released by an Indian Super League club as a dedication to their fans. The album was released on 19 ...
, a musical album inspired by the passionate fanbase of the club across the globe. The album consists of six songs that shows the importance of yellow to its fans and it was the first time in India that a football club released an album as a dedication to their fans. A week later, the Blasters also launched the Yennum Yellow comic book envisioned to provide the fans with a fun way to learn more about the club, its history, the squad and the activities being carried out by the club. This was also a first of its kind project in Indian Football.


eSports

The organizers of ISL introduced eISL, a FIFA video game tournament, for the ISL playing clubs, each represented by two players. Kerala Blasters hosted a series of qualifying games for all the participants wanting to represent the club in eISL. On 20 November 2021, the club announced the signing of the two players.


Roster


Honours

* Indian Super League ** Runners-up (3):
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
,
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
, 2021–22 *
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 ...
** Winners (1): 2019–20


See also

* Sports in Kerala * Football in India


References


External links

* *
Kerala Blasters
at the Indian Super League official website. {{Kerala Sports Kerala Blasters FC Kerala Blasters FC Kerala Blasters FC Kerala Blasters FC Kerala Blasters FC