Kerala Blasters FC Reserves and Academy

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Kerala Blasters Reserves and Academy
Kerala Blasters FC logo.svg
Full nameKerala Blasters FC Reserves and Academy
Nickname(s)Manjappada (Yellow Army)
Little Tuskers
Young Blasters
FoundedReserves:
12 January 2017; 4 years ago (2017-01-12)
Academy:
11 August 2015; 6 years ago (2015-08-11)
Ground
Capacity
  • 80,000 (Limited To 39,000 by FIFA from 2017)
  • 15,000
OwnerKerala Blasters FC
ChairmanNikhil Bhardwaj
Head coachT. G. Purushothaman (Reserves and U-18)
Vacant (U-15)
Vacant (U-13)
LeagueI-League 2nd Division (Reserves)
Kerala Premier League (Reserves)
Youth League (U-18)
Hero Juniors League (U-15)
Hero Sub Juniors League (U-13)
2019-2020 (I League 2)
2020-2021 (KPL)
2019-2020 (Youth League)		5th in group C
Group stage
Cancelled due to COVID Pandemic
Current season

Kerala Blasters Football Club Reserves and Academy are the reserve team and youth academy system of the Kochi based Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters. The reserve team of the Blasters competes in the I-League 2nd Division, the second division of Indian football and Kerala Premier League, the top division of Kerala football. The youth system consists of three teams, Under-18, Under-15 and Under-13 age groups that competes in the Elite League, the top tier league of youth football system in India.

Reserves[]

History[]

On 20 February 2018, it was announced by the All India Football Federation, the organising body for Indian football, that the Kerala Blasters along with six other Indian Super League sides would field a reserve team in the I-League 2nd Division, India's third division football league.[1]

The first ever match competitive match for the reserves were against Ozone F.C on 16 March 2018 in which they suffered a defeat.[2] But they managed to become the table toppers of Group B by winning seven games from ten matches.[3] However as per the rules, reserve teams of the clubs were not eligible for advancing into the final round. In the same year itself, the side also started to participate in the Kerala Premier League, which is the top division league for the clubs from Kerala.[4] During their first season in KPL, they finished the group stage in third place behind Sports Academy Tirur by one point thus missing the play-offs.

In 2018-19 ,they finished the I-League 2nd Division in third place of the group.[5] In KPL they became the semi finalists during the 2018-19 season.

They won the 2019-2020 season of Kerala Premier League after defeating the reserve side of their rivals Gokulam Kerala FC in a Penalty shootout.[6] In the I-League 2nd Division, they finished the season in fifth place.

In January 2021, the club appointed T. G. Purushothaman as their new head coach of the reserve side, replacing Renjith TA and Shameel Chembakath.[7]

Reserves squad[]

As of 2 November 2021[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
4 MF India IND Zayed Bin Waled
5 DF India IND Sujith V.R
6 FW India IND Praful Kumar YV
8 MF India IND Thockchom Beckham Singh
9 FW India IND Christopher Rajkumar
10 MF India IND Surag Chettri (Captain)
11 MF India IND Deep Saha
12 MF India IND Muhammed Basith
13 FW India IND Sreekkuttan V.S
14 MF India IND Asif O.M
15 DF India IND Amal Jacob
16 DF India IND Salahudheen Adnan
18 DF India IND Muhammed Jiyad C
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW India IND Naorem Gobindash Singh
21 MF India IND Nihal Sudeesh
23 MF India IND Sanoop Chandran
24 DF India IND Galin Joshi
31 GK India IND Birendra Singh
42 FW India IND Muhammed Aimen
43 MF India IND Muhammed Azhar
66 DF India IND Aritra Das
77 GK India IND Aman Sahni
80 MF India IND Roshan V Gigi
88 MF India IND Sukham Yoihemba Meitei
99 MF India IND Gotimayum Muktasana Sharma

Statistics and records[]

Season-by-season[]

As of 18 April 2021

Note: Reserve clubs are not promoted nor allowed to play in playoffs of I-League 2nd Division

Season I-League 2nd Division Top Scorer
P W D L GF GA Pts Position Player Goals
2017–18 10 7 0 3 25 17 21 1st (Group B) India Shaiborlang Kharpan 8
2018–19 8 2 2 4 8 13 8 3rd (Group B) India Pragyan Gogoi 3
2019–20 7 1 2 4 8 14 5 5th (Group C) India Ronaldo Oliveira 4
Season Kerala Premier League Top Scorer
P W D L GF GA Pts Position Playoffs Player Goals
2017–18 8 5 0 3 27 10 15 3rd (Group A) DNQ India Shaiborlang Kharpan 8
2018–19 7 4 1 2 10 9 12 2nd (Group A) Semi Finalists India Jithin M.S. 3
2019–20 8 3 2 3 13 10 11 2nd (Group A) Champions India Shaiborlang Kharpan 4
2020–21 5 2 1 2 8 9 7 4th (Group B) DNQ India Nihal Sudheesh
India Sreekkuttan V.S. 		2

Kit manufacturers and Shirt sponsors[]

Period Kit Manufacturer Shirt Prime Sponsor
2017—2018 Admiral Sportswear Muthoot Group
2018—2020 SIX5SIX
2020—21 Reyaur Sports BYJU'S
2021— SIX5SIX BYJU'S

Youth and academy[]

The Kerala Blasters youth system known as KBFC Young Blasters currently consists of 3 teams from 3 different age groups, the Under-18, Under-15 and Under-13.[9] The U-18 team participates in the Elite league which is the top division of youth football in India.[10] The U-15 participates in the Hero Juniors League and the Junior most team, the U-13 plays at the Hero Sub-Juniors League respectively. The U-15 side also participates in the Kerala U-15 Academy League, a regional youth league. The young talents from the Under-18 team playing in the Elite League are promoted into the reserve team based on their performance.

History[]

Inception and early years: 2015–2019[]

In association with the Kerala Football Association, the Kerala Blasters announced the opening of 25 football schools throughout Kerala.[11] In addition to the schools, the club announced that they would also hold weekend grassroots leagues for the children of under-10 to under-16 and the start of a residential academy in the future.[11] The first Kerala Blasters Football School was inaugurated on 11 August 2015 at Dr. Ambedkar Stadium Kochi after 15 months which the club was founded.[12] Later, three more schools were opened in Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Thrissur as a part of the club's new youth academy system. Former Irish International Terry Phelan was appointed as the head of the grassroots.[13] In 2017, Thangboi Singto was appointed as the technical director of the youth.[14] In the same year itself, their U-18 and U-15 teams began to participate in the Elite League and Juniors League respectively. The U-18 team became the runners up of the 2017–18 Youth League in their first ever appearance while the U-15 side managed to reach the play offs. In 2018, the U-13 side started to participate in the Sub-Juniors League.[15]

KB Young Blasters: 2019–present[]

In 2019, Blasters rejuvenated their youth system. They launched the KB Young Blasters and appointed Mario Marinică as the technical director of the youth.[16] As a part of this, a residential academy was also launched for the first time in club's history.[17] The Blasters also announced that they will launch India's first ever goalkeeping academy in Kochi headed by John Burridge.[18][19] As a part of KB Young Blasters, the club also started the Young Ambassador Program in September 2020. It focus on the promising youngsters from the club’s Young Blasters centers across Kerala to make them oriented, trained and equipped with adequate skill and technique, to be the face and voice of the club in the future.[20]

On 16 October 2020, the Blasters announced a five-year partnership agreement with "Sporthood", which is a network of sports centres. The Young Blasters program is now termed as “Young Blasters – Sporthood Academy”, that imparts a Kerala Blasters verified performance training curriculum to kids, reviewed and audited by the club's experts from time to time.[21] On 16 January 2021, the club announced the association of "FC Imphal City", the first academy from Manipur to play in the Hero Indian Elite League with the Young Blasters – Sporthood Academy.[22] This was the first time that the Blasters expanded their grassroot system outside of Kerala.[23] In February 2021, the club's senior team assistant manager Tomasz Tchórz took over as the Technical advisor/director role at the Blasters.

The sports Kerala—Kerala Blasters academy[]

On 16 September 2021, Kerala Blasters launched the sports Kerala—Kerala Blasters academy in association with the Government of Kerala.[24] As part of a five-year deal, the Blasters will be managing a residential football academy for the U-14, U-17 and U-20 categories for boys at the GV Raja Sports School, Thiruvananthapuram.[25][26]

Youth Squads[]

Kerala Blasters U18[]

The Kerala Blasters Under-18 team play in the Elite League (then Youth League U18). They are also the second reserve team of the club or the Kerala Blasters C. The team's best performance came in 2018 as they finished finalists in the 2017–18 season of the league. Best performers in the side are promoted to the Kerala Blasters Reserves Squad.

Current squad[]

Source: [27] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF India IND Shifas KF
— DF India IND Ibnu Shaharath
— DF India IND Muhammed Jiyad
— DF India IND Lalramenpuia Ralte
— DF India IND Abdul Badiah
— DF India IND Naorem Nanao
— DF India IND Phujam Sanathoi
— DF India IND Athul Ganesh
— MF India IND L Doungel
— MF India IND Yunus Shaikh
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF India IND Sanoop C
— MF India IND Jose Praveen
— MF India IND Abdul Raheeb
— MF India IND Mohammed Azhar
— MF India IND Abdul Raheeb
— MF India IND Zayed Bin Waled
— MF India IND Akash Ravi
— FW India IND Nihal Sudeesh
— GK India IND Ashish Umesh

Elite Youth League U18 statistics of Kerala Blasters U18

Season Position Top Scorer Goals Notes
2017–18 Runners-up Adharsh AS 8 First Appearance
2018–19 Playoffs Surag Chhetri 9

Kerala Blasters U15[]

Kerala Blasters Under-15 side participates in the Hero Juniors League (Elite U15) and Kerala U15 Academy League. The U15 side has young kids filtered from all of Kerala and around other states of India. The Young Blasters had a tremendous run in 2018–19 season of the Elite U15 League (Juniors League) when they made it to the semi-finals of the competition. The U15 Blasters team was coached by Shameel Chembakath from the beginning. He left the team in 2020.

Current squad[]

Source: [28] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF India IND Vasudev M
— DF India IND Mohammee Ziyad
— MF India IND Joshua K Denny
— MF India IND MK Ansari
— MF India IND Pranay Dhamal
— MF India IND Adityan A
— MF India IND Faris Ali
— MF India IND Muhammed Mahin
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF India IND Al Shameem
— MF India IND Naeef Rahman
— MF India IND Muhammed Faris
— FW India IND Muhammed Akhthar
— FW India IND Lian Thangkhum
— FW India IND Athul K
— FW India IND Safar K

Hero Juniors League statistics of Kerala Blasters U15

Season Position Top Scorer Goals Notes
2017-18 Playoffs Joshua NJ, Anandu N 3 First Appearance
2018–19 Semi-finals Christopher Rajkumar 10

Kerala Blasters U13[]

The Under-13 side of Blasters Play in the Hero Sub-juniors League (Elite U13). The U-13 Side has a Promising youngsters mainly from the state of Kerala and also other parts of India selected from Kerala Blasters Summer Football Camps.

Current squad[]

Source: [29] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK India IND Sharon J
— GK India IND Saviyol Varghese
— GK India IND Navaneeth MS
— DF India IND Harish Chandra
— DF India IND Muhammed Mifraah
— DF India IND Adam Jose
— DF India IND Said Hydrose
— MF India IND Roshan B
— MF India IND Shreyas Lal
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF India IND Abhiram A
— MF India IND Jithin Reji
— FW India IND Abdul Akmal
— FW India IND Suryadas P
— FW India IND Nilan Shijil
— FW India IND Ashwarath S Nath
— FW India IND Athul K Chandran
— FW India IND Adhil Ashref

Hero Sub-Juniors League statistics of Kerala Blasters U13

Season Position Top Scorer Goals Notes
2018–19 Round 3 Lian Thangkhum 4 First Appearance

Current technical staff[]

As of 07 February 2021

Role Name Refs.
Reserves and Under 18 Head Coach India T. G. Purushothaman [30]
Under 15 Head Coach Vacant
Under 13 Head coach
Technical Advisor of Reserves & Grassroots Development Poland Tomasz Tchórz [31]
Team Manager Reserves & U18 India Hidayath Rasi [31]
Video Analyst Reserves & U18 India SK Nasim Akhtar [31]
Director of Goalkeeping Academy England John Burridge [32]

Technical directors of youth[]

Time span Name
2015–2016 Republic of Ireland Terry Phelan
2017–2019 India Thangboi Singto
2019–2021 Romania Mario Marinică
2021– Poland Tomasz Tchórz

Honours[]

Reserves[]

1st place, gold medalist(s) Winners (1): 2019–20

Youth[]

  • Elite League (Youth League U18)
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up (1): 2017–18

References[]

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