Kerala Blasters Football Club is an Indian Super League football franchise based in Kochi. After the 2015 season, Steve Coppell was announced as head coach of Kerala Blasters. In order to encourage local talents, former Indian International N P Pradeep was announced as the official Scout. On 28th July, Kerala Blasters Football Club brought in Northern Ireland national team international defender Aaron Hughes as their new marquee player. Kerala Blasters Football Club qualified for semi-final on 4th December 2016, winning against North East United FC and finished second in league table. Kerala Blasters Football Club entered finals of the season winning against Delhi Dynamos FC in the semi finals. But this team, lost against Atletico de Kolkata (1-1) in penalty shoot (3-4) on their home ground.
Owner of Kerala Blasters Football Club
The team Kerala Blasters FC is owned by former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Prasad V Potluri. Prasad V Potluri is a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist and educationalist based inAndhra Pradesh. He was the driving force behind many multinational companies in India.
Bidding of Kerala Blasters Football Club in 2014
In early phase of bidding of Indian Super League teams, in the year 2014, it was announced that the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the national federation for football in India, and IMG-Reliance would be accepting bids for ownership of eight of nine selected cities for the Indian Super League, which is designed like Indian Premier League and Pro Kabaddi League. It is an eight-team franchise league modelled with eight teams that will play in their home ground. On 13 April 2014, it was announced that the former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Prasad V Potluri had won the bidding for the Kochi franchise. After that the football team came up with the name Kerala Blaster Football Club with a team logo and its jersey.
Kerala Blasters Football Club in 2015
It was announced that David James would not be returning Kerala Blasters Football Club as head coach and that former England U20 head coach, Peter Taylor would take over. With the departure of James, the Blasters also needed to make a new marquee player signing. In August, it was announced that former Spanish international, Carlos Marchena, would be signed as the new marquee for the club.
Name of Kerala Blasters Football Club
On 27 May 2014, the team was officially named Kerala Blasters The name Kerala Blasters Football Club is based on the popular nickname of team owner Sachin Tendulkar, Master Blaster It was officially inaugurated at the Crowne Plaza, Kochi on 15 September 2014.
Stadium of Kerala Blasters Football Club
Kerala Blasters has their home ground at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium locally known as Kaloor International Stadium in Kochi. The current capacity of Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium is 65,000. Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi was built in the year 1996 by the Government of Kerala with Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA). Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium was originally constructed as a football stadium. It has played host to a number of international cricket and football matches in Kochi.
Management of Kerala Blasters Football Club
David James is the current Manager of Kerala Blaster Football Club. Trevor Morgan is the current coach of Kerala Blasters Football Club. Trevor James Morgan is the former professional footballer and responsible as a Coach of Kingfisher East Bengal Football Club up-to May 2013. Jamie McAllister is announced as the Assistant Coach of Kerala Blasters Football Club.
Players of Kerala Blasters Football Club in 2014
The players of Kerala Blasters Football Club are David James, Sandip Nandy, Luis Barreto, Saumik Dey, Sandesh Jhingan, Gurwinder Singh, Nirmal Chettri, Avinabo Bag, Ramandeep Singh, Cedric Hengbart, Raphael Romey, Erwin Spitzner, Jamie McAllister, Colin Falvey, Renedy Singh, Sushanth Mathew, Godwin Franco, Mehtab Hossain, Duleep Menon, Victor Herrero Forcada, Penn Orji, Ishfaq Ahmed, Milagres Gonsalves, C.S.Sabeeth, Pedro Gusmao, Michael Chopra, Iain Hume and Andrew Barisic.
Players of Kerala Blasters Football Club in 2016
Player |
Graham Stack |
Pratik Chowdhary |
Cédric Hengbart (Vice-captain) |
Aaron Hughes(Captain) |
Mohammed Rafique |
Vinit Rai |
Kervens Belfort |
Antonio German |
Ishfaq Ahmed |
Thongkhosiem Haokip |
C.K.Vineeth |
Mehtab Hossain |
Gurwinder Singh |
Farukh Choudhary |
Elhadji Ndoye |
Mohammed Rafi |
Sandesh Jhingan |
Prasanth Karuthadathkuni |
Kunal Sawant |
Sandip Nandy |
Michael Chopra |
Mohammad Ansari |
Rino Anto |
Didier Kadio |
Duckens Nazon |
Azrack Mahamat |
Josu |
Staffs of Kerala Blasters Football Club in 2016
Position |
Staffs |
Head coach |
Steve Coppell |
Assistant coach |
Wally Downes |
Assistant coach |
IIshfaq Ahmed |
Goalkeeping coach |
Republic of Ireland Graham Stack |