Nearly one-and-half decades after it was formed to promote talent in coastal areas, Kovalam FC (KFC) has achieved something significant in its history.
The Thiruvananthapuram-based professional football club has qualified for the Super Six of the Scoreline Kerala Premier League (KPL) for the first time. KFC qualified from a group that included Kerala Blasters and defending champion Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). In the seven-team group, Kovalam FC finished with four wins, including one over Blasters.
With no big stars, no Santosh Trophy player, no overseas player, and no player from North East and other States, Kovalam FC is mostly made of local talent and has a sprinkling of players from other districts. Operating on a shoestring budget, KFC has overcome many odds to stay afloat all these years.
KFC is one of the few clubs in the State to have its own stadium and a residential football academy. T.J.S. Mathew and his wife Sally Mathew are the moving force behind the Kovalam FC Foundation which runs the residential football academy and looks after the education of the football players. The sponsorship from Federal Bank and the Adani Group also came at the right time to help the club in its forward journey.
After managing to prevent a demotion last season, KFC came up with a breakthrough performance this season.
The hard work and belief of former Santosh Trophy player and head coach Ebin Rose have finally paid dividends.ͅ
“No doubt this has been a wonderful performance from the boys. We take immense pride in promoting local talent and we have achieved this with players who have come through the ranks from our academy. We worked hard to improve the fitness of players during the off-season. The boys played a few practice matches against big clubs and it put them in good stead. We at KFC are looking at a holistic development of the player. There was no compromise on discipline and there was no excuse for missing practice sessions,’’ said Rose.
“The teams we played against were definitely stronger than us. We had a flexible gameplan and our approach was slightly defensive and we relied more on counterattacks. But unlike in the previous seasons, we had the right kind of players for implementing our game plan.
Qualifying for the Super Six is huge for us. Now we have gained the respect of other teams and our players are getting noticed. Three KFC players were selected for the Kerala team that won Khelo India title. Our ultimate aim is to figure in the I-league and beyond,’’ said Ebin.
