State Football League 2017
With their 1-0 victory over Food & Supplies team in Premier Division match played at Synthetic Turf TRC on Saturday (September 23), J&K Bank XI secured a place in League Football Championship .
In A Division match of State Football League 2017 played at Polo Ground on Saturday, FC Royal Sports defeated Al-Fatah FC by a solitary goal while in Super Division match played at Synthetic Turf TRC Saffalo FC played a goal less draw with Jehlum Sports.
The high voltage Premier Division match between the Bank and F&S, witnessed by huge football fans, turned out a mouth watering encounter. While Bank players played aggresive football right from the word go, the F&S team was determined to thawrt their attempts to score. However, in 20th minute of the match, the Bank managed to score a goal on a superb pass by Danish.
After conceding a goal, the F&S players made several attempts to score an equaliser and came closer several times. However, they couldn’t break the defence line of the Bank team and when the referee blew the final whistle, the score line read 1-0. Farhan Ganie was declared as footballer of the match for his excellent performance in defence line. Commissioner Secretary Youth Services and Sports, Hilal Ahmad Parray was the chief guest on the occasion while Secretary Sports Council, Waheed ur Rehman Parra was the guest of honor.
In A Division match, FC Royal Sports defeated Al-Fatah FC by 1-0. Saqib Wani was the scorer for the winning team. Both the teams played high speed football in the match, especially in the second half. However, Al-Fatah players couldn’t convert any opportunity into a goal.
In Super-Division match Saffalo FC played a goal less draw with Jehlum Sports. Both the teams got several chances to score but wasted all those and the 0-0 score-line at the end of the match was a fair result for both the teams.
The State Football League, a mega event first of its kind in the history of J&K football, is proving a super hit this season as football fever has gripped the state and the football governing body in the state – JK Football Association (JKFA) – is making all efforts to make it count.
JKFA President Zamir Thakur says, “This year’s State Football League has already turned out as a mega hit among the fans and we are hopeful it will in long run help us to find raw talent from across the state. Football has given the state 30 international players and is most popular game here. It has history of more than 100 years in valley and from that time it has come a long way. From last few years, it is regaining its popularity and we are sure that this event will bring it back the lost glory.”
Every day thousands of football fans watch the keenly contested matches not only in Srinagar, but in other district headquarters of Kashmir. At Srinagar’s Synthetic Turf Football Stadium, not even a single seat remains free in the evenings with football spectators from all corners of the city converging at the venue to support their favourite teams and the clubs.
More than 500 football teams and clubs with over 12000 players and over 1500 team officials are participating in the mega event, the aim of which is to unearth the hidden talent across the State. The event is being held across the 22 districts of the state these days and is being organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association (JKFA) under the auspices of State Sports Council and on the directions of All India Football Federation (AIFF).