The Venue and Grouping for the Second Division league have been finalised. The Preliminary qualifying round will be held in three venues viz. Madurai (Tamilnadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand) & Guwahati (Assam).
Twenty one teams will battle out together in the preliminary qualifying round and have been divided into three groups of seven teams each. The top two teams from each group will then qualify for the final round and will join Sporting Clube de Goa and Lajong FC, scheduled to be held at Shillong, Meghalaya.
The fixtures will be released shortly.
Venue: Madurai (Tamilnadu)
Techno Aryan (West Bengal), Vasco SC(Goa), Chandni FC (Kerala), Royal Wahingdoh (Meghalaya), Eagles FC (Kerala), PIFA Colaba Youngster (Maharashtra) & BEML (Karnataka)
Venue: Ranchi (Jharkhand)
Mohammedan Sporting (West Bengal), Denzong Boys (Sikkim), Josco FC (Kerala), Kenkre FC (Maharashtra), Sesa (Goa), Malabar United (Kerala) & Ar-Hima FC (Meghalaya)
Venue: Guwahati (Assam)
NISA (Manipur), United Sikkim (Sikkim), Lansing FC (Meghalaya), Gauhati Town Club (Assam) Southern Samity (West Bengal), Golden Threads (Kerala) & Simla Youngs (Delhi)
Will this be knockout format or every team will get to play the other in the group? And what format is the final round?
Same format as last year.
& teams play each other once, top 2 from each group go through.
They join the 2 relegated teams in the last 8 , and once again , everyone plays one another once with the top 2 going through.
Having said that , teams like BEML would struggle to make I-league.
I seriously doubt they will pass the AFC criteria and maybe here just to make up the numbers.
Will this be knockout format or every team will get to play the other in the group? And what format is the final round?
Same format as last year.
& teams play each other once, top 2 from each group go through.
They join the 2 relegated teams in the last 8 , and once again , everyone plays one another once with the top 2 going through.
Having said that , teams like BEML would struggle to make I-league.
I seriously doubt they will pass the AFC criteria and maybe here just to make up the numbers.
this is not the best way...we sud have i league and i league 2 parallely like proper tournaments
you need loads of moneyand proper infrastructure for that. let the aiff make i-league a pro one first.
granted it takes loads of money to do it in the I-league style BUT
you could make regional leagues with those 23 teams and have played throughout the year , whilst I-league was going on :
North/East Zone:
Ar-Hima
Wahingdoh
Lajong
Langsning
Techno Aryans
Southern Samity
Mohd.Sporting
Sikkim Utd
Denzong Boys
NISA
Guwahti Town Club
South/West Zone
Eagles FC
Chandni FC
Golden Threads
Josco
Malabar
Vasco
Sesa
Sporting Club de Goa
BEML
Shimla Youngs
New Delhi Heroes
Home & Away games with teams paired off in a travel partner (USA style) system to reduce costs.
eg. Arhima and Wahingdog travel to Kolkata and play Southern Samity and Techno Aryans in the same week.
and vice versa on the return to Meghalaya.
This would significantly reduce costs and they could even travel via train as there would be sufficient rest time if 2 games in the week
Thus the long trip to Gangtok would only be have to take place once each season , as the teams would play Denzong & Utd on that trip.
Similarly PIFA & Kenkre would be the Mumbai pair, and the Kerela teams would be paired off , with the extra one being BEML. you have to travel via Bangalore to get to most Kerela venues, so it isn't inconvenient.
The Kerela, Kolkata & Megahalaya teams will generate a load of ticket revenue ( possibly more than I-league) and local channels would jump at the chance of broadcasting these games.
If they wanted to make it work they could.
The shortage of good quality referees could be an issue.
at the end of the respective seasons, the top 1 from each group would qualify for a play-off home & away leg with the winner qualifying for the I-league.
And the next 3 ( #2,#3 & #4 ) from each group play off to make semi 3 finalists where they join the loser from above in a semi final & final play off at a neutral venue. The winner joins the other in the I-league.
Building a system from the bottom up is better than from the top down !
The Second Division League fixtures for the preliminary round have been released today. Group A matches will be played from March 27 to April 9, while Group B Matches will be held from April 2 to April 18 and Group C matches will be played from March 31 to April 17.
Group A
Venue: Assam (Guwahati)
Teams:
1) NISA
2) United Sikkim
3) Langsing SC
4) Gauhati Town Club
5) Southern Samity
6) Golden Threads
7) Simla Youngs
Round I
27/3/11: NISA vs. Golden Threads
27/3/11: Simla Youngs vs. Gauhati Town Club
27/3/11: Langsing SC vs. United Sikkim
Round II
29/3/11: Golden Threads vs. Langsing SC
29/3/11: Gauhati Town Club vs. NISA
29/3/11: Southern Samilty vs. Simla Youngs
Round III
31/3/11: United Sikkim vs. NISA
31/3/11: Golden Threads vs. Simla Youngs
31/3/11: Gauhati Town Club vs. Southern Samity
Round IV
02/04/11: Langsing SC vs. Simla Youngs
02/04/11: United Sikkim vs. Southern Samity
02/04/11: Golden Threads vs. Gauhati Town Club
Round V
04/04/11: NISA vs. Southern Samity
04/04/11: Langsing SC vs. Gauhati Town Club
04/04/11: United Sikkim vs. Golden Threads
Round VI
06/04/11: Gauhati Town Club vs.United Sikkim
06/04/11: Southern Samity vs. Langsing SC
06/04/11: Simla Youngs vs. NISA
Round VII
09/04/11: Southern Samity vs. Golden Threads
09/04/11: Simla Youngs vs. United Sikkim
09/04/11: NISA vs. Langsing SC
Group B
Venue: Jharkhand (Ranchi)
Teams:
1) Mohammedan Sporting
2) Denzong Boyz
3) Josco FC
4) Kenkre FC
5) SESA Goa
6) Malabar United
7) Ar-Hima
Round I
02/04/11: Mohd. Sporting vs. SESA
02/04/11: Denzong Boyz vs. Josco FC
03/04/11: Ar-Hima vs. Malabar United
Round II
04/04/11: Kenkre FC vs. Josco FC
05/04/11: Mohd. Sporting vs. Malabar United
05/04/11: Denzong Boyz vs. Ar-Hima
Round III
07/04/11: SESA vs. Malabar United
07/04/11: Kenkre FC vs. Ar-Hima
08/04/11: Mohd. Sporting vs. Denzong Boyz
Round IV
09/04/11: Josco FC vs. Ar-Hima
10/04/11: SESA vs. Denzong Boyz
10/04/11: Kenkre FC vs. Mohd. Sporting
Round V
12/04/11: Malabar United vs. Denzong Boyz
12/04/11: Josco FC vs. Mohd. Sporting
13/04/11: SESA vs. Kenkre FC
Round VI
14/04/11: Ar-Hima vs. Mohd. Sporting
15/04/11: Malabar United vs. Kenkre FC
15/04/11: Josco FC vs. SESA
Round VII
17/04/11: Denzong Boyz vs. Kenkre FC
17/04/11: Ar-Hima vs. SESA
18/04/11: Malabar United vs. Josco FC
Group C
Venue: Tamil Nadu (Madurai)
Teams:
1) Techno Aryan
2) Vasco
3) Chandni FC
4) Royal Wahingdoh
5) Eagles FC
6) PIFA Colaba FC
7) BEML *subject to clearance
Round I
31/03/11: Eagles FC vs. Techno Aryan
31/03/11: Chandni FC vs. Vasco
01/04/11: Royal Wahingdoh vs. PIFA
Round II
02/04/11: BEML * vs. Vasco
03/04/11: Eagles FC vs. PIFA
03/04/11: Chandni FC vs. Royal Wahingdoh
Round III
05/04/11: Techno Aryan vs. PIFA
05/04/11: BEML* vs. Royal Wahingdoh
06/04/11: Eagles FC vs. Chandni FC
Round IV
07/04/11: Vasco vs. Royal Wahingdoh
08/04/11: Techno Aryan vs. Chandni FC
08/04/11: BEML*vs. Eagles FC
Round V
10/04/11: PIFA vs. Chandni FC
11/04/11: Vasco vs. Eagles FC
11/04/11: Techno Aryan vs. BEML*
Round VI
14/04/11: Royal Wahingdoh vs. Eagles FC
14/04/11: PIFA vs. BEML*
15/04/11: Vasco vs. Techno Aryan
Round VII
16/04/11: Chandni FC vs. BEML*
17/04/11: Royal Wahingdoh vs. Techno Aryan
17/04/11: PIFA vs. Vasco
United Sikkim Football Club had already played four friendly matches in Kolkata, in which the club drew with ONGC by 1-1, won against West Bengal Police by 1-0, lost to Md Sporting by 1-3 and won against Kolkata Academy by 1-0.
It was informed that Bhaichung even played the first 45 minutes in the first friendly match against ONGC.
USFC is now playing its next friendly match against SAIL on Monday and the team is scheduled to fly to Guwahati on 24 March from Kolkata.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://isikkim.com/02-sikkimese-teams-take-on-their-opponents-at-2nd-division-i-league-prelims-43/">http://isikkim.com/02-sikkimese-teams-t ... relims-43/</a><!-- m -->
United Sikkim Football Club had already played four friendly matches in Kolkata, in which the club drew with ONGC by 1-1, won against West Bengal Police by 1-0, lost to Md Sporting by 1-3 and won against Kolkata Academy by 1-0.
It was informed that Bhaichung even played the first 45 minutes in the first friendly match against ONGC.
USFC is now playing its next friendly match against SAIL on Monday and the team is scheduled to fly to Guwahati on 24 March from Kolkata.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://isikkim.com/02-sikkimese-teams-take-on-their-opponents-at-2nd-division-i-league-prelims-43/">http://isikkim.com/02-sikkimese-teams-t ... relims-43/</a><!-- m -->
The fact that Bhaichung played explains why the result against ONGC was respectable.
USFC will have a tough time in Guwahati
Ar-Hima played Town Club of Guwahati and edged them out 2-1 in a close game disrupted by rain.
They play each other later this week.
Southern Samity top group A in IFA Shield and look much more organized under new coach Carlos Parriera.
Interesting to see how they cope with having to juggle a match against:
Churchill tomorrow (20th) , Shandong Luneng (22nd), possible semi finals on 28th & Finals/3rd place game on 31st.
Especially as they are due to play Simla Youngs on the 29th !!
{ asking AIFF for an extension as rumoured in Kolkata press seems unwise as the focus should be on the 2nd division at this stage }
Mohd. Sporting also looking much improved from earlier this year under new coach, with Christopher finding the back of the net in the last 2 games and young Karthick finally being given a run in the side , they look to be favorites in Group B in Ranchi.
SESA Academy and Ar-Hima will push them close and it will probably be 2 from these 3 that make it through to Shillong.
Techno Aryans have looked impressive at IFA and under coach Raghu Nandi they will be tough to break down. Their striker Babatunde will cause problems with his pace and the defensive unit at the back should be able to keep most teams at bay.
Along with Vasco they are clear favorites at this stage to clinch qualification from Group A
They still have to play Chirag & Pune at the IFA and if they can avoid any major injuries this could set them up nicely for Group A opener vs. Eagles FC.
My predictions: Group A
Techno Aryan
Vasco Group B
Ar-Hima
Mohd. Sporting Group C ( group of death)
Southern Samity
Town Club , Guwahati
or
NISA
Comments
The Venue and Grouping for the Second Division league have been finalised. The Preliminary qualifying round will be held in three venues viz. Madurai (Tamilnadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand) & Guwahati (Assam).
Twenty one teams will battle out together in the preliminary qualifying round and have been divided into three groups of seven teams each. The top two teams from each group will then qualify for the final round and will join Sporting Clube de Goa and Lajong FC, scheduled to be held at Shillong, Meghalaya.
The fixtures will be released shortly.
Venue: Madurai (Tamilnadu)
Techno Aryan (West Bengal), Vasco SC(Goa), Chandni FC (Kerala), Royal Wahingdoh (Meghalaya), Eagles FC (Kerala), PIFA Colaba Youngster (Maharashtra) & BEML (Karnataka)
Venue: Ranchi (Jharkhand)
Mohammedan Sporting (West Bengal), Denzong Boys (Sikkim), Josco FC (Kerala), Kenkre FC (Maharashtra), Sesa (Goa), Malabar United (Kerala) & Ar-Hima FC (Meghalaya)
Venue: Guwahati (Assam)
NISA (Manipur), United Sikkim (Sikkim), Lansing FC (Meghalaya), Gauhati Town Club (Assam) Southern Samity (West Bengal), Golden Threads (Kerala) & Simla Youngs (Delhi)
Same format as last year.
& teams play each other once, top 2 from each group go through.
They join the 2 relegated teams in the last 8 , and once again , everyone plays one another once with the top 2 going through.
Having said that , teams like BEML would struggle to make I-league.
I seriously doubt they will pass the AFC criteria and maybe here just to make up the numbers.
this is not the best way...we sud have i league and i league 2 parallely like proper tournaments
you could make regional leagues with those 23 teams and have played throughout the year , whilst I-league was going on :
North/East Zone:
Ar-Hima
Wahingdoh
Lajong
Langsning
Techno Aryans
Southern Samity
Mohd.Sporting
Sikkim Utd
Denzong Boys
NISA
Guwahti Town Club
South/West Zone
Eagles FC
Chandni FC
Golden Threads
Josco
Malabar
Vasco
Sesa
Sporting Club de Goa
BEML
Shimla Youngs
New Delhi Heroes
Home & Away games with teams paired off in a travel partner (USA style) system to reduce costs.
eg. Arhima and Wahingdog travel to Kolkata and play Southern Samity and Techno Aryans in the same week.
and vice versa on the return to Meghalaya.
This would significantly reduce costs and they could even travel via train as there would be sufficient rest time if 2 games in the week
Thus the long trip to Gangtok would only be have to take place once each season , as the teams would play Denzong & Utd on that trip.
Similarly PIFA & Kenkre would be the Mumbai pair, and the Kerela teams would be paired off , with the extra one being BEML. you have to travel via Bangalore to get to most Kerela venues, so it isn't inconvenient.
The Kerela, Kolkata & Megahalaya teams will generate a load of ticket revenue ( possibly more than I-league) and local channels would jump at the chance of broadcasting these games.
If they wanted to make it work they could.
The shortage of good quality referees could be an issue.
at the end of the respective seasons, the top 1 from each group would qualify for a play-off home & away leg with the winner qualifying for the I-league.
And the next 3 ( #2,#3 & #4 ) from each group play off to make semi 3 finalists where they join the loser from above in a semi final & final play off at a neutral venue. The winner joins the other in the I-league.
Building a system from the bottom up is better than from the top down !
Group A
Venue: Assam (Guwahati)
Teams:
1) NISA
2) United Sikkim
3) Langsing SC
4) Gauhati Town Club
5) Southern Samity
6) Golden Threads
7) Simla Youngs
Round I
27/3/11: NISA vs. Golden Threads
27/3/11: Simla Youngs vs. Gauhati Town Club
27/3/11: Langsing SC vs. United Sikkim
Round II
29/3/11: Golden Threads vs. Langsing SC
29/3/11: Gauhati Town Club vs. NISA
29/3/11: Southern Samilty vs. Simla Youngs
Round III
31/3/11: United Sikkim vs. NISA
31/3/11: Golden Threads vs. Simla Youngs
31/3/11: Gauhati Town Club vs. Southern Samity
Round IV
02/04/11: Langsing SC vs. Simla Youngs
02/04/11: United Sikkim vs. Southern Samity
02/04/11: Golden Threads vs. Gauhati Town Club
Round V
04/04/11: NISA vs. Southern Samity
04/04/11: Langsing SC vs. Gauhati Town Club
04/04/11: United Sikkim vs. Golden Threads
Round VI
06/04/11: Gauhati Town Club vs.United Sikkim
06/04/11: Southern Samity vs. Langsing SC
06/04/11: Simla Youngs vs. NISA
Round VII
09/04/11: Southern Samity vs. Golden Threads
09/04/11: Simla Youngs vs. United Sikkim
09/04/11: NISA vs. Langsing SC
Group B
Venue: Jharkhand (Ranchi)
Teams:
1) Mohammedan Sporting
2) Denzong Boyz
3) Josco FC
4) Kenkre FC
5) SESA Goa
6) Malabar United
7) Ar-Hima
Round I
02/04/11: Mohd. Sporting vs. SESA
02/04/11: Denzong Boyz vs. Josco FC
03/04/11: Ar-Hima vs. Malabar United
Round II
04/04/11: Kenkre FC vs. Josco FC
05/04/11: Mohd. Sporting vs. Malabar United
05/04/11: Denzong Boyz vs. Ar-Hima
Round III
07/04/11: SESA vs. Malabar United
07/04/11: Kenkre FC vs. Ar-Hima
08/04/11: Mohd. Sporting vs. Denzong Boyz
Round IV
09/04/11: Josco FC vs. Ar-Hima
10/04/11: SESA vs. Denzong Boyz
10/04/11: Kenkre FC vs. Mohd. Sporting
Round V
12/04/11: Malabar United vs. Denzong Boyz
12/04/11: Josco FC vs. Mohd. Sporting
13/04/11: SESA vs. Kenkre FC
Round VI
14/04/11: Ar-Hima vs. Mohd. Sporting
15/04/11: Malabar United vs. Kenkre FC
15/04/11: Josco FC vs. SESA
Round VII
17/04/11: Denzong Boyz vs. Kenkre FC
17/04/11: Ar-Hima vs. SESA
18/04/11: Malabar United vs. Josco FC
Group C
Venue: Tamil Nadu (Madurai)
Teams:
1) Techno Aryan
2) Vasco
3) Chandni FC
4) Royal Wahingdoh
5) Eagles FC
6) PIFA Colaba FC
7) BEML *subject to clearance
Round I
31/03/11: Eagles FC vs. Techno Aryan
31/03/11: Chandni FC vs. Vasco
01/04/11: Royal Wahingdoh vs. PIFA
Round II
02/04/11: BEML * vs. Vasco
03/04/11: Eagles FC vs. PIFA
03/04/11: Chandni FC vs. Royal Wahingdoh
Round III
05/04/11: Techno Aryan vs. PIFA
05/04/11: BEML* vs. Royal Wahingdoh
06/04/11: Eagles FC vs. Chandni FC
Round IV
07/04/11: Vasco vs. Royal Wahingdoh
08/04/11: Techno Aryan vs. Chandni FC
08/04/11: BEML*vs. Eagles FC
Round V
10/04/11: PIFA vs. Chandni FC
11/04/11: Vasco vs. Eagles FC
11/04/11: Techno Aryan vs. BEML*
Round VI
14/04/11: Royal Wahingdoh vs. Eagles FC
14/04/11: PIFA vs. BEML*
15/04/11: Vasco vs. Techno Aryan
Round VII
16/04/11: Chandni FC vs. BEML*
17/04/11: Royal Wahingdoh vs. Techno Aryan
17/04/11: PIFA vs. Vasco
Source : <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.the-aiff.com/pages/news/index.php?N_Id=2318">http://www.the-aiff.com/pages/news/index.php?N_Id=2318</a><!-- m -->
It was informed that Bhaichung even played the first 45 minutes in the first friendly match against ONGC.
USFC is now playing its next friendly match against SAIL on Monday and the team is scheduled to fly to Guwahati on 24 March from Kolkata.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://isikkim.com/02-sikkimese-teams-take-on-their-opponents-at-2nd-division-i-league-prelims-43/">http://isikkim.com/02-sikkimese-teams-t ... relims-43/</a><!-- m -->
The fact that Bhaichung played explains why the result against ONGC was respectable.
USFC will have a tough time in Guwahati
Ar-Hima played Town Club of Guwahati and edged them out 2-1 in a close game disrupted by rain.
They play each other later this week.
Southern Samity top group A in IFA Shield and look much more organized under new coach Carlos Parriera.
Interesting to see how they cope with having to juggle a match against:
Churchill tomorrow (20th) , Shandong Luneng (22nd), possible semi finals on 28th & Finals/3rd place game on 31st.
Especially as they are due to play Simla Youngs on the 29th !!
{ asking AIFF for an extension as rumoured in Kolkata press seems unwise as the focus should be on the 2nd division at this stage }
Mohd. Sporting also looking much improved from earlier this year under new coach, with Christopher finding the back of the net in the last 2 games and young Karthick finally being given a run in the side , they look to be favorites in Group B in Ranchi.
SESA Academy and Ar-Hima will push them close and it will probably be 2 from these 3 that make it through to Shillong.
Techno Aryans have looked impressive at IFA and under coach Raghu Nandi they will be tough to break down. Their striker Babatunde will cause problems with his pace and the defensive unit at the back should be able to keep most teams at bay.
Along with Vasco they are clear favorites at this stage to clinch qualification from Group A
They still have to play Chirag & Pune at the IFA and if they can avoid any major injuries this could set them up nicely for Group A opener vs. Eagles FC.
My predictions:
Group A
Techno Aryan
Vasco
Group B
Ar-Hima
Mohd. Sporting
Group C ( group of death)
Southern Samity
Town Club , Guwahati
or
NISA