The Kerala Football Association (abbreviated Kerala FA), formerly the Travancore-Cochin Football Association, is one of the 36 Indian state football associations that are affiliated with the All India Football Federation (AIFF). It sends state teams for the Santosh Trophy and the Rajmata Jijabai Trophy.

History

Football has been a passion of thousands of Malayalees for the last several decades—much before the state of Kerala was formed on 1 November 1956. Kerala Football Association was formed in 1948 to directly oversees the development of football in Kerala from grassroots to senior level.

Later the headquarters of KFA was moved to Kollam after P. Laxmanan Pillai was elected president and K. Thankappan honorary secretary. KFA saw a new breed of organizers taking over the reins in the 1970s with former mayor of Cochin A. K. Seshadri becoming its president.

2021 privatization

On 9 October 2021, Kerala Football Association signed a twelve year long deal with Meeran Sports LLP and Scoreline Sports Pvt Ltd. The deal was inspired from masterplan prepared by Rob Baan, former technical director of AIFF. The consortium is responsible for getting investments worth around Rs 350 crore into the football ecosystem over the 12-year period. As per the agreement, consortium will form Kerala Super League, initially planned to further develop youth local players in senior transition.

State teams

Men Kerala football team Kerala under-20 football team Kerala under-15 football team Kerala under-13 football teamWomen Kerala women's football team Kerala women's under-19 football team Kerala women's under-17 football team

Affiliated district associations

All 14 districts of Kerala are affiliated with the Kerala Football Association.

No.AssociationDistrictPresident
1Alappuzha District Football AssociationAlappuzha
2Ernakulam District Football AssociationErnakulam
3Idukki District Football AssociationIdukki
4Kannur District Football AssociationKannur
5Kasaragod District Football AssociationKasaragod
6Kollam District Football AssociationKollam
7Kottayam District Football AssociationKottayam
8Kozhikode District Football AssociationKozhikode
9Malappuram District Football AssociationMalappuram
10Palakkad District Football AssociationPalakkad
11Pathanamthitta District Football AssociationPathanamthitta
12Thiruvananthapuram District Football AssociationThiruvananthapuram
13Thrissur District Football AssociationThrissur
14Wayanad District Football AssociationWayanad

Competitions

District level

Men's Senior Inter-District State Championship Senior Men Beach Soccer Inter-District State Championship Senior MenMen's youth Inter-District State Championship Youth U20 Inter-District State Championship Junior Boys Inter-District State Championship Sub-Junior BoysWomen's Senior Inter-District State Championship Senior Women

Club level

Men's Senior Kerala Premier League 2nd Division Kerala Premier League 2nd Division Kerala Premier League Qualifiers Kerala State Club Futsal Championship Super League Kerala (franchise)Women's Senior Kerala Women's League

Kerala Football League pyramid

Kerala Premier League
TierDivision
I (Level 5 on Indian Men's football Pyramid)Kerala Premier League ↑promote (I-League 3) ↓relegate
II (Level 6 on Indian Men's football pyramid)Kerala Premier League Second Division ↑promote

Evolution

Years19481948–19521952–19701970–19981998–20072007–20132013–20152013–20162016–20172017–20212021–20232024–
Level
Men's
State leagues1Formation of Kerala Football Association (KFA)NoneKerala Football LeagueNoneKerala Premier LeagueKerala Premier League
1NoneKerala Premier League Second Division
TournamentNoneKerala State Club Football ChampionshipDiscontinued
Senior Inter-District Men's Football Championship
NoneSait Nagjee Football TournamentNot conducted
Women's
State leagues1NoneKerala Women's LeagueNoneKerala Women's League

See also

External links