Neil Taylor Picks up Player Award at the third Asian Football Awards (AFA)

Asian Football Awards, 2015, Football, Wales, U.K, Premier League, Asian, Origin, Sikh,England, West Ham, Tottenham, Swansea City FCWales and Premier League star wins prestigious award

Aditi Chauhan, the West Ham United Ladies FC and India national goalkeeper, won the Woman in Football Award
Swansea City FC and Wales defender Neil Taylor picked up the Player Award at the third Asian Football Awards (AFA) in a glittering ceremony at Wembley Stadium on Thursday evening.
Taylor overcame a challenge from Wolverhampton Wanderers FC captain Danny Batth and the West Bromwich Albion FC and England U17 striker Adil Nabi, currently on loan at Delhi Dynamos FC in the Indian Premier League.
As well as cementing his place as a regular in Swansea’s defence, the 26-year-old Taylor will be off to Euro 2016 next year after helping Wales qualify for a major tournament for the first time since the 1958 World Cup.
Taylor, whose mother is from Kolkata in India, also won the award in 2013.
He said: “It’s a great feeling to win this award. I am pleased to be here tonight to pick it up, it means a lot to me. Hopefully Asian football flourishes throughout the years.My advice to any young aspiring player is to sacrifice. You have to be willing to sacrifice and
follow your own path of where you want to go, where you want to be and what you want to
achieve. You also need to have people who are willing to go on that journey with you.
Whatever background you are from, it doesn’t matter. You can make it to the top. Hopefully this can inspire the next generation of footballers.”
The judging panel for the awards included ex-England internationals Jermain Defoe, Graeme Le Saux and Steve Coppell, and Asian Football Awards founder Baljit Rihal said: “Our vision has constantly been to support the growth of Asians in football in the UK. Since our inaugural event in 2012, the media attention and support from all across the industry has been encouraging. “I can proudly say that the Asian Football Awards has been, and will continue to be, a significant platform to inspire more Asians into every aspect of the game.
“However, there is still much work to be done, as progress in increasing representation across the industry has been far too slow.more…“Our hope is that these awards will once again raise the Asians in football debate in the mainstream media and that influential organisations make an intensive effort to help rectify this longstanding imbalance.”
Aston Villa defender Easah Suliman, who recently represented England at the Under-17 World Cup in Chile, was named AFA Young Player. Two years ago Suliman became the first player with Pakistani heritage to captain an England representative side.
He said: “I feel very honoured and privileged to be here at such a great event. Neil Taylor is a massive inspiration for what he has achieved with Wales and Swansea. If I can emulate him I will have a decent career.”
South Korean star Ji So-yun, who plays for Chelsea Ladies in the Women’s Super League,
claimed the South East Asian Award ahead of Southampton’s Maya Yoshida and Swansea’s KiSung-Yueng.
Aditi Chauhan, Asian Football Awards, 2015, Football, Wales, U.K, Premier League, Asian, Origin, Sikh,England, West Ham, Tottenham, Swansea City FCGurjit Singh, from Kidderminster Harriers, was the winner of the Non-League Award, while Aditi Chauhan, the West Ham United Ladies FC and India national goalkeeper, won the Woman in Football Award.

Guam vs India fallout – training your gun at the right people?

India vs Guam, India, Guam, Football, 2018, Russia, World Cup Qualifiers, AFC, Asia, Asian Cup, 2011, Bob Houhton, AIFF

Back in 2010, Indian football was at a similar critical juncture. The only difference was that, we were losing to good teams in friendlies but not in any World Cup qualifiers as it is happening now. However, the script looks almost the same. Experts, former coaches and players were taking pot shots at the team. Back then, we were preparing for our appearance in 2011 AFC Asian Cup. In the aftermath of defeat in the Guam vs. India 2018 World Cup qualifier, I am trying to analyze if it is fair to criticize the newly appointed coach and the freshly drafted in national team players.

 

The difference is that we were prepared much better for the Asian Cup than what we are right now. Bob Houghton had selected a coterie of players who went through extensive training for around one and half years. We even played a lot more friendlies before our appearance in the 2011 Asian Cup. We played around nine friendlies in the run up to the Asian Cup. Our campaign in AFC Cup in Group C was not spectacular but what it showed was that extensive preparations could limit the damage. We did not see damning score lines against top teams such as South Korea, Bahrain. (Subjective. 4-1 defeat to South Korea is not a damning score line according to me!)

 

Cut to 2015, we have a coach who has been appointed around 6 months ago or so; a team that practiced for a week, devoid of match practice or friendlies, struggling against teams that have been improving fast, off late. In short, the defeat to Guam is not really a surprise.

 

The other question is how the same team that showed some amount of promise against Oman went very awry against a lower ranked Guam. There are two reasons for this. Even though the 2-1 score line was a respectable one against Oman, we were saved by the callousness of Omanis. If they were a bit more clinical, score line would have been even worse. Our team played with a good drive and players playing their hearts out against Oman. The main reason behind that drive was the great home support the team received in Bangalore.

 

Team took a long trip of about 27 hours to reach Guam after the home defeat to Oman. They were treated to a super humid tropical climate and played on an artificial turf. After the first defeat against Oman, fans were already on an overdrive against the coach, team selection, and players. And our players completely forgot the basics while we succumbed to the pressure from a very good Guam side.

 

While these are no excuses to redeem the team from the bad performance, we should also understand the undue expectations we have on our team. Our media also does not help the case by repeatedly parroting Guam’s size and population in every other reference to the defeat. It is nice to compose a title for an article or a tweet by mentioning the size and population of Guam but that diverts the attention from the real issues that plagues our football system. Several small nations consistently do well in football, just as bigger nations like India and China continuously under-perform in football.

 

One and a half year long practice and nine friendlies in 2010 did not earn us a single win in 2011 Asia Cup. How can you expect a team that was assembled ten days ago the Oman fixture to perform miracles?

 

Rather than venting your ire on the coach and players, the criticism should be directed towards the shambolic fixture management by the custodians of Indian Football, the AIFF.

Do go through these insightful articles that came out in the media after the defeat to Guam.

 

 

WC Qualifiers 2018- India Vs Oman: Why the tie promises to be a humdinger!

India, Oman, World Cup, Qualifier, 2018, Russia, Football, Soccer, Asia, AFC, bangalore, Kyazzonga, Sunil Chhetri, Subrata Pal, Al HabsiHere is a preview by Sumit Bhattacharya

The countdown has begun.

11th of June 2015. 19:00Hrs.Bengaluru.India Vs Oman. First match in the second round of WC 2018 Qualifiers for India. It is going to be a crunch tie for India from many angles. The big question is, can India defeat Oman or at least snatch a point?!Let us examine.

 

History:

 

From a nondescript history, Oman rocket-blasted into the Asian football horizon only in the 1990s. Indian football on the other hand plummeted into the bottom of its history roughly during the same period.

The current FIFA ranking of Oman and India are 101 and 141 respectively. India faced the Red warriors twice in WC qualifiers in 2004.Oman won the away match 5-1 but India managed to pull off a draw in the away match 0-0.The most recent encounter was in 2012 when India was again thrashed 5-1.

However for the past few months, Oman is not in its best of forms. It was battered in the Asian cup 2015 in January by Asian power houses. In preparatory friendlies, Oman was held to a goalless draw by a lower ranked Bahrain on 3th May  and on 5th June, another lower ranked Syria beat Oman 2-1. What it signifies that Oman has still some distance to go to be the best even in Asia. A glance at the social networking sites of Omani football will reveal widespread resentment against the French coach. Some fans even predicted a win for India. (https://www.facebook.com/OmanNationalFootballTeam/timeline)

Meanwhile team India is on an upswing and has improved a lot since they last played Oman. Most of the sloths and technically amateurish players, blessed by the previous coach have been replaced by a far fitter and faster lot of hungry youngsters who are hardly afraid of anyone on ground.

So the match is likely to be played without the baggage of history  and would definitely be a test of character for the boys in Blue.

 

Indian football reloaded:

 

Till date, National team fixtures normally meant no live telecast, sparse crowd consisting mostly of media and security personnel with a few hundred diehard fans. However this time it is a different story altogether. The amount of excitement and enthusiasm that is being witnessed about this match at Bengaluru is unprecedented. The minuscule number of fans who believed that India could make it big in football is growing exponentially each passing day. After the glitzy inaugural edition of the hugely popular Indian Super League and a far improved I-league 2015, expectation is running high. Thousands of guys are hoping against hope for a miracle win by the blue tigers. Sony Six has started airing promos for the match. Various online forums are abuzz with the selection of team and team composition Tickets sales have started online and one is expected to have a full house at Sree Kanteerava stadium. If so, then it will indicate how popular the game of football has really become in cricket crazy India.

 

Home advantage:

 

Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Oman has a capacity of around 34k.All the other stadiums have capacities of less than 15k to below 10k.So it is pretty safe to assume that most of Oman’s players are not used to playing in front of huge crowds. Thus a vociferous, hostile crowd of over 20 thousand might prove to be a factor in a crunch game like this. High humidity of Bengaluru is also going to be a crucial factor. Playing surface of Sree Kateerava is an area of concern for Oman too. Team manager Mohammed Al Alawi had visited the Stadium recently and found the surface “uneven and bumpy”. However all the Indian players are well versed with pitch which will be an added advantage for India.

So it remains to be seen how far India can exploit the home conditions.

Team Oman vis-à-vis team India:

Physicality:

Traditionally West Asian teams are physically stronger than their Indian counter parts. However Oman is an exception. A closer look will reveal that this Indian team has players equally well built if not stronger.

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu -1.97 m, Arnab Mandal- 1.79m,  Sandesh Jhingan  1.88m, Dhanachandra Singh- 1.80m, Rino Anto- 1.74m, Dhanpal Ganesh- 1.85m,Robin Singh-1.85m, Lalchhuan Mawia- 1.82, Gurwinder Singh-1.83m , Saityasen Singh -1.78m,Augustin Fernandes- 1.79m,Holicharan Narzary -1.79m are all tall enough to match most of their opponents. Here is a view of Oman player’s heights:

GK-Ali Al Habsi(1.84m),Al Busaidi(1.73m) – Al Musalami (1.75m)–Sallam Amur – Ali Salim(1.65m), Eid Mohammed(1.83m) – Ahmed Kano(1.79m), Raed Ibrahim(1.78m) – Al Hosni(1.81m) – Qasim Said(1.78m), Al Muqbali(1.81m)

 

Department of Fitness:

Fitness of Indian players has always been an area of concern. However with the improvement of training facilities and introduction of professional trainers, team India has made remarkable progress. As evident from the matches against Nepal or the recently held AFC cup matches. Indian players appeared far fitter than their predecessors. They ran full throttle till the very end. Jackichand Singh, Saityasen Singh, Eugensen Lyngdoh,Sandesh Jhingan or Sehnaj Singh can be as fast as anybody. So this time Oman just might find it tough to run past the Indians unlike previous matches.

Game plan:

Anyone watching I-league 2015 or The ISL season#1 will vouch for the improvements of Indian players as far as the passing or ball possession is concerned. The Omanis are known to play short passes too. It will be really interesting to see how the battle of midfield goes. Expect an all out battle as India is expected to go for pressing football to break up the rhythm of Omanis. Oman, if put under pressure is prone to leaving a lot of open spaces for the opponents. It remains to be seen how Mr. Constantine and his boys take advantage of these loopholes.

Former France international Paul Le Guen, in charge of team Oman, has come under fierce criticism off late for Oman’s recent performances. He has made quite a few changes from the squad which took part in Asian Cup in Januray 2015. Regulars like Jaber Al Owaisi(DF), Al Shatri(DMF),Hassan Mudhafar(LB), Yaqoob Abdul Karim(FW) and Said Al Ruzaiqi(FW) have been axed.

Anyway India needs to watch out for the striker Abdul Aziz Al Muqbali, the set piece master Ahmed ‘Kano’ Mubarak, nippy young wingers, Raed Ibrahim and Qasim Said. Experienced customer  Ahmed ‘Kano’ Mubarak is another threat who gets dangerous during his attacking forays.

Meanwhile India would be relying on Mr. Ever Dependable Sunil Chhetri and the brute strength of the mercurial Robin Singh with Saityasen and Jackichand Singh providing ample support. Defence looks solid but availability of the emerging star Sandesh Jhingan might be a dampener as he is carrying a shoulder injury. However the sturdy Dhanachandra Singh’s role will be most crucial along with that of the big kid, Dhanpal Ganesh for quick overlaps and breaking of Oman’s flow. The extremely talented Eugeneson Lyngdoh will have to carry the mantel of midfield.

 

Parting notes:

Oman is obviously the favorite to win the tie. However rest assured that India will come hard at them. It is   going to be a test for Mr. Constantine’s acumen as his team selection, leaving out Romeo or Brandon Fernandes and benching Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, has come under a lot of criticism from the fans. If Oman fumbles a bit and India puts up an above par show then an upset win is not all that impossible for India though even a draw is being considered by many to be a respectable result. If so then this surely will be a watershed moment for Indian football.

PIFA – First Indian academy to train at Spanish FA facilities‏

PIFA, Spain, Real Madrid, Spanish FAThis summer PIFA organised a football camp to Madrid,  their 33rd international camp. The camp was held from May 18-28, 2015 at the Spanish FA headquarters.  The camp included coaching sessions by Spanish UEFA Pro License coach Jose Rico Huerta everyday. The right skills and tactics were inculcated to the players which was tested when they played friendly matches against CDE Amistad de Alcoron U16 & U12 team.  The U16 match was won by PIFA 7-3  while the juniors lost valiantly 1-2.

During the camp the campers got a tour of the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and museum had the kids excited seeing the changing rooms, the bench, the stadium and the 10 UEFA Champions league trophies. Later, the children were taken on a tour of the beautiful city of Madrid as well as visited the Spanish FA museum.

Santiago Barnebau, PIFA, Spain, Football, Real Madrid, Spanish FA, Cristiano RonaldoDuring the week the campers got to attend the last game of the La Liga season at the Santiago Barnebau, they got to see the one of the wolds best player, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 3 goals in the 7-3 demolition of  Getafe FC,  a match to remember. The children were also treated to another match, this time an exhibition match between the Real Madrid Legends and Spanish Team legends. The children got to see Hierra and Morientes in action.

However, the best moment of the camp was meeting Spanish Team coach & legend Vincent del Bosque, he was kind enough to spend time with us and gave autographs. The children got to see the Spanish women team  as well the U20 men train.

Sadly all good things come to an end; the campers were rewarded with participation certificates from coach Heurto along with lots of memories to cherish.

ABOUT PIFA

Santiago Barnebau, PIFA, Spain, Football, Real Madrid, Spanish FA, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mumbai, Football Academy, Soccer, TrainingPremier India Football academy (PIFA) is a grassroots football development initiative dedicated to raising the bar in football programming across the country. Established in 2003, its objective is “To be the best, train with the best”. In a very short time we have demonstrated success through our organization of the Premier Football League (PFL), Soccer camps and trips to major international football destinations. PIFA has a professional team playing in the Indian National league – I-league 2nd division – PIFA Colaba FC as well as in the Mumbai leagues.

 

Emile Heskey at PIFA Foundation and Leicester City FC’s grassroot football development program

Emile Heskey, Football, Mumbai, PIFA, PIFA Colaba, Foundation, Emile Heskey, Leicester City FCPIFA Foundation organised a four day grassroot football development program conducted by Leicester City Football Club coaches Matt Wilcock & Stewart Johncock. The training aims to reach out to 250 children.

The delegation is headed by Leicester City FC ambassador Emile Heskey, he interacted with the young players during and after the session.

The children experienced and enjoyed the 60 minute Premier League Academy coaching.

The third day was spent with the PIFA mens team at the Churchgate training ground. Emile Heskey and the coaches interacted with the players and participated in the training.Emile Heskey, Football, Mumbai, PIFA, PIFA Colaba, Foundation, Emile Heskey, Leicester City FC

The fourth and final day of the grassroot session will be held at the Cooperage Stadium specially for the underprivileged children from Colaba, a community program supported by the PIFA Foundation.

The PIFA Foundation aims at providing children from less privileged backgrounds the same opportunities enabling them to stay off the streets and empower them to change their futures through football.Emile Heskey, Football, Mumbai, PIFA, PIFA Colaba, Foundation, Emile Heskey, Leicester City FC

PIFA Foundation are the sponsors of the PIFA Colaba FC team playing the I league 2nd division,  U19 I league as well U17, U15 and a women’s team.

FIFA Team Inspects Kochi JN Stadium and Training Grounds for 2017 U-17 World Cup

Kochi, Football, Jawahar Lala Nehru Stadium, JN, Kaloor, Soccer, U-17, World Cup, FIFA, Mather, Kerala Football Association, KFA, Natural turf, FIFA, 2017 U-17 World CupMr.Constantin Weiland FIFA Official along with AIFF officials Mr.Javier Ceppi , Mr.Shaji Prabhakar, Mr.Vijay Parthasaradhy, Ms.Roma Khanna conducted Inspection at JNI Stadium, Kaloor today in the presence of KFA President KMI Mather and General Secretary Anilkumar P. The team checked the infra structure and facilities at the Stadium. They have also visited the proposed training venues at KUFOS Ground, Fort Kochi Veli Ground, Govt: Boys Higher Secondary School Ground, Panampilly Nagar and Maharajas College Ground in the morning.

“As the Stadium is made of Natural Turf the training grounds also must be of the same “, the team conveyed to Mr. Mather. They will be sharing the report within another few days. The team left for Bombay by evening, expressing their hope to furnish the training grounds and the Stadium renovation work up to the FIFA standards within the time frame.

An article in Deccan Chronicle about the visit throws more insight. FIFA stipulates having four training grounds in a World Cup hosting city. Javier Ceppi the tournament director appointed by AIFF was quoted in DC saying :

2017, FIFA, U-17, World Cup, India, Football, Soccer

Not official logo. FNI interpretation

“We need four training grounds that is the minimum. The grounds have to be ten times better than the current pitch”

He also emphasized on the need of bucket seats in the stadium for it to qualify for hosting the 2017 U-17 World cup. The second tier in Kochi JN stadium currently don’t have bucket seats installed.

It is also mentioned in the report that a confirmation on whether Kochi will be hosting the tournament would be available by January 2015.

With Kochi registering an average crowd of 47000 for ISL, the city has gathered attention from the authorities in terms of attracting crowd. If our local authorities wake up and work towards this goal, we will see Kochi hosting 2017 U-17 World Cup.

With inputs from KFA press-release

Bharat FC lands Kris Bright, New Zealand International

Kris Bright, New Zealand, football, Soccer, India, Pune, I-league, Club, Bharat FC, Stuart Watkiss, Stanley Rozario, All WhitesNewly formed I-league club Bharat FC has signed their first player Kris Bright. Bright is a much traveled New Zealand international. Football News India had earlier revealed about this transfer.

Before landing in India, Kris Bright has played in Netherlands, Norway, Greece, England , Hungary, Malta and Finland. He has also earned six caps for the New Zealand national team and scored one goal.

Kris Bright’s Career Snapshot – Wikipedia

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Amit Kalyani, Executive Director of the Kalyani Group and Managing Director of Bharat FC, believed that it was Bright’s sharpness and awareness in front of goal that drew the club towards him. “Kris is a prolific goal-scorer and someone who can ably lead the line as we aim to start our first season strongly. He has managed to score in every country that he has played in and I am sure his Indian stint will be full of goals too,” he said.

The 28-year-old Kiwi said that the chance of leading the line at a new club and the responsibility of driving his side’s attacking endeavours were the main reasons that he agreed to the move. “I was very excited about coming to India after speaking to Stuart (Watkiss) and getting to know more about the project. Leading the line is something that I immensely enjoy and I hope to perform really for Bharat FC. Also, I would get a chance to interact with the young Indian players and pass on a few things that I have learnt over my career,” he said.

Stuart Watkiss, Bharat FC’s head-coach said he was impressed by Bright’s imposing presence and his eye for goal. “I have watched Kris a few times in England and it is apparent that he is a very fine striker. He manages to get into good positions, is very strong aerially and is sharp in front of goal. I am sure he will be a profitable asset for us in the I-League,” he said.

With inputs from Bharat FC’s press note.

British Council’s Premier Skills Program Kicks off in Kerala

British Council, Football, Kerala, Thrivananthapuram, Premier League, Goa, SAI, LNCPE, Referee, Coaching, Coaches, Fulham, Aston Villa, Tottenham, ScudamoreThe hugely successful Premier Skills initiative, run by the Premier League and the British Council was launched on Monday 24 November 2014 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Premier Skills will take place from 24 to 30 November 2014. The training will be held at Sports Authority of India Lakshmibai National College of Physical Education, Kariavattom P.O.; Thiruvananthapuram 695581, Kerala.

British Council, Football, Kerala, Thrivananthapuram, Premier League, Goa, SAI, LNCPE, Referee, Coaching, Coaches, Fulham, Aston Villa, Tottenham, ScudamoreThis is the first phase of a three-phase training programme for coaches and two-phase training programme for referees in Thiruvananthapuram.

Premier Skills is a partnership between the British Council and the Premier League. It uses football as a tool to help develop both community coaching and English language skills. The programme trains sports coaches, referees and youth leaders to return to their own communities and enhance their existing football sessions, whilst also developing their leadership skills and a greater understanding of the role football can play in tackling other social issues.

The coach education programme will be led by head coach Jeremy Weeks, who was a senior coach at Fulham FC till May 2011 which he left to join the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee (LOCOG) where he was the Paralympic Football Competition Manager. He will be supported by Corinne Mitchell, community coach from Aston Villa Football Club, Daniel Landstrom from City in the Community Foundation of Manchester City Football Club, Daniel Slaughter, Inclusion Development Manager at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and Kelvin Chee a Premier Skills community coach educator from Malaysia.

The referee development programme will be led by Ray Olivier, Training & Development Manager for the Professional Game Match Officials and responsible for the training and development of Premier League and Football League referees and Assistant Referees in England. He will be supported by Keren Barratt, Select Group Referee Manager for the Professional Game Match Officials.

The course in Thiruvananthapuram is being jointly organised by the British Council and Premier League in association with Sports Authority of India (SAI), Lakshmibai National College of Physical Education, All India Football Federation (AIFF), Kerala Football Association (KFA) and Goa Football Association (GFA).

British Council, Football, Kerala, Thrivananthapuram, Premier League, Goa, SAI, LNCPE, Referee, Coaching, Coaches, Fulham, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Scudamore

Participants in the programme have been selected from the Football associations as well as from a number of NGO’s, including Special Olympics, Cequin, Oscar Foundation and World Vision.

The coaches and referees will receive training from qualified Premier Skills coaches, giving them the skills and support to develop their own community football projects and development as referees.

In addition to the training, the UK referee trainers will hold a referee symposium event on 27 November.

As of 2013, Premier Skills has trained 2,500 coaches and referees in 25 countries across Asia, Africa and the Americas, who in turn have reached a further 550,000 young people. By 2016 it aims to train a further 3,000 coaches and referees and through them reach more than 300,000 young people.

British Council, Football, Kerala, Thrivananthapuram, Premier League, Goa, SAI, LNCPE, Referee, Coaching, Coaches, Fulham, Aston Villa, Tottenham, ScudamoreIn addition to coaching, a range of free materials, including a dedicated website, have been created under Premier Skills for teachers and learners of English that utilise exciting Premier League content and the British Council’s world-class expertise in English.

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said:

“At home the Premier League and our Clubs have a long-held commitment and reputation for delivering high quality community and education programmes. Given our popularity internationally we felt it only right to take this approach to a wider community.

“Premier Skills has already taken place in 25 countries, including in India where we have run coach development projects in Delhi and Kolkata and are heavily involved in the ground-breaking Kolkata Goalz project, which has over 1,000 young people involved a week in its activities. I am thrilled that we are now rolling Premier Skills rolling out in India this week.”

Ms Mei-kwei Barker, Director, British Council South India said, “We are delighted to introduce Premier Skills, our very successful partnership project with the Premier League, to South India. It combines English and football, two universal languages and with the support of our local partners in India — Sports Authority of India (SAI), Lakshmibai National College of Physical Education, All India Football Federation (AIFF), Kerala Football Association (KFA) and Goa Football Association (GFA) — we have been able to provide this opportunity. We hope the coaches and referees find this training useful and we are able to bring more such programmes here over the next few years.”

The Programme

Coach Education Programme: 24 – 30 November 2014

The Coach Education curriculum aims to develop a group of local master trainers at the end of the programme. It will help to develop community coach skills and knowledge. The training will be in three parts, over 18 – 24 months and involves attendance at and graduation from each part of the training. There will be learning and practical tasks that must be completed between each of the training. Those that are successful will need to demonstrate continued progress throughout the 3 Phases and with the tasks that they will be asked to complete between the training phases. Successful Phase 3 Graduates will become Premier Skills Coach Educators – and they will have an opportunity to train and develop new Premier Skills Community Coaches to support the work of their organisation.

Referee Development programme: 24 – 26 November 2014

The Referee Development programme is a two phase programme which offers participants an introduction to refereeing at grassroots level. Participants include referees that are already working in community football programmes but who have received minimal or no formal training to improve their refereeing skills and knowledge.

Referee symposium: 27 November 2014

The symposium will be a mixture of interactive presentations designed to provide a modern update in both referee and assistant referee skills. The sessions will also be helpful for instructors and assessors to use the material for further developing their referees in their communities. Included in the presentations will be looking at the following training topics:

  1. Critical Incidents and Communication
  2. Recognising Foul Challenges
  3. Offside Situations and Interpretation
  4. Positioning & Movement
  5. Referee & Assistant Referee Cooperation

To find out more about the football-focused English content and to view the materials online, visit http://premierskills.britishcouncil.org/

Crystal Palace Tie up with Mumbai City FC

Crystal Palace, Indian Super League, Premier League, Barclays, Live, Mumbai, Mumbai City FC, Hero ISL, ISL, Mark Bright, England, EPL, Football, IndiaEnglish Premier League club Crystal Palace has tied up with Mumbai ISL franchise Mumbai City FC. Mumbai City FC along with Star Sports and Crystal Palace will stage a trial on thursday December 11th for 16-19 years olds in Mumbai.

12 players selected from this trial will be invited to perform their skills at the Barclays Premier League’s international fan park in Mumbai where live Premier League matches are to be screened.

A Crystal Palace delegation, led by club ambassador Mark Bright, will be assessing the selected footballers and the winner of the Play for Palace will travel to London to train with Crystal Palace’s young prospects.

Mark Bright who has scored more than 100 goals for Palace was quoted saying,

“This will be the chance of a lifetime. The winner of the competition will get a fantastic experience playing at the Academy and then go back to India to become an ambassador for Palace.

“This is a unique initiative. Everyone has a favourite local team and favourite overseas team – we want football fans in India to follow us.

“We know cricket is the number one sport in India, but football is global and it would be great to see an Indian-born player in the Premier League one day. They would become an idol and an inspiration”.

Crystal Palace chief executive Phil Alexander was quoted in the media saying, “We are very excited to be going to India to show ourselves to a new army of fans. The Premier League is booming in India and it’s a great chance for us to extend the club’s reach”.

A Mumbai City FC spokesman is also quoted in the reports. He said : “India,and Mumbai in particular, has a lot of football talent waiting to be harnessed and promoted. This initiative will provide a great platform for the youth of the city to showcase their skills and win the opportunity of a lifetime”.

More on the same here.

India thrash Nepal 6-0 to become 3rd time SAFF Champions

India, Nepal, Womens, SAFF, Indianfootball, Bangladesh, Maldives, Afghanistan, Bala Devi, Manipur, South Asia, Womens Football, SoccerIndian women’s football team put on a splendid performance to thrash Nepal 6-0 in the finals to lift the cup the third time in a succession. Bala Devi scored four goals for India in the finals.

After a relatively slow start to the match, India started their goal glut by the 26th minute through Kamala Devi. From then on the hapless Nepal team wilted under Indian dominance. In the last five minutes of the first half, Bala Devi struck twice as India lead 3-0 at halftime.

Within two minutes into the second half India scored again through Romi Devi. From then on, India scored at will till the final minutes taking the tally to half a dozen goals. Bala Devi doubled her tally to four in the match by scoring in the 51st and 92nd minute of the match.

India was in Group A of the tournament along with Bangladesh, Maldives and Afghanistan. In the group matches India defeated Maldives 8-0, Bangladesh 5-1, Afghanistan 12-0. And in the semi finals they routed Sri Lanka 5-0.

India Squad Finals :

India played 5 matches, scored 36 goals and conceded one. Baladevi who has been in terrific form had earlier told the Pakistan media that her target is to score 16 goals in the tournament. In fact she did achieve her target and 16 goals is the highest tally in a single edition of the championship, since its inception in 2010.

 

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