Gokulam Kerala FC

Gokulam Kerala Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Malappuram, Kerala. Founded in 2017, the club competes in the I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. They won the 2020–21 I-League title to become the first club from Kerala to do so, and became the first team to defend the league title in 2021–22. Gokulam is also the first and so far the only club from the state to qualify for a continental competition, AFC Cup, in 2022.

Nicknamed Malabarians, Gokulam Kerala represents the state of Kerala, predominantly its Malabar region. Affiliated with Kerala Football Association (KFA), club's reserve team competes in Kerala Premier League, and clinched titles in 2017–18, and 2020–21. They also won the 129th edition of the Durand Cup, becoming only the second side from Kerala to win that competition. The women's section of the club participates in the Indian Women's League.

Formation and early years (2017–2020)
Gokulam Kerala was founded in January 2017. The club then went on to participate in Awes Cup in Goa, in which they finished the campaign as runners-up. On 20 September, after the second round of bidding invitations, the bid evaluation committee decided to award Sree Gokulam Group the right to field their team in the Hero I-League 2017–18 season onwards from Calicut, Kerala. Although the club did not have a good beginning, they went on to defeat clubs like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Minerva Punjab by the end of the season. Gokulam Kerala hired Spaniard Fernando Santiago Varela as head coach in March 2018.

On 15 March 2018, Gokulam played the Super Cup qualifiers against North East United FC and was qualified with a 2-goal victory. In the pre-quarterfinals of the Super Cup on 1 April 2018, they were leading against Bengaluru by 0–1 until 60 minutes with a goal scored by the striker Henry Kisekka but Bengaluru scored a stoppage time goal which led to a defeat of 2–1. Gokulam in 2019, for the first time went abroad and participated at the 2019 Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup in Bangladesh,  where they qualified for the Semi-finals after finishing 2nd in Group B. Gokulam finished as semifinalist after losing 3–2 to Chittagong Abahani. Gokulam Kerala won their maiden title under the coaching of Fernando Santiago Varela, the 129th edition of the Durand Cup on 24 August 2019, defeating Mohun Bagan 2–1 in Kolkata.

2020–present
Gokulam Kerala won the 2020–21 I-League by defeating TRAU FC in the final game. With 29 points from 15 games, they qualified for the 2022 AFC Cup group stage. In April 2021, Gokulam Kerala emerged as the champions of the 2020–21 Kerala Premier League, defeating KSEB FC 2–1 at the Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium. They began their 2021–22 I-League season on 26 December with 1–0 win against Churchill Brothers. They later thrashed Real Kashmir by 5–1. After back to back wins in both the group and championship stages,    the club clinched I-League title again in 2021–22 season, defeating Mohammedan Sporting 2–1 in the final game at the Salt Lake Stadium on 14 May, and became the first club in fifteen years to defend a national league title.

At the 2022 AFC Cup group-stage opener, the club achieved a historic 4–2 win against Indian Super League side ATK Mohun Bagan. Later, they were defeated 1–0 by Maldivian side Maziya S&RC, 1–2 by Bangladeshi side Bashundhara Kings respectively, and knocked out of the tournament. On 5 July, the club officially announced that they roped in former Cameroonian international Richard Towa as new head coach. Due to not maintaining good form in league marches, the club parted ways with Towa and roped in Spanish manager Francesc Bonet in place of him.

In April 2023, the club took part in 3rd edition of Indian Super Cup. Gokulam Kerala secured third place in 2023–24 I-League season, finishing their campaign with 42 points in 24 matches. On 18 April, the club roped in Antonio Rueda Fernández as new head coach.

Stadiums
EMS Stadium, located in the heart of Calicut, is used as home ground of Gokulam Kerala. West stand is the largest block that can accommodate most spectators, while the capacity of the stadium is limited to 50,000.

The club also used Kottappadi Stadium in Malappuram for training purposes. Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium previously served as club's home venue for matches of Kerala Premier League. In May 2023, Kozhikode Municipal Corporation decided not to renew the contract for matches at the EMS Stadium.

Supporters
Kerala is a state known for its passionate football fans. Football in Northern Kerala (known as Malabar Coastal Region) has arguably one of the most passionate fanbase in the state. "GKFC Battalia" is one of the largest supporters' group of Gokulam Kerala FC. Another noted supporters' group of the club named "GKFC Ultras" is also in existence.

Rivalry with Kolkata clubs
Gokulam Kerala is known for pathbreaking the Kolkata clubs, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan in some major matches in I-League and Durand Cup. Gokulam Kerala won the 2019 Durand Cup by defeating East Bengal in the semi-final and Mohun Bagan in the final. They also defeated Mohammedan in the deciding last match of 2021–22 I-League to clinch their consecutive league title. Both the states, Kerala and West Bengal, are two dominant powerhouses of Indian Football.

Rivalry with Kerala United
Gokulam Kerala enjoys an on-field rivalry with another Kozhikode based side Kerala United (previously Quartz Calicut). The first match between the two teams took place in the group stage of 2017–18 Kerala Premier League, where Quartz Calicut were winners.

After the purchase of Kerala united FC by the owners of Sheffield United, the first match took place in 2020–21 Kerala Premier League semifinal. The match ended goalless and Gokulam won 4–2 on penalties.

Rivalry with Kerala Blasters
For the first time in history, Gokulam Kerala faced Kerala Blasters in the "Kerala Derby" at group stage of the 132nd edition of Durand Cup on 13 August 2023, in which they defeated the ISL side by 4–3.

Crest
The club crest incorporates elements from historical Theyyam, a famous ritual art form that originated in northern Kerala. It encompasses dance, mime and music. The crest was unveiled in January 2017, by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and football legend I. M. Vijayan.

Colours
During the early days they used yellow and red coloured home kit. From 2018–19 season onwards, traditional brown is used as primary colour for home kit, while green is used as away kit.

Domestic
League
 * I-League
 * Champions (2): 2020–21, 2021–22
 * Third place (1): 2023–24
 * Kerala Premier League
 * Champions (2): 2017–18, 2020–21
 * Runners-up (3): 2018–19, 2019–20, 2022–23
 * Kerala State Club Championship
 * Runners-up (1): 2016–17

Cup
 * Durand Cup
 * Champions (1): 2019
 * Bodousa Cup
 * Champions (1): 2019
 * Independence Day Cup
 * Champions (1): 2019
 * AWES Cup
 * Runners-up (1): 2017

Invitational

 * Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup
 * Semi-finals (1): 2019

Notable players
The following Gokulam Kerala players have been capped at full international level. Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.

Top scorers
{{legend|#CFECEC|Still active team players are highlighted|border=#AAAAAA}}

Performance in AFC competitions

 * AFC Cup: 1 appearance
 * 2022: Group Stage

Affiliated club(s)
The following club is currently affiliated with Gokulam Kerala FC:
 * 🇮🇳 Viva Chennai FC (2018–present)
 * 🇮🇳 Aspire FC (2022–present)