Kerala Premier League

Kerala Premier League
Organising body	Kerala Football Association
Founded	1998; 27 years ago (as Kerala Football League)
Country	India
Number of clubs	14
Level on pyramid	5
Promotion to	I-League 3
Relegation to	Kerala Premier League Second Division
Current champions	Muthoot FA (1st title)
Most championships	SBT Thiruvananthapuram (6 titles)
Broadcaster(s)	Scoreline Sports (YouTube)
	Current: 2024–25

The Kerala Premier League is the highest state-level football league organized by the Kerala Football Association and played in the state of Kerala, India. It is the overall fifth tier of the Indian football league system. For sponsorship reasons it is officially known as the Elite Kerala Premier League. Founded in 1998, the Kerala Football League was the first football league in Kerala, and got rebranded in 2013 as the KPL. Kerala United is the current champion.

History

Kerala Football League

After the introduction of the National Football League by the All India Football Federation, the Kerala Football Association started its Kerala Football League (KFL) in 1998. The team finishing top was nominated to 2nd division of the National Football League.

1998 season

FC Kochin was crowned the inaugural champion. SBT finished in second place.

1999 season

The second edition of Kerala Football League was held in Kochi and Kollam in December 1999. FC Kochin retained the tille, and SBT FC become the runners up.^[1]

2007 season

SBT FC won the title, and Central Excise Kochi become the runners up.^[2]

Format

The league features teams from the state of Kerala affiliated with the KFA. The top four teams from each group qualify for the final round. A women's league started in the 2014–15 season with 8 teams.^[3]^[4]

Teams

KFA

	Team	Head coach	Captain	City	Sponsor
1	Devagiri College	Niyaz Rahman	Vishnu Prakash	Kozhikode	Hykon
2	FC Kerala	Assis Kunjivappu	Jithu TR	Thrissur	Premiere
3	Golden Threads FC	Shiju Rajan		Kochi	Wayna Water
4	Gokulam Kerala B	Varun Metha	Bibin Boban	Kozhikode	CSB Bank
5	Inter Kerala FC	Britto Clemmy	Shem Marton Eugene	Kothamangalam
6	Kerala Blasters B	Noel Joseph	Ebin Das	Kochi	Medhaa
7	Kerala Police	Siddik VV	Sanju G	Trivandrum	Off Road Nilambur
8	Kerala United FC	Liandala Sena Fanai	Craig Mangkhanlian	Manjeri	YELO
9	KSEB	Sanushraj Palanickal	Eldhose George	Trivandrum	KSEB
10	Kovalam FC	Rajesh Mohanan	Manoj M	Kovalam	Adani Group
11	Muthoot FA	Othallo Tabia	Bavijith TK	Kochi	Muthoot Pappachan Group
12	PFC Kerala	Sanjoy Kumar Dey	Anto V	Parappur	Jos Alukkas
13	Real Malabar FC	Rajeev Rajendran		Kondotty	EDEX
14	Wayanad United FC	Daison Cheriyan	Muhammed Ameen	Kalpetta	SKAMPILO

Number of teams by region

No. of teams	Districts	Team(s)
4	Ernakulam	Golden Threads FC, Inter Kerala FC, Kerala Blasters B, Muthoot FA
3	Trivandrum	Kerala Police, Kovalam FC, KSEB
2	Malappuram	Kerala United FC, Real Malabar FC
	Kozhikode	Devagiri College, Gokulam Kerala B
	Thrissur	FC Kerala, PFC Kerala
1	Wayanad	Wayanad United FC

Sponsorship

2013–15, 2018–21: Ramco^[5]
2015–16: Dentcare Dental Lab
2016–17: Cochin Shipyard^[6]
2017–18: ICL Fincorp^[7]
2022–24: Scoreline, Elite

Team statistics


Team	Winners	Runners-up
SBI Kerala	6	5
Gokulam Kerala B	2	3
KSEB	2	2
FC Kochin	2	1
Kerala United FC/Quartz FC	2	1
Viva Kerala FC	1	0
Eagles	1	0
Indian Navy FC	1	0
Kerala Blasters B	1	0
Golden Threads FC	1	0
Trivandrum Titanium FC	0	2
Central Excise Club	0	2
Kerala Police	0	2
FC Thrissur	0	1
SAT	0	1
Muthoot FA	1	0

Championship summary

Season	Champions	Runners-up
Kerala Football League
1998–99	FC Kochin	SBT
1999–2000^[8]	FC Kochin (2)	SBT
2000–01	SBT	Trivandrum Titanium FC
2001–02	League cancelled
2002–03	League cancelled
2003–04	SBT (2)	FC Kochin
2004–05^[9]	KSEB	SBT
2005–06	Viva Kerala FC	SBT
2006–07^[10]	SBT (3)	Central Excise Club
2007–08	SBT (4)	Trivandrum Titanium FC
2009–2013	League not held
Kerala Premier League
2013–14	Eagles F.C.	SBT
2014–15	SBT (5)	Kerala Police
2015–16	SBT (6)	Central Excise Club
2016–17	KSEB (2)	FC Thrissur
2017–18	Gokulam Kerala B	Quartz FC
2018–19	Indian Navy FC	Gokulam Kerala B
2019–20	Kerala Blasters B	Gokulam Kerala B
2020–21	Gokulam Kerala B (2)	KSEB
2021–22	Golden Threads FC	KSEB
2022–23	Kerala United FC	Gokulam Kerala B
2023–24	Kerala United FC (2)	SAT
2024–25	Muthoot FA	Kerala Police

Top scorers

Season	Top scorer	Team	Goals
2015–16	Askar	Central Excise Cochin	6
2016–17	Firos Kalathingal	Kerala Police	7
2017–18	Emmanuel Aidoo	Quartz FC	12
2018–19	Vishnu Harry Moris Bipaka Thapa Christian Sabah	Shooters United Padne FC Kerala Indian Navy Gokulam Kerala B	6
2019–20	Isahak Nuhu Seidu E. Kamara	Golden Threads FC SAT	8
2020–21	Saliou Guindo	Gokulam Kerala B	8
2021–22	Isahak Nuhu Seidu	Golden Threads FC	12
2022–23	Samuel Mensa Konney	Gokulam Kerala B	10
2023–24	Salahudheen Adnan	Muthoot FA	11

Media coverage

Scoreline Sports (through its YouTube channel) are the current official streaming partners of the Kerala Premier League.

References

^ Staff (5 April 2006). "1999 season Kerala Football League". Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
^ Staff (5 April 2006). "2007 season Kerala Football League". Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
^ "Kerala U-21 Football Team aims for Santosh Trophy as Kerala Premier League kicks off". thenewsminute.com. 18 April 2016. Archived from the original on 22 May 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
^ "Crippled but Trudging Along..." newindianexpress.com. 1 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
^ "KFA Announces Kerala Premier League". Football News India. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
^ Correspondant, Special (5 April 2017). "Kerala Premier League to kick off on April 8". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
^ Rayan, Stan (4 April 2018). "Lack of funds forces KSEB to pull out of KPL". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
^ "WELCOME TO FOOTBALL CLUB KOCHIN — Success Stories". fckochin.in. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
^ Staff (5 April 2006). "Top six teams for Kerala Football League". www.oneindia.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
^ Staff (5 May 2007). "SBT enters Kerala Football League final". www.mykhel.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2021.

[1] Staff (5 April 2006). "1999 season Kerala Football League". Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2023.

[2] Staff (5 April 2006). "2007 season Kerala Football League". Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2023.

[kplkickoff-3] "Kerala U-21 Football Team aims for Santosh Trophy as Kerala Premier League kicks off". thenewsminute.com. 18 April 2016. Archived from the original on 22 May 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2016.

[newie-4] "Crippled but Trudging Along..." newindianexpress.com. 1 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2016.

[announce-5] "KFA Announces Kerala Premier League". Football News India. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.

[6] Correspondant, Special (5 April 2017). "Kerala Premier League to kick off on April 8". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2017.

[7] Rayan, Stan (4 April 2018). "Lack of funds forces KSEB to pull out of KPL". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2018.

[Success-8] "WELCOME TO FOOTBALL CLUB KOCHIN — Success Stories". fckochin.in. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2020.

[9] Staff (5 April 2006). "Top six teams for Kerala Football League". www.oneindia.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2021.

[10] Staff (5 May 2007). "SBT enters Kerala Football League final". www.mykhel.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2021.

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v t e Sports teams based in Kerala
Cricket	Ranji Trophy Kerala IPL Kochi Tuskers Kerala (now defunct) CCL Kerala Strikers
Football	ISL Kerala Blasters I-League Gokulam F.C. Chirag United (now defunct) I-League 2nd Division Kerala Blasters (R) F.C. Kerala Kerala United FC Indian Women's League Gokulam F.C. Women Elite League Kerala Blasters (R) Gokulam F.C. F.C. Kerala MSP Football Academy Santosh Trophy Kerala KPL F.C. Kerala FC Thrissur Gokulam F.C. Kerala Blasters (R) Kerala United FC SBI Kerala Sports Academy Tirur
Futsal	APFC Kerala Blasters FC AFCC Kerala Blasters FC
Volleyball	Prime VL Kochi Blue Spikers Calicut Heroes