Two Bangalore teams — Hindustan Aeronautics Sports Club and Bharat Earth Movers Limited SC — will figure in this year's edition of the ONGC second division I-League, the Group A matches of which begins on March 27 at the Bangalore football stadium, with five teams from Kerala also in the fray.
“The second division league is being held in three groups — Group A at Bangalore, Group B in Delhi and Group C at Tripura, beginning March 27. The top two teams from each group along with the two teams relegated from the first division — Mohammedan Sporting and Vasco SC — will figure in the final round, which is also likely to be held in Bangalore. The top two teams in the final round will then feature in the I-League first division next season,” said A.R. Khaleel, President, KSFA at a press briefing here this afternoon.
HASC is playing in the second division I-league after four seasons, having last figured in the league in 2005.
BEML, which has had creditable wins over HASC at home, is making its debut.
Three of the five Kerala teams are relative newcomers while SBT and Titanium are tough customers on their day.
The teams in the fray at Bangalore are: Golden Threads (Thrissur), Chandni FC (Calicut), HASC (Bangalore), BEML (Bangalore), Malabar United (Calicut), SBT (Thiruvananthapuram) and Titanium (Travancore). Meanwhile, in Group B, DSA league champion Hindustan Club will open its campaign against Sesa Goa in the inaugural match at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi.
New Delhi Heroes, Indian National Club, Amity United, Simla Youngs and ONGC will be the other teams in the fray.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has appointed Pradeep Nag of Kolkata as the match commissioner of the Delhi leg of the competition which is scheduled to be held till April 15.
Original article on The Hindu.com
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Thursday 25 March 2010, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.