Seven Clubs from North-East in 2nd Division I-League

I-League second division first round matches will kick-off from the 31^ST of March with twenty one teams divided into three groups. Group A will play their matches at Madurai (Tamil Nadu) Group B matches will take place at Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) and Group C teams will fight it out in Guwahati (Assam).Two teams Shillong Lajong and Sporting Clube de Goa,last season’s relegated sides will join the six qualifiers in the final round to be held in Shillong.

There are seven teams from the North-East this season which points to the fact that club football is picking in this part of the country. Couple of years ago North-East produced only players but now that trend has changed and many good clubs are coming up. Shillong Lajong proved last season that with the right approach, North-Eastern clubs can go a long way. After a wonderful show in the Federation Cup they were unfortunately relegated from the I-League but their journey from a small club based in Shillong to the pinnacle of Indian football has been a source of inspiration for all the other clubs based in the North-Eastern states.

The North-Eastern Clubs which are taking part in this season’s second division  I-League are,Royal Wahingdoh SC,Langsning FC and Ar-Hima FC from Meghalaya, United Sikkim FC and Denzong Boyz FC will represent Sikkim other two teams are Guwahati Town Club and North Imphal Sports Association (NISA) from Assam and Manipur respectively.

So now it has to be seen which of the above clubs will go all the way and qualify for the I-League. The campaign will be tough as other clubs are also no pushovers and only a limited number of clubs will get the promotion, But no matter what all these clubs have given a new direction to the football in North-East and have also given hope to the other clubs to emulate them. The day is not far when there will be a number of clubs from this region competing in the I-League.

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