Sudeep Pakrashi:
Howrah-Hooghly Warriors FC, one of the debutants in the forthcoming Bengal Super League (BSL), are unlikely to be content satisfied only through participating in the BSL. Rather, the franchise team have set eyes on playing in the IFA-organised CFL and also a qualification for the elite I-League within the next couple of years!
Deep Dey, the General Manager of the club, when asked about their plans for the future, revealed, “Our vision is to earn qualification for the elite I-League within the next four to five years, starting from the I-League Third Division. Not only that, our aim will be to build-up a team for the I-League consisting of 90 per cent footballers from the Howrah-Hooghly area.”
Simultaneously, he divulged, “Initiatives have been taken to get affiliation from the IFA as well as Howrah DSA to field our team in the CFL First Division. We will also get affiliation from the Howrah DSA so that our boys can play in the district competitions.”
The franchise, which has roped in Jose Ramirez Bareto as the team’s chief coach, is also in the process of finding land in the Hooghly area to build a residential football school in future. “Our project will have a non-residential coaching program also initially unless the needed infrastructure for the residential project gets developed.”
The team, which has already registered 25 footballers, is likely to rope in two more foreigners, out of whom one is expected to come from Brazil, and the other foreign footballer who participated in the Kerala Super League. The team have been training under Barreto and assistant coaches Suman Dutta and Sanjay Palandar for the past month. The franchise has signed Brazilian Paulo Cezar as its first foreign player.
Howrah-Hooghly Warriors will start their campaign, playing a home match at Howrah Shailen Manna stadium against FC Medinipur on 16th December.
