Playing soccer with indomitable display of professionalism, Real Kashmir Football Club clinched the title of season’s second division I-League and created history by becoming the first team from Jammu and Kashmir to qualify for I-League.
It was Real Kashmir’s extraordinary work on field at FSV Arena in Bengaluru on Wednesday which helped them get a place in annals of Indian soccer saga as they defeated Hindustan FC by 3-2 goals in the last group match of the final round.
While Real Kashmir needed only a draw to get through, Hindustan FC were in need of an outright win.
Ifham Tariq Mir scored opening goal of the match for Real in 22nd minute and in 34th minute Kushwant equalized for the Hindustan FC. In 42nd minute Danish Farooq made it 2-1 for Real Kashmir.
At half-time Real Kashmir was leading by 2-1 goals. In the second half, Real continued to look for the goals and were rewarded in 67thminute when Nadong Bhutia made it 3-1. Hindustan FC tried its best to comeback and was even able to score second goal in 80th minute.
Kushwant was again the scorer. Real Kashmir held on to their lead and emerged winner by 3-2 goals.
Real Kashmir thus became the only team from Jammu and Kashmir to have secured such a position in 22 years of Indian professional club and is the first club from the state to win second division crown.
Scottish coach of Real Kashmir, David Robertson summed his club’s ‘fairytale’ journey: “Two years ago Real Kashmir was just an idea. Now we are in the I-League. Now the fairy tale will go on against the East Bengal and the Mohun Bagan. For a club of our size and budget, I’d never thought at the start that we would qualify”.
“You can see what it means for everybody… for the players, for the people of Kashmir,” said Robertson, a former Glasgow Rangers FC legend who is now Real Kashmir’s coach. “It’s a fantastic achievement.”
The weather conditions during the crucial final day clash were similar to Kashmir, “The weather was very much like what we have in Kashmir. Cold winds and rain. It favored us,” Robertson said.
Real Kashmir is the second professional club football of J&K as it was Lone Star Kashmir FC which started the trend. While Lone Star tried its best to qualify for the I-League, Real Kashmir did it in its second season.
Apart from having players from other parts of country as well as foreigners in its squad, Kashmiri players like Danish Farooq, Ifham, Shahnawaz, Hammad were the main stay of the team. They did well in the whole league and Ifham and Danish went on to score all important goals in the deciding final day match.
“We have created history. For me this is not a surprise. We worked hard for four months. Now we are in the top division. This won’t be just Real Kashmir which will grow but Kashmir football as a whole,” Danish Farooq said after the win.
According to midfielder Shahnawaz Bashir, it marked the continuation of the good work started by Lone Star Kashmir FC.
“It first started with Lone Star but they couldn’t make much impact despite working hard.”
Defender Muhammad Hammad said: “There is lot of talent. Now youngsters in Kashmir will believe that it is possible to play football as a professional”.
Real Kashmir FC finished unbeaten in the whole second division I-League season.