Chirag United Club
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| Full name | Chirag United Club Kerala |
|---|---|
| Founded | 9 May 2004 as Viva Kerala FC |
| Dissolved | 2012 |
| Ground | Kaloor International Stadium, Kochi |
| Capacity | 75,000 |
Chirag United Club Kerala, formerly Viva Kerala Football Club, was an Indian professional football club based in the city of Kochi, Kerala India. The club was originally formed in 2004, as Viva Kerala FC. They played in the I-League, the top tier of Indian Football.
Chirag United Club Kerala was formed on 8 August 2004. The club officially took off on 19 August in a ceremony at the FACT grounds. The club was formed by group of businessmen who felt the need for the state's representation in country's top football league, the National Football League (NFL). Viva Kerala's name is the result of a contest, won by Dr. P Ramakrishnan of Ernakulam.
In 2007 the opportunity for a NFL spot came in the way of Second Division NFL. Viva surprised everyone by finishing second in its group and qualified for the final phase. In the final phase, Viva Kerala finished as runners-up of the Second Division NFL to book their place in the I-League 2007–08 on 6 April 2007. The club were then relegated back to 2nd division at the end of I-league 2007–08. Then the next season Viva Kerala were promoted back to the I-League for the 2009–10 season.
In 2010 it was announced that I-League clubs needed to complete the AFC club licensing criteria. In order to do so, Viva had signed P.K Kunhikrishnan (A-licensed coach) as the new Head coach. Then in August 2011 it was announced that Chirag Computers would be the new majority owners and with doing so changed the club name to Chirag United Club Kerala.
Chirag were knocked out of the Federation Cup in the group stages after losing all three group D matches. Following this the then coach, K.P. Kunhikrishan was replaced by Sri Lankan coach Pakir Ali. But following poor run in I-League, Pakir was sacked in February and Biswajit Bhattacharya was appointed as the technical director and was put in charge of the team. Chirag finished 12th in 2011–12 I-League season but ended up being relegated as Pailan Arrows who finished 13th were exempted from relegation as they are a developmental team. Reports also suggested that the club failed to pay their players' salary due to sponsorship amount not being released from Chirag Computers to the club.
The Chirag Crest is a yellow background with a coconut tree behind in the background with the words Chirag United Kerala on the front.
Ever since their creation Chirag United Kerala have played in multiple stadiums. For their first three I-League seasons Chirag used the Municipal Corporation Stadium which holds a capacity of 53,000 in Kozhikode and Jawahar Municipal Stadium which holds a capacity of 30,000 in Kannur. They then after getting bought by Chirag Computers decided to move to the Kaloor International Stadium in Kochi which boasts a capacity of 75,000 and has working floodlights. In 2011–12 season of I-League, Kaloor International Stadium in Kochi will host 8 matches and 5 matches will be hosted by University stadium in state capital Trivandrum.
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