State Bank of Travancore (football club)
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| Full name | State Bank of Travancore Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | SBT Thiruvananthapuram |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Ground | University Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram |
| Capacity | 20,000 |
| Manager | V. P. Shaji |
| League | Kerala Premier League |
| 2015-16 | Champions |
State Bank of Travancore Football Club, also known as SBT Thiruvananthapuram was a football club based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It plays in the Kerala Premier League,the top tier league of the state.
During the mid-80's, already established as a premier bank in the state of Kerala and the considering the popularity and passion towards the game of football at the region, State Bank of Travancore decided to launch a team of its own and register it with Kerala Football Association in November 1986. The debut of the team was in 1987 in the Trivandrum District 'E' Division League, the 5th division league of the region. The team steadily progressed further and went on to reach the 'B' Division to win the trophy in 1992, thus entering the 'A' Division League, the Tier-1 league of the region in 1993-94.
At that point, the Bank stepped in again by recruiting sportsmen under a special sports quota, pioneering a new trend among the Government-controlled Public Sector Undertakings. This received a further impetus when N. M. Najeeb, a prominent national player at that time agreed to coach the team. The club then evolved from a group of amateur players to a group of semi-professionals under the guidance of the coach and went on to win various trophies. It also qualified and participated in many national level tournaments like Durand Cup, IFA Shield, Rover's Cup, Scissors Cup, Kalinga Cup and the Federation Cup.
Being the state champions in the 1996, SBT was eligible to play in the newly formed National Football League introduced by the All India Football Federation that year, but the emergence of the first professional football club from the state FC Cochin denied its opportunity. However, SBT was given an entry to the 2nd Division NFL introduced in 1997-98 as a qualifying round for the top division League. The team, though a hot favorite, with the likes of National players like Jiju Jacob, V. P. Shaji, Feroz Sheriff, A. Sunil Kumar and K. V. Dhanesh, could not qualify as it ended runner-up with a draw against Sesa Sports Club in the final league game of the season.
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