KLASA Football Club (known fully as Keinou Library and Sports Association Football Club) is an Indian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in Keinou, Bishnupur,

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

. It was the 2022 season champion of Manipur State League, but not granted the

I-League 2 The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

nomination. However, they joined the newly-established

I-League 3 The I-League 3 is an Indian men's professional football league. It forms the fourth tier of the Indian football league system, below the I-League 2 and above the State leagues. History For the first time, the AIFF introduced qualifiers for ...

History

Beginning

The Keinou Library and Sports Association, known as KLASA FC at the present day, was registered in 1972. KLASA aimed to look for development in the library and sports field in Keinou and adjoining areas. One of the pioneering personalities of KLASA was Chanambam Prakash Singh, a player of

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

. He started conducting training at Keinou Kangjeibung, and KLASA emerged as district champion in the consecutive years of 1976, 1977, and 1978. KLASA also claimed victories among the various inter-district tournaments. Thus, the club's popularity increased yearly.

Manipur State League

KLASA first got promoted to the Manipur State League, the top tier league of Manipur, in 2014. In the 2017 season, KLASA FC staged a league upset by finishing at the top of the table. However, they lost to

NEROCA FC NEROCA Football Club (known fully as North Eastern Re-Organising Cultural Association Football Club) is an Indian professional association football, football club based in Imphal, Manipur, that currently competes in the I-League 2. It previousl ...

in the final and end up being the runners-up. MSL came back after a hiatus due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in the 2021 season. KLASA finished the league toppers and qualified for the final stage. KLASA beat Sagolband United 2-1 in the semi-final and emerged as champions after defeating SSU 1-0 in the final, grabbing the title of the champions of Manipur for the first time. In the 15th edition of the Manipur State League, KLASA finished second in the group stage. In the semi-final match, KLASA faced KIYC and entered the final after beating them comfortably. KLASA FC defeated RAU 3-0 in the final match and became the consecutive champions of Manipur.

I-League 2

After winning the 2022 Manipur State League, KLASA qualified for the I-League 2. Instead of nominating them as per the

AIFF AIFF may refer to: * Audio Interchange File Format * All India Football Federation, the national governing body of Association football in India Film festivals * Addis International Film Festival, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia * Alexandria Internation ...

regulations, the state association nominated another team, KIYC who went out in the quarter final. After a series of appeals by the club and protests against the unfair treatment to its league champions, no team from Manipur played in the following I-League 2 season.

I-League 3

KLASA's dream of playing in the national stage finally started to take shape after they got nominated for the 2023–24

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

I-League 3 season. In the first round, they were placed in

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along with

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

, Sports Odisha, Jaipur Elite, and United Chirang Duar. KLASA became the table toppers without losing a single match, winning 1–0 against Baroda in the first match, drawing 0–0 with Jaipur Elite, winning 1–0 against Sports Odisha, and beating United Chirang Duar by 2–1 in their final match. As table toppers, KLASA became the first team to reach the playoffs, but could not progress any further. In the final round (play-offs), the club finished their campaign in fifth place.

Honours

Domestic league

* Manipur State League ** Champions (2): 2021–22, 2022–23

Domestic cups

* Shirui Lily Cup **Runners-up (1): 2021 *K. Shantibala (AJSA) Football Tournament **Winners (3): 1997–98, 2003–04, 2009–10 *Jiri Cup **Winners (2): 2015–16, 2017–18

References

{{Football in Manipur Association football clubs established in 1971 Football clubs in Manipur 1972 establishments in India I-League 2 clubs I-League 3 clubs