Lonestar Kashmir Football Club (also known as Lone Star or LKFC) 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

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

. Founded in 2013, the club previously competed in

I-League 2nd Division 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 ...

(third tier), and currently participates in JKFA Professional League, the fifth tier in the Indian football league system. Lonestar first competed professionally when they were part of the 2015 I-League 2nd Division. The club primarily uses TRCG Stadium as home ground.

History

Formation and journey

Lonestar Kashmir Football Club was founded in 2013 and is affiliated with the

Jammu & Kashmir Football Association The Jammu and Kashmir Football Association (JKFA) is one of the 36 Indian state football associations affiliated with the All India Football Federation. The Jammu and Kashmir Football Association is the governing body for football in Jammu and ...

(JKFA). The club participates in various state and regional tournaments. In 2013, LoneStar Group became a primary sponsor of the team, and registered it as a private company to fulfil

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 ...

club licensing criteria. At the end of the 2013 season, LoneStar Group registered KFC under the

Companies Act Companies Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Botswana, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom in relation to company law. The Bill for an Act with this short title w ...

as per the AIFF Club licensing criteria. Popularly known as Kashmir FC, Lonestar Kashmir Football Club is a dream project of Iftikhar Ahmed Lone, its founder and chairman. Gopal Pathak

The club, first of its kind in the state, has been floated to promote football amongst the talented youth of the Jammu & Kashmir. A successful businessman, having established ''Lonestar'' as a global brand of Kashmiri handicrafts and jewellery in the middle-east and many European countries, Iftikhar returned to the valley. In quest for self-actualization, once a college-level footballer had the idea to introduce a Kashmir-based club in the professional football map of the country, thus Lonestar Kashmir FC came into being. The club's biggest achievements were emerging as the runners-up of the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, and 2015–16 season, though they didn't managed the top spot of the league and never qualified for the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

, one of India's top-flight football leagues. Mozin Shah emerged as top Indian scorer for the club with six goals in 18 matches. The 2016–17 season was not suitable for them as they bowed out from Group stages, finishing on bottom with 2 points in 9 matches. In 2017, they participated in 15th Police Martyrs Memorial Football Tournament, which was held at the

TRC Turf Ground TRC Turf Ground is a Association football, football stadium located in Srinagar, in Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, India. Owned by Jammu & Kashmir Football Association, It is currently the home ground of Real Kashmir F. ...

. In October 2018, they took part in another state tournament J&K Invitational Cup but could not succeed.

2020–present

Lonestar Kashmir later participated in the JKFA Professional League during its inaugural 2020–21 season. Later they took part in the Real Kashmir Cup in 2021 and reached to the semi-finals. In May 2021, the club announced that ''Kashmir Observer'' will be their official media partner for the 2020–21 season. The following season in July 2021, Rogelio Juárez Robinson became the first

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

nian footballer to sign with Lonestar from Jamaican side

Mount Pleasant Football Academy Mount Pleasant Football Academy is a Jamaican professional football club based in the parish of Saint Ann. The club currently plays in the Jamaica Premier League. History Formed in 2016 by Peter Gould, Mount Pleasant F.A., formerly known as “S ...

. In July 2021, the club participated in the inaugural season of JKFA Professional League, the first professional league in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, organised by

Jammu and Kashmir Football Association The Jammu and Kashmir Football Association (JKFA) is one of the 36 Indian state football associations affiliated with the All India Football Federation. The Jammu and Kashmir Football Association is the governing body for association football, f ...

(JKFA) and J&K Sports Council. They finished on sixth place. In 2022, Lonestar Kashmir reached semi-finals of Christmas Gold Cup.

Rivalry

Lonestar Kashmir has a rivalry with their fellow Jammu & Kashmir-based club

Real Kashmir FC Real Kashmir Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. Incorporated in 2016, the club predominantly competes in I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. Real Kashmir with it ...

. The team has also participated in the inaugural 2020–21 Real Kashmir Cup, which was actually hosted by

at the

Stadium

Lonestar Kashmir uses the TRC Polo Synthetic Turf Ground in

for their home matches, which has a seating capacity of 11,000 spectators. Since 2015, the ground is being used in

for Lonestar, and

for Real Kashmir. It is operated by

, and was renovated in 2015. During the

2018–19 I-League 2nd Division The 2018–19 I-League 2nd Division (known as Hero 2018–19 I-League 2nd Division for sponsorship reasons), was the 12th season of the I-League 2nd Division, the second division Indian association football, football league, since its establishme ...

, Lonestar briefly moved to

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including Ind ...

sports complex in Katra, due to security reasons.

Players

Senior team squad

Managerial history

Former players

Foreign players

Lancine Touré Lancine Touré (born 21 January 1995) is an Ivorian professional footballer, who plays for Bangladesh Police FC in the Bangladesh premier League as a defender. Career Touré started his career with AS GNN of Niger Premier League. In 2015, h ...

(2017) * Alexandre Tabillon (2017–2018) *

Lhendup Dorji '' Dasho'' Lhendup Dorji (, 6 October 1935 – 15 April 2007) was a member of the Dorji family of Bhutan. He was also the brother of the Queen of Bhutan, Ashi Kesang choden and uncle to the fourth king of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck. H ...

(2019) * Adeyemi Wahab Lasisi (2019) * Jagaba Hamza (2019–2021) * Maxwell Ellon (2019–2020) * Rogelio Juárez (2021)

Youth and academy

U15 team of Lonestar Kashmir took part in Hero U15 I-League, played in the final round too. In 2014, the club launched its U19 team to participate in the

Elite League (India) The Youth League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the All India Football Federation. It consists of 3 age groups competitions: U17 (AIFF Youth League), U15 (Junior League) and U13 (Sub-Junior Le ...

. The U19 team was first participated in the league during the

2014–15 I-League U19 The 2014–15 I-League U19 is the seventh season of the Indian I-League U19 The Youth League is a system of youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the All India Football Federation. It con ...

season (group D – ''rest of India'' zone) and moved to final round. The club also operates youth women's section and academies.

Honours

League

**Runners-up (2): 2014–15, 2015–16 * J&K Premier Football League **Runners-up (1): 2017 *JK Bank & Khyber Premier League **Runners-up (1): 2015

Cup

*J&K Police Martyrs Memorial Cup **Runners-up (1): 2017

References

External links

* * *
Lonestar Kashmir FC
at Khel Now (archived)
Lonestar Kashmir FC
at '' the-aiff.com'' (archived)
Lonestar Kashmir FC
at Soccerway {{Football in India Lonestar Kashmir FC Association football clubs established in 2013 I-League 2 clubs 2013 establishments in Jammu and Kashmir Sport in Srinagar Football clubs in Jammu and Kashmir