Real Kashmir 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

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. Incorporated in 2016, the club predominantly competes in

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 ...

, the second tier of Indian football league system. Real Kashmir with its reserves side also participates in Jammu & Kashmir Premier Football League regionally. Nicknamed "Sheeni Seh" (), Real Kashmir is the first ever club from Jammu and Kashmir to earn promotion to compete in any top flight football league of the country. They also lifted prestigious

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, and was named after the association. The IFA Shield to ...

title in 2022. Club's

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

section has been competing in the state league, as well as AIFF Futsal Club Championship, the highest division of futsal club competition in the country.

History

Foundation and early history

The seeds of Real Kashmir FC were sown in 2014 after devastating floods swept through the region causing massive loss of life and property. To keep the youth, who had lost much during the floods—engaged, Shamim Mehraj, editor of a local newspaper named ''" Kashmir Monitor"'', and Sandeep Chattoo, a local businessman, came together to arrange footballers. What began as a community outreach programme garnered massive support from the local populace and it soon started evolving into something more. Real Kashmir FC as a club, formalised in 2016, and affiliated with Jammu & Kashmir Football Association (JKFA) under the tireless efforts by Chattoo. Founded in 2016, Real Kashmir FC emerged as the first ever top flight professional football club in Jammu and Kashmir.

Later years

Shortly after its formation, the club participated in their first national competition in September 2016 when they competed in the 2016 Durand Cup. In January 2017, Real Kashmir roped in David Robertson as their new head coach, and in July, it became the first club from Jammu & Kashmir to play on foreign soil by playing 4 matches in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. They appeared in their first major tournament by competing in the 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division, but failed to reach to the final round. They have been participating in all four categories of the AIFF. In May 2018, Real Kashmir FC earned promotion to the 2018–19 I-League by winning the 2017–18 I-League 2nd Division after defeating

Hindustan ''Hindūstān'' ( English: /ˈhɪndustæn/ or /ˈhɪndustɑn/, ; ) was a historical region, polity, and a name for India, historically used simultaneously for northern Indian subcontinent and the entire subcontinent, used in the modern day ...

in the final game of the season by a score of 3–2. On 30 May 2018, Real Kashmir became champions of the I-League 2nd Division. This was only their second season at this level, after the club's inception in 2016, earning promotion to the I-League for the first time ahead of the 2018–19 season. In October 2018, they clinched Jammu & Kashmir Invitational Cup, jointly with Minerva Punjab. On 11 December 2018, they witnessed one of the league's biggest wins, after they thrashed Shillong Lajong by 6–1. Real Kashmir achieved third place in their debut season. In August 2018, the Real Kashmir FC youth team travelled to Germany for pre-season training with one of the best football clubs in the world:

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

(BVB). The youth team visited the training centers where official BVB teams train. They also visited the famous BVB stadium Westfalenstadion. They participated in 2019 Durand Cup and reached the semi-finals, but lost 3–1 to Mohun Bagan. On 19 December 2020, the ''Snow Leopards'', as they are fondly called, added another golden chapter in their short yet eventful history by winning the 123rd edition of the

tournament, defeating George Telegraph at the Salt Lake Stadium in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. It is the first major domestic triumph since their inception in 2016. For

2021, they borrowed three players ( Danish Farooq Bhat, Adnan Ayoub, Farhan Ganie) from J&K Bank Football Club. In the 2020–21 I-League, the club finished their campaign in fifth place (Play-off), accumulating 21 points with 5 wins in 15 matches. As the defending champions of

, Real Kashmir began its

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

edition campaign on 24 November with a 3–0 win over Indian Arrows. They retained their title with a 2–1 win against Sreenidi Deccan on 15 December. The club failed to make an impact in the 2021–22 I-League season and finished on twelfth place. In midway of the 2022–23 season, the club roped in English manager Gifton Noel-Williams as new head coach, who succeeded Mehrajuddin Wadoo in February 2023. In 2024, Arshad Shawl acquired the ownership of Real Kashmir. In the 2024–25 I-League, the club finished the season undefeated at home soil.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Stadium

The club is currently using the 10,000-capacity TRC Polo Synthetic Turf Ground in

as their home ground. Since 2015, the ground is being used in I-League 2nd Division as the home ground for their rival Lonestar Kashmir, and

for Real Kashmir. The ground is operated by the Jammu & Kashmir Football Association and renovated in 2015. It has

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

Rivalry

Real Kashmir has a rivalry with their fellow Jammu & Kashmir-based club Lonestar Kashmir FC, that participated in the I-League 2nd Division. The team has also participated in the inaugural ''2020–21 Real Kashmir Cup'', which was hosted at the TRC Turf Ground.

Players

First-team squad

Current technical staff

Records and statistics

Overall records

Season by season

Managerial record

Notable players

Past and present internationals

The following Real Kashmir players have been capped at '' international level'' for their respective countries. Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club. * Taha Dyab (2018) * Aaron Katebe (2018–2020) * Kashif Siddiqi (2019) * Tenzin Samdup (2019–2020) * Zohib Islam Amiri (2021) * Masih Saighani (2021) * Moro Lamine (2022–2023) * Nozim Babadjanov (2022–2023) * Nuriddin Davronov (2023) * Shaher Shaheen (2023–2024) * Henry Kisekka (2024) * Aminou Bouba (2024–)

Other noted player(s)

* Mason Robertson (2018–2022),

top scorer with Real Kashmir ( Chuni Goswami Memorial Award) in 2020

Other departments

Football (women's)

In September 2020, Real Kashmir FC launched women's development initiative named ''She Power Programme'', in collaboration with Delhi Public School, for U-14 and U-10 girls teams. Senior team was announced in August 2021.

Futsal (men's)

The

section of Real Kashmir has participated in the inaugural edition of Futsal Club Championship, in which they failed to reach the knock-out stages. The team previously clinched the state Futsal Championship title for the 1st time in September 2021, defeating Downtown Heroes by 3–1, which was organized by Jammu & Kashmir Football Association.

Football (youth men's)

Real Kashmir has been operating U13, U15 and U18 youth teams. Their U15 team took part in Hero U15 I-League. U18 team of the club competed in final round of the

2018–19 Indian Elite League The 2018–19 Elite League, also known as 2018–19 Hero Elite League for sponsorship reasons and formerly known as Youth League U18 was the eleventh season of the Indian Elite League and the fourth season of the competition as an under-18 one. ...

. U17 team later went on to participate in

2022–23 U-17 Youth Cup The 2022–23 Youth League, also known as 2022–23 Hero U-17 Youth Cup (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), was the thirteenth season of the Indian Youth League and the first season of the competition as an under-17 category. The 2019� ...

. The U15 team participated in Nike Premier Cup.

Honours

League

**Third place (2): 2018–19, 2024–25 * I-League 2nd Division **Champions (1): 2017–18

Cup

**Winners (2):

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

* J&K Invitational Cup **Winners (1): 2018

Award

*IFA Shield Fair Play Award (Ronny Roy Memorial Trophy): 2020

Affiliated club

The following club was affiliated with Real Kashmir FC: * Oxford United FC (2020–2021)

In popular culture

Worldwide attention

Real Kashmir have received international acclaim following their participation in a

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

documentary named ''"Real Kashmir FC"'' that followed the team and their Scottish manager David Robertson, which won the best 'Single Documentary' category at the British Academy Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) or

BAFTA Film Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best Cinema of the United Kingdom, British and Worl ...

Scotland. It additionally won at the UK "Broadcast Awards" for best documentary, and the best documentary and best director for Greg Clark at the Rotterdam European Sports Awards. A follow-up documentary "Return to Real Kashmir FC" was then made and given a 4 star review in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. The documentaries were also broadcast on

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

in the US.

Global partnerships

On 22 October 2018, Adidas India announced its official partnership with Real Kashmir Football Club, the first football team from the Kashmir valley to qualify for the country's top tier I-League. Beginning with the 2018–19 I-league season, Adidas became the official kit partner for the club. Also, beyond kit sponsorship, Adidas India aims at redefining the 'Real' Kashmir through the lens of sports and becoming a proponent of changing lives in Kashmir through football. The club is also affiliated to the Football for Peace, a non-governmental organisation headquartered in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Real Kashmir also took part in Football for Peace global conference at the

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a sporting complex and public park in Stratford, Hackney Wick, Leyton and Bow, in east London. It was purpose-built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, situated adjacent to the Stratford City devel ...

, as an ambassador from India.

Footnotes

References

External links

Official websiteTeam info
at Global Sports Archive
Team profile
at Soccerway * *
Real Kashmir FC
at the-aiff.com {{Football in India Football clubs in Jammu and Kashmir Sport in Srinagar I-League clubs I-League 2 clubs Association football clubs established in 2016 2016 establishments in Jammu and Kashmir