Football: Quartz raises hopes

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After the defunct Chandni FC and Malabar United, another Kozhikode based football club, Quartz Soccer Club, is going to start their I League Second division campaign from next month onwards.

The club, now training in Hyderabad, has been selected to play for the second division of the premier football league of the country and will be playing along with two other Kerala clubs this season.

“Actually, we thought about applying for the second division next year as we have signed the new coach and other officials just two months ago. But as there is no representation from Malabar region in the second division this time, we thought about applying and All India Football Federation approved it,” said P. Haridas, CEO of the Quartz Soccer Academy.

Quartz Soccer Club will be playing along with two other Kerala teams, Golden Threads and Eagles FC. “Both are Kochi based clubs. Chandni FC and Malabar United were from Malabar region but both the clubs were disbanded,” he said.

The club will be a major boost to the football enthusiasts in the region, as there are no prominent professional clubs registered from Kozhikode and rest of Malabar, playing profession league football.

“At present we are concentrating on the Kozhikode A Division League, which will start in January second week. The management is trying for more players and we have included three Nigerians in the squad,” said Frank Braner, the coach of Quartz Soccer Club. Frank Braner was a coach in the German Fourth Division and joined the club in November.

“Everything is going fine. The players are thrilled that they can play in the second division this year. Ours is a young club with an average age of 21. The club players are currently training in Hyderabad. The team will be coming in the second week of the month to Kozhikode,” he said.

Frank Braner was in Kozhikode for a referee’s clinic organised by Kozhikode District Football Association.

“Training young players is a real challenge. I am trying to impart the European style of play to the players. As they are young, we could easily train them. The foreigners are also playing superbly,” said the coach.

“Half of the players are from Kerala and are very talented. There are a total of 25 players. We are hoping for the best this season,” he said.

“We would like to promote the football in Malabar region and bring it back to its previous glory. We would be setting up football academies too for that,” added Haridas.