Do you know that a generation of young professional footballers is emerging from Kerala's economically and socially backward coastal families? And that a 90-year-old husband and wife are tirelessly engaged in this great mission? They are Thayil Jacob Mathew and his American wife Sally, the spirited couple driving the KovalamFC (KFC) and soccer academy based in Thiruvananthapuram. They are committed to discovering successors to the city’s brilliant “beach boy stars” like Sylvester Ignatius, who led Kerala to win the Santosh Trophy in 2004, or Jobby Justin, a former Indian International, now playing for Kolkata’s Diamond Harbour FC.
Today, the 16-year-old KFC has nearly 60 players on its rolls, aged from 12 to 22, who have made their mark from sub-junior to senior levels in most tournaments held in the country. Every KFC player or trainee lives at the club’s hostel or attached residential joints and pursues academics in nearby schools and colleges, all at the club’s expense. Clubs in and out of Kerala have wooed many, while a few have found berths in the State’s Santosh Trophy squad. KFC crossed a significant milestone this year when it reached the semi-finals in the Kerala Premier League (KPL), competing against Kerala’s 22 best professional teams.
Even more remarkable is that the KFC consists only of players from Kerala who are drawn from coastal communities, as against their fancied and well-backed rivals like Kerala Blasters, Muthoot, or Gokulam FC, which are studded with top professionals from in and even out of the country. KFC was qualified from the group, which included the formidable Kerala Blasters and defending champions Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). KFC finished with four wins, including one over Kerala Blasters in the seven-team group. Two years ago, KFC won a championship at Nilgiri, defeating Kerala Police, and was runner-up in the Arjun Singh Memorial tournament held in Madhya Pradesh.
KFC has more to be proud of. It is the only Kerala club with its exclusive ground, running the state's first football academy, hostel, and summer camps yearly since 2018. It also provides coaching to preschool and kindergarten children. KFC players earned berths in many top clubs, and two were selected to the State’s Santosh Trophy team.
Credit for mooting the idea of KFC goes to Ebin Rose, Kerala’s former Santosh Trophy player who, after retiring from the sport, returned to his native Vizhinjam 15 years ago. As a member of a fishing family, he knew that youngsters of his community had a natural talent for the beautiful game. Rose had another objective also- to keep youngsters of his village away from alcohol, drugs, and crimes. A British tourist, Tony Langham, who was knowledgeable about English professional football, happened to see the KFC youngsters coached by Rose. He took a keen interest and helped the club “take the baby steps” in becoming a professional club.
Notwithstanding the unending challenges ranging from constraints of funds to social prejudice and lack of discipline among the youngsters, Rose successfully navigated the KFC through remarkable milestones. In 2008, the club was promoted to the Thiruvananthapuram C Division League, followed by affiliation with the Kerala Football Association. His relentless pursuit brought great dividends in 2016 when a group of celebrities came forward to provide patronage to KFC. Among them were Dr Shashi Tharoor, V. Sivan Kutty, Princess Gouri Parvathi Bayi, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, senior journalist TJS George, and his brother-in-law Prof. Thomas Kailath of Stanford University, an eminent scientist.
George’s association brought his younger brother T J Mathew to KFC. Since then, Mathew has been Rose's closest ally in chasing their joint dream. Mathew’s passion for football and social service found an ideal destination in KFC. Having spent two decades in the USA, Mathew, a former journalist and a state-level footballer during his youth, has lived with his wife Sally at Kovalam since the early 1990s. Though the couple runs a heritage beach resort and a health club, they are now driven most by their passion for KFC.
KFC received a significant boost when Dr Jayakumar, the MV Higher Secondary School Manager at Arumanoor, offered the school’s playground on a long lease for training and practice sessions. Mathew succeeded in roping funds from his family’s charity foundation to build a three-story hostel with dormitories, a gym, a computer room, an infirmary run by the KIMS, study rooms, indoor recreation facilities, etc. There are more than 40 inmates in the hostel. Members of the senior team live in a rented house nearby.
In 2021, KFC entered its senior team in KPL with Federal Bank as the sponsor. “Federal Bank’s chairman C Balagopal was impressed by our boys and immediately offered to help,” said Thomas. The Bank has been KFC’s sponsor since then.
Besides playing in the semi in KPL, 2023 has been a particularly fruitful year for KFC. Eight of its players represented their native districts in the state senior championship, of which two -M. Manoj and K. Renjith- were selected for Santosh Trophy camps. Five players represented Kerala state, which won the Khelo India U-18 National championship.
KFC and its leaders are dreaming big. Plans are afoot to tie up with a top European club and build a world-class football academy. Immediate goals include winning the KPL and playing in the Indian Super League shortly. But KFC‘s prime endeavor remains to empower impoverished coastal families by educating their youth and providing them with a career path in football. KFC's mission is to catch them young from Kerala’s coastal areas, a huge catchment area for high-quality football talent. The club claims its aim is not to win championships but to create champions and become a source of talented and well-trained footballers for teams across the country. Most interestingly, no authority from the Panchayat level to the state government has yet bothered to provide KFC with any help. But according to Mathew, though no support has yet come, he is relieved that no big hurdle has been put to their functioning until now.
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Fisherfolk to Footballers: Kovalam FC’s Inspiring Story
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21.11.2023
Do you know that a generation of young professional footballers is emerging from Kerala's economically and socially backward coastal families? And that a 90-year-old husband and wife are tirelessly engaged in this great mission? They are Thayil Jacob Mathew and his American wife Sally, the spirited couple driving the KovalamFC (KFC) and soccer academy based in Thiruvananthapuram. They are committed to discovering successors to the city’s brilliant “beach boy stars” like Sylvester Ignatius, who led Kerala to win the Santosh Trophy in 2004, or Jobby Justin, a former Indian International, now playing for Kolkata’s Diamond Harbour FC.
Today, the 16-year-old KFC has nearly 60 players on its rolls, aged from 12 to 22, who have made their mark from sub-junior to senior levels in most tournaments held in the country. Every KFC player or trainee lives at the club’s hostel or attached residential joints and pursues academics in nearby schools and colleges, all at the club’s expense. Clubs in and out of Kerala have wooed many, while a few have found berths in the State’s Santosh Trophy squad. KFC crossed a significant milestone this year when it reached the semi-finals in the Kerala Premier League (KPL), competing against Kerala’s 22 best professional teams.
Even more remarkable is that the KFC consists only of players from Kerala who are drawn from coastal communities, as against their fancied and well-backed rivals like Kerala Blasters, Muthoot, or Gokulam FC, which are studded with top professionals from in and even out of the country. KFC was qualified from the group, which included the formidable Kerala Blasters and defending champions Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). KFC finished with four wins, including one over........
© Mathrubhumi English
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