47 participants took part in the online event, which was also attended by Ms. Hesterine De Reus, UEFA Assist Expert; Mr. Chris Milnes, International Relations Project Specialist, UEFA; Ms. Bai Lili, Head of Women’s Football, AFC, along with other representatives from UEFA, AFC and AIFF.

The three-and-a-half-hour long comprehensive session opened with an address from Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary, AIFF, who talked about the ‘important role’ of women’s football and sport in general, along with its ‘tremendous potential’.

“I’m very happy to be a part of this workshop. Women’s football has a very important role to play in the overall strategic plan of the federation and that is the reason for us to be hosting the upcoming AFC Women’s Asian Cup and FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2022, and developing the Hero Indian Women’s League. We are also taking part in the AFC Women’s Club Championship 2021 Pilot Tournament along with the introduction of Club Licensing for women’s teams, which is a critical objective,” Mr. Das averred.

He continued, “Development of the women’s game is vital — in football and all sports in general as it plays a very important role in society, and the AIFF is very cognizant of this fact. Things are looking very positive and optimistic, and it is important for the clubs and stakeholders to understand the importance we give to women’s football. India has tremendous potential in women’s football and clubs have an important role in taking it forward.”

The interactive workshop was conducted by Mr. Geoff Wilson, UEFA Assist Expert. It kicked off by covering the various elements of a marketing plan, such as defining objectives, defining the target market, developing the brand, tone of voice, resources and budgeting, creating a timeline, etc.

The participants exchanged thoughts and suggestions actively, as they discussed numerous topics and ideas to increase fan engagement, building communities, developing brand identity, improving the matchday experience for fans, developing players as influencers, and generating income through sponsorships and other streams.

Mr. Sunando Dhar, CEO Leagues, AIFF, issued the closing address and talked about the future plans of providing a structure for women’s football right from the age of six to the senior level.

“I thank our friends from UEFA and AFC for sharing their experience and expertise with the clubs. Such workshops help everyone and I hope the clubs have learned a lot from this experience. Women’s football is something we are very focused on and we understand its potential in Indian football. We hope to build on this and continue moving forward together from here,” Mr. Dhar stated.

“The Hero IWL is developing as a league with every edition and we are trying to improve the league in terms of the number of teams, matches and duration — making it a bigger and better event every year. After U17s, we plan to introduce age-category leagues in the future as well for U13 and U15s. The U6-U12 age category comes under the Golden Baby Leagues, which has just started and already saw the participation of girls double in one year. We aim to keep increasing female participation at all levels and form a structure right from U6 to the Hero IWL,” he concluded.

CREDITS- AIFF MEDIA

For Trial related updates: Latest trials updates in Mumbai Football

Also Read: DSouza FA dreams and achieves big in 5 years

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all the latest happenings in the world of Indian football

The post Women’s football clubs take part in online UEFA Marketing Workshop appeared first on Football Counter.

A brace from Anju along with Pooja gave a Chandigarh a 3-0 lead before an injury time goal from Manipur brought some respectability to score line. Interestingly this is the first and the only goal conceded by visiting team in the whole tournament.

Tournament leading goal scorer Anju broke the deadlock in the 37th minute to give Chandigarh a lead. Soon in the second half the lead was doubled through a goal scored by Pooja. Anju continued her fine-run in the tournament with another goal in the 87th minute to finish of the game. However, Manipur did manage to break the strong Manipur defence in the dying minutes of the match, (91st minute) but that was not enough to stop visitors from lifting their maiden trophy.

“The girls were inspired from the Indian women team’s Asia Cup victory ahead of the football final. They thought if India could beat the fancied China in the final, Chandigarh could also rattle last year’s finalists Manipur. They maintained the focus and aimed for a win in the final,” said Chandigarh team’s coach Manish Kumar.

Also Read: Indian Women League Qualifiers schedule are out

Chandigarh 3 – 1 Manipur

The strong performance from the girls got immediate recognition from AIFF as seven players from the winning team were called up for an Indian U-14 team camp to be held in Kolkata from November.

Selected players: Kavita, Anju, Poonam, Manisha, Pooja, Kiran, Varsha and Tanu (Standby).

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more updates on Indian Football

The post Chandigarh girls upset Manipur to lift Sub-Junior NFC trophy appeared first on Football Counter.

The fixtures for the upcoming qualifiers of the Indian Women’s League (IWL) 2017-18 were announced today (November 06, 2017. A draw of lots was held at Football House in New Delhi to determine the fixtures of the qualifiers to be held later this month in Kolhapur from November 25.

The 13 teams have been separated in to two groups, one containing six teams and other has 7 teams.

Group A:

Rising Student Club

J&K Sports Council

Capital Complex sporting Club

Indira Gandhi Academy for Sports & Education

Baroda Football Academy

Sethu FC

Group B:

SAI Women Football Team

Hans Women Football Club

Chandney Sporting Club

Krypsha

Rush Soccer

United Warrior Sporting Club

Eastern Sporting Union

Also Read: Rush Soccer lifts IWL Preliminary Round title

The schedule is as follows:

November 25 – Rising Student Club vs J&K State Sports Council

November 25 – Baroda Football Academy vs Sethu FC

November 25 – Capital Complex Sporting Club vs Indira Gandhi Academy for Sports & Education

November 26 – Hans Women Football Club vs SAI Women’s Football Team

November 26 – Rush Soccer vs Eastern Sporting Union

November 26 – United Warrior Sporting Club vs Krypsha

November 27 – J&K State Sports Council vs Sethu FC

November 27 – Indira Gandhi Academy for Sports & Education vs Baroda Football Academy

November 27 – Capital Complex Sporting Club vs Rising Student Club

November 28 – Chandney Sporting Club vs SAI Women’s Football Team

November 28 – United Warrior Sporting Club vs Hans Women Football Club

November 28 – Krypsha vs Rush Soccer

November 29 – Baroda Football Academy vs J&K State Sports Council

November 29 – Sethu FC vs Capital Complex Sporting Club

November 29 – Rising Student Club vs Indira Gandhi Academy for Sports & Education

November 30 – Eastern Sporting Union vs United Warriror Sporting Club

November 30 – SAI Women’s Football Team vs Krypsha

November 30 – Hans Women Football Club vs Chandney Sporting Club

December 01 – Indira Gandhi Academy for Sports & Education vs Sethu FC

December 01 – Rising Student Club vs Baroda Football Academy

December 01 – J&K State Sports Council vs Capital Complex Sporting Club

December 02 – Eastern Sporting Union vs Chandney Sporting Club

December 02 – Rush Soccer vs SAI Women’s Football Team

December 02 – Krypsha vs Hans Women Football Club

December 03 – Sethu FC vs Rising Student Club

December 03 – Indira Gandhi Academy for Sports & Education vs J&K State Sports Council

December 03 – Baroda Football Academy vs Capital Complex Sporting Club

December 04 – Hans Women Football Club vs Eastern Sporting Union

December 04 – Rush Soccer vs United Warrior Sporting Club

December 04 – Chandney Sporting Club vs Krypsha

December 06 – SAI Women’s Football Team vs United Warrior Sporting Club

December 06 – Chandney Sporting Club vs Rush Soccer

December 06 – Eastern Sporting Union vs Krypsha

December 08 – United Warrior Sporting Club vs Chandney Sporting Club

December 08 – SAI Women’s Football Team vs Eastern Sporting Union

December 08 – Rush Soccer vs Hans Women Football Club

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more updates on Indian Football

The post Indian Women League Qualifiers schedule are out appeared first on Football Counter.

Early first half goals from Sakshi Hiwale and Sai Sankhe gave a Maharashtra a 2-0 advantage after which despite getting reduced to ten women by losing their keeper to a red card, Maharashtra pulled off a brilliant 2-1 win.

Maharashtra dominated the game right from the off as Sakshi opened the scoring in the very 1st min with a smart finish after some good passage of play by the Maharashtra team.  With the goal, Maharashtra grew in to the game even more and soon the dominance payed off as in the 17^th minute, Maharashtra found an outlet in Sai Sankhe to double the goal tally and make it 2-0.

However in the 20^th minute, Delhi found a big opportunity to pull one back as a moment of madness resulted in a rash challenge by the Maharashtra GK with some words spoken against the referee, Delhi were awarded a penalty along with Goalkeeper Anjali being sent off. Down to 10 with the majority of the match to be played, head coach Firmin Dsouza made some adjustments to the team play.

However Maharashtra still dominated the proceedings and comfortably won the game to seal their spot for the Semi-Finals and seal their contention for the title.

Full Time: Maharashtra 2 (Sakshi Hiwale 1’, Sai Sankhe 17’) – 1 Delhi

Also Read: FSI, Rush Soccer and IFA qualifies from Maharashtra ‘B’ Group

In other quarter-finals fixtures, Odisha defeated Kerala 4-1 while Chandigarh trounced Bihar 11-0. In the last quarter-final encounter, Manipur thrashed West Bengal 5-0.

Other Quarter-finals Results:

Odisha 4 -1 Kerala

Chandigarh 11 – 0 Bihar

Manipur 5 – 0 West Bengal

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more updates on Indian Football

The post Resilient Maharashtra defeat Delhi 2-1 in Sub-Junior Girls NFC appeared first on Football Counter.

Football Leaders Academy (FLA) Tara Khatoon’s displayed an amazing performance as she bagged two goals in their 2-0 victory over Football School of India (FSI) in the last match of stage 1. The match went underway in an even circumstance as both the determined outfits performed equally well for the major part of the first-half.

FLA’s backline which was led by Laura Estebeiro never looked panic and shielded their goal with an amazing defensive display, whereas, FSI looked dangerous on the counter-attacks. The deadlock was finally broken after the half an hour mark when an in form attacker Tara Khatoon superbly danced past three defenders to calmly convert her effort into the back of the net.

Also Read: Nishu Singh scores ‘five times’ for Rush Soccer in their 6-1 rout

The goal boosted FLA’s morale which changed the course of the match. FSI suddenly started to feel the pressure inflicted by FLA. In the second-half, FLA continued from where they had left. They completely dominated the match proceedings for the majority of the second-half.

But midway into the half, FSI were awarded a penalty after the referee spotted a handball in the penalty box. In hope to level the score, Akanksha Kandalkar stepped up, only to see her penalty saved by the Goalkeeper. The penalty miss came back to haunt FSI later.

Tara came up with a moment of brilliance as she made it 2-0 to snatch all three points for FLA. With the conclusion of this tie, the stage 2 of IWL will commence from 12th September, 2017.

The post Tara ‘shines’ in FLA’s 2-0 win over FSI appeared first on Football Counter.

Oinam has scored 32 goals for the national team

Bembem becomes the second Indian Woman Footballer to win the Award, the first being Shanti Mullick in 1983. Bembem, nicknamed the ‘Durga of Indian Football,’ who had made her International debut in 1995 bowed out on a high after winning the SAFF Games Gold Medal in Shillong in February 2015. She has hence been closely associated with All India Football Federation in spreading awareness about Women’s Football in India and actively involved as a scout and Brand Ambassador for FIFA Live Your Goals, India.

Bembem said that she expects the Award will “motivate millions of girls to take up Football.”

“This is an Award for Indian Women’s Football,” she stated. “I hope this Award will help remove the mental block and inspire all girls in the society to take up the sport,” she added. “It gives me immense satisfaction to see my name in the same list with the greatest Indian sportspersons across all fields. My sacrifice over the past two decades has not gone waste. I need to thank all teammates, my Coaches, AIFF and the entire Football fraternity along with my family for their support.”

Also Read: FIFA makes a landmark decision for U17 World Cup

All India Football Federation President Mr. Praful Patel congratulated Bembem on her achievement, “Bembem has been an inspiration to all women in the Country. Her contribution to Indian Women’s Football has been exceptional. She deserves the Award. Congratulations,” he said in his message.

AIFF General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das mentioned that Bembem has been a ‘role model for so many youngsters.’ and congratulated her stating,“She has played for India for over two decades and has been a top performer. She is a role model for all budding women footballers. Congratulations,”

Women’s Head Coach Maymol Rocky couldn’t hide her delight either, “No one deserves the Arjuna Award more than Bembem. She has done so much for Indian Football both on and off the field. I am very happy for her. Congratulations,” she told

She is the 25th Footballer to have won the Award, the last being Subrata Paul in 2016. In addition, she was also awarded the AIFF Woman Footballer Award twice, in 2001 and 2013.

The post ‘DURGA OF INDIAN FOOTBALL’ WINS ARJUNA AWARD appeared first on Football Counter.

India has been grouped along with host Vietnam and Iran. The Indian eves clash swords against Iran on November 02, 2016 before taking on Vietnam on November 04, 2016.

“We have been clubbed with hosts Vietnam and a strong Iran, both of whom are tough opponents. We have to be on our toes throughout the Championship to secure a berth in the AFC U-19 Championship next year”, Head Coach Sajid Dar said.

“The temperature and the humidity levels (in Vietnam) are pretty similar to us and hopefully, we can perform up to our potential”, he added.

The list of 20 players are as follow:

Goalkeepers: Linthoingambi Devi (Manipur), Monika (Haryana), Vanshika Rana (Delhi)

Defenders: Jabamani Tudu (Odisha), Sweety Devi (Manipur), Poonam Sharma (Haryana), Thahenbi Devi (Manipur), Eva Panna (Odisha), Purnima Linda (Jharkhand)

Midfielders: Grace Lalrampari (Mizoram), Hemolata Devi (Manipur), Puja Toppo (Jharkhand), Ratanbala Devi (Manipur), Ranjibala Devi (Manipur), Simriti Girish (WIFA)

Forwards: Vanlalhriattiri (Mizoram), Kashmina (Manipur), Ranjana Chanu (Manipur), G. Sowmya (Telangana), Roja Devi (Manipur)

The post Women Football: 20 players shortlisted for AFC U-19 Qualifiers appeared first on Football Counter.