On Saturday morning on January 14, footballers paced the breadth of Jammu and Kashmir’s sole astroturf-covered football ground, the Synthetic Turf Football Stadium, near the Tourist Reception Centre in Srinagar. Players of different age groups warmed up in the subzero temperatures as coaches kept on pushing. Excitement and determination was visible on their faces, not for the practice match but the upcoming I-League preliminary round.

Kashmir is hosting the I-League 2nd Division matches for the second time, and the first six matches of the prelims will be held in Srinagar, beginning January 22, if the weather holds up. Two local clubs, Lone Star Kashmir FC and the recently launched Real Kashmir FC are competing in the league. The two clubs are grouped with Delhi United FC and Sudeva Moonlight FC.

Even though the sport has always been popular in the valley, where football matches were once a spectacle of sorts, it is only in the last three years that professional clubs have come up. Lone Star Kashmir FC was the first club to come up in the valley in 2013 and make it to the I-League. The team fought hard in its second season in I-League’s 2015-’16, ending it as the runners-up after being defeated by Dempo.

‘We aspire to someday play for ISL’

The club, however, has made its mark on the football scene in Jammu and Kashmir, inspiring the setup and launch of Kashmir’s second professional football club, Real Kashmir FC, in 2016. Shamim Meraj, editor of a local newspaper and owner of Real Kashmir FC, used to be a footballer, playing at college level and with local non-professional clubs. “We aspire to someday play for the Indian Super League,” Meraj said. “We want to be the East Bengal of North India. That’s what we are aiming for it.”

Football in the valley, Meraj said, has only grown in popularity. Pointing towards a 100-odd youths sitting in the stadium’s seating area, he said, “Two years ago you would not see, in January and in snow, that you have football [matches].” He added that with general exposure of national leagues and a planned strategy, football’s scope will grow in the valley.

The club, still in its infancy, has hired as its coach David Robbertson, who has a Uefa Pro Licence. Robbertson, 48, has won six straight Scottish Premier Division with Glasgow Rangers, apart from lifting three Scottish Cups and three League Cups with the Gers.

Despite a lack of exposure, the valley has produced footballers and AFC PRO License coaches. The Kashmir valley also boasts of players like Chennayin FC’s defender, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, and Kerala Blasters’ winger, Ishfaq Naseem.

Two young footballers from the valley, Mohammed Asrar Rehbar, of Real Kashmir FC, and Basit Ahmed, both aged 18, shall play with Sociedad Deportiva Lenense Proinastur, a third division professional club in Spain, for a period of six months.

The lack of proper infrastructure and a summer of violence prevented the clubs from practicing. Real Kashmir FC participated in the Durand Cup, losing two matches and drawing three, but the spirits remain high. Salman Ashraf, the team manager, said the exposure to the national sporting event was what mattered.

Dedication and aggression

Robbertson, who joined Real Kashmir in January this year said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the players. “A lot of the young players are keen and dedicated, and aggressive,” he said, adding that the team has “a good mix and balance of players in each form.”

“It’s all about opportunities and exposure,” said Robbertson who has a strict schedule for training. Every morning, 11 am onward, players practice in the subzero temperatures. “There is no margin for error in these games,” he said.

Hilal Rasool Parray, head coach of Lone Star Kashmir FC, said that to increase competitiveness and maintain fitness for the game, a footballer needs to play at least 60 matches per season. “Here we can only play 4-5 matches (per season) due to the state’s [political] situation. That is why we had sent our boys outside, last month, to Pune so we can gear up for this championship.”

Dr Elahi Zahoor, Lone Star Kashmir FC’s physiotherapist, said many were surprised “when they saw we qualified without the help of any international player.” He said that during the 2015-’16 season, “it was all local talent and Indian players, and in that, again, we qualified for second round.”

Playing for Lone Star Kashmir FC is 22-year-old Dashyanng Kachru, a Kashmiri who is a permanent resident of Mumbai. The engineering graduate has in the past played for the Pifa and ONGC teams and plays at centre-midfield. “I have played football for years and knew about this club in Kashmir,” he said. “My dad was in touch with Hilal Sir and so after graduating i joined the club.”

Real Kashmir FC, too, has added more players to its team for the upcoming derby. Nineteen-year-old Moirangthem Loken Meiter, former midfielder of Royal Wahingdo, is among the five footballers from Manipur. Whereas 31-year-old defender Lamine Tamba from Senegal started his career at the Olympique de Marseille and has played for Indian clubs such as Mahindra United FC and Churchill Brothers Sports Club before joining Real Kashmir for the current season.

Logistics are an issue

Football’s state of affairs in the valley, however, remains dismal. The lack of snow clearance in winter, slippery mud, floodlights, and a general lack of facilities narrate a tale of neglect at the Sports Council’s Synthetic Turf stadium.

Meraj said that while his club did not face financial constraints, logistics were an issue. Real Kashmir FC’s home ground, Bakshi Stadium, which is right next to the JK Sports Council office, he said, remained snowed in.

Currently practicing at the Synthetic Turf Stadium, Meraj said even there the snow had to be partly cleared by the team members and the local police later pitched in. “Bakshi Stadium is our home ground [and] is a horrible mess. We have tried everything in the book, we have approached everyone but to be honest the support that should be there from the authorities, in terms of the infrastructure... is the biggest impediment we are facing,” he said.

Meraj added that “the only way football can progress is if we have facilities in winter, when most of the activity stops...We don’t have a facility in entire state where there are floodlights, which don’t even cost much.”

Parray further said that despite the lack of infrastructure in the valley, football was picking up in winters. “You don’t need to invest a lot,” he said, adding, “It is a game where you need a good turf, rest it’s a cheap game: A ball and 24 players can play.” Paray added that there were some efforts to boost the infrastructure by the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association, but the same would be visible within a couple of years.

For Parray the priority has always been to focus on coaching the local talent as they do not get a platform outside the state. “I want this to be their stepping stone, so they can move to another level,” he said.

Goal for India is a series focusing on the beautiful game from various footballing hotbeds in the country. To read the rest of the stories in this series, click here.