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Present and former football players from Vadodara comes together to organise a football league with an aim to develop the sport in the city. The five a side football League will feature local as well as players from other states fight it out for the winner trophy.
The Baroda Football league (BFL) is an initiative by Baroda Football Academy to kick-start a league that would collaborate with entrepreneurs, who can purchase their teams and script a history like never before in Vadodara City. The aim is to give football its due in a city that has given the country illustrious players and take the passion of game to next level through this initiative.
Former national players Jeet Patel, Dhruv Patel, Rajvir Agarwal and current woman player Tarannum Sheikh who is also a certified C licence coach is part of the league to motivate the players as well as identity the talent from grassroot level. The league will have 8 teams, each sponsored by leading entrepreneurs and will take place on Turf 106 - Gujarat's largest turf.
"This is the inaugural season and from 1000 plus players 140 made it to the auctions. These players will be selected by the highest bidders and per team has 10 players consists of three each from U-18 and U-21 and four from senior. The players are from Gujarat, Delhi, Punjab, Mumbai, Rajasthan. The selection was done under the observation of Ex. India Player Jatin Bisht and Ex. 'l' League player Amit Mandal, " Said Sandeep Desai from Baroda Football Academy.
The league also concentrate on developing women football in the City district and the second season will be exclusively on Women football players. "Its a harsh fact that women football players are not getting good number of matches and hence this league is a perfect platform for such players. It's tough to accomodate full 11 players a side in matches so this five a side league will help identify the talent from grassroot level. The second season will be a all women football league," Said Tarannum Sheikh.
The Baroda Football League starts from 16th October, 2021 with a total of 35 matches will be played between the franchise teams. This is not a official tournament but a stepping stone to develop the football culture in Vadodara and also to identify talent at grassroot level.