| Full name | United Sikkim Football Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Snow Lions | |||
| Founded | 2008 | |||
| Ground | Paljor Stadium (Capacity: 25,000) |
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| Owner | Fidelis World Baichung Bhutia Shankar Mahadevan |
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| Chairman | Baichung Bhutia | |||
| Manager | Philippe De Ridder | |||
| League | I-League 2nd Division | |||
| 2011 | 5th | |||
| Website | Club home page | |||
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| Current season | ||||
United Sikkim Football Club is an Indian football club based in Sikkim in northeast India. The club is currently participating in the I-League 2nd Division. Despite playing in the I-League 2nd Division, the club had managed to sign two Indian international players in Renedy Singh and Sushil Kumar Singh in addition to the former Indian captain, Baichung Bhutia, who is also one of the co-owners of the team.
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United Sikkim FC was founded in 2008 by the Sikkim Football Board and with help from the then captain of the India national football team, Baichung Bhutia. The goal for this club was to increase the standard of football in Sikkim. In its first two years of existence, United Sikkim participated in Amateur leagues in northeast India. The club was managed by Arjun Rai during its stint in the Amateur leagues. Due to the success of the club and the fact that it is sponsored by Bhutia, Sikkim became the only region selected by FIFA for their Goal Project 2 which is aimed to increase the standard of football in Sikkim.
On 10 February 2011, it was announced that United Sikkim, along with 20 other football clubs have been selected to participate in the I-League 2nd Division, the second tier of football in India. [1] On 27 February 2011 it was announced that Liberian international Johnny Menyongar signed with the club on a one year contract till July 2011. [2] On 12 March 2011, United Sikkim played a friendly match against fellow I-League 2nd Division side Mohammedan SC in which they lost 3-1. [3]
The season began bright for United Sikkim as they tied their first official match against Langsning SC 2-2 on 31 March 2011 with both goals scored by Indian international N.S. Manju. Their first win came on 5 April 2011 against NISA in which the final score was 2-0 to United Sikkim FC with both goals scored by Johnny Menyongar. On 14 April 2011 United Sikkim booked there place in the 2011 I-League 2nd Division Final Round with a 4-1 win over Golden Threads. On 26 April 2011 United Sikkim FC opened there season in the I-League 2nd Division Final Round with a 1-1 draw with Sporting Clube de Goa. Ultimately though United Sikkim could not qualify for the I-League as they finished in 5th in 2011.
Unveiled in March 2011 first crest featured a white snow lion at the bottom of the crest with five triangles in the orange background. Then in April 2011 United Sikkim unveiled there second (and alternate) logo which looked old and ancient. This logo contains a huge white snow lion on the entire right side of an orange logo with two white lions on the bottom.
Ever sense there creation the official colors of United Sikkim have been orange and white. In March 2011 it was announced that the away colors would be dark blue with strips of light blue.
When United Sikkim get promoted to the I-League they will reportedly play at the Paljor Stadium. In January it was announced that Paljor Stadium will be renovated and the turf will be replaced with Artificial turf. [4]
The club is currently majority owned by Fidelis World, a company based in the United Arab Emirates. [5] Along with Fidelis footballing icon Baichung Bhutia and famous Indian singer Shankar Mahadevan partly own shares in the club as co-owners. [6]
Also according to Fidelis World "USFC’s governance structure has been designed to bring corporate best practices to Indian football, with a Board of Directors overseeing all corporate activities and committees exercising authority over delegated matters." which gives hope of major profit coming over to the club over many years. [7]
In 2011 after the 2011 Sikkim earthquake, United Sikkim players gathered together in order to raise money to help those in distress after the earthquake. [8]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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These players are known for playing for United Sikkim and having achievements with Sikkim or any other club
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Philippe De Ridder |
| Assistant manager | Padam Subba |
| First team coach | Arjun Rai |
| Reserve team coach | Arunava Bhattacharya |
| Goalkeeping coach | Jose Tavares |
| Physiotherapist | Kruti Marolia |
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