Pune F.C. Academy

Pune Academy
Full name Pune Football Club Academy
Nickname(s) Red Lizards
Founded 2011
Ground Pune FC Training Ground, Mamurdi, Pune
Chairman Nandan Piramal
Head Coach Naushad Moosa
League I-League U19
2014 Group Stage (Maharashtra Zone)

The Pune Football Club Academy is the youth team of Pune Football Club. They currently play in the I-League U19, the highest level of youth football in India.

Some of the senior members of the U19 team also play for the Pune F.C. "A" team which participates in the Pune Senior Division. The main U19 side is currently coached by Naushad Moosa. Ranjan Chowdhury is the Head of Youth Development at the academy.

History

Pune had always operated a U19 and U17 youth team since their inception in 2007 but on 23 June 2011 it was announced that the club would open an Academy at the U20 level, thus becoming the first I-League team to do so.[1] The initial trials for the Academy were held in Pune and were attended by around 280 hopefuls. Out of the 280 players only 25 passed the trial while five extra players were called up from the then-Pune Under-19 squad, thus creating the first group of 30 players for the 2011–12 season.[1] The clubs first tournament was the Peninsula Pune Cup which was held in September 2011 and was a pre-season tournament for Pune, Air India, and Deccan XI. The Academies first match since founding was during that tournament on 10 September against Air India. The match ended 2–1 in favor of Air India.[2] The Pune Academy then played their first ever foreign tournament on January 2012 when they participated in the Aaha Rara Gold Cup.[3] They however only made the semi-finals after losing to Samsung Jawalakhel 4–0.[4]

The Academy then participated for the first time in the 2012 I-League U20 which is the official youth tournament of the I-League. Their first match was against HAL on 20 April 2012; Pune won 5–1.[5] The team then went on to win the I-League U20 after winning all 9 matches to go undefeated.[6]

In 2013, the Academy won the U20 league again. This time in the final round the Pune Academy grabbed 13 points from five matches to finish on top.[7]

Current squad

U19 squad

As of 23 January 2015[8][9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 India GK Sukhdev Patil
2 India DF Balkar Singh
3 India DF Asheer Akhtar
4 India MF Myron Mendes
5 India DF Dimple Bhagat
7 India MF Sanchayan Samadder
8 India FW Farukh Choudhary
9 India FW Akshay Pashilkar
10 India MF Chesterpaul Lyngdoh
11 India MF Jesmon Soares
12 India MF Pradeesh Clement
No. Position Player
14 India MF Altamash Syed
15 India DF Tarif Akhand
16 India DF Manoranjan Singh
17 India FW Arif Shaikh
19 India MF Mohd. Shibili
22 India MF Mohd. Ashique Kuruniyan
25 India MF Prakash Sarkar
27 India DF Sanik Murmu
30 India GK Tanmay Bhattacharjee
31 India GK Iprotip Das
- India MF Thangmuansang Sebastian

Head Coaches

Honours

Winners (2): 2012, 2013

Notable graduates

This is a list of former academy graduates who have either played a match professional with Pune F.C. or any other club professionally.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Pune FC to launch training academy". Indian Express. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  2. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc2axxeOaQA&feature=plcp Pune FC Academy vs. Air India
  3. ↑ "Aaha Rara Gold Cup: Pune FC Academy reached Pokhara". Nepali Football. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Pune FC ‘A’ ends lose in semifinal clash". India Blooms. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  5. ↑ http://punefc.com/?news=u-20-i-league-pune-fc-ride-on-haokip’s-trick-thrash-hal-5-1 Pune U20 5-1 HAL U20
  6. ↑ "U20 I-League: Champions Pune FC sign off on all-win note, down Prayag Utd 3-1". Pune Football Club. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Pune FC are the I-League U-20 champions". I-League. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ http://i-league.org/u-19-i-league/results-fixtures-u-19-i-league/

External links