Lonestar Kashmir FC

Lonestar Kashmir Football Club (also known as Lone Star or LKFC)[2] is an Indian professional football club based in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.[3][4][5] Founded in 2013, the club previously competed in I-League 2nd Division,[6][7][8] and currently participates in JKFA Professional League.

Lonestar Kashmir FC
Full nameLonestar Kashmir Football Club[1]
Nickname(s)Lonestar
Short nameLKFC
Founded2013 (2013)
GroundTRC Turf Ground
Capacity11,000
LeagueJKFA Professional League
WebsiteClub website

Lonestar first competed professionally when they were part of the 2015 I-League 2nd Division.[9] The club primarily uses TRCG Stadium as home ground.[10][11]

History

Formation and journey
Lonestar Kashmir players during an I-League 2nd Division match at the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad, 2019.

Lonestar Kashmir Football Club[12] was founded in 2013 and is affiliated with the Jammu & Kashmir Football Association (JKFA).[13] The club participates in various state and regional tournaments.[14] In 2013, LoneStar Group became a primary sponsor of the team, and registered it as a private company to fulfil AIFF club licensing criteria.[15] At the end of the 2013 season, LoneStar Group registered KFC under the Companies Act as per the AIFF Club licensing criteria. Popularly known as Kashmir FC, Lonestar Kashmir Football Club is a dream project of Iftikhar Ahmed Lone, its founder and chairman.

Lonestar Kashmir players training at the TRC Turf Ground in July 2018.

The club, first of its kind in the state, has been floated to promote football amongst the talented youth of the Jammu & Kashmir. A successful businessman, having established Lonestar as a global brand of Kashmiri handicrafts and jewellery in the middle-east and many European countries, Iftikhar returned to the valley. In quest for self-actualization, once a college-level footballer had the idea to introduce a Kashmir-based club in the professional football map of the country, thus Lonestar Kashmir FC came into being.[16]

The club's biggest achievements were emerging as the runners-up of the I-League 2nd Division in 2015,[17] and 2015–16 season,[18] though they didn't managed the top spot of the league and never qualified for the I-League, one of India's top-flight football leagues. Farukh Choudhary emerged as top Indian scorer for the club with six goals in 18 matches.[19] The 2016–17 season was not suitable for them as they bowed out from Group stages,[20][21] finishing on bottom with 2 points in 9 matches.[22]

In 2017, they participated in 15th Police Martyrs Memorial Football Tournament, which was held at the TRC Turf Ground.[23] In October 2018, they took part in another state tournament J&K Invitational Cup but could not succeed.[24]

2020–present

Lonestar Kashmir later participated in the JKFA Professional League during its inaugural 2020–21 season.[25][26] Later they took part in the Real Kashmir Cup in 2021 and reached to the semi-finals.[27]

In May 2021, the club announced that Kashmir Observer will be their official media partner for the 2020–21 season.[28] The following season in July 2021, Rogelio Juárez Robinson became the first Panamanian footballer to sign with Lonestar from Jamaican side Mount Pleasant Football Academy.[29]

In July 2021, the club participated in the inaugural season of JKFA Professional League, the first professional league in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, organised by Jammu and Kashmir Football Association (JKFA) and J&K Sports Council.[30][31][32] They finished on sixth place.

Rivalry

Lonestar Kashmir has a rivalry with their fellow Jammu & Kashmir-based club Real Kashmir FC.[33][34] The team has also participated in the inaugural 2020–21 Real Kashmir Cup, which was actually hosted by Real Kashmir FC at the TRC Turf Ground.[35][36]

Stadium

Lonestar Kashmir uses the TRC Polo Synthetic Turf Ground in Srinagar for their home matches, which has a seating capacity of 11,000 spectators.[37][38] Since 2015, the ground is being used in I-League 2nd Division for Lonestar,[39] and I-League for Real Kashmir. It is operated by Jammu & Kashmir Football Association, and was renovated in 2015.[40]

During the 2018–19 I-League 2nd Division, Lonestar briefly moved to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board sports complex in Katra, due to security reasons.[41][42][43]

Players

Senior team squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK India IND Sk. Moiduk Islam
2 DF India IND Rahul Baishnab Jaydebdas
4 DF India IND Basalt Javaid Shah
6 MF India IND Farzaan Fayaz
9 FW India IND Atinder Mani
11 MF India IND Muhammad Asrar Rehbar
12 MF India IND Zubair Bashir
13 MF India IND Waqar Ahmad Malik
14 MF India IND Karun Raina
15 FW India IND Faisal Rashid
No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW Panama PAN Rogelio Juárez
16 DF India IND Vivek Gulati
17 MF India IND Mir Abdul Hanan (Captain)
18 DF India IND Gagandeep Singh Ghattaura
21 MF India IND Muzammil Muzhar Khan
23 MF India IND Faisal Wangnoo
24 GK India IND Muhammad Rashid Nalakath
26 DF India IND Gulshan Kumar
27 DF India IND Sowban Hilal Sidiqui
50 MF India IND Paviter Singh

Managerial history
As of 14 February 2020
NameNationalityFromToPWDLGFGAWin%Ref.
Hilal Rasool  India 2015 2017 14 8 3 3 22 14 057.14 [44]
Clebson Duarte da Silva  Brazil 2018 2018 9 0 2 7 9 18 000.00 [45][46]
Emerson Ricardo Alcântara  Brazil 2018 2019 0 0 0 0 0 0 !— [47]
Miki Lladó  Spain 2019 2019 7 1 2 4 8 13 014.29 [48]
Kenichi Yatsuhashi  Japan 2019 2020 7 1 2 4 8 13 014.29 [49]

Former players

Foreign players

Lonestar Kashmir U19

In 2014, Lonestar Kashmir launched it's U19 team to participate in the Elite League (India).[58] The U19 team was first participated in the league during the 2014–15 I-League U19 season (group D – rest of India zone) and moved to final round.[59][60][61]

Honours

League

See also

References
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