DSK Shivajians FC announced their participation in Hero I-League 2015/16 Season in a Press Conference today. The PC was attended by the top brass of DSK Shivajians FC as well as the players.
The team will be managed by former Pune FC and Salgaocar FC Coach Derrick Pereira and will play their 1st match on 17th January, when they take on Sporting Clube de Goa in an away fixture. The club has made some good signings in the form of Subrata Paul, Mohammed Rafi, Israil Gurung, Zohaib Amiri, Douhou Pierre to name a few.
The Head Coach sounds hopeful of his new team and said, " We are excited to take our first steps in I-League. We have made significant additions to the squad with players with international pedigree and I-League experience joining the team. Our Team has shown strong work ethic over the pre-season. The hard work and dedication shown by the players has been commendable. We hope that we can make Pune proud with an impressive outing."
The Club is owned by business conglomerate, DSK Group and was founded in 1987. They previously played in 2013/14 I-League 2nd Division to get promotion to the top division but failed. The club has been quite active in local football circuit and their teams in all age groups have been performing very well in recent years.
In 2014, they entered in a partnership with Premier League Club, Liverpool FC to start a football academy in Pune. The Liverpool FC International Football Academy-DSK Shivajians has since been active in grassroot development and their set up is showing its result. Lallianzuala Changte, a product of LFC-DSK Academy was selected for Indian National Team for SAFF Cup, where he scored a brace against Nepal, which was his second outing for the National Team.
Photo Courtesy: DSK Shivajians FC Facebook Page
