Kolkata : DSK Shivajians is one of the new entrants in this years I-league. Shivajians who gained qualification through direct bidding will be taking part in the 2015-16 I-league season.
DSK Group, an avid supporter of football, acquired the club in 2010 and subsequently it was baptised as DSK Shivajians Football Club. Since then, it has been a glorious anecdote for the Pune club, especially in grassroots and youth development.
DSK Shivajians have a tie up with the English giants Liverpool FC for an International Academy who participated in the I-League Under-19 last season. The club has already appointed the experienced Derrick Pereira as their head coach. Pereira is highly regarded for his youth promotion. He was even awarded by AIFF as the Best Coach in the 2012-13 season. Pereira earlier had stints with Vasco SC, Mahindra United, Pune FC and Sagaocar.
Shivajians had also made a bid in 2013 but they backed out for some reasons. The club almost achieved promotion at the first time, but failed as they didn’t finish in the top two.
DSK have some very talented footballers in the likes of Lallianzuala Chhangte. Chhangte is a product of – DSK Shivajians Liverpool International Football Academy. He had played for the under-18 team of the academy in the 2014-15 U-19 I-League season. This season also happens to be his debut season. He finished as a trop scorer with 16 goals. The 18-year old played for India U19s in the 2016 AFC U-19 Championship qualification. On December 25, 2015, Lallianzuala became the youngest ever Indian to play for the senior National team when he replaced for Robin Singh in the first match of SAFF Championships against Sri Lanka. He scored two goals in the second match against Nepal and thus became the youngest ever goalscorer for India.
Nikhil Kadam is a another player to watch out for. Nikhil who was selected in the Indian Under-23 squad for the qualifiers of upcoming Asian Federation Cup Championship2016 had earlier played in the I-league for Pune FC. His experience would come in handy.
Dereck Pereira who had earlier managed clubs like Vasco, Mahindra, Pune FC is at the helms of Shivajians. Dereck had managed Pune for two seasons, leading them to top-five finishes in each season. With his experience DSK would surely want to finish in the top half of the table.
DSK The DSK Shivajians Home ground was constructed in the year 2010 within the boundaries of the DSK International Campus itself. In June 2014 the venue was shifted to DSK Dream City field. The pitch was inaugurated by Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher. This is the first artificial 4G pitch in Pune