Former State Footballer Stephen Passes Away at 38

Former Karnataka footballer Stephen, aged 38, passed away on Monday, July 7, 2025, 11:30 AM at SK Hospital, Jalahalli. He was undergoing treatment for jaundice.

Known for his skill as a striker, Stephen was a talented player who represented Karnataka in the Santosh Trophy campaigns of 2011 and 2012. Also, he played in various prestigious tournaments during his career including B.C. Roy Trophy in 2007, held in Faridabad, and U-21 National Football Championship.

Stephen also represented BDFA XI in the All India Football Tournament held at Don Bosco, Chennai, where his team emerged as winners in 2012. During his club career, he played for teams such as Universal FC, BEL, KSP, and BEML (KGF), and trained under noted coach Raman Vijayan. He later played for South United FC and continued his football journey as a player-cum-coach with Sree Gajanana FC.

Stephen is survived by his wife, son, and daughter. His body is being kept at his residence behind Aiyappa Swamy Temple, Jalahalli, for final respects. The burial is scheduled for Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at the Vidyaranyapuram Christian Cemetery.

The Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA), Bangalore District Football Association (BDFA), and Referees Board have expressed their deep condolences on the sudden and untimely demise of Stephen. 

Captain of ITI Federation Cup winning team PS Lionel no more

PS Lionel, the captain of the first edition of Federation Cup champion, Indian Telephone Industries, Bengaluru, passed away yesterday at his residence at Horamavu. 

Lionel was a true representative of the bygone days of typical Mysuru brand footballers, who relied on playing short passes, and quick exchanges of positions to baffle the opposition. His best days were witnessed in Calcutta when Lionel, along with a few other Mysuru footballers, Ramanna, Pappana, and Anthony Andrews. 

Lionel returned back to hometown to join ITI after playing with much success in Chennai and Calcutta. Prior to that he represented several local teams like Bangalore Mars, Muslim Heroes, 515 Army Base Workshop, and HAL. ITI went on winning the inaugural Federation Cup in 1977 at Ernakulam, Kerala under his captaincy. 

During Lionel's tenure, ITI was regarded as one of the best footbball clubs in the country. His body was taken to Christian Cemetery, Ulsoor, the burial services took place today evening. The football fraternity were present in numbers to pay last homage to the great footballer. 

   

Karnataka crash out of Santosh Trophy despite registering a thumping 11-0 victory over Andaman and Nicobar

The fate was already decided in the morning before Karnataka played their concluding match against Andaman and Nicobar in the four-team Group G encounter of 78th Santosh Trophy at the RDT Stadium, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. Maintaining an all-win record, Tamil Nadu made to the final round of Santosh Trophy. Karnataka, despite winning their last game with a thumping 11-0 margin proved of no help as the former champions finished with six points, behind Tamil Nadu. Nikhil Raj Murugesh (4), Ryan Wilfred S (2), Crispin Cleetus, Surya UK, Syed Ahmed, Karthik Govind Swamy, and Andrew Gurung were the scorers for Karnataka. 

 

Final round will be played with 9 group toppers (Group A thru I), previous edition's winner and runner-up, Services and Goa, and host state (final round).     

 

This was perhaps Karnataka’s worst Santosh Trophy performance in the last decade. Last season, they finished at the bottom of the group in the final round. A season before that (2022–23), Karnataka emerged champions of Santosh Trophy. They reached semi-final in 2021–22, 2018–19, and 2017–18 season. 

 

Karthik Govindswamy to lead Karnataka in 78th Santosh Trophy

Karthik Govindswamy of BDFA Super Division team FC Agniputhra will lead the Karnataka state football team in the 78th Santosh Trophy. It was under his captaincy Karnataka won Santosh Trophy in 2022-23 season. Also, this will be Karthik’s third time in last three years that will be captaining Karnataka state in the national football championship. 

Slotted in Group G, Karnataka will play their group stage Qualifying Round at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh from November 15 to 19.

Fixture

• 15-11-2024: Andhra Pradesh Vs Karnataka 
• 17-11-2024: Karnataka Vs Tamil Nadu
• 19-11-2024: Karnataka Vs Andaman & Nicobar 

Team 

Karthik Govindswamy, Deepak S (GK), Sujay S (GK), Andrew G, Kiran Saravanan, Ahmed Faiz Khan, Deepak Kumar, Rudra Ved, Ashik Adhikari, Nivrutti Sunil Pavanoji, Shreyas Ketkar, Ryan Wilfred, Edwin Rossario, Akshay, Nikhil Raj, Godwin Johnson, Vijay, Surya UK, Crispin C. Cleetus, Ashwin Chakravarthy, Abhishek Powar, Sayed Ahmed 

Coaching staff & officials

Irudaya Raj Babu (Head Coach), Shiva Mani (Assistant Coach, R Nanda Kumar (Team Manager), Bappaditya Bhattacharjee (Administrative Manager), Mohd. Ahmed Hakeem (Physiotherapist)

Sporting Club Bengaluru earns qualification to I-League 2024-25

AIFF Media 

Sporting Club Bengaluru were crowned champions of the 2023-24 I-League 2 with two rounds to spare as they beat Sudeva Delhi FC 1-0 at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi on Monday, April 15, 2024. The Golden Tigers have been promoted to the I-League 2024-25 for the first time ever.

Formed as recently as 2022, SC Bengaluru’s instant success story is one to take note of. It all started with their title-winning campaign in the 2022-23 Bangalore Super Division, their debut season in the league. As a result, they were eligible to participate in the 2023-24 I-League 3 and went on to top Group D only by a better goal difference over Diamond Harbour FC to qualify for the play-offs.

In the I-League 3 play-offs, SC Bengaluru finished in the top three alongside Dempo SC and Sporting Clube de Goa to book their spot in the I-League 2. Monday’s win cemented their status as champions as they took their tally to 27 points from 12 matches. Their sensational league triumph was mainly made possible by their impeccable home form. The Golden Tigers won all seven of their matches at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Their tally of 23 goals so far is the highest in the eight-team league, while they also boast of the joint-best defence, having conceded only 12 goals, same as Dempo – a testimony to their dominant and unrivalled campaign.

All of this came after a rough start to the season, with a couple of losses away to United SC and Dempo in their first three games. Chandrashekar Rao Chinta’s side then went on to win seven games in a row before a 3-4 loss to Sporting Clube de Goa last week halted that run. But the narrow win over Sudeva Delhi, thanks to Shaiborlang Kharpan’s first-half strike, proved enough to seal the title in SC Bengaluru’s favour, meaning they will become the first team to represent the city in the I-League since Bengaluru FC in 2016-17.

With the champions decided, the race for the runners-up and the second promotion spot remains wide open with as many as four teams still in the hunt ahead of the last two matchdays. Dempo SC are currently in second place with 21 points, followed by FC Bengaluru United and Sudeva Delhi FC on 20 points each and Sporting Clube de Goa on 19 points.

One could perhaps see Dempo or Sporting Goa making their much-awaited return to the I-League, or Sudeva Delhi bouncing back after their relegation last season, or maybe even Bengaluru United making it two in two for the city with a first-ever promotion. The next two weeks will provide all the answers.