Salgaocar Football Club is a professional football club who currently play in the in India. They are based in Vasco, Goa and are owned by the V. M. Salgaocar Group of Companies. Salgaocar have won 19 Goa League Champions Cups, 3 Federation Cups, 2 Super Cups, 2 Durand Cups and won the National Football League in 1998–99 and I-League in 2010–11. They became the first Goan side to win the NFL in 1998–99 under the guidance of coach Shabbir Ali. Salgaocar pulled out of I-League 2016–17 citing AIFF bias against I-League.
History
1956–2009
The club was founded in 1956. It was founded by VM Salgaocar, founder President of the VM Salgaocar Group of Companies, to give a platform to the Goan youth to showcase their talent to the country, and to the world. In 1962, Salgaocar Sports Club became the first Goan team to be extended an invitation to play in the prestigious Durand Cup in New Delhi, and such was the joy of a Goan team's participation in the Durand Cup, that the Late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru felicitated the team at his residence. Salgaocar successfully annexed all possible trophies on the Indian circuit thereby etching their name amongst the top teams in the country. A National League triumph in 1999, 3 Federation Cups in 1988, 1989 and 1997, the Super Cup in 1997 and 1999, the prestigious Rovers Cup, Mumbai, in 1989, 1996 and 1999, the Durand Cup, Delhi, twice in 1999 and 2003, the Sait Nagjee, Calicut, in 1987 and TFA shield at Madurai, in 1979. Salgaocar Sports Club have also been crowned Goa State Champions for a record 19 times including winners for 3 consecutive years of the Goa Professional League in 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05. The Club also won the Governor's Cup in the years 1999 and 2001. The late 1980s and the 1990s saw Salgaocar SC consistently bag trophies such as the Federation Cup, the National League, the Durand Cup, Rovers Cup and the Super Cup. The last few years, one may describe as one that has seen the glory years seem light years away. Relegation, a successful promotion, and then again relegation has left the Salgaocar faithfully shattered. Critics have been swift in writing the club off, but managed to make the first division of the NFL in 2003 and staying their till the beginning of the I-League. In 1996 Salgaocar became one of the original 12 clubs in the National Football League and finished 3rd in Group A but finished 7th in the Final Round.
2010–present
In the 2010–11 season Salgaocar played in the I-League which is India's biggest football competition. After 26 rounds, Salgaocar SC won the title and they qualified for the 2012 Asian Champions League qualifying round. On 29 September 2011, Salgaocar won their second trophy in four months by winning the 2011 Indian Federation Cup by beating East Bengal in the Final 3–1. This was the first time in Salgaocar history that they had completed a double of league and cup win. Salgaocar started the 2011–12 I-League as the defending champion. But they had a rather disappointing season where they finished their campaign at 6th position. Salgaocar started the 2012–13 campaign with Karim Bencherifa as their head coach. But he left to take over the reins at Mohun Bagan after two games into the new season. He was replaced by David Booth, who had previously coached Mahindra United and Mumbai. More disappointments followed in the season as they were close to the drop at one time. They finished the season at 7th position. Salgaocar replaced Booth with Derrick Pereira who had been the coach of Pune for the past four seasons and had led them to two consecutive top-5 finishes in the I-League. Salgaocar started the 2013–14 I-League brightly and at one time led the table for six game weeks, but a rough patch of 8 games, which included four straight losses, derailed their campaign and saw them lose the title to Bengaluru FC. Salgaocar finished their campaign at third place, which was a marked improvement over their past two campaign finishes.
Colours
The colours of Salgaocar are green and white. The home kit very much shows this as the jersey and socks are green while the shorts are white. The away kit has a set of red jerseys and socks while also having blue/purple shorts.
Stadiums
Salgaocar SC play their home games at Fatorda Stadium and Tilak Maidan Stadium. They used Tilak Maidan for the 2013–14 season. They will use Fatorda Stadium or Tilak Maidan Stadium for the 2014–15 season. The Salgaocar players also practice at the BITS Pilani Campus grounds. The team has its in-house gym with modern equipment and professional trainers.
