Uttarakhand Super League


The Uttarakhand Super League is a semi-professional football league, sanctioned by both the All India Football Federation and the Uttarakhand State Football Association, that represents the sport in the state of Uttarakhand. Founded in 2016, the league is organized by the Uttarakhand Adventure Sports Pvt Limited with the goal of promoting football throughout the state. The league began in July 2016 with fourteen teams and is based on the Indian Super League, the franchise based football league for India nationally.

History

In early March 2016 it was announced that Uttarakhand Adventure Sports Pvt Limited, with permission from the All India Football Federation and the Uttarakhand State Football Association, would launch a franchise-based football league based on the Indian Super League. Virendra Singh Rawat was announced as the first technical director of the league while former India international Baichung Bhutia was announced as the brand ambassador for the league. According to Rawat, the league would help footballers from Uttarakhand develop: "Uttarakhand footballers will be biggest beneficiary of the USL as they will get chance to play with foreign football players. The sport will be promoted in a professional manner and each player playing in the tournament will be paid money".
In June 2016 it was announced that the fourteen teams were finalized for the league, as well as the squads for the teams after a bidding process. The first edition of the USL would kick off from 10 July 2016.
After the first season, Pauri Platoons emerged as the inaugural winners, defeating Nainital FC Lakes on penalties, 3–2, on 9 August 2016.

Competition format

Ran like the Indian Super League, the fourteen teams will be divided into two groups of seven and play each other before the top four teams from each group qualify for the finals. The qualified teams will then play in the quarter-final before playing in the semi-finals and grand final to determine the champion.

Teams

The following teams will be participating in the Uttarakhand Super League in 2016.
Group ADistrictGroup BDistrict
Chamoli Bugyal FCChamoliAlmora BuransAlmora
Dehradun Capital RangersDehradunBageshwar FC KafalsBageshwar
Haridwar GangesHaridwarChampawat HillsChampawat
Pauri PlatoonsPauri GarhwalCorbett TigersNainital
Rudraprayag MonalsRudraprayagNainital FC LakesNainital
Tehri LionsTehri GarhwalPithoragarh PanthersPithoragarh
Uttarkashi GlaciersUttarkashiUdhamsingh Nagar WarriorsUdham Singh Nagar

Finals results