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ARA FC

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Indian association football club based in Ahmedabad

Football club
ARA
Full nameAhmedabad Racquet Academy Football Club
Nickname(s)The Alphas, Ahmedabad Alphas
Short nameARA
Founded2016; 8 years ago (2016)
GroundEKA Arena
Capacity20,000
OwnerVikram Patel
Head coachSalim Pathan
LeagueI-League 3
Gujarat SFA Club Championship
Websitehttps://www.racquetacademy.in/sports/football/
Home colours Away colours
Departments of ARA FC
Football
(Men's) 		Football
(Women's) 		Football
(Reserves)

ARA Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Founded in 2016, the club is nicknamed "Ahmedabad Alphas", and previously competed in I-League 2nd Division. ARA FC is the first professional team from Gujarat to compete in the nationwide league. The club also competes in Gujarat SFA Club Championship.

Their reserve and youth teams play in both Hero Sub-Junior League and Hero Elite League, while women team is member of Indian Women's League.

History

Academy and early years

Ahmedabad Racquet Academy (ARA) started its journey as a professional multi-sports academy in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which mainly consists of racquet sports and has been running since 2011 and began participating in Ahmedabad Junior league. The football club was among the newest projects established by the academy in recent times as an initiative by owner Vikram Patel.

Formation of club

The existing academy owned by Patel emerged as ARA FC in 2016 to ensure development of football in the Indian state of Gujarat. On 19 July 2018, their academy were accredited and given two stars based on eligibility criteria, which allowed them to play in Youth League U18. ARA as a club became affiliated with Gujarat State Football Association (GSFA) in 2017, and began competing in the ADFA Premier Division League.

2018–present

On 20 November 2018, AIFF nominated ARA for proposed inclusion in the 2018–19 2nd Division League. On 7 December, it was announced that ARA FC would be one of nine clubs to play that season. Thus the Ahmedabad-based club became the only team from the state competing in a domestic tier league.

In their maiden I-League 2nd Division in the 2018–19 season, ARA finished on fourth place in Group A with 11 points in 8 matches as Lonestar Kashmir progressed to the final round.

They were nominated for participating in the 2021 I-League Qualifiers, since emerging victorious in Gandhinagar Premier League. They began their journey with a 1–1 draw against Corbett FC on 5 October at the Bangalore Football Stadium but did not advanced to the final round. In February–March 2023, the club participated in Stafford Challenge Cup in Bangalore. In August 2023, ARA gained I-League 3 spot to compete in the inaugural edition.

Home stadium

EKA Arena by TransStadia, home ground of ARA

ARA FC plays its home matches at the EKA Arena, which has a capacity of 20,000 spectators. The stadium is located in Kankaria Lake, Ahmedabad, and has additional 10,000 temporary seats on the pitch area.

Panoramic view of the stadium

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2018–2021 SEVEN Amul
2021–present Decathlon Sports

Current squad

As of 13 March 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK India IND sangramjith Roy
2 DF India IND Daniel
3 DF India IND Surajit Seal
5 FW India IND Vivekananda Sagayaraj
6 MF India IND Hijam Lenin Singh
7 FW India IND Manvir Singh
8 MF India IND Rutig Ahirrao
9 FW India IND Fredsan Marshall
10 FW India IND
11 DF India IND Jacob John
12 DF India IND Shanid Valan
13 DF India IND Parnenda Singh Thakur
14 MF India IND D Sheltohn Paul
15 MF India IND Lalthankuma
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF India IND Pratik Swami
17 MF India IND Aditya Prathap
18 MF India IND Vedant Kharkrwal
19 MF India IND Prabin Tigga
20 FW India IND Lalruatmawia
21 GK India IND Vishal Rajkumar Dube
23 MF India IND Khaidem Vicky Meitei
24 DF India IND Rakesh Oram
25 FW India IND Jay Kanani
27 DF India IND Palash Barber
28 MF India IND Bikramjit Singh
30 DF India IND Jenishsinh Rana
31 GK India IND Ankit Bhuyan
33 MF India IND Yami Longvah

Current technical staff

As of 12 November 2019
Position Name
Team manager India Marmik Pandya
Head coach India Vivek Nagul
Assistant coach India Salim Pathan
Physio India Falgun Bhatt

Honours

League

  • Gujarat SFA Club Championship
    • Champions (1): 2022
  • ADFA Ahmedabad District League 2nd Division
    • Champions (1): 2017
  • ADFA Ahmedabad District League 1st Division
    • Champions (2): 2018, 2021–22
  • Gandhinagar Premier League
    • Champions (1): 2020–21

Cup

  • Heritage Cup Jaipur
    • Champions (1): 2020

Records

Season Div. Tms. Pos. Attendance/G Federation Cup/Super Cup AFC Champions League AFC Cup
2018–19 IL2 16 G4th 650 DNP DNP DNP
2019–20 IL2 18 Final round 4th – DNP DNP DNP
Key
  • Tms. = Number of teams
  • Pos. = Position in league
  • Attendance/G = Average league attendance

Managerial record

updated on 25 October 2020

Name Nationality From To P W D L GF GA Win%
Vivek Nagul  India 2018 2021 19 7 4 8 28 29 036.84
Manuel Retamero Fraile  Spain 2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 !—

Notable players

For current and former notable ARA FC players with a Misplaced Pages article, see: ARA FC players.

Other departments

Women's team

ARA FC has its women's football team that competes in the Indian Women's League, the highest division of Indian women's football. Before the kick-off of 2021–22 Indian Women's League season, four teams including ARA Women from four states played each other once in April 2022, in the qualifying round at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi and they qualified for the final round after topping the group.

Honours

Youth men's

Youth men's team of ARA competes in the Ahmedabad Elite Youth Cup Ahmedabad. Club's U17 team participated in "regional group stages" of 2022–23 U-17 Youth Cup.

Football academy

Football Academy of ARA FC gained 'elite category' accreditation by the All India Football Federation in December 2023.

See also

References

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Further reading

External links

I-League 2
Current teams
Reserve teams
Seasons
Final rounds
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