Southern City FC, A New Force From The South In Bhutan


Gelephu Mindfulness City has captured the imagination of the world and it's tipped to become one of the top cities in the near future with state of the art infrastructure. A certain football team is also blossoming in this city of dreams. At the moment their dream might not compare with the gigantic dream of the city but they have already proved their dream is also big and they are already on the way to fulfilling it. 

Southern City FC was formed in 2022 at Gelephu but they didn’t participate in the top league in Bhutan in the beginning. Instead, they focused on local open tournaments and competed in neighboring Assam, India. In 2023, they participated in the District League in Sarpang Gelephu, where the team emerged as champions. They also played in the Bhutan Premier League (BPL) qualifier, but unfortunately, didn’t qualify. Despite this, the team's performance was strong and they did this with a designated coach. 

In 2024, Southern City participated again in the District League and claimed the championship for the second year in a row. They also entered the BPL qualifier for the second time, but again didn’t qualify due to the absence of a coach. However, the team’s performance remained impressive, as the players trained and dedicated themselves without any formal coaching.

Finally, in 2025, the club from Gelephu had the opportunity to participate in the BPL qualifier and successfully qualified for the 2025 season which will start in April. 

Navin Subba, President of Southern City FC said "Our main intention has always been to promote and develop football in the southern region of Bhutan, providing a better platform for our talented players, especially the youth, and engaging them in the sport. We believe football offers a path for a better life and greater opportunities. As president, although I didn’t have much knowledge of football in the beginning, I never discouraged the players. I’ve worked hard over the past three years, and this season, we achieved success." 

Navin Subba is a man who is dedicated to football. He claims to have sold three of his cars to finance the club. This says a lot about the passion Navin has for football. 

He further added "I didn’t focus on sponsorships initially because my main goal was to qualify and prove to the people of Gelephu, the mindfulness city, that we have the potential. Now that we've qualified, it’s time to give our players the proper treatment and support they deserve."

To enhance the team, Southern City FC has already hired four foreign players, and are in the process of bringing in another three players from Ghana.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chandra Kumar Rai, A Modest Coach

Image
Chandra Kumar Rai a former British Army soldier is currently the coach of Share Football Club Kalimpong. He holds a coaching certificate from the prestigious Football Association of England. A man who is bent at serving the game of football in his home town, over the years he has turned down many offers from the Clubs across the country to be their coach. He has coached a generation of footballers from Kalimpong and his name is taken with respect in the hills. A very humble and down to earth person Chandra Kumar Rai does not like to talk too much about himself. Some people are surprised by his modest ways.  Doing is much more important to him than talking. It always takes a bit of convincing, for him to share his football story and after quite an effort finally, he sat back and started "Well if you insist, all I can remember about my childhood days was my attraction towards football. I grew up in Penang, Malaysia and in our school, we had to choose our area of interest from differ...
Read more

Hill Boys United- A Brief Story

Image
Hill Boys United FC was originally launched at Kolkata in the year 2009 by a group of youth from the hills of Darjeeling and Sikkim. It included a mix of college students and some professionals working in different companies. Their common love for football had brought them together.  Every week the boys used to play matches with different local teams of Kolkata or with the students of other North Eastern States based in the city. Soon they realised it will be better to start a proper team and the Hill Boys United was formed.  Hill Boys United FC played in number of tournaments along with some friendly matches in the next few years. However the match which they always looked forward to was an exhibition match held annually with the prestigious Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (CCFC). The team also participated in the Kolkata Parsee Club 5-A side football tournament where they reached the quarter finals.  With time some of the boys returned back to the hills and some jo...
Read more

RONGO GOLD CUP

Image
Long before the well known tournaments of our region which are doing so well in the present times, Rongo had started a Gold Cup football tournament in the 90s officially "KB Rai Memorial Gold Cup" organized by the Rongo Sporting Club. If I'm not wrong the first edition was held in 1991 & after continuing for few more years it never happened again. I hope when someone writes the history of football in the Darjeeling hills. Rongo Gold Cup will find a place in it. I still remember as a little boy how impressed I was with the Gold Cup trophy. It hand a silver hand holding the gold football. Nicely placed inside a glass frame, have to say the design was way ahead of times. The winning team was awarded the trophy and they could keep it till the next edition of the tournament. Rumours had also spread that one of the teams had tried to scrub off the gold and silver from the Cup.  Many teams from across the region used to come and participate. Few are remember vividly are Unit...
Read more