Goa Professional League

Goa Professional League
	File:GPL official logo.png
Founded	1998; 1977–97 (as Goa Super Division); 1951–77 (as Goa First Division)
Country	India
Number of teams	12
Level on pyramid	3
Relegation to	GFA 1st Division
Domestic cup(s)	Goa Police Cup; AWES Cup; Charity Cup
Current champions	Sporting Goa (6th title) ; (2020–21)
Most championships	Salgaocar (21 titles)
TV partners	Goa 365 (live matches); 1 Play Sports (online streaming via Facebook and YouTube)
Website	Pro League
	Current: 2020–21 Goa Professional League

The Goa Professional League (GPL; known as the Selvel Goa Pro League for sponsorship reasons) is the premier state-level football league in Goa, India. It is organised by the Goa Football Association.

History

The official league in Goa, called the First Division, began in 1951 and was organised by the Conselho de Desportos. There was no Super League. The first League champion of Goa was Clube Desportivo de Chinchinim who beat Football Club of Siolim, to clinch the title.

The League continued under the aegis of the Conselho de Desportos till the season of 1958–59, with Clube de Desportos de Vasco da Gama taking the title that year. In 1959, the Goa Football Association was established as the official administrative body of football and from that season onwards the league was conducted by GFA. The 1959–60 League was conducted by the GFA and Clube Independente de Margao emerged champions.

Until the 1968–69 season there was no Senior League. The First Division League was considered Senior. The GFA introduced the Senior Division League in 1969–70, which was topmost of Division football. But the senior league was later abandoned.

In 1970–71 season, apart from the Senior Division League, there came into existence the first division league which was split into two groups, namely the North Zone and South Zone. While the North Zone consisted of teams from Ilhas and Bardez, the South Zone accommodated teams from Mormugao and Salcete.

From the around 24 teams in the Second Division, just one make it to the First Division League. While there are around 60 teams battling it out in the Third Division, of which two teams make it to the next stage. Subsequently, the teams finishing at the bottom of their respective pool, are relegated to other divisions.

In 1977 the Goa Football Association introduced the Super League in the season of 1977–78, with Salgaocar Sports Club clinching the title. With football, globally, continuing to develop at a fast pace, the Goa Football Association, decided it was time to push the game onto a higher platform. Goa emerged as the first State ever in the country, to go professional with the game and till date it remains the only State in the country, where the status of the game is professional.

The first Professional League was launched in the 1998–99 season. The five top teams of the 1997–98 Super League – Churchill Brothers S.C., Salgaocar F.C., Dempo S.C., Vasco S.C. and VLM SC – automatically qualified for the Pro League.

The Professional league was expanded to six teams from the 2000–2001 season, after the GFA thought it wise to increase the number and increase the competitiveness factor, and since 2002 the league was played as an eight team league with home-and-away fixtures making it 14 matches for each club. The GFA then announced that the 2011 season would be played with 10 teams under a new format in which Salgaocar won in.

Goan Pro League clubs 2020-21

The following 12 clubs are competing in the GPL during the 2020-21 season.

Team	City/Town
Calangute Association	Calangute
Churchill Brothers	Salcete
Youth Club of Manora	Manora
Dempo	Panaji
FC Goa Reserves	Panaji
Guardian Angel F.C.	Curchorem
Panjim Footballers	Panaji
Salgaocar	Vasco da Gama
SESA Football Academy	Sirsaim
Sporting Clube de Goa	Panaji
Vasco	Vasco da Gama
Velsao Sports & Cultural Club	Velsao

Managers and foreign players

Team	Manager	Player 1	Player 2
Calangute Association	Valentine Ezeugo	Mark Harrison	Kouame Kossonou
Churchill Brothers	Norberto Gonsalves
Dempo	Samir Naik
FC Goa Reserves	Deggie Cardozo
Guardian Angel	Riston Rodrigues	Musah Bambatelli	Issac Nuha
Panjim Footballers	Alex Alvares
Salgaocar	Anthony Levino Pereira
Sesa Football Academy	Charles Dias
Sporting Clube de Goa	Savio Vaz	Philip Odogwu
Vasco	Micky Fernandes
Velsao Sports & Cultural Club	Jude Barreto
Youth Club of Manora	Roque Carneiro

List of Champions

Goa Professional League

Season	Champion
1998	Salgaocar
1999	Churchill Brothers
2000	Churchill Brothers
2001	Churchill Brothers
2002	Salgaocar
2003	Salgaocar
2004	Salgaocar
2005	Dempo
2006	Sporting Goa
2007	Dempo
2008	Churchill Brothers
2009	Dempo
2010	Dempo
2011	Dempo
2012–13	Salgaocar
2013–14	Sporting Goa
2014–15	Salgaocar
2015–16	Sporting Goa
2016–17	Salgaocar
2017–18	Sporting Goa
2018–19	FC Goa Reserves
2019–20	Sporting Goa and Churchill Brothers
2020–21	Sporting Goa

For past winners at this level before 1997, see List of Goan State Football Champions.

Top scorers

Season	Top scorer	Club	Goals
2011	Koko Sakibo Victorino Fernandes	Dempo S.C. Sporting Clube de Goa	6
2012–13	Juanfri	Sporting Clube de Goa	3
2013–14	Melwin Fernandes	Wilred Leisure	13
2014–15	Victorino Fernandes	Sporting Clube de Goa	11
2015–16	Odafa Okolie	Sporting Clube de Goa	11
2016–17	Liston Colaco	Salgaocar F.C.	13
2017-18	Joel Sunday	Salgaocar F.C.	20
2018-19	Devendra Murgaonkar	Salgaocar F.C.	20
2019-20	Marcus Masceranhas	Sporting Clube de Goa	14
2020-21	Marcus Masceranhas	Sporting Clube de Goa	9

External links

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