The reserve sides of two ISL clubs are set to participate in this prestigious tournament.
What is Next Generation Cup?
The Next Generation Cup is a tournament that is a byproduct of the long partnership between ISL and the Premier League. In this tournament age, group teams of ISL and Premier League teams face each other in a round-robin format. The top two teams collide with each other for the trophy.
The third edition of the tournament will start tomorrow. This initiative is not only limited to the tournament, all the age group teams will have joint training sessions as well as referee and coaching workshops also conducted by Premier League for the Indian referees and coaches.
It is a project where there is an exchange of culture and footballing knowledge between both parties.
How did Next Generation Cup start?
The Next Generation Cup started in the year 2018 in Navi Mumbai. The first edition of the tournament saw the participation of Reliance Foundation Young Champs and Mumbai City FC u-14 teams from India. Meanwhile, the u-13 teams of Leicester City and Arsenal traveled to Bollywood town to participate in this tournament.
The second edition of the tournament was even more exciting as the number of teams increased. Totally six teams participated in this edition. Reliance Foundation Young Champs and the age group teams of that year’s ISL finalists Bengaluru FC and FC Goa participated in this competition from India.
Meanwhile, the u-13 teams of Manchester United, Chelsea, and Southampton participated in this tournament. This edition of the tournament wasn’t only about the dominance of English clubs. Indian clubs stepped up to the occasion. Bengaluru FC’s u-13 team defeated the Southampton u-13 team drew against Manchester United and lost against Chelsea.
Reliance Foundation Young Champs was the most successful Indian club in this tournament. Apart from defeating all the Indian clubs. They also managed to get better off Premier League clubs. Except, Chelsea they have managed to defeat all the football clubs in that tournament. They narrowly lost to Chelsea in an enthralling finale of the competition.
Next Generation Cup 2022
This edition of the Next Generation Cup is going to take place in England. The tournament is getting bigger with a total of eight teams participating in it. Two Indian clubs are participating this time. The reserve league for the first time was held to decide the participants for the Next Gen Cup. Kerala Blasters, who finished second in the league are joined by the undisputed league winners Bengaluru FC in this tournament.
Kerala Blasters is captained by the National team midfielder and club’s regular starting midfielder Jeakson Singh. Meanwhile, Bengaluru FC will be captained by the club academy graduate and first team player Namgyal Bhutia.
Bengaluru FC’s side will be headed by the veteran head coach Naushad Moosa. Whereas Kerala Blasters will be led by TG Purushothaman.
Groups of the tournament
The eight teams are divided into two groups with four teams each. The groups are divided based on the location of the games to be played. Kerala Blasters is clubbed in the London group alongside Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspurs, and West Ham United.
Meanwhile, RFDL champions Bengaluru FC is in the Midlands group with Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, and with a South African academy team Stellenbosch FC.
Fixtures of the tournament
The first matchday is tomorrow 27th July. At 3:30 pm (IST) Kerala Blasters will face Tottenham Hotspurs. On the very same day at 5:30 pm, two London rivals will face each other. Crystal Palace will face West Ham United.
Bengaluru FC will face the foxes in Leicester City at 9:30 pm on the same day, As well as Nottingham Forest will face Stellenbosch FC at 10:20 pm.
Live to stream of the tournament
All the matches will be telecasted live on the ISL YouTube channel.
