Mridul Banerjee

Guwahati, June 19: Green Valley Sports Club, the only aspirant for second division I-League from the city, is all set to fall back on old warhorse Mridul Banerjee for the season ahead with the AIFF making it mandatory for every team to have Asian Football Confederation A-Licence coach.

Though the club management was tight-lipped about the development, insiders said they are looking forward to the Mohun Bagan man to clear the A-Licence course this summer before joining the Guwahati outfit. Banerjee is currently a B-Licence holder and had been associated with Green Valley last year.

“It will be a crisis in the season ahead to engage A-Licence coaches because our country does not have enough of them. Some of the financially sound clubs will engage overseas coaches which we cannot afford,” an office-bearer of the club said.

The club had last season engaged Shankar Moitra as their coach, who deserted the team midway, after falling out with the club management. Prior to Moitra, Banerjee was training the squad and recruiting players for a brief period last year.

The club has also retained its entire squad, including the foreigners, that played the second division league last year.

The AIFF is yet to schedule the tournament fixture for the season ahead.

Sources said few more young players from Mohun Bagan Football Academy and Bengal were being contracted for the upcoming season and they would join the club soon.

The club would, however, not look for more overseas players and would bank on the reliable Michel Lucky Keluchukwu and the two Nigerians.

The AIFF rules allow only one overseas player in a team for the second division league.