Arambagh Football Academy emerged unbeaten champions in the Dhaka City Corporation (North & South) Pioneer Football League with a 2-0 win over Gazipur City Football Academy in the final at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

After the barren first half, Mithu and Fahim struck one goal apiece in the 47th and 66th minutes respectively in front of 3,000 spectators to realise Arambagh FA's dream of reaching the 3rd Division Football League after their last three attempts went in vain. Although Arambagh FA run the training of the local boys around the year, this time coach Ibrahim Khalil Kala picked some players from outside Dhaka and kept them with the local boys for four months before the start of the league in November and they gradually improved their performance match by match, posted 11 straight victories to clinch the title.  

The atmosphere at the Big Bowl was vibrant as the youth supporters and the officials of Arambagh FA turned up in festive mood and inspired their side throughout the game by exploding crackers and fireworks. The boys of the Academy celebrated each goal with the 'Champion' dance made famous by West Indies cricketers. After the match, half the spectators entered the playing area to join the champions in their celebrations, and later made the playground a 'selfie' zone.

Although other leagues in the lower tier are not regular, the Pioneer League has been held regularly over the last four years and so the question of whether the standard of play of the 16-year-old boys has improved comes up. 

“The final match was not of a high standard and that may be because both teams played caution football to avoid the goal. But the semifinal clash between Bashundhara Kings and Arambagh FA was beyond my imagination and I have personally selected some five to six players from that match for the national U-16 team,” said Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) coach Syed Golam Jilani, who guided the Bangladesh U-16 team to the SAFF Championship last year.

Jilani, an AFC A-licensed coach, however believes the overall standard of play in the league is not satisfactory as the players of each team are playing by their individual knowledge and there is virtually no game plan.

“If a qualified coach, such as AFC C license, had been tagged with each team, the standard would have been far better and the players could have known how to play and execute in line with a game plan before being selected for the age-level national team,” said Jilani, who informed that the game's governing body has a plan to introduce a BFF D license for the grass-root coaches.

Meanwhile, runners-up Gazipur City FA and third-placed Bashundhara Kings have also been promoted to the 3rd Division Football League, effective from next season.x