United Kurseong Football Club Felicitate I-League Stars Nirmal Chettri And Sanju Pradhan

In honour of seeing their sons of the soil rise and shine like stars, the Kuseong Football Club decided to felicitate two I-League stars from the region... 

13-Jul-2011: United Kurseong Football Club (UKFC), one of the most popular clubs in the North-East, felicitated East Bengal duo Nirmal Chettri and Sanju Pradhan on July 10. 

Deenkar Chettri, president UKFC, praised Nirmal Chettri for his initiative to promote football in the region and also wishes to see more talent being developed from the region.

"It is encouraging to see talents like Nirmal Chettri and Sanju Pradhan who are from this area. Nirmal recently arranged a football awareness camp in Melli which turned out to be a fruitful one," he said.

Deenkar Chettri, who has grown through the roots of UKFC, also played for East Bengal for a short period before retiring and involving himself in the Kurseong Football Club management.

On receiving the honour, Nirmal Chettri revealed that the felicitation as one of the most proud moments for him and said that he is always willing to help the club in the future.

"It was a really proud moment for me as United Kurseong is one of the biggest clubs in the North-East so the fact that they recognized our efforts is a big thing for me," said the East Bengal defender.

"I am always willing to help United Kurseong in every possible way so that more talents of the North-East come up and become professionals in Indian football," he added.

Sanju Pradhan also expressed his delight upon being felicitated but also admitted that his disappointment for not making it into the Indian national team selection.

"I was very happy to be felicitated by such a prestigious club. It has been a difficult time for me as I was disappointed to miss out from national team selection but these recognitions inspires us players to keep working hard," said the midfielder.

"Me and Nirmal have worked really hard to make North-East proud and there are so many from this part of the country who have done well for India. I am confident we will see more footballers from the North-East doing well at the highest level of Indian football."