Police was crowned the National League champion after second placed Laxmi Hyundai Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) was forced to share points with Mega Three Star Club in 1-1 draw. [break]
This is the first time in the history of Nepali football that any team has won league title for the fourth time in a row. Police had won the Martyrs Memorial League titles in 2063 BS, 2067 BS and 2068 BS respectively. And, the National League title became the latest league title for the departmental giant.
Before this, Ranipokhari Corner Team (RCT) and MMC had made hat-trick in league titles. MMC had made title hat-tricks in 2043 BS, 2044 BS and 2046 BS while RCT had achieved same feat from in 2028 BS, 2029 BS and 2030 BS.
"I had left the play ground during interval while MMC was playing against Three Star. I came to know that we have won the league title after my son Nischhal called me up from Kathmandu. I did not believe him but he argued that he saw the news on television. The whole team in hotel erupted in joy after knowing that we had become the champion," said Police coach Birat Krishna Shrestha.
"Soon after that I got numerous telephone calls. I was waiting for telephone calls from the stadium. I knew that I shall get calls from stadium if we won today," said the 51-year-old veteran coach. He credited the achievement to joint coordination and hard effort of players, management and coach.
Shrestha also claimed that his side had performed better than any other team in the league. "We gave consistent performance from the beginning of the league and we never had to depend on other´s results."
Police skipper Jumanu Rai, 26, also expressed happiness at the victory. "I played all 17 matches as a captain. I can´t express my happiness in words," Rai, assistant sub inspector in Nepal Police said.
Not the first national league
Though the current league is widely known as the first National League, it is not the first edition of national league. The football governing body and organizer ANFA has also said current national league is the first.
But national league were held twice before in 1998 and 1999. The national league 1998 was termed National League Cup 1998 and 1999 league was named ANFA Coca Cola Cup National League Cup 1999.
As in the current league, district teams have participated in the qualifying stage on both the occasions. After qualifying and group stage matches, the knockout tournaments were conducted with participation from four teams.
Police team then known as Mahendra Police Club had won the title on both the occasions. Police had defeated Nepal Army in the final on both the occasions. In 1998, Police had defeated Army 4-1 and in 1-0 in 1999. Thus the current edition is the third edition of the national league.
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