# 2021–22 Kerala Premier League

The 2021–22 Kerala Premier League was the ninth season of the Kerala Premier League. The season featured 24 teams and was played in multiple venues. This season Kerala Football Association decided to add 12 more participants into the league.

## Qualifiers
### Teams

| | Team | Head coach | Captain | Ground | City | Sponsor |
| 1 | AIFA | Deepak Cherukudi Mattuvayil | Mohammed Shamnas T | AIFA Ground, Koppam | Koppam | Aerius |
| 2 | CALICO KFTC | KP Sethumadhavan | Shibin K | St. Joseph's College Ground | Calicut | |
| 3 | Kochi City FC | Jestes Antony | Bertie Bridji Anderson | Municipal Stadium, Aluva | Aluva, Kochi | Federal Bank |
| 4 | Lords | Sreekumar MP | Abhilash | | Kochi | |
| 5 | United FC Cochin | Naresh Narayan Virnodkar | Anandhu S | | Kochi | |
| 6 | Universal Soccer Club | Haris Kadalnath | Fahad C | Calicut Medical College Stadium | Calicut | Capstone |

### Foreign players

| | Team | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 |
| 1 | AIFA | | | |
| 2 | CALICO KFTC | | | |
| 3 | Kochi City FC | Bertie Bridji Anderson | Alassane Junior Sagara | Kilane Ebenezer Diamande |
| 4 | Lords | | | |
| 5 | United FC Cochin | | | |
| 6 | Universal Soccer Club | Ekoule Eugene | Djougo Foku Mike | |

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | Kochi City FC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 | Advance to the final round |
| 2 | Universal Calicut SC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 | |
| 3 | United FC Cochin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 0 | |

### Fixtures

    Source:
    Cancelled matches

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | AIFA FC | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 6 | Advance to the final round |
| 2 | Lords FA | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 3 | |
| 3 | KFTC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0 | |

### Fixtures

    Source:
    Cancelled matches

### Finals
## Teams

| Stadium | Capacity | Location |
| EMS Stadium | 80,000 | Calicut |
| Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium | 20,000 | Thrissur |
| Maharaja's College Ground | 20,000 | Kochi |
| | Entry type | Team | Head coach | City | Sponsor |
| 1 | 2020–21 KPL teams | BASCO FC | E Shivamani | Malappuram | Janatha TMT |
| 2 | 2020–21 KPL teams | FC Kerala | Asis Kunjivapu | Thrissur | Yogakshemam Loans |
| 3 | 2020–21 KPL teams | Gokulam Kerala FC B | Rajeev Ponnanthari | Kozhikode | Gokulam Group |
| 4 | 2020–21 KPL teams | Golden Threads FC | Soly Xavier | Kochi | Wayna Water |
| 5 | 2020–21 KPL teams | Kerala Blasters B | Tomasz Tchorz | Kochi | Byju's |
| 6 | 2020–21 KPL teams | Kerala United FC | Bino George | Manjeri | Micro Health Laboratories |
| 7 | 2020–21 KPL teams | Kerala Police | I. M. Vijayan | Malappuram | Odyssia |
| 8 | 2020–21 KPL teams | Kovalam Football Club | Ebin Rose | Kovalam | Federal Bank |
| 9 | 2020–21 KPL teams | KSEB | P B Ramesh | Trivandrum | MADRE Integrated Engineering |
| 10 | 2020–21 KPL teams | Luca Soccer Club | Syed Muhammed Rafi | Manjeri | Abreco Freight |
| 11 | 2020–21 KPL teams | MA College | Rajeev Palickal | Kothamangalam | Positive |
| 12 | 2020–21 KPL teams | SAT Tirur | Sunil Kumar | Tirur | AB Bismi |
| 13 | Corporate entry | Muthoot FA | K Anees | Kochi | Muthoot Pappachan Group |
| 14 | Corporate entry | Don Bosco FA | Alphonse Jose | Kochi | |
| 15 | Corporate entry | Little Flower FA | Cleofas Alex | Trivandrum | Odyssia |
| 16 | Corporate entry | Travancore Royals FC | Samuel Geevarghese | Trivandrum | Vismayasmax Animations |
| 17 | Corporate entry | FC Areekode | Mohammed Ashiq | Areekode | |
| 18 | Corporate entry | Real Malabar FC | Vinu Jose | Kondotty | EDEX |
| 19 | Corporate entry | Wayanad United FC | Sanush Raj | Kalpetta | Wagonmart |
| 20 | Corporate entry | Parappur FC | Sanjoy Kumar Dey | Parappur | South Indian Bank |
| 21 | Corporate entry | SAI Kollam | Deepak Boro | Kollam | |
| 22 | Qualifier winners | Altius IFA | Deepak Cherukudi Mattuvayil | Koppam | Aerius |

### Number of teams by region

| No. of teams | Districts | Team(s) |
| 7 | Malappuram | BASCO FC,Kerala United FC,Kerala Police, Luca Soccer Club,FC Areekode,Real Malabar FC and SA Tirur |
| 5 | Ernakulam | Golden Threads FC, Kerala Blasters, MA College,Muthoot FA, and Don Bosco FA |
| 4 | Trivandrum | Kovalam Football Club,KSEB, Little Flower FA ,and Travancore Royals FC |
| 2 | Thrissur | FC Kerala and Parappur FC |
| 1 | Kozhikode | Gokulam Kerala FC B |
| 1 | Wayanad | Wayanad United FC |
| 1 | Palakkad | Altius IFA |
| 1 | Kollam | SAI Kollam |

## Foreign players

| | Team | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 |
| 1 | Altius IFA | | | | |
| 2 | BASCO FC | Djougo Foku Mike | Jacque Essombe | Letšepe Marabe | |
| 3 | Don Bosco FA | George Forbia | Ekomobong Victor Philip | Andrew Michel | |
| 4 | FC Areekode | | | | |
| 5 | FC Kerala | | | | |
| 6 | Gokulam Kerala FC B | Rahim Osumanu | Abdoulaye Kanouté | Emmanual Jeremiah | Omri Abdiel |
| 7 | Golden Threads FC | Joseph Tetteh | Nuhu Seidu | Ouattara Sie | |
| 8 | Kerala Blasters B | | | | |
| 9 | Kerala Police | | | | |
| 10 | Kerala United FC | Gabriel Lima Silva | Victor Santana | Francis Nwankwo | |
| 11 | Kovalam Football Club | | | | |
| 12 | KSEB | | | | |
| 13 | Little Flower FA | | | | |
| 14 | Luca Soccer Club | Charles Offei Quarcoo | | | |
| 15 | MA College | | | | |
| 16 | Muthoot FA | Matías Verón | Jigme Tshering Dorji | Wesley Wagner | |
| 17 | Parappur FC | Stephan Abeiku Acquah | Sanoh Louceny Pato | Alvin Jeh Teah | |
| 18 | SAI Kollam | | | | |
| 19 | SAT Tirur | Guy Herman Atimele | Seila Toure | | |
| 20 | Travancore Royals FC | John Chidi | Bala Dahir | | |
| 21 | Real Malabar FC | Obeng Kojo Forson | Bismarck Sersah | Kumi Emmanuel | |
| 22 | Wayanad United FC | Vakaba Kourouma | Abubakar Dunnoh | Abdoul Aziz | |

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | BASCO FC | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 4 | +23 | 24 | Advance to semi-finals |
| 2 | Sports Academy Tirur | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 4 | +17 | 23 | Advance to semi-finals |
| 3 | Kerala Police | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 10 | +9 | 20 | |
| 4 | Gokulam Kerala B | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 10 | +7 | 17 | |
| 5 | Wayanad United FC | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 13 | |
| 6 | Luca Soccer Club | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 13 | |
| 7 | Real Malabar FC | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 20 | −11 | 13 | |
| 8 | Parappur FC | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 19 | −2 | 12 | |
| 9 | FC Areekode | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 23 | −13 | 6 | |
| 10 | FC Kerala | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 5 | Relegation to 2022–23 KPL qualifiers |
| 11 | Altius IFA | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 23 | −16 | 4 | Relegation to 2022–23 KPL qualifiers |
Qualifiers

### Fixtures and results

    Source:
    Cancelled matches

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Golden Threads | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 11 | +10 | 24 | Advance to semi-finals |
| 2 | KSEB | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 11 | +18 | 23 | Advance to semi-finals |
| 3 | Kerala United FC | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 22 | |
| 4 | Muthoot FA | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 11 | +12 | 21 | |
| 5 | SAI Kollam | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 14 | |
| 6 | Travancore Royals FC | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 21 | −5 | 13 | |
| 7 | Don Bosco FA | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 12 | |
| 8 | Kovalam FC | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 17 | −6 | 10 | |
| 9 | Kerala Blasters B | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 20 | −9 | 9 | Relegation to 2022–23 KPL qualifiers |
| 10 | MA College | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 35 | −19 | 7 | Relegation to 2022–23 KPL qualifiers |
| 11 | Little Flower FA | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 24 | −17 | 4 | |

### Fixtures and results

    Source:
    Cancelled matches

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| A1 | BASCO FC | 1 | | | |
| B2 | KSEB | 2 | | | |
| B2 | KSEB | 2 | KSEB | KSEB | 0 |
| | | | Golden Threads | Golden Threads | 2 |
| B1 | Golden Threads | 1 | Golden Threads | Golden Threads | 2 |
| A2 | Sports Academy Tirur | 0 | | | |

### Final
## Prize money

Winners received 5 lakhs and runners-up received 3 lakhs Rs after the KPL final.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| No | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Nuhu Seidu | Golden Threads FC | 12 |
| 2 | Vignesh | KSEB | 11 |
| 3 | Matías Verón | Muthoot FA | 9 |
| 4 | Muhammed Ashiq | Basco | 7 |
| 4 | Bijesh T Balan | Kerala Police | 7 |
| 6 | Nijo Gilbert | KSEB | 5 |
| 6 | Victor Santana | Kerala United FC | 5 |
| 6 | Arshad | SAT | 4 |
| 6 | Jijo Joseph | KSEB | 4 |
| 6 | Stalin | Kovalam FC | 4 |
| 6 | Senthamizhi | Muthoot | 4 |
| 6 | Jesin TK | Kerala United FC | 4 |

### Hat-tricks

Note: The score of the player's team is displayed first in the result column.
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Vignesh | KSEB | MA college | 7–1 | 19 February 2022 |
| Victor Santana | Kerala United FC | MA college | 4–0 | 6 March 2022 |
| Matías Verón | Muthoot FA | LIFFA | 4–0 | 21 March 2022 |
| Nuhu Seidu | Golden Threads FC | Travancore Royals FC | 5–2 | 1 April 2022 |

### Clean sheets

| No | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Abhishek Calvin | Muthoot FA | 7 |
| 2 | Muhammed Suhail | SAT | 6 |
| 3 | Jaseer Muhammed | Basco FC | 5 |
| 4 | Hajmal S | KSEB | 4 |
| 5 | Manobin CM | Golden Threads | 3 |
| 6 | Mithun V | Kerala United | 2 |
| 6 | Muhammed Azhar | Kerala Police | 2 |
| 6 | Shibin | Luca | 2 |
| 6 | Christurajan T | Kerala United | 2 |
| 6 | Muhammed Nishad | Gokulam Kerala B | 2 |
| 6 | Goutham Muralitharan | Don Bosco | 2 |

## Season awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Player of the league | Vignesh Mariya | KSEB |
| Golden boot | Isahak Nuhu Seidu | Golden Threads FC |
| Golden glove | Hajmal S | KSEB |