Reigning iLeague champion Gokulam Kerala FC has signed Nepali coach Manish Timsina as goalkeeping coach for the next season.
Timsina, 33, who attended the AFC A- coaching certificate course, signed a contract for the 2021-22 season on Monday. According to the agreement, he will remain with the club until the end of May 2022. This is the first time that any Nepali coach has joined the iLeague team.
Nepalese Forward Sabitra Bhandari played a pivotal role when Gokulam’s women team won the Indian Women’s League last season. She was adjudged the top scorer of the league. Gokulam’s men’s and women’s teams won the league title last season.
Timsina said that the appointment of a goalkeeper coach of the I-League team is good news for Nepali football as well. “There is a belief that there are quality coaches in Nepal in the Indian club which is considered as the powerhouse of South Asian football,” he said.
Timsina, who works as a goalkeeper coach at ANFA’s Dharan Academy, has played for Three Star, RCT, Himalayan Sherpa, Bansbari, Swoyambhu, and Brigade Boys. Manish, who won a gold medal in the fifth National Games from Eastern Region, has been involved in training for eight years.
Hailing from Biratnagar, he has also played the role of goalkeeper coach of the Nepali team in SAAF U-15. He said that he believed that the opportunity of the I-League team would benefit Nepali football in the future. “I think when a Nepali player or coach gets a chance in a foreign club professionally, it will ultimately help in the development of football in the country,” he said.
