The ANFA National League kicked off on January 14 between 17 teams. Four of them—Laligurans Association Club, Chitlang FC, Nawa Jana Jagriti Yuwa Club and Kankrebihar Youth Club—qualified from the ANFA President League. The remaining are 13 of the 14 A-Division Clubs; Himalayan Sherpa Club did not participate.

Originally envisioned as a 10-team tournament featuring the top four President League sides and the top six from the previous A Division, the National League was expanded to 17 teams. The move effectively positions it as a substitute for the Martyr’s Memorial ‘A’ Division League, last held in 2023.

The tournament is being played in a single round-robin format, with the table topper lifting the title. And as per the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), the winner will book a berth at the AFC club competition, a claim yet to be ascertained.

Meanwhile, the National League went on a six-day break from Monday with the parliamentary elections being held on Thursday. By Sunday, the League reached its halfway stage with 68 of the 136 matches completed.

The Post examines the talking points from the League so far:

APF, Laligurans unbeaten

Of the 17 teams in contention, two have remained unbeaten. One of them is Laligurans, winner of the President League. A young club in the domestic football scene, Laligurans reached the President League as the champions of Kaski district, and then Gandaki Province. They won the President League unbeaten, and have not tasted defeat yet in the National League either.

Of the eight games they have played in the National League so far, they have won five, and have been restricted to a draw in three fixtures. They began their National League campaign with a 1-0 win over Jawalakhel, and then defeated Nawa Jana Jagriti Yuwa Club 4-1 and Nepal Police Club 1-0.

When Laligurans defeated Nepal Police, a departmental side, they surprised many. And since then, Laligurans have been dubbed as the underdogs in the tournament.

The Kaski-based club were denied a win and forced to share points with Tribhuvan Army FC, Machhindra FC and Friends’ Club Kopundole.

On the other hand, Armed Police Force (APF) have not yet tasted defeat in the National League. With six wins and two draws in eight matches, APF are currently at the top of the table with 20 points, followed by Laligurans (18 points).

Two of APF’s draws came against New Road Team (NRT) and Nepal Police Club.

The two unbeaten teams are yet to come face to face. Laligurans will face APF on March 21. And if the two manage to stay unbeaten till then, their fixture, which will be played under the floodlights at the Dasharath Stadium, will be the biggest game of the tournament.

Meanwhile, there is only one team that is yet to open their points account. Nawa Jana Jagriti have lost all their eight fixtures so far. Kankrebihar, with one point from eight games, would have been on the similar stage had they not managed a 2-2 draw with Chitlang.

No title favourites yet

Nonetheless, though APF and Laligurans have been unbeaten until the halfway stage, they are still not the outright favourites to lift the title. They both have several other teams trailing.

Based on the points table, APF and Laligurans face challenge from NRT (18 points from nine games), Planning Boyz United (18 points from nine games), Tribhuvan Army FC (17 points from eight games), Church Boys United (16 points from seven games) and Machhindra FC (16 points from seven games). None of the other 10 teams have reached double figures on the points table.

Controversy related to APF

APF’s current performance in the National League can be termed as a major comeback. The reason: APF were one of the bottom teams in the previous A-Division League.

Further, APF had been relegated. They survived relegation after the ANFA Appeal Committee found Three Star Club guilty for fielding two ineligible players and turned their 1-0 win over Jawalkhel to a 0-3 loss.

Three Star had prevented relegation after they won the last game over Jawalakhel. But after the overturn of the result, Three Star took APF’s spot in the relegation.

Meanwhile, Three Star, dissatisfied with the decision, had knocked the doors of the Patan High Court. And on February 25, the court ordered in favour of Three Star.

The full verdict of the case is expected to arrive after the March 5 polls. Once it arrives, and the ANFA is made aware of the decision, it could bring new confusions in the ongoing National League. The reason: APF are ineligible to participate as one of the A-Division clubs based on the Patan High Court order.

102 goal scorers

A total of 186 goals have been scored in 68 matches of the National League. Of them, seven are own goals, while the remaining 179 goals have been scored by 102 different players.

Abayomi Oluwaseun Fakunle of Church Boys United is leading the tally of most goals with seven goals. He has scored in five games, two each against Jawalakhel and Nawa Jana Jagriti, and one each against Nepal Police, Tribhuvan Army and Machhindra.

Fakunle is followed by Army’s Nawayug Shrestha and Laligurans’ Abdul Yusuph Haule with six goals each.

With five goals each are Timothy Chiemerie Okereke of NRT, Pradip Lama and Yubraaj Khadka of APF, and Milan Rai of Church Boys.

There have been five hat-tricks in the League. A hat-trick by Shree Bhagawati Club’s Sujan Dangol against Kankrebihar on February 28 was the latest as well as the fastest.

Dangol scored his first in the 87th, and then completed his hat-trick with goals in the 89th and 90+4 minutes.

The first hat-trick of the tournament was scored by Milan Rai in Church Boys’s 6-1 win over Nawa Jana Jagriti. Papa Ibou Kebe of Planning Boys then smashed a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Sankata FC, while Haule’s hat-trick powered Laligurans to a 4-1 win over Kankrebihar.

Sankata were on the receiving end of another hat-trick. They lost 0-4 to Chitlang as Richard Chukwudalu Onyema scored three alone.

There were 67 players who scored one goal each, while 15 players managed to score two each. Nine players have scored three goals each so far, while four have scored four each.

When the National League returns on March 8, Dasharath Stadium will host three games. Jawalakhel and Machhindra will play the first game of the day, while it will be followed by Sankata vs Laligurans. Church Boys United face Satdobato Youth Club in the last match of the day.

Before the League concludes on April 12 as per the latest schedule, there is another nine-day break in between. The League will see a 10-day break from March 24 to April 2 for Nepal men’s AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers’ fixture against Laos on March 31, after a friendly with Hong Kong at the Dasharath Stadium on March 26.