Goa Pro League: Expansion and format change

The Goa Professional League is set to be expanded from eight to 10 teams and played under a new format. While the expansion is through the new format is still to be discussed with the clubs and then decided.

The Goa Football Association is proposing to hold the 10 team in a single first-leg format and thereafter the top 5 teams move into a Super League while the bottom 5 will face each other to avoid relegation to the first division.

With this format the GFA hopes to keep spectators interest high in the Goa Pro League as the number of spectators have been going down for years. There are also plans to try and play across the state at smaller venues besides the Nehru Stadium, Duler Ground and Tilak Maidan to be closer to the fans.

The Goa Professional League had been launched in 1998 as a 5 team league, expanded to six teams in 2000 and since 2002 the league has been played as an eight team league with home-and-away fixtures making it 14 matches for each club.

Now with the expansion plans in place, but I-League players only allowed to play 40 matches a season the GFA had to think at a way to keep the league expansion on but also reducing the number of matches of top teams.