December 31, 1998 

The Unofficial Indian Football Site 

CALCUTTA: According to National Football league chairman, Albert Colaco, the inaugral match of the third edition of the National League between defending champions and JCT will get underway on the 5th of January. He stated that the top three teams from each of the two groups would qualify for the super league to be played on a home and away format, which would again be on a double-leg basis.
FC Kochi will be playing a tough opener against East Bengal on the 7th of this month in Calcutta, but their previous encounters against East Bengal in the National Leauge has been impressive, with one win and one draw. 
The groupings are as follows-
Group A- Mohun Bagan, Tollygunge Agragami, Air-India, JCT, Dempo,and Churchill Brothers. 
Group B-East Bengal, Salgaocar, FC Kochi, Indian Bank, ITI and Mahindras.  
The following are the dates for the FC Kochi ties-
January 7  - East Bengal vs. FC Kochi (Calcutta)
January 10- FC Kochi vs. Indian Bank (Kochi)
January 17- FC Kochi vs. Salgaocar (Kochi)
January 24- Mahindras vs. FC Kochi (Mumbai)
January 27- ITI vs. FC Kochi (Bangalore)
January 31- FC Kochi vs. East Bengal (Kochi)
February 3- Indian Bank vs. FC Kochi (Chennai)
February 8- Salgaocar vs. FC Kochi (Goa)
February 13- FC Kochi vs. Mahindras (Kochi)
February 17- FC Kochi vs. ITI (Kochi)