Defending champions East Bengal will take on former winners Mohun Bagan, who finished a lowly ninth in the last edition, in the opening match of the ninth National Football League beginning in Kolkata on January 12.

On the next day Vasco Sports Club, one of the six Goan teams in the fray, will begin their campaign against state rivals Fransa Pax Football Club.

There will be two matches at Goa [Images] and Mumbai respectively on the third day of the first round on January 14 with runners-up Salgaocar Sports Club taking on promotees State Bank of Travancore [Get Quote] and Mahindra United locking horns with Churchill Brothers.

The sixth and last match in round one will pit JCT Mills, Phagwara against Dempo SC at Goa.

Kerala [Images], returning to the NFL map after a while, will host its first match on February 1 when SBT meets the defending champions.

The Fixtures

Round I
Match No. Date                                 Venue
    1      12.1.05     KEB v MB              Kolkata
    2      13.1.05     Vasco v Fransa      Goa
    3      14.1.05     SAL v SBT             Goa
    4      14.1.05     MU v CCB              Mumbai
    5      15.1.05     SCG v DTDCTA      Goa
    6      16.1.05     Dempo v JCT          Goa

Round II
    7      17.1.05     Vasco v SAL          Goa
    8      18.1.05     CCB v DTDCTA      Goa
    9      18.1.05     MB v MU                Kolkata
   10     19.1.05     Dempo v SBT         Goa
   11     20.1.05     Fransa v KEB        Goa
   12     21.1.05     SCG v JCT             Goa.

Round III
   13      22.1.05     SAL v DTDCTA      Goa
   14      23.1.05     CCB v KEB            Goa
   15      24.1.05     MU v  Dempo         Mumbai
   16      24.1.05     Vasco v SBT          Goa
   17      25.1.05     Fransa v JCT          Goa
   18      25.1.05     MB v SCG             Kolkata

Round IV
   19      27.1.05     Vasco v KEB         Goa
   20      28.1.05     DTDCTA v Dempo  Kolkata
   21      28.1.05     Fransa v SBT         Goa
   22      29.1.05     CCB v MB             Goa
   23      29.1.05     MU v SCG             Mumbai
   24      30.1.05     JCT v SAL             Punjab

Round V
   25      01.2.05     SBT v KEB            Kerala
   26      01.2.05     DTDCTA v Fransa   Kolkata
   27      01.2.05     Dempo v MB         Goa
   28      02.2.05     JCT v Vasco          Punjab
   29      02.2.05     SCG v CCB           Goa
   30      03.2.05     MU v SAL              Mumbai.

Round VI
    31      05-2-05   Dempo v SCG       Goa
    32      05-2-05   MB v Fransa         Kolkata
    33      05-2-05   KEB v JCT            Kolkata
    34      06-2-05   SBT v DTDCTA     Kerala
    35      07-2-05   Vasco v MU          Goa
    36      08-2-05   CCB v SAL           Goa

Round VII
    37      09-2-05   MB v JCT               Kolkata
    38      09-2-05   Dempo v Fransa     Goa
    39      10-2-05   Vasco v SCG         Goa
    40      11-2-05   MU v DTDCTA        Mumbai
    41      12-2-05   SBT v CCB            Kerala
    42      12-2-05   KEB v SAL            Kolkata

Round VIII
    43      13-2-05   Fransa v SCG       Goa
    44      14-2-05   MU v JCT              Mumbai
    45      15-2-05   KEB v DTDCTA      Kolkata
    46      16-2-05   CCB v Vasco        Goa
    47      16-2-05   MB v SBT             Kolkata
    48      17-2-05   Dempo v SAL       Goa

Round IX
    49      18-2-05   KEB v MU            Kolkata
    50      19-2-05   MB v DTDCTA      Kolkata
    51      20-2-05   SCG v SBT          Goa
    52      20-2-05   JCT v CCB           Punjab
    53      21-2-05   Vasco v Dempo     Goa
    54      22-2-05   SAL v Fransa        Goa.

Round X
    55      23-2-05   JCT v DTDCTA     Punjab
    56      24-2-05   MU v SBT            Mumbai
    57      24-2-05   Dempo v KEB      Goa
    58      25-2-05   MB v Vasco         Kolkata
    59      25-2-05   CCB v Fransa      Goa
    60      26-2-05   SAL v SCG          Goa

Round XI
    61      28-2-05   DTDCTA v Vasco   Kolkata
    62      28-2-05   JCT v SBT             Punjab
    63      28-2-05   Fransa v MU          Goa
    64      01-3-05   SCG v KEB           Goa
    65      02-3-05   MB v SAL              Kolkata
    66      02-3-05   Dempo v CCB        Goa.

Please note:  KEB - Kingfisher East Bengal (Kolkata),  MB - Mohun Bagan (Kolkata), DTDCTA - DTDC Tollygunge Agragami (Kolkata), Dempo - Dempo Sports Club (Goa), SAL - Salgaocar Sports Club (Goa), CCB - Coca Cola Churchill Brothers (Goa), SCG - Sporting Clube de Goa, Vasco - Vasco Soorts Club (Goa), Fransa - Fransa Pax Football Club (Goa), SBT - State Bank of Travancore (Thiruvananthapuram), JCT - JCT Phagwara (Punjab), MU - Mahindra United (Mumbai).

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