Real Kashmir FC create history, get promoted to I-League Div 1 for the first time

22 years after the emergence of Indian Football's first professional league, there will finally be a team from the northernmost corner of India participating in one. With so many kinds of news coming in from the region of Kashmir, it has to be a story of extreme resilience and passion that the state has for the beautiful game. At the end of it all, however, it was just a fairy tale ending- a journey that would be written about quite a lot about how, for the first time, a team from Jammu and Kashmir would be competing with and among the best footballers of the rest of the country. The I League started in 2007 and for the first time, Real Kashmir FC will be a part of its top division. One is taken back to the game Real Kashmir FC played against TRAU FC barely three days back which was as close an encounter can get. In the race to lift the title in the 2nd Division of the I-League, Real Kashmir wasted no time in opening the scoresheet. It was a game of two halves, a game where not a minute passed without leaving spectators at the edge of their seats. Real Kashmir FC had scored in the first half, a strike that was immediately equalised in the second half by TRAU. In fact, the latter even went a step further to take the lead in the 87th minute to apparently seal the deal for the club. But if you thought Kashmir was done, you were wrong. In the 90th minute, with seconds of normal time left, they equalised leaving critics and fans speechless with their determined passion. That is what Kashmir is. In today's game, the club defeated Hindustan FC 3-2. All throughout, this story has surely been one to hold up to as an exaple, a proper fairytale right beneath the likes of Aizawl winning the coveted league in India or Leicester lifting the title at the Premier League. It was sad news however for Hindustan FC who were destined to be stuck in the second division for the 15th season. "Dedicated win to the people and youth of J&K state. Thanks for all for your support and love," read the club's official statement. There can be nothing more fitting than this.