Royal Wahingdoh, who came third in their first and only I-League campaign in 2014-’15 will go back to being Wahingdoh FC, a club run by the members of the eponymous community based out of Shillong.
The club which had a 10-year contract signed with owner Dominic Suntga in 2007, will now function as a semi-professional unit. Royal Wahingdoh have done extremely well at various age-group competitions, especially at the Under-15, U-16 and U-18 levels and finished third in this year’s Shillong Premier League.
Wahingdoh FC, a club founded in 1946, will inherit their spot in the SPL for the upcoming season. Jackichand Singh and Seityasen Singh are among the well-known players to have plied their trade for Royal Wahingdoh under Santosh Kashyap.
Suntga had also started another club Shillong United in 2011 with an aim of giving more game time to some of his younger players at a senior level and perhaps due to the fact that his lease of Wahingdoh was about to expire in 2017.
Shillong United has risen through the divisions of the Shillong league pyramid, starting from the third division and making it all the way to the Premier division, only to be relegated to the first division and then bouncing back to the SPL once again this year.
Since 2011, Shillong United’s SPL squad has constituted largely of the members of Royal Wahingdoh’s U-16 and U-18 teams, giving the youngsters invaluable exposure at the senior level.
This year, all existing age group personnel, members of the coaching and administrative staff will now be inherited by Shillong United as they attempt to better their last-placed finish in their only season in the eight-team SPL.