After several humiliating defeats against already existing Nepali teams from Karlsruhe and Weingarten in our home ground, we went for a couple of friendlies outside of Stuttgart.
Lokendra Samba drafted the very first logo for the club. He further arranged jerseys for the team. Equipped with jersey, we were ready for away matches.
The very first friendly was with NFT Weingarten on 18th June 2022. We witnessed the best hospitality and management there. Token of love and invitation for friendlies were not into the practice by then.
Encouraged by the first friendly outside of Stuttgart, we went to Munich for our second friendly against the mighty NFT Munich, a Nepali team that had existed since 2014. On 7th August, 2022, the match ended with a brutal victory for Munich and we returned with a heavy heart.
During our return to Stuttgart, we decided to face Munich again. Right then, Berlin had announced Bundespokal, a football tournament for Nepalese diaspora football clubs. There were no tournaments for past 2 years due to Covid19. FC Berlin Nepal fulfilled a long pause in the Football scene in Germany. Until then, it was only NRNA Germany that organized tournaments.
To take part in Berlin, Anupam Aryal and Gopal Rijal promised to contribute an entry fee worth 300€. Raman Paneru managed accommodation in Berlin. Santosh Shahi, our first goalkeeper, drove some players to Stuttgart overnight. Binay Timilsina coached in the tournament. We combined players from Karlsruhe and Stuttgart and took part in the very first tournament of NFC Stuttgart history.
We could not make it beyond the group stage. We conceded goals in every one of the matches in the group stage. But that participation made us realize our potential as a club. Since our result was not so encouraging, some had doubts and did not want to participate in the NRNA Cup 2022.
Bibek Shrestha, one of the forwards, proposed having few friendlies and deciding based on the results to whether or not to participate in NRNA on our way back. Same we did.
We organized two friendlies with NFT Weingarten and Nepal Darmstadt FC. The results were encouraging. We received good feedback from both the teams. And we decided to join the NRNA Cup 2022.
LCC Rhein-Saar-BW, supported us with entry fee. We booked a box hotel this time and were more organized. We did lose a few matches but also won major ones. We defeated NFT Munich in 1-0 and Gönes Göttinfen in 6-0. Against Göttingen, all our major players were injured and all goals were scored in the second half. Bibek Shrestha’s header against Munich was our very first goal in a tournament. That’s how our very first year of Football ended.
IMAGE HIGHLIGHTS FOR BUNDESPOKAL 2022 (BERLIN)
IMAGE HIGHLIGHTS FOR NRNA CUP 2022