Kerala Blasters FC part ways with assistant coach Ishfaq Ahmed

NEW DELHI: Indian Super League (ISL) outfit Kerala Blasters FC on Tuesday announced the departure of their first team assistant coach Ishfaq Ahmed.

Ishfaq served as an assistant coach for four years with Kerala Blasters.

"Thank You Ishfaq Ahmed for all your efforts and the passion with which you contributed towards the team. You will always be remembered fondly by the KBFC family. Wishing you the best, for all your future endeavours," the club said in a tweet.

The central midfielder started out as a player-assistant manager in the ISL 2015 season where he made 25 appearances in the adorned yellow of Kerala Blasters FC. Following his retirement from football, he joined the Jamshedpur FC camp in their debut 2017-18 season.

After the completion of his stint at Jamshedpur FC, Ahmed returned to the Blasters in 2019 and resumed his work as assistant coach under head coach Eelco Schattorie. Since then, the 40-year-old has been a mainstay at Kerala Blasters FC and has been an integral part of the coaching and backroom staff under two different coaches - Kibu Vicuna and Ivan Vukomanovic.

Under the tutelage of Vukomanovic and Ahmed, the Tuskers reached their third Hero ISL final in the 2021-22 season and fell short of success after losing out to Hyderabad FC 3-1 on penalties.

Further, the side secured qualification for the playoffs in two successive ISL seasons for the first time in their history - 2021-22 followed by 2022-23.

Ahmed has also stepped up in the role of an interim coach on several different occasions, with his latest outing being the ongoing Super Cup, where the side were unable to make it past the group stage.