Shillong, Jul 22: Langsning FC dropped a couple of big announcements today, firstly that Khlain Pyrkhat Syiemlieh is taking over from Hering Shangpliang as coach of the senior team.
The other news is that Langsning will once again try to qualify for the I-League through the Second Division League.
Syiemlieh, an AFC A Licence holder, has past association with Langsning, having played football for them in years gone by. He was also an assistant coach in 2008 under L Darlong.
After that, Syiemlieh had a long association with Rangdajied United FC and then a brief spell with Ryntih SC before leading Mawlai SC to the Shillong Premier League championship last year. In all this time he has also remained an official in the Sports & Youth Affairs Department and coached Meghalaya state football teams, including the one that finished as runners-up in this season’s Santosh Trophy.
With this, a new era begins for Langsning and it is also the passing of an old one, as Shangpliang had coached the club for a number of years, leading them to two back-to-back SPL titles in 2017 and 2018.
It was also under him that Langsning last tried to qualify for the I-League but their run in the Second Division in 2018 came to an end in the group stage. Although they have made previous attempts to reach the level of the I-League before, Langsning have always fallen short as three other Shillong-based clubs got there – Shillong Lajong FC, Rangdajied United FC and Royal Wahingdoh FC.
Up first, however, will be the SPL 2023. After the heights of two titles, Langsning dropped to fourth in 2019 and were third last year. They also failed to progress past the group stage of the recent Meghalaya State League, though they were hampered by having Syiemlieh’s Mawlai in the same group. Mawlai, in the end, were knocked out in the semifinals.
(TSR file photo)
