TRAU FC: The Red Pythons

Aciesta Tiddim Road Athletic Union Football Club (commonly called as TRAU FC) is an Indian professional football club that competes in the I-League. The club is based in Imphal, the capital city of Manipur. It was founded in 1954. Its nickname is ‘The Red Pythons’. The team’s home colours are green and white. The club’s home ground is Khuman Lampak Main Stadium.
TRAU FC has been an instigating firm in the area of sports and other activities. The team has been crowned champions of CC Meet, State League of Manipur, 6 times and finished runners up 9 times. In 1998, the club finished as runners up in the Bordoloi Trophy losing 1-10 to Uzbek club Narbakhar FC. The club participated in the 2017-18 I-League 2nd Division where they qualified for the final round but couldn’t win promotion. The next season was better for the club. In the first round, they finished 2nd ahead of Mohammeden SC to qualify for the final round. In the final round, they finished on top of the group with 15 points from 6 matches. As a result, they won promotion to the I-League for the 2019-20 season.
In its maiden season, TRAU FC played its first I-League match against defending champions Chennai City FC. They lost 0-1. In its debut I-League season after 17 matches, they finished 6th on the points table. They scored and conceded 17 and 27 goals respectively; won 6 matches, drew 4 and lost 7 matches.
Green Bridge is a recognized fan club of the TRAU FC since 2017. The Khuman Lampak Main Stadium regularly sees attendances of around 35,000. TRAU’s main rivals are NEROCA, another Manipuri club based in Imphal. These two clubs are the only two Manipuri clubs to play in the I-League. Prior to the 2019-20 season, SportiFan Ventures Limited, a British sports business management firm, and TRAU FC signed a deal which influenced an important role in the mediation process in the aforementioned agreement.