TRAU FC and NEROCA FC will kick off their 2026-27 I-League 3 campaigns in Imphal this month, a far cry from the second-tier stage where both clubs competed before the crisis in Manipur affected their preparations. The two former I-League sides now sit in the fourth tier of Indian men’s football, though they reached this point by different routes.
League tables alone do not explain their slide down the pyramid. Both clubs finished at the foot of the 2023-24 I-League after months of ethnic violence in Manipur. Club officials and players said the unrest hurt training, player welfare and their ability to play in front of home fans. Their legal appeal against relegation failed, and their paths through the lower divisions have split since then.
Separate paths down the divisions
NEROCA finished 12th in the 13-team I-League in 2023-24 with 14 points, while TRAU finished last with 13 points. On 2 July 2024, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) confirmed that both clubs would drop into I-League 2 under the competition rules.
From there, the two Imphal sides experienced different fortunes. TRAU struggled in I-League 2 during the 2024-25 season, finishing eighth and suffering a second straight relegation into I-League 3.
TRAU showed signs of a sporting recovery during the 2025-26 I-League 3 campaign. The team topped Group B with 10 points in the group stage to reach the final round. That momentum stalled in the six-team playoffs, where TRAU finished fifth with three points and missed out on promotion. Baghpat FC won the title, and FC Raengdai claimed the second promotion spot.
NEROCA stayed in I-League 2 for the 2024-25 season and held on for another year. Its relegation to the fourth tier came at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, when Baghpat and FC Raengdai moved up to replace NEROCA and SAT Tirur. While both Manipur clubs now compete in I-League 3, only TRAU spent the entire 2025-26 season at that level.
This distinction matters because their drop was not a single, identical sequence of relegations. TRAU had a clear chance to win back its place in I-League 2 during the 2025-26 playoffs but fell short. NEROCA’s fall into the fourth tier arrived a season later.
A campaign played during conflict in Manipur
The slide for both clubs began during the 2023-24 I-League season, which took place during the ethnic conflict that broke out in Manipur on 3 May 2023. Curfews and security risks made regular training difficult, and both teams had to move their home fixtures out of the state to Kolkata and Shillong.
A report published by The Indian Express in August 2024 detailed how the crisis reached into players’ daily lives. NEROCA midfielder Lourembam David Singh said curfews made it hard to leave home for training. Goalkeeper Jackson Singh Khoirom spoke about worrying for his family during violence near his hometown of Moirang.
Moving home games out of Manipur also changed match-day conditions. Players told the newspaper that home crowds, which could reach around 30,000 in Imphal, dropped to about 50 spectators at some fixtures in Kolkata and Shillong. Although those numbers were the players’ estimates, they show how far the teams were removed from their usual backing.
Playing away from Imphal created financial and logistical strain as well. NEROCA office secretary Rojit Meitei told the newspaper that the move drove up travel, accommodation and food costs while leaving the club without its regular support staff and facilities. He said money from sponsors and donors had dried up, salary payments had become difficult and players had transferred elsewhere. A club official also said NEROCA let go of seven or eight Kuki players because of concerns for their safety.
These accounts document the severe pressure the club faced during that season. On their own, however, they do not show the exact number of points those difficulties cost either team. Both sides finished at the bottom of the standings, and the available evidence cannot measure the exact share of responsibility between on-field results and the surrounding crisis.
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Why the Delhi High Court upheld the relegations
Following the 2023-24 campaign, TRAU and NEROCA asked the Delhi High Court to overturn the AIFF’s relegation decision. The clubs argued that the conflict had forced them to play home matches outside Manipur, stripped them of home support and damaged their preparation. They also pointed to earlier cases where the federation had used its discretion to spare clubs from relegation in exceptional circumstances, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 30 September 2024, the Delhi High Court judgment dismissed both petitions. Justice Sanjeev Narula stated that the clubs had not shown arbitrariness or bad faith in the AIFF’s decision. The court noted that both teams had taken part in the league and had been ranked on their results under the competition rules. It added that a court could not force a sports federation to use its discretion in a specific way when no rule required the exemption the clubs wanted.
The ruling did not deny that the violence in Manipur had affected the two clubs. Instead, it found that those circumstances did not create a legal basis to reverse the relegation decision. While the clubs’ accounts described serious operational challenges, the court’s ruling addressed whether the federation’s decision could be overturned under the rules that applied.
A local group stages the start of the road back
Both clubs now have a chance to begin climbing back up the pyramid on home soil. The AIFF’s 2026-27 I-League 3 announcement confirms that 19 clubs will compete across four groups in the tournament. TRAU and NEROCA have been drawn in Group A alongside Southern Sporting Union (SSU) and KLASA FC, with all group matches scheduled at Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal on 26, 28 and 30 October.
TRAU is scheduled to open against KLASA on 26 October, while NEROCA faces SSU later that day. The two former I-League rivals will meet each other on 28 October at 3 pm IST. Each group winner will advance to the six-team playoffs, joined by the two best runners-up across all four groups. The top two teams in the playoffs will earn promotion to I-League 2 for the 2027-28 season.
The immediate challenge for both sides is to put together a strong enough run to reach the playoffs. Past achievements and reputation cannot win promotion on their own. TRAU and NEROCA must first get past local rivals in a short group stage and then prove themselves again against the other qualifying clubs.
The fall of Imphal’s two former I-League clubs brings together two realities. Players and officials described severe upheaval during the 2023-24 season, yet their league finishes still led to relegation and the court did not overturn that outcome. After taking different routes into the fourth tier over the past two seasons, both teams begin their next push for promotion at Khuman Lampak Stadium when Group A kicks off on 26 October.
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