Football season starts today

After a four and a half month gap between seasons, a new spell of football will be underway today through the qualifying round of season's curtain raising tournament, Grameenphone Federation Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Bangladesh Navy will face Cox's City in the opening match before Beanibazar SC take on Wari Club in the second match under the floodlights.
The 2011-12 football season was supposed to begin from October like last season but the football governing body deferred the start by two-and-a-half months due to the AFC U-19 Championship in Bangladesh as well as the preparation of the national football team for the SAFF Championship which ended in December 11 in India.
The Bangladesh Football Federation took 11 months to complete the 2010-11 season despite having started the Federation Cup from October 10. The fourth Bangladesh League consumed more than 180 days for a meagre 132 games following the sudden-insertion of the Independence Cup in the middle of the professional league.
Last season ended through the Super Cup final between two archrivals Abahani and Mohammedan on August 6 and since then there has been no competition in senior level.
This time around, the Federation Cup will see 12 teams including seven clubs of the second-tier professional football league (Bangladesh Championship League) take part in a knock-out basis. Five teams will qualify for the 16-team final round where the 11 clubs of the Bangladesh Premier League are waiting.
As five teams will advance to the final round, seven clubs who are going to play the inaugural Bangladesh Championship League will be trying to fine-tune their squads as well as looking for a long stay in the Federation Cup through qualifying for the finals.
Of those seven teams, two sides will have to face an early exit after playing their first knock-out match with Beanibazar SC facing Wari Club on the opening day while Uttar Baridhara Club will take on Agrani Bank on Sunday.
Apart from these four teams, Cox's City, Chittagong Abahani, and Victoria Club will have to face the challenges of Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Army, BKSP and Air Force to secure a place in the final round.