Kerala’s popular football coach Bino George becomes ‘doctor’ of the beautiful game

For anyone who has put their academic aspirations on ice or given up the pursuit because of work commitments or personal reasons, there is a lesson to be learnt from football coach Bino George.

In 2011, when the native of Thrissur in Kerala set out to work on a PhD in physical education, he had no idea he was in for a long grind, like a game of football stretched beyond 90 minutes, past extra time and a long series of nerve-wracking penalties.

Last week, after 14 long years - almost the full extent of Carles Puyol's illustrious FC Barcelona career - George attained his PhD from the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University in Chennai. "Finally, I can prefix a Dr to my name," said a cheerful Bino George.

For his PhD, George examined the 'influence of varied intensities of resistance training on physical and performance variables among professional football players'.

He argued and found to be true that players who were put through low, mild and high intensity workouts, focused on explosive strength, speed and endurance over a period, had an enhanced performance compared to those who did not undergo any kind of resistance training.

As the duration of his work was so extensive, some of the players who were initially part of his case study, the likes of former India players C K Vineeth and C S Sabeeth, are no longer active. George's latest study group featured players from the East Bengal Football Club.

"There is a school of thought that says gym work is not essential to enhance the performance of football players, rather periodisation is enough, like in the Netherlands. But my argument was that resistance training will have a significant improvement. Also, because a study had not been done on the same here, I decided to do one myself, and I'm glad I've succeeded," George said.

Theory to practice
George did not just put his theory on bundles of paper to earn his doctorate; he has shown its practical application over the years. The number of trophies he's collected during the last three years alone, a period when he was engrossed in his PhD work, is proof enough.

"I worked with our fitness coaches to execute the training programme and the results can be seen in the individual and collective performances in recent years," said the 50-year-old.

George was the head coach of the Kerala team that emerged champions of the prestigious Santosh Trophy national football championship in 2022, only the 7th title won by the football-crazy state.

He continued his trophy hunt on returning to club football with East Bengal by helping the Kolkata giants win the fiercely contested Calcutta Football League (CFL) in 2024, ending a seven-year wait. His methods inspired East Bengal to consecutive CFL titles this September. He was also the Chief Coach of East Bengal FC, which won the RFYL state and zonal championships in 2023-24.

George's CV lists out success stories with various clubs he's worked with, including Viva Kerala and Gokulam Kerala. It also shows his hunger to gain knowledge, like attaining the Pro Licence from the Asian Football Confederation in 2015 to become the first from Kerala to do so. Now with the PhD, one might argue, he's won it all.