2017–18 I-League Explained

Pixels:200px
Competition:I-League
Season:2017–18
Dates:25 November 2017 – 8 March 2018
Winners:Minerva Punjab
1st I-League title
1st Indian title
Relegated:Churchill Brothers
Continentalcup1:AFC Champions League
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Minerva Punjab
Matches:90
Total Goals:205
League Topscorer:Aser Pierrick Dipanda
(13 goals)
Best Goalkeeper:Shilton Paul
(8 clean sheets)
Biggest Home Win:East Bengal 7–1 Chennai City
(24 February 2018)
Biggest Away Win:Gokulam Kerala 0–3 NEROCA
(9 December 2017)
Highest Scoring:East Bengal 7–1 Chennai City
(24 February 2018)
Longest Wins:Minerva Punjab
East Bengal(4 games)
Longest Unbeaten:NEROCA
(9 games)
Longest Winless:Churchill Brothers
(6 games)
Longest Losses:Churchill Brothers
(5 games)
Highest Attendance:64,630
Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal
(3 December 2017)
Lowest Attendance:218
Indian Arrows vs Chennai City
(29 November 2017)
Attendance:832,665
Average Attendance:10,280
Prevseason:2016–17
Updated:8 March 2018

The 2017–18 I-League was the 11th season of the I-League. Aizawl were the defending champions. NEROCA entered as the promoted team from the 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division. The season began on 25 November 2017. Minerva Punjab won their first I-League title.[1]

Teams

All India Football Federation invited bids for new teams on 21 July 2017 from Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Ranchi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bhopal, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Malappuram and Trivandrum, among others.[2] On 20 September, after second round of bidding invitation, the Bid Evaluation Committee decided to award Sree Gokulam Group the right to field their team in the Hero I-League 2017–18 season onward from Kozhikode, Kerala.[3] Bengaluru FC successfully bid for a place in 2017–18 Indian Super League season and thus was not a part of I-League. NEROCA F.C. were promoted for winning 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division. After successful hosting of FIFA U-17 World Cup, AIFF revived Indian Arrows project to field the colts in I-League.

Stadiums and locations

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
AizawlAizawl, MizoramRajiv Gandhi Stadium20,000[4]
Chennai CityCoimbatore, Tamil NaduJawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore30,000[5]
Churchill BrothersSalcete, GoaTilak Maidan Stadium6,000
East BengalKolkata, West BengalSalt Lake Stadium
Barasat Stadium		66,000
22,000
Indian ArrowsDelhi, New Delhi
Bambolim, Goa		Ambedkar Stadium
GMC Bambolim Athletic Stadium		35,000[6]
6,500
Gokulam KeralaKozhikode, KeralaEMS Stadium54,000
Minerva PunjabLudhiana, PunjabGuru Nanak Stadium15,000[7]
Mohun BaganKolkata, West BengalSalt Lake Stadium
Barasat Stadium
Mohun Bagan Ground		66,687[8]
22,000
22,000
NEROCAImphal, ManipurKhuman Lampak Main Stadium30,000
Shillong LajongShillong, MeghalayaJawaharlal Nehru Stadium30,000

Personnel and kits

TeamHead coachKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Santosh KashyapVamos NE Consultancy Services
V SoundararajanCounter Sports[9] None
Joseph AfusiFaisportsChurchill Group
Khalid JamilPERFKingfisher
Gokulam Kerala Bino GeorgeKaizen sportsAachi Group
Indian Arrows Luís Norton de MatosNikeNone
Khogen SinghAstro[10] Apollo Tyres[11]
Sankarlal ChakrabortyShiv NareshNilkamal
Gift RaikhanVector X[12] Classic Group of Hotels
Alison KharsyntiewNivia Sports[13] None

Foreign players

On 2 August 2017, it was announced by the All India Football Federation that the number of foreigners for each I-League club would go up to six, with two of the six having to be born in Asia or registered with the AFC.[14]

Indian Arrows cannot sign any foreign players as they are the AIFF developmental team.

ClubForeigner 1Foreigner 2Foreigner 3Foreigner 4AFC Foreigner 1AFC Foreigner 2
Aizawl Léonce Dodoz Alfred Jaryan Kareem Omolaja Andrei Ionescu Masih Saighani Yugo Kobayashi
Chennai City Jean-Michel Joachim Aleksandar Rakić Uroš Poljanec Venyamin Shumeyko Kim Dong-hyeon
Churchill Brothers Dawda Ceesay Francis Onyeama Monday Osagie Willis Plaza Bektur Talgat Uulu Hussein Eldor
East Bengal Eduardo Ferreira Ansumana Kromah Dudu Omagbemi Katsumi Yusa Mahmoud Amnah
Gokulam Kerala Daniel Addo Emmanuel Chigozie Henry Kisekka Musa Mudde Mahmood Al-Ajmi Gulom Urunov
Minerva Punjab William Opoku Bazie Armand Guy Eric Dano Kassim Aidara Chencho Gyeltshen Kiran Chemjong
Mohun Bagan Aser Pierrick Dipanda Akram MoghrabiBimal Gharti Magar Kingsley Obumneme Cameron Watson Yuta Kinowaki
NEROCA Nedo Turković Fabien Vorbe Varney Kallon Felix Chidi Odili Nick Ward Aryn Williams
Shillong Lajong Lawrence Doe Abdoulaye Koffi Daniel Odafin Saihou Jagne Oh Joo-ho

League table

Results table

Season statistics

Scoring

[15]

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Aser Pierrick DipandaMohun Bagan13
2 Dudu OmagbemiEast Bengal8
3 Chencho GyeltshenMinerva Punjab7
Felix Chidi OdiliNEROCA
5 Katsumi YusaEast Bengal6
6 Jean-Michel JoachimChennai City5
William OpokuMinerva Punjab
8 Yugo KobayashiAizawl4
Mechac KoffiChurchill Brothers
Abhijit SarkarIndian Arrows
Subhash SinghNEROCA
Abdoulaye KoffiShillong Lajong
Léonce Dodoz ZikahiAizawl
Akram MoghrabiMohun Bagan
Henry KisekkaGokulam Kerala

Top Indian scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1Abhijit SarkarIndian Arrows4
Subhash SinghNEROCA
3Laldanmawia RalteEast Bengal3
Bali GagandeepMinerva Punjab
LalkhawpuimawiaAizawl
Michael SoosairajChennai City
Samuel LalmuanpuiaShillong Lajong
8William LalnunfelaAizawl2
Aniket JadhavIndian Arrows
Ronald SinghNEROCA
Redeem TlangShillong Lajong
Rahul PraveenIndian Arrows
Jobby JustinEast Bengal
Mohun Bagan
Kivi Zhimomi Gokulam Kerala

Hat-tricks

See main article: List of I-League hat-tricks.

4 Player scored 4 goals.

Clean sheets

[17]

RankPlayerClubClean
sheets
1 Shilton PaulMohun Bagan8
2 Avilash PaulAizawl6
3 Phurba LachenpaShillong Lajong5
Uroš PoljanecChennai City
Bishorjit SinghNEROCA
6 Lalit ThapaNEROCA 4
Rakshit DagarMinerva Punjab
8 Luis BarretoEast Bengal3
James KithanChurchill Brothers
Kiran ChemjongMinerva Punjab
11 Dheeraj SinghIndian Arrows2
Prabhsukhan Singh GillIndian Arrows
Nidhin LalShillong Lajong
Ubaid C KEast Bengal
Bilal Husain KhanGokulam Kerala

Attendance

Average home attendances

width=160Teamwidth=45width=45width=45width=45
NEROCAalign=center 9192,43835,28511,020align=center bgcolor="#98FB98" 21,382
East Bengalalign=center 9156,29552,9518,69217,366<-- 16611 + 10,023 + 11182 + 9,983 + 52,951 + 11,200 + 8,692 + 8,753 + 26,900 -->
Mohun Baganalign=center 9142,421align=center bgcolor="#98FB98" 64,360align=center 4,360align=center 15,825
Gokulam Keralaalign=center 973,17725,8416218,131<-- 25841 + 9,952 + 3,720 + 4,534 + 8,355 + 6,325 + 621 + 3,257 + 9,572 -->
Chennai Cityalign=center 973,73914,7513,0828,194<-- 12,758 + 14,751 + 8,762 + 7,038 + 4,082 + 7,680 + 3,082 + 8,244 + 7,342 -->
Minerva Punjabalign=center 951,6278,2433,8455,736<-- 5995 + 5734 + 3,845 + 5,342 + 8,243 + 3,890 + 6,298 + 4,428 + 7,852-->
Shillong Lajongalign=center 949,0867,8803,0005,454<-- 6900 + 7880 + 3,000 + 4200 + 4600 + 5,800 + 4,700 + 6,300 + 5,706 -->
Aizawlalign=center 938,2977,2802,8004,256<-- 2,875 + 3,800 + 4,200 + 3620 + 7280 + 7250 + 3,272 + 3,200 + 2,800 -->
Indian Arrowsalign=center 929,3005,563align=center bgcolor="#FFBBBB" 2183,256<-- 218 + 776 + 3,701 + 2,428 + 5,205 + 5,563 + 5,491 + 3,175 + 2,743-->
Churchill Brothersalign=center 926,2853,4372,4002,921<-- 2,957 + 3,173 + 2,442 + 3,108 + 2,400 + 2,867 + 3,437 + 3,116 + 2,785 -->
Totalalign=center 90832,66564,36021810,280

Highest attendances

RankHome teamScoreAway teamAttendanceDateStadium
1 Mohun Bagan1–0East Bengal64,360Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan
2 East Bengal0–2Mohun Bagan52,951Salt Lake Stadium
3 NEROCA2–1Indian Arrows35,285Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
4 NEROCA1–1East Bengal28,243Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
5 NEROCA2–1Chennai City27,633Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
6 East Bengal1–1NEROCA26,900Salt Lake Stadium
7 Gokulam Kerala1–1Chennai City25,841EMS Stadium
8 NEROCA0–0Aizawl20,345Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
9 Mohun Bagan1–2Chennai City18,316Mohun Bagan Ground
10 NEROCA1–0Gokulam Kerala17,300Khuman Lampak Main Stadium

Awards

Hero of the Match

MatchHero of the MatchMatchHero of the MatchMatchHero of the Match
PlayerClubPlayerClubPlayerClub
1 Sony NordeMohun Bagan31East Bengal61 Akram MoghrabiMohun Bagan
2 Alen DeoryShillong Lajong32 Murilo de AlmeidaChennai City62NEROCA
3 Katsumi YusaEast Bengal33 Subhash SinghNEROCA63Indian Arrows
4 Aniket JadhavIndian Arrows34 Uroš PoljanecChennai City64Churchill Brothers
5 Chencho GyeltshenMinerva Punjab35Minerva Punjab65Minerva Punjab
6 Hardy NongbriShillong Lajong36 Aser Pierrick DipandaMohun Bagan66 Jean-Michel JoachimChennai City
7 Kingsley ObumnemeMohun Bagan37 Abdoulaye KoffiShillong Lajong 67 Lalram HmunmawiaAizawl
8 Nikhil BernardGokulam Kerala38Churchill Brothers 68Indian Arrows
9 William OpokuMinerva Punjab39Chennai City69 Venyamin ShumeykoChennai City
10 Felix Chidi OdiliNEROCA40 Chencho GyeltshenMinerva Punjab70 Aser Pierrick DipandaMohun Bagan
11 Laldanmawia RalteEast Bengal41Indian Arrows71East Bengal
12 Aser Pierrick DipandaMohun Bagan42 David LalrinmuanaAizawl72NEROCA
13 Kassim AidaraMinerva Punjab43 Rakshit DagarMinerva Punjab73Indian Arrows
14 Masih SaighaniAizawl44Churchill Brothers 74 Bilal Husain KhanGokulam Kerala
15 Sheikh FaiazMohun Bagan45 Avilash PaulAizawl 75Chennai City
16 Lalit ThapaNEROCA46NEROCA76 Subhash SinghNEROCA
17Churchill Brothers47Churchill Brothers 77Shillong Lajong
18Shillong Lajong48NEROCA 78Gokulam Kerala
19 Dheeraj Singh MoirangthemIndian Arrows49 Santu SinghGokulam Kerala 79Aizawl
20Mohun Bagan 50 Aser Pierrick DipandaMohun Bagan80East Bengal
21 Jean-Michel JoachimChennai City51Indian Arrows 81 Arjun JayarajGokulam Kerala
22Gokulam Kerala52Shillong Lajong82Minerva Punjab
23Chennai City 53Aizawl 83 Aser Pierrick DipandaMohun Bagan
24Shillong Lajong54 Chencho GyeltshenMinerva Punjab84Aizawl
25 Jitendra SinghIndian Arrows55Indian Arrows85 Michael SoosairajChennai City
26Aizawl 56Gokulam Kerala 86 Nikhil KadamMohun Bagan
27East Bengal57 Kiran ChemjongMinerva Punjab87 Nidhin LalShillong Lajong
28 Dheeraj Singh MoirangthemIndian Arrows58 Felix Chidi OdiliNEROCA 88 Nikhil BernardGokulam Kerala
29East Bengal 59Churchill Brothers 89 Ricardo CardozoChurchill Brothers
30Aizawl 60Chennai City90NEROCA

Season awards

Hero I-League 2017–18 awards were announced on March 22.[18]

AwardRecipient
Best Goalkeeper Shilton Paul (Mohun Bagan)
Jarnail Singh Award for Best Defender Varney Kallon (NEROCA)
Best Midfielder Michael Soosairaj (Chennai City FC)
Best Forward Chencho Gyeltshen (Minerva Punjab)
Highest Scorer Aser Pierrick Dipanda (Mohun Bagan)
Best Emerging Player (U-22) Samuel Lalmuanpuia (Shillong Lajong)
Syed Abdul Rahim Award for Best Coach Gift Raikhan (NEROCA)
Best Organizers NEROCA
Fairplay award NEROCA

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Jonathan Selvaraj. Minerva give India another champion team from Punjab . ESPN. 8 March 2018. 5 December 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211130142239/https://www.espn.in/football/indian-i-league/story/3411481/minerva-punjab-win-historic-i-league-title. 30 November 2021.
  2. Web site: AIFF Invites New Bids For Hero I-League 2017–18. 21 July 2017. 21 July 2017. 25 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180825220255/http://i-league.org/interviews-and-features/aiff-invites-new-bids-for-hero-i-league-2017-18/. live.
  3. Web site: AIFF WELCOMES SREE GOKULAM GROUP IN HERO I-LEAGUE. 20 September 2017. 20 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180630191158/https://www.the-aiff.com/news-center-details.htm?id=8465. 30 June 2018. dead.
  4. Web site: Aizawl F.C. Stadium. I-League.
  5. Web site: Chennai City Stadium. I-League.
  6. Web site: Shillong Lajong Stadium. I-League.
  7. Web site: Minerva Punjab Stadium. I-League.
  8. Web site: Mohun Bagan Stadium. I-League.
  9. 925242464541085697. ChennaiCityFC. Official First Team Home Kit #CCFC designed by @counter_sports for the upcoming @ILeagueOfficial Season!… . 2017-11-10. en. 2017-10-30 .
  10. 935437469746470912. minervapunjabfc. ✊ We thank all our Sponsors and Partners who backed us for the ongoing @ILeagueOfficial season ⚽ #chakdephatte… . 2017-12-05. en. 2017-11-28.
  11. 933941594285260800. minervapunjabfc. Join us in welcoming @apollotyres as our official title sponsors for the upcoming @ILeagueOfficial season❗… . 2017-11-24. en. 2017-11-24 .
  12. Web site: VECTOR X THE OFFICIAL KITS AND UNIFORM SPONSOR FOR NEROCA FC !!! Various official MERCHANDISE TO BE AVAILABLE FOR ALL OUR FANS SOON!!. FC. NEROCA. 2017-08-08. @Nerocafc. en. 2017-11-10. 16 April 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220416062536/https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNerocafc%2Fphotos%2Fpb.1045813682104585.-2207520000.1502202612.%2F1625895614096386%2F. live.
  13. 930676489858805760. lajongfc. We are happy to announce Nivia as our new kit partner for the I-League 2017/18 season. Have a look at our new home… . 15 November 2017.
  14. News: Mergulhao. Marcus. I-LEAGUE Foreign players: Mohun Bagan, EB get their way. 1 December 2017. Times of India. 2 August 2017. 1 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180101100125/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/i-league-foreign-players-mohun-bagan-eb-get-their-way/articleshow/59874589.cms. live.
  15. Web site: Top scorers . i-league.org . 28 November 2017 . 16 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210716061355/http://i-league.org/statistics/ . live .
  16. News: I-League: East Bengal hits seven to decimate Chennai City. Sportstar. 25 February 2018. 21 March 2019. 12 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200812155738/https://sportstar.thehindu.com/football/i-league-east-bengal-hits-seven-to-decimate-chennai-city/article22850119.ece. live.
  17. Web site: Clean Sheets. I–league. 23 December 2017. 16 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210716061355/http://i-league.org/statistics/. live.
  18. Web site: I-League 2017–18: Minerva Punjab presented with winners' trophy; NEROCA's Gift Raikhan named season's best coach. 22 March 2018. 23 March 2018. 23 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180323220106/http://www.firstpost.com/sports/i-league-2017-18-minerva-punjab-presented-with-winners-trophy-nerocas-gift-raikhan-named-seasons-best-coach-4401551.html. Press Trust of India. Chandigarh. firstpost.com. The FirstPost News.

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