NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam. The club was established on 13 April 2014 and competes in the Indian Super League, the top division league of Indian football. They play their home matches at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.
The current manager of the club is Juan Pedro Benali.
On 19 August 2014, former New Zealand international defender, Ricki Herbert was appointed as the first head coach of Highlanders.[1] The Highlanders finished 8th in the league table in their first season.[2]
After the 2014 season, it was announced that Ricki Herbert would not return to the club as head coach. On 1 July 2015, it was announced that former Venezuela head coach César Farías would take over as the Highlanders head coach.[3] He guided the team to team to 5th in the table for the first time.[4]
After 2015 season, it was announced that César Farías wouldn't return as the head coach. On 13 May 2016, NorthEast United announced Sérgio Farias as the club's new head coach.[5] However, Sérgio Farias joined his former club Suphanburi FC, during season forcing Highlanders to search for another manager.[6] On 23 July 2016, NorthEast United announced Nelo Vingada as the club's new head coach.[7]
On 17 July 2017, the Highlanders appointed João de Deus as the new head coach for the season.[8] On 2 January 2018, club sacked him due to the poor performance from the team.[9] The team appointed technical advisor Avram Grant as their new caretaker manager.[10]
For 2018–19 season, the highlanders named their assistant coach Eelco Schattorie as the new head coach.[11] He led the team towards 2018–19 Indian Super League playoffs. They lost to Bengaluru FC in the second leg of semi-finals.[12]
On 5 August 2019, the highlanders announced former Croatian footballer Robert Jarni as their new head coach.[13] After a winless streak of 11 games, Robert Jarni was sacked by the club on 11 February 2021 and Khalid Jamil was appointed as the interim head coach for the season.[14]
On 25 August 2020, the highlanders appointed Gerard Nus as their new head coach.[15] On 13 January 2021, the club sacked Gerrad Nus for not maintaining club's philosophy and vision and installed Khalid Jamil as the interim coach.[16] Under Khalid Jamil the team played their second-ever semifinals and lost to ATK Mohun Bagan in the second leg of playoffs.[17]
On 23 October 2021, NorthEast United appointed Khalid Jamil as their new head coach for the upcoming season.He becomes the first permanent Indian manager in Indian Super League.[18] Under his guidance, NorthEast began its 2021–22 Indian Super League campaign on 20 November with a 4–2 loss to Bengaluru FC.[19] NorthEast United FC had a forgetful 2021-22 season after the highs of the 2020-21 season. They had a sluggish start to the season as injuries and issues off the pitch dictated their on field performances. The ISL’s first ever Indian head coach Khalid Jamil failed to live up to everyone’s expectations as the Highlanders finished 10th on the league standings.
On 11 August 2022, NorthEast United announced the signing of Marco Balbul as their manager for the upcoming season.[20] On 8 December 2022, Vincenzo Alberto Annese joined Indian Super League club NorthEast United as the new head coach after the club sacked Marco Balbul mid-season.[21]
On 22 May 2023, the Club appointed Juan Pedro Benali as the team’s Head Coach on a 1+1 year deal.
Only competitive matches are taken into account.
| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Ricki Herbert | 19 August 2014 | 20 December 2014 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | César Farías | 1 July 2015 | 2 December 2015 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Sérgio Farias | 16 May 2016 | 16 July 2016 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Nelo Vingada | 16 July 2016 | 4 December 2016 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | João de Deus | 17 July 2017 | 2 January 2018 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Avram Grant | 2 January 2018 | 15 March 2018 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Eelco Schattorie | 17 August 2018 | 11 March 2019 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Robert Jarni | 5 August 2019 | 10 February 2020 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Khalid Jamil (interim) | 10 February 2020 | 25 February 2020 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | 25 August 2020 | 12 January 2021 | ||||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Khalid Jamil (interim) | 12 January 2021 | 9 March 2021 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Khalid Jamil | 23 October 2021 | May 2022 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Marco Balbul | 11 August 2022 | 7 December 2022 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Vincenzo Alberto Annese | 8 December 2022 | 1 March 2023 | |||||||
| scope=row style=text-align:left | Juan Pedro Benali | 22 May 2023 | Present* | |||||||
Note: Interim managers and caretakers have been excluded from the list
As of 29 September 2023
Khalid Jamil –20 Khalid Jamil –15
Juan Pedro Benali –57.14
Marco Balbul –0.00The following is a list of all the persons who worked as an Assistant Manager for the club.
Thangboi Singto (2014) Guillermo Sanchez (2015) Santosh Kashyap (2015) Francisco Bruto Da Costa (2016)
Shaun Ontong (2018–19) Arthur Papas (2018–19) Khalid Jamil (2019–20)
Ivan Piñol (2020–21) Alison Kharsyntiew (2020–2022) Floyd Pinto (2022–)[23]The following is a list of all the persons who worked as a Goalkeeping Coach for the club.
Gennaro Bracigliano (2015) Joseph Sidy (2017–19) Sandip Nandy (2019–20) Asier Rey Santín (2020–2022) Dipankar Choudhury (2022–)[24]