Wikipedia

2017–18 I-League

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]

I-League
Season2017–18
Dates25 November 2017 – 8 March 2018
ChampionsMinerva Punjab
1st I-League title
1st Indian title
RelegatedChurchill Brothers
AFC Champions LeagueMinerva Punjab
Matches played90
Goals scored205 (2.28 per match)
Top goalscorerAser Pierrick Dipanda
(13 goals)
Best goalkeeperShilton Paul
(8 clean sheets)
Biggest home winEast Bengal 7–1 Chennai City
(24 February 2018)
Biggest away winGokulam Kerala 0–3 NEROCA
(9 December 2017)
Highest scoringEast Bengal 7–1 Chennai City
(24 February 2018)
Longest winning runMinerva Punjab
East Bengal(4 games)
Longest unbeaten runNEROCA
(9 games)
Longest winless runChurchill Brothers
(6 games)
Longest losing runChurchill Brothers
(5 games )
Highest attendance64,630
Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal
(3 December 2017)
Lowest attendance218
Indian Arrows vs Chennai City
(29 November 2017)
Total attendance832,665
Average attendance10,280
All statistics correct as of 8 March 2018.

Teams edit

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.

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Locations of the 2017–18 I-League teams


Stadiums and locations edit

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Aizawl Aizawl, Mizoram Rajiv Gandhi Stadium 20,000[4]
Chennai City Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore 30,000[5]
Churchill Brothers Salcete, Goa Tilak Maidan Stadium 6,000
East Bengal Kolkata, West Bengal Salt Lake Stadium
Barasat Stadium 		66,000
22,000
Indian Arrows Delhi, New Delhi
Bambolim, Goa 		Ambedkar Stadium
GMC Bambolim Athletic Stadium 		35,000[6]
6,500
Gokulam Kerala Kozhikode, Kerala EMS Stadium 54,000
Minerva Punjab Ludhiana, Punjab Guru Nanak Stadium 15,000[7]
Mohun Bagan Kolkata, West Bengal Salt Lake Stadium
Barasat Stadium
Mohun Bagan Ground 		66,687[8]
22,000
22,000
NEROCA Imphal, Manipur Khuman Lampak Main Stadium 30,000
Shillong Lajong Shillong, Meghalaya Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium 30,000

Personnel and kits edit

Team Head coach Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Aizawl   Santosh Kashyap Vamos NE Consultancy Services
Chennai City   V Soundararajan Counter Sports[9] None
Churchill Brothers   Joseph Afusi Faisports Churchill Group
East Bengal   Khalid Jamil PERF Kingfisher
Gokulam Kerala   Bino George Kaizen sports Aachi Group
Indian Arrows   Luís Norton de Matos Nike None
Minerva Punjab   Khogen Singh Astro[10] Apollo Tyres[11]
Mohun Bagan   Sankarlal Chakraborty Shiv Naresh Nilkamal
NEROCA   Gift Raikhan Vector X[12] Classic Group of Hotels
Shillong Lajong   Alison Kharsyntiew Nivia Sports[13] None

Foreign players edit

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.

Club Foreigner 1 Foreigner 2 Foreigner 3 Foreigner 4 AFC Foreigner 1 AFC 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 Moghrabi  Bimal 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

Results edit

League table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Minerva Punjab (C) 18 11 2 5 24 16 +8 35 Qualification to 2019 AFC Champions League qualifier
2 NEROCA 18 9 5 4 20 13 +7 32
3 Mohun Bagan 18 8 7 3 28 14 +14 31
4 East Bengal 18 8 7 3 32 19 +13 31
5 Aizawl 18 6 6 6 21 18 +3 24
6 Shillong Lajong 18 6 4 8 17 25 −8 22
7 Gokulam Kerala 18 6 3 9 17 23 −6 21
8 Chennai City 18 4 7 7 15 24 −9 19
9 Churchill Brothers[a] 18 5 2 11 17 28 −11 17
10 Indian Arrows[b] 18 4 3 11 13 24 −11 15
Source: i-league.org
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) drawing of lots
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ Churchill Brothers were relegated, but reinstated after the appeal.[15]
  2. ^ Indian Arrows were exempted from relegation, as they are an AIFF developmental team.

Results table edit

Home \ Away AIZ CHE CB KEB IA GK MP MB NFC SHI
Aizawl — 2–0 1–0 0–0 3–0 3–1 2–1 1–1 1–2 0–1
Chennai City 1–1 — 3–1 1–2 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–0
Churchill Brothers 1–0 0–2 — 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 0–1 2–0
East Bengal 2–2 7–1 3–2 — 1–0 1–0 2–2 0–2 1–1 5–1
Indian Arrows 2–2 3–0 2–1 0–2 — 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 3–0
Gokulam Kerala 0–2 1–1 2–3 2–1 0–1 — 0–1 1–1 0–3 3–2
Minerva Punjab 2–0 2–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 — 1–1 2–1 3–2
Mohun Bagan 2–0 1–2 5–0 1–0 1–1 1–2 1–2 — 0–0 1–1
NEROCA 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 0–1 2–3 — 0–2
Shillong Lajong 2–1 0–0 2–0 2–2 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–3 0–1 —
Source: I-League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics edit

Scoring edit

As of 8 March 2018[16]

Hat-tricks edit

Main article: List of I-League hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Ref
  Dudu Omagbemi4 East Bengal Chennai City 7–0 24 February 2018 [17]

4 Player scored 4 goals.

Clean sheets edit

As of 8 March 2018[18]
Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1   Shilton Paul Mohun Bagan 8
2   Avilash Paul Aizawl 6
3   Phurba Lachenpa Shillong Lajong 5
  Uroš Poljanec Chennai City
  Bishorjit Singh NEROCA
6   Lalit Thapa NEROCA 4
  Rakshit Dagar Minerva Punjab
8   Luis Barreto East Bengal 3
  James Kithan Churchill Brothers
  Kiran Chemjong Minerva Punjab
11   Dheeraj Singh Indian Arrows 2
  Prabhsukhan Singh Gill Indian Arrows
  Nidhin Lal Shillong Lajong
  Ubaid C K East Bengal
  Bilal Husain Khan Gokulam Kerala

Attendance edit

Average home attendances edit

As of 8 March 2018
Team GP Cumulative High Low Mean
NEROCA 9 192,438 35,285 11,020 21,382
East Bengal 9 156,295 52,951 8,692 17,366
Mohun Bagan 9 142,421 64,360 4,360 15,825
Gokulam Kerala 9 73,177 25,841 621 8,131
Chennai City 9 73,739 14,751 3,082 8,194
Minerva Punjab 9 51,627 8,243 3,845 5,736
Shillong Lajong 9 49,086 7,880 3,000 5,454
Aizawl 9 38,297 7,280 2,800 4,256
Indian Arrows 9 29,300 5,563 218 3,256
Churchill Brothers 9 26,285 3,437 2,400 2,921
Total 90 832,665 64,360 218 10,280

Highest attendances edit

Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Stadium
1 Mohun Bagan 1–0 East Bengal 64,360 3 December 2017 (2017-12-03) Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan
2 East Bengal 0–2 Mohun Bagan 52,951 21 January 2018 (2018-01-21) Salt Lake Stadium
3 NEROCA 2–1 Indian Arrows 35,285 5 January 2018 (2018-01-05) Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
4 NEROCA 1–1 East Bengal 28,243 30 December 2017 (2017-12-30) Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
5 NEROCA 2–1 Chennai City 27,633 15 December 2017 (2017-12-15) Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
6 East Bengal 1–1 NEROCA 26,900 8 March 2018 (2018-03-08) Salt Lake Stadium
7 Gokulam Kerala 1–1 Chennai City 25,841 4 December 2017 (2017-12-04) EMS Stadium
8 NEROCA 0–0 Aizawl 20,345 10 February 2018 (2018-02-10) Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
9 Mohun Bagan 1–2 Chennai City 18,316 2 January 2018 (2018-01-02) Mohun Bagan Ground
10 NEROCA 1–0 Gokulam Kerala 17,300 4 February 2018 (2018-02-04) Khuman Lampak Main Stadium

Awards edit

Hero of the Match edit

Match Hero of the Match Match Hero of the Match Match Hero of the Match
Player Club Player Club Player Club
1   Sony Norde Mohun Bagan 31   Mahmoud Amnah East Bengal 61   Akram Moghrabi Mohun Bagan
2   Alen Deory Shillong Lajong 32   Murilo de Almeida Chennai City 62   Varney Kallon NEROCA
3   Katsumi Yusa East Bengal 33   Subhash Singh NEROCA 63   Prabhsukhan Singh Gill Indian Arrows
4   Aniket Jadhav Indian Arrows 34   Uroš Poljanec Chennai City 64   Monday Osagie Churchill Brothers
5   Chencho Gyeltshen Minerva Punjab 35   Bali Gagandeep Minerva Punjab 65   Bali Gagandeep Minerva Punjab
6   Hardy Nongbri Shillong Lajong 36   Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan 66   Jean-Michel Joachim Chennai City
7   Kingsley Obumneme Mohun Bagan 37   Abdoulaye Koffi Shillong Lajong 67   Lalram Hmunmawia Aizawl
8   Nikhil Bernard Gokulam Kerala 38   Mechac Koffi Churchill Brothers 68   Anwar Ali Indian Arrows
9   William Opoku Minerva Punjab 39   Michael Soosairaj Chennai City 69   Venyamin Shumeyko Chennai City
10   Felix Chidi Odili NEROCA 40   Chencho Gyeltshen Minerva Punjab 70   Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan
11   Laldanmawia Ralte East Bengal 41   Abhijit Sarkar Indian Arrows 71   Mahmoud Amnah East Bengal
12   Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan 42   David Lalrinmuana Aizawl 72   Varney Kallon NEROCA
13   Kassim Aidara Minerva Punjab 43   Rakshit Dagar Minerva Punjab 73   Edmund Lalrindika Indian Arrows
14   Masih Saighani Aizawl 44   Ogba Kalu Nnanna Churchill Brothers 74   Bilal Husain Khan Gokulam Kerala
15   Sheikh Faiaz Mohun Bagan 45   Avilash Paul Aizawl 75   Michael Soosairaj Chennai City
16   Lalit Thapa NEROCA 46   Varney Kallon NEROCA 76   Subhash Singh NEROCA
17   James Kithan Churchill Brothers 47   Monday Osagie Churchill Brothers 77   Saihou Jagne Shillong Lajong
18   Redeem Tlang Shillong Lajong 48   Felix Chidi Odili NEROCA 78   Henry Kisekka Gokulam Kerala
19   Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem Indian Arrows 49   Santu Singh Gokulam Kerala 79   Lalkhawpuimawia Aizawl
20   Rana Gharami Mohun Bagan 50   Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan 80   Dudu Omagbemi East Bengal
21   Jean-Michel Joachim Chennai City 51   Prabhsukhan Singh Gill Indian Arrows 81   Arjun Jayaraj Gokulam Kerala
22   Daniel Addo Gokulam Kerala 52   Abdoulaye Koffi Shillong Lajong 82   Guy Eric Dano Minerva Punjab
23   Uroš Poljanec Chennai City 53   Leonce Dodoz Zikahi Aizawl 83   Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan
24   Phurba Lachenpa Shillong Lajong 54   Chencho Gyeltshen Minerva Punjab 84   Leonce Dodoz Zikahi Aizawl
25   Jitendra Singh Indian Arrows 55   Prabhsukhan Singh Gill Indian Arrows 85   Michael Soosairaj Chennai City
26   Leonce Dodoz Zikahi Aizawl 56   Mahmood Al-Ajmi Gokulam Kerala 86   Nikhil Kadam Mohun Bagan
27   Mohammed Rafique East Bengal 57   Kiran Chemjong Minerva Punjab 87   Nidhin Lal Shillong Lajong
28   Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem Indian Arrows 58   Felix Chidi Odili NEROCA 88   Nikhil Bernard Gokulam Kerala
29   Eduardo Ferreira East Bengal 59   Wayne Vaz Churchill Brothers 89   Ricardo Cardozo Churchill Brothers
30   Andrei Ionescu Aizawl 60   Michael Soosairaj Chennai City 90   Lalit Thapa NEROCA

Season awards edit

Hero I-League 2017–18 awards were announced on March 22.[19]

Award Recipient
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 edit

References edit

  1. ^ Jonathan Selvaraj (8 March 2018). "Minerva give India another champion team from Punjab". ESPN. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  2. ^ "AIFF Invites New Bids For Hero I-League 2017–18". 21 July 2017. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  3. ^ "AIFF WELCOMES SREE GOKULAM GROUP IN HERO I-LEAGUE". 20 September 2017. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Aizawl F.C. Stadium". I-League.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Chennai City Stadium". I-League.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Shillong Lajong Stadium". I-League.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Minerva Punjab Stadium". I-League.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Mohun Bagan Stadium". I-League.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ @ChennaiCityFC (31 October 2017). "Official First Team Home Kit #CCFC designed by @counter_sports for the upcoming @ILeagueOfficial Season!…" (Tweet). Retrieved 10 November 2017 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ @minervapunjabfc (28 November 2017). "✊ We thank all our Sponsors and Partners who backed us for the ongoing @ILeagueOfficial season ⚽ #chakdephatte…" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 December 2017 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ @minervapunjabfc (24 November 2017). "🚨 Join us in welcoming @apollotyres as our official title sponsors for the upcoming @ILeagueOfficial season❗…" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 November 2017 – via Twitter.
  12. ^ FC, NEROCA (8 August 2017). "VECTOR X THE OFFICIAL KITS AND UNIFORM SPONSOR FOR NEROCA FC !!! Various official MERCHANDISE TO BE AVAILABLE FOR ALL OUR FANS SOON!!". @Nerocafc. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  13. ^ @lajongfc (15 November 2017). "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…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Mergulhao, Marcus (2 August 2017). "I-LEAGUE Foreign players: Mohun Bagan, EB get their way". Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 January 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  15. ^ "AIFF reinstates Churchill Brothers in I-League". The Times of India. 20 September 2018. Archived from the original on 18 November 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  16. ^ "Top scorers". i-league.org. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  17. ^ "I-League: East Bengal hits seven to decimate Chennai City". Sportstar. 25 February 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  18. ^ "Clean Sheets". I–league. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  19. ^ "I-League 2017–18: Minerva Punjab presented with winners' trophy; NEROCA's Gift Raikhan named season's best coach". firstpost.com. Chandigarh: The FirstPost News. Press Trust of India. 22 March 2018. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.

External links edit

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