2014–15 I-League

The 2014–15 I-League (known as the Hero I-League for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the I-League, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 17 January 2015, after the conclusion of the 2014–15 Federation Cup and finished on 31 May 2015 with a title deciding match between defending champions Bengaluru FC and Mohun Bagan. Mohun Bagan scored a late equalising goal to win the championship by two points. It was to be their first I-League title and fourth Indian championship in total[2][3]

I-League
Season2014–15
ChampionsMohun Bagan
1st I-League title
4th Indian title
RelegatedDempo
AFC Champions LeagueMohun Bagan
AFC CupBengaluru FC
Matches played110
Goals scored280 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorerRanti Martins (East Bengal)
(17 goals)
Biggest home winSalgaocar 5–1 Bharat FC
(24 May 2015)
Shillong Lajong 5–1 East Bengal
(30 May 2015)
Sporting Goa 4–0 Pune
(30 May 2015)
Biggest away winMumbai 0–6 Shillong Lajong
(3 April 2015)
Highest scoringPune 5–2 Shillong Lajong
(29 January 2015)
Mohun Bagan 4–3 Shillong Lajong
(27 February 2015)
Longest winning runBengaluru FC
Pune
Royal Wahingdoh
Mumbai
Mohun Bagan
Sporting Goa
(3 games)
Longest unbeaten runBengaluru FC
(13 games)
Longest winless runSporting Goa
(13 games)
Longest losing runSalgaocar
(4 games)
Highest attendance57,780 (Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal)
(28 March 2015)
Average attendance5,909[1]
All statistics correct as of 31 May 2015.

Teams

The official number of teams for the new season will be eleven. After the success of the leagues first direct-entry side, Bengaluru FC, the All India Football Federation held bidding for new teams from 15 May to 2 June 2014 with cities such as Chennai and Ahmedabad in the running.[4] At the same time the federation would review the AFC Club Licensing Criteria and any club which failed to pass the criteria will be banned from entering the league.[4]

On 22 May 2014 the All India Football Federation officially announced that former I-League champions Churchill Brothers, Rangdajied United, and United S.C had been axed from the 2014–15 season for failing to pass the club licensing criteria.[5] Then, in August 2014, it was announced that the AIFF had awarded a direct-entry spot to the Kalyani Group and that they would start a team based in Pune.[6] The team was officially launched in November 2014 as Bharat FC.[7]

In terms of promotion and relegation, Mohammedan were relegated from the I-League the previous season, while Royal Wahingdoh were promoted after winning the 2014 I-League 2nd Division.[8][9] This would be Wahingdoh's first season in the I-League after remaining unbeaten through the entire 2nd Division campaign.[9]

Stadiums and locations
Locations of the 2014–15 I-League teams
Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.
Team Stadium Capacity
Bengaluru FC Sree Kanteerava Stadium 24,000
Bharat FC Balewadi Sports Complex 22,000
Dempo Fatorda Stadium 19,800
East Bengal Salt Lake Stadium 68,000[10]
Mohun Bagan Salt Lake Stadium 68,000[10]
Mumbai Cooperage Ground 5,000
Pune Balewadi Sports Complex 22,000
Royal Wahingdoh Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium 30,000
Salgaocar Fatorda Stadium 19,800
Shillong Lajong Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium 30,000
Sporting Goa Fatorda Stadium 19,800

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Head coach Captain Main Sponsor
Bengaluru FC England Ashley Westwood India Sunil Chhetri JSW Group
Bharat FC England Stuart Watkiss India Gouramangi Singh Kalyani Group
Dempo England Trevor Morgan England Calum Angus Dempo
East Bengal Netherlands Eelco Schattorie India Harmanjot Khabra Kingfisher
Mohun Bagan India Sanjoy Sen India Shilton Pal McDowell's No.1
Mumbai India Khalid Jamil India Climax Lawrence Playwin
Pune Morocco Karim Bencherifa India Anas Edathodika Peninsula
Royal Wahingdoh India Santosh Kashyap India Lalchhawnkima Imperial Blue
Salgaocar India Derrick Pereira India Karanjit Singh Salgaocar
Shillong Lajong India Thangboi Singto North Korea Son Min-chol Gionee
Sporting Goa India Mateus Costa Trinidad and Tobago Anthony Wolfe Models

Head coaching changes
Team Outgoing head coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming head coach Date of appointment
Mohun Bagan Morocco Karim Bencherifa Sacked 29 April 2014[11] Pre-season India Sankarlal Chakraborty 27 July 2014[12]
Pune Netherlands Mike Snoei Sacked 30 May 2014[13] Morocco Karim Bencherifa 10 June 2014[14]
Royal Wahingdoh India Nandakumar Singh Unknown 25 October 2014[15] India Santosh Kashyap 25 October 2014[15]
Bharat FC New team England Stuart Watkiss 4 November 2014[16]
Sporting Goa Spain Óscar Bruzón Mutual Consent 4 December 2014[17] India Mateus Costa Unknown[18]
Mohun Bagan India Sankarlal Chakraborty Unknown 8 December 2014[19] India Sanjoy Sen 8 December 2014[19]
East Bengal India Armando Colaco Sacked 19 February 2015[20] 4th Netherlands Eelco Schattorie 19 February 2015[21]
Dempo Australia Arthur Papas Mutual Consent 2 March 2015[22] 8th England Trevor Morgan 3 March 2015[23]

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries and a marquee player. A team could use four foreign players on the field during each game including at least one player from the AFC country.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC Player
Bengaluru FC England John Johnson England Josh Walker Kenya Curtis Osano Australia Sean Rooney
Bharat FC Benin Romuald Boco England Bobby Hassell New Zealand Kris Bright State of Palestine Omar Jarun
Dempo Afghanistan Zohib Islam Amiri Costa Rica Carlos Hernández England Calum Angus Australia Tolgay Özbey
East Bengal New Zealand Leo Bertos Nigeria Ranti Martins Nigeria Dudu Omagbemi Australia Milan Susak
Mohun Bagan Cameroon Pierre Boya Haiti Sony Norde Nigeria Bello Razaq Japan Katsumi Yusa
Mumbai Brazil Josimar Nigeria Chika Wali Japan Taisuke Matsugae
Pune Brazil Luciano Sabrosa Montenegro Darko Nikač Portugal Edgar Marcelino Japan Ryuji Sueoka
Royal Wahingdoh Liberia Bekay Bewar Nigeria Loveday Enyinnaya Trinidad and Tobago Densill Theobald North Korea Kim Seng-yong
Salgaocar Ivory Coast Douhou Pierre Scotland Darryl Duffy Zambia Francis Kasonde Yemen Khaled Baleid
Shillong Lajong Brazil Uilliams Nigeria Penn Orji Trinidad and Tobago Cornell Glen North Korea Son Min-chol
Sporting Goa Nigeria Odafa Okolie Portugal Miguel Garcia Trinidad and Tobago Anthony Wolfe Syria Mahmoud Amnah

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Mohun Bagan (C) 20 11 6 3 33 16 +17 39 Qualification for AFC Champions League qualifying play-off
2 Bengaluru FC 20 10 7 3 35 19 +16 37 Qualification for AFC Cup group stage[lower-alpha 1]
3 Royal Wahingdoh 20 8 6 6 27 27 0 30
4 East Bengal 20 8 5 7 30 28 +2 29[lower-alpha 2]
5 Pune 20 8 5 7 24 26 −2 29[lower-alpha 2]
6 Mumbai 20 5 9 6 22 27 −5 24[lower-alpha 3]
7 Salgaocar 20 7 3 10 25 27 −2 24[lower-alpha 3]
8 Sporting Goa 20 5 8 7 22 27 −5 23[lower-alpha 4]
9 Shillong Lajong 20 6 5 9 34 29 +5 23[lower-alpha 4]
10 Dempo (R) 20 3 10 7 15 26 −11 19 Relegation to I-League 2nd Division
11 Bharat FC 20 4 6 10 13 28 −15 18 [lower-alpha 5]
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: IndiaFooty.com
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) play-off match.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Bengaluru FC, as the winner of 2014–15 Federation Cup, qualified for the 2016 AFC Cup
  2. East Bengal ahead on goal difference, head-to-head record being the same; Pune 2–3 East Bengal
    East Bengal 1–2 Pune
  3. Mumbal ahead on head-to-head goal difference; Mumbai–Salgaocar 3–0, Salgaocar–Mumbai 3–1
  4. Sporting Goa ahead on head-to-head record; Sporting Goa–Shillong Lajong 1–1, Shillong Lajong–Sporting Goa 1–2
  5. Bharat FC were not relegated as they had relegation immunity for two years.[24]

Results
Home \ Away BFC KBFC DEM EB MB MUM PFC RWFC SFC SLFC SCG
Bengaluru FC 1–0 0–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 1–3 3–3 3–1 2–0 4–1
Bharat FC 0–2 0–0 0–3 1–0 0–2 1–0 1–2 2–0 1–1 1–0
Dempo 1–1 0–0 1–5 1–1 0–0 1–2 3–2 0–0 0–2 3–0
East Bengal 1–0 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–2
Mohun Bagan 4–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–1 1–0 2–0 3–1 0–0 2–0
Mumbai 1–1 2–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 3–0 0–6 0–0
Pune 0–2 1–1 0–0 2–3 0–2 3–2 1–0 1–0 5–2 1–1
Royal Wahingdoh 0–4 1–1 1–1 1–0 3–2 1–1 2–0 4–2 1–1 2–0
Salgaocar 0–1 5–1 2–0 3–1 0–0 3–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 0–2
Shillong Lajong 1–1 3–1 3–0 5–1 3–4 1–0 0–1 1–2 1–3 1–2
Sporting Goa 1–3 2–0 2–2 1–1 2–1 1–1 4–0 0–0 0–2 1–1
Updated to match(es) played on 31 May 2015. Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics
As of 31 May 2015 [25]

Scoring

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef.
India Thongkhosiem Haokip Pune Shillong Lajong 5–2 29 January 2015 [26]
Nigeria Ranti Martins 5 East Bengal Dempo 5–1 1 March 2015 [27]
India Satiyasen Singh Royal Wahingdoh Salgaocar 4–2 3 May 2015 [28]
Trinidad and Tobago Cornell Glen Shillong Lajong Bharat 3–1 17 May 2015 [29]
Nigeria Odafe Onyeka Okolie Sporting Goa Pune 4–0 30 May 2015
Trinidad and Tobago Cornell Glen Shillong Lajong East Bengal 5–1 30 May 2015

5 Player scored 5 goals

Discipline

Fair play

The Fair Play qualities of the participating teams and which are pertinent to the spectators will be evaluated using the FIFA Fair Play evaluation form. East Bengal led the Fair Play rankings at the end of the season.[31]

Rank Team Games Total Points
1
 East Bengal
20
1451.1
2
 Royal Wahingdoh
20
1450.0
3
 Pune
20
1438.6
4
 Salgaocar
20
1427.5
5
 Bharat FC
20
1415.0
6
 Mumbai
20
1394.3
7
 Shillong Lajong
20
1377.5
8
 Bengaluru FC
20
1367.9
9
 Dempo
20
1342.5
10 Mohun Bagan
20
1337.9
Sporting Goa
20
1337.9

Awards

AIFF Awards

All India Football Federation awarded the following awards for the I-League season.[32]

See also

References
  1. "I-League sees rise in stadium attendance". The Times of India.
  2. "I-League and Fed Cup Committee Meeting held at Football House". The All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  3. Prasad, Vishnu. "AIFF Invites Bids for I-League Clubs". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  4. Battacharya, Nilesh. "I-League likely to embrace new cities". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  5. Mergulhao, Marcus. "Three football clubs barred from I-League". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  6. Mazumdar, Rakhi. "Kalyani Group bags bid to launch team in I-league". The Economic Times. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  7. "Kalyani Group names I-League team as 'Bharat FC'". Zee News. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  8. Bali, Rahul. "Mohammedan Sporting relegated from I-League". Goal.com. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  9. "Royal Wahingdoh qualify for I-League". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  10. "Transformed and shrunk Saltlake Stadium ready for ISL". 8 October 2014.
  11. Netto, Brandon. "Subhash Bhowmick appointed as Mohun Bagan Technical Director". Goal.com. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  12. "7th week review of preseason training; Sankarlal Chakraborty declared as Chief Coach". Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  13. "Pune FC part ways with coach Mike Snoei". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  14. "Pune FC appoint Karim Bencherifa as coach". NDTV Sport. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  15. "Wahingdoh appoints Kashyap as new coach". The Shillong Times. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  16. "I-League: Kalyani Group appoints Stuart Watkiss as head coach". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  17. "Sporting Clube, Oscar part ways". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  18. Noronha, Anselm. "Mateus Costa: 'Bengaluru's defense is very good'". Goal.com. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  19. "Mohun Bagan set to appoint Sanjoy Sen as head coach". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  20. "Armando Colaco parts ways with East Bengal in tears". 19 February 2015.
  21. "'Taj Mahal was not built in a day' - Eelco Schattorie". 19 February 2015.
  22. "Dempo part ways with Athur Papas". 2 March 2015.
  23. "CONFIRMED: Morgan to join Dempo SC". 3 March 2015.
  24. "East Bengal - Bharat FC Preview: Lions' pride travel in search of first win of the season". 15 February 2015.
  25. "Players — I-League". soccerway. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  26. "Haokip hat-trick powers Pune to a 5-2 win over Shillong". The Times of India. 29 January 2015.
  27. "I-League: Ranti Martins blitz gives East Bengal memorable win over Dempo". Zee News. 2 March 2015.
  28. "Seityasen hat-trick sinks Salgaocar". The Navhind Times. 4 May 2015.
  29. "Shillong Lajong beat Bharat FC in I-league". The Morung Express. 17 May 2015. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  30. "Players - I-League - India - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway".
  31. "Hero I-League FairPlay Points Table". I-League.
  32. Kaustav Bera. "Jackichand Singh selected as the Best Player of I-League 2014-15".
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