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.

I-League
Season2017–18
Dates25 November 2017 - 8 March 2018
ChampionsMinerva Punjab[1]
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

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.

Locations of the 2017–18 I-League teams

Stadiums and locations
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
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 Shankarlal Chakraborty Shiv Naresh Nilkamal
NEROCA Gift Raikhan Vector X[12] Classic Group of Hotels
Shillong Lajong Alison Kharsyntiew Nivia 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.

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

League table
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[lower-alpha 1] 18 5 2 11 17 28 −11 17
10 Indian Arrows[lower-alpha 2] 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) Champion
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
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

Scoring
As of 8 March 2018[16]

Hat-tricks
Main article: List of I-League hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
Dudu Omagbemi4East BengalChennai City7–024 February 2018[17]

4 Player scored 4 goals.

Clean sheets
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

Average home attendances
As of 8 March 2018
Team GP Cumulative High Low Mean
NEROCA9192,43835,28511,02021,382
East Bengal9156,29552,9518,69217,366
Mohun Bagan9142,42164,3604,36015,825
Gokulam Kerala973,17725,8416218,131
Chennai City973,73914,7513,0828,194
Minerva Punjab951,6278,2433,8455,736
Shillong Lajong949,0867,8803,0005,454
Aizawl938,2977,2802,8004,256
Indian Arrows929,3005,5632183,256
Churchill Brothers926,2853,4372,4002,921
Total90832,66564,36021810,280

Highest attendances
Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Stadium
1Mohun Bagan1–0East Bengal64,3603 December 2017 (2017-12-03)Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan
2East Bengal0–2Mohun Bagan52,95121 January 2018 (2018-01-21)Salt Lake Stadium
3NEROCA2–1Indian Arrows35,2855 January 2018 (2018-01-05)Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
4NEROCA1–1East Bengal28,24330 December 2017 (2017-12-30)Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
5NEROCA2–1Chennai City27,63315 December 2017 (2017-12-15)Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
6East Bengal1–1NEROCA26,9008 March 2018 (2018-03-08)Salt Lake Stadium
7Gokulam Kerala1–1Chennai City25,8414 December 2017 (2017-12-04)EMS Stadium
8NEROCA0–0Aizawl20,34510 February 2018 (2018-02-10)Khuman Lampak Main Stadium
9Mohun Bagan1–2Chennai City18,3162 January 2018 (2018-01-02)Mohun Bagan Ground
10NEROCA1–0Gokulam Kerala17,3004 February 2018 (2018-02-04)Khuman Lampak Main Stadium

Awards

Hero of the Match
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

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

Award Recipient
Best GoalkeeperShilton Paul (Mohun Bagan)
Jarnail Singh Award for Best DefenderVarney Kallon (NEROCA)
Best MidfielderMichael Soosairaj (Chennai City FC)
Best ForwardChencho Gyeltshen (Minerva Punjab)
Highest ScorerAser Pierrick Dipanda (Mohun Bagan)
Best Emerging Player (U-22)Samuel Lalmuanpuia (Shillong Lajong)
Syed Abdul Rahim Award for Best CoachGift Raikhan (NEROCA)
Best OrganizersNEROCA
Fairplay awardNEROCA

See also

References
  1. Jonathan Selvaraj (8 March 2018). "Minerva give India another champion team from Punjab". ESPN. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  2. "AIFF Invites New Bids For Hero I-League 2017–18". 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.
  5. "Chennai City Stadium". I-League.
  6. "Shillong Lajong Stadium". I-League.
  7. "Minerva Punjab Stadium". I-League.
  8. "Mohun Bagan Stadium". I-League.
  9. @ChennaiCityFC (30 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. 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. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  15. "AIFF reinstates Churchill Brothers in I-League". 20 September 2018.
  16. "Top scorers". i-league.org. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  17. "I-League: East Bengal hits seven to decimate Chennai City". Sportstar. 25 February 2018.
  18. "Clean Sheets". I–league. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  19. "I-League 2017-18: Minerva Punjab presented with winners' trophy; NEROCA's Gift Raikhan named season's best coach". 22 March 2018.
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