2012–13 I-League

The 2012–13 I-League was the sixth season of the I-League, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 6 October 2012 and finished on 12 May 2013 with Churchill Brothers crowned champions in matchday 25.

I-League
Season2012–13
ChampionsChurchill Brothers
2nd I-League title
2nd Indian title
RelegatedAir India
United Sikkim
AFC Champions LeaguePune
AFC CupPune
Churchill Brothers
Matches played182
Goals scored531 (2.92 per match)
Top goalscorerRanti Martins
(26 goals)
Biggest home winPrayag United 10–1 United Sikkim
(10 November 2012)
Salgaocar 9–0 United Sikkim
(13 April 2013)
Biggest away winAir India 0–6 Pune
(20 April 2013)
Highest scoringChurchill Brothers 8–4 Sporting Goa
(16 December 2012)
Longest winning run6 games
Churchill Brothers
Longest unbeaten run10 games
Churchill Brothers
Mohun Bagan
Longest losing run6 games
Air India

Dempo were the defending champions, having won their third I-League title the previous season.

On 29 December 2012, Mohun Bagan were barred from competing in the I-League for 2 years following a decision taken by the I League core committee. This was because they failed to turn up in the second half of the match against East Bengal because of crowd trouble. All their results in the I-League were declared null and void and all their remaining fixtures were cancelled.[1]
But on 15 January 2013, Mohun Bagan appealed against the decision to ban them from the league and were reinstated, but would start on 0 points.[2]

Teams

A total of 14 teams contested the league, including 12 sides from the 2011–12 season and two promoted from the 2012 I-League 2nd Division.

ONGC as champions and United Sikkim as runners-up secured direct promotion from the 2012 I-League 2nd Division. ONGC returned to the I-League after a one-year absence, while United Sikkim made their debut in the I-League.

Air India and Mumbai FC

Due to the ongoing redevelopment of the Cooperage Ground in Mumbai which is the regular home for Mumbai F.C. and Air India FC in the I-League both clubs will play at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune, Maharashtra until it is complete.[3]

ONGC

The newly promoted ONGC F.C. also usually play at the Cooperage Ground in Mumbai but due to the redevelopment the team decided to play at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi which is where the main company, ONGC, are based. However it will only be for five home matches.[4]

Goan clubs

The four Goan clubs in the I-League, Churchill Brothers, Dempo, Salgaocar, and Sporting Clube de Goa, usually play their I-League matches at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao. However, due to a major revamp at the stadium in preparation for the 2013 Lusophony Games which will be held in Goa, the Goan home games for the I-League will be played at the Duler Stadium and then the Tilak Maidan Stadium from the end of January.[5]

Stadiums and Locations
Locations of teams in the 2012–13 I-League
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Air India Mumbai, Maharashtra Balewadi Sports Complex 22,000 #
Churchill Brothers Salcette, Goa Duler Stadium 6,000 #
Dempo Panjim, Goa Duler Stadium 6,000 #
East Bengal Kolkata, West Bengal Salt Lake Stadium 120,000
Mohun Bagan Kolkata, West Bengal Salt Lake Stadium 120,000
Mumbai Mumbai, Maharashtra Balewadi Sports Complex 22,000 #
ONGC Mumbai, Maharashtra Ambedkar Stadium 20,000 #
Pailan Arrows Kolkata, West Bengal Salt Lake Stadium 120,000
Prayag United Kolkata, West Bengal Salt Lake Stadium 120,000
Pune Pune, Maharashtra Balewadi Sports Complex 22,000
Salgaocar Vasco da Gama, Goa Duler Stadium 6,000 #
Shillong Lajong Shillong, Meghalaya Nehru Stadium 30,000
Sporting Goa Panjim, Goa Duler Stadium 6,000 #
United Sikkim Gangtok, Sikkim Paljor Stadium 25,000

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 Manager Captain Shirt sponsor
Air India India Naushad Moosa India Vijith Shetty Air India
Churchill Brothers India Mariano Dias Brazil Beto Churchill
Dempo India Armando Colaco India Clifford Miranda Dempo
East Bengal England Trevor Morgan India Sanju Pradhan Kingfisher
Mohun Bagan Morocco Karim Bencherifa Nigeria Odafe Onyeka Okolie Fila
Mumbai India Khalid Jamil Afghanistan Zohib Amiri TEN HD
ONGC India Santosh Kashyap India Jatin Singh ONGC
Pailan Arrows Australia Arthur Papas India Shouvik Ghosh Poto Potato Flakes
Prayag United Netherlands Eelco Schattorie India Deepak Mondal Prayag Group
Pune India Derrick Pereira Ivory Coast Pierre Douhou Peninsula
Salgaocar England David Booth Brazil Luciano Sabrosa Salgaocar
Shillong Lajong India Thangboi Singto India Renedy Singh Aircel
Sporting Goa Spain Oscar Bruzon India Matthew Gonsalves Models
United Sikkim Australia Nathan Hall India Anwar Ali URO

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
ONGC India Caetano Pinho Unknown 30 April 2012 Pre-Season India Subrata Bhattacharya 30 April 2012[6]
Pailan Arrows India Sujit Chakravarty End of tenure as interim manager 7 May 2012 Pre-Season Australia Arthur Papas 24 May 2012[7]
Mohun Bagan India Prasanta Banerjee Sacked 26 May 2012 Pre-Season India Santosh Kashyap 26 May 2012[8]
Air India India Santosh Kashyap Signed by Mohun Bagan 26 May 2012 Pre-Season India Godfrey Pereira 3 July 2012[9]
Shillong Lajong Scotland Pradyum Reddy Changed to a Head of Youth 8 June 2012 Pre-Season Scotland Desmond Bulpin 8 June 2012[10]
Churchill Brothers Brazil Carlos Roberto Pereira Did not renew contract 7 May 2012 Pre-Season India Mariano Dias 13 July 2012[11]
Mohun Bagan India Santosh Kashyap Resigned 13 October 2012 11th (2 games In) India Mridul Banerjee 19 October 2012[12]
Salgaocar Morocco Karim Bencherifa Resigned 20 October 2012 9th (2 games In) India Peter Vales 20 October 2012[13]
Prayag United India Sanjoy Sen Resigned 8 November 2012 5th (4 games In) Netherlands Eelco Schattorie 8 November 2012[14]
Salgaocar India Peter Vales Interem period ended 9 November 2012 9th (4 games In) England David Booth 9 November 2012[15]
United Sikkim Belgium Philippe De Ridder Changed Post to football director 13 November 2012 11th (5 games In) India Baichung Bhutia 13 November 2012[16]
Mohun Bagan India Mridul Banerjee Interim period ended 19 November 2012 5th (6 games in) Morocco Karim Bencherifa 19 November 2012[17]
Sporting Clube de Goa India Ekendra Singh Moved to Goalkeeper Coach 3 December 2012 11th (9 games in) Spain Oscar Bruzon 3 December 2012[18]
United Sikkim India Baichung Bhutia Interim period ended 10 December 2012 12th (10 games in) Australia Nathan Hall 10 December 2012[19]
ONGC India Subrata Bhattacharya Sacked 18 December 2012 14th (11 games in) India Santosh Kashyap 18 December 2012[20]
Air India India Godfrey Pereira Resigned 27 December 2012 10th (10 games in) India Anthony Fernandes 30 December 2012[21]
Shillong Lajong Scotland Desmond Bulpin Sacked 22 January 2013 12th (16 games in) India Thangboi Singto 22 January 2013[22]
Air India India Anthony Fernandes Interim period ended 2 March 2013 12th (17 games in) India Naushad Moosa 2 March 2013[23]

Foreign players

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

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player
Air India Nigeria Henry Ezeh Nigeria Junior Obagbemiro Nigeria Amos Omeje Afghanistan Mujtaba Faiz
Churchill Brothers Brazil Beto Gabon Henry Antchouet Senegal Lamine Tamba Afghanistan Balal Arezou
Dempo Japan Ryuji Sueoka Liberia Johnny Menyongar Nigeria Koko Sakibo None
East Bengal Nigeria Chidi Edeh Nigeria Uga Okpara Nigeria Penn Orji Australia Andrew Barisić
Mohun Bagan Namibia Quinton Jacobs Nigeria Echezona Anyichie Nigeria Odafe Okolie Australia Tolgay Özbey
Mumbai Ghana Evans Quao Ghana Yusif Yakubu Nigeria David Opara Afghanistan Zohib Amiri
ONGC Liberia Eric Brown Nigeria Muritala Ali Nigeria Hassan Odeola Japan Katsumi Yusa
Pailan Arrows Pailan Arrows don't use foreigners as they are a Developmental Team
Prayag United Costa Rica Carlos Hernández Nigeria Ranti Martins Nigeria Bello Razaq Japan Kayne Vincent[nb 1]
Pune Ivory Coast Pierre Douhou Nigeria Chika Wali South Sudan James Moga Australia Boima Karpeh
Salgaocar Brazil Josimar Brazil Luciano Sabrosa Nigeria O. J. Obatola Singapore John Wilkinson
Shillong Lajong Japan Sho Kamimura Japan Taisuke Matsugae Portugal Edinho Júnior North Korea Minchol Son
Sporting Goa Nigeria Ogba Kalu Nnanna Spain Ángel Berlanga Spain Juanfri Japan Seiya Sugishita
United Sikkim Guam John Landa Nigeria Salau Nuruddin Spain Pablo Rodríguez Australia Steve Hayes

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Churchill Brothers (C) 26 16 7 3 56 22 +34 55 Qualification for 2014 AFC Cup group stage
2 Pune 26 16 4 6 53 26 +27 52 Qualification for 2014 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off[lower-alpha 1]
3 East Bengal 26 13 8 5 44 18 +26 47
4 United SC 26 13 5 8 55 35 +20 44
5 Dempo 26 11 7 8 45 33 +12 40
6 Sporting Goa 26 9 8 9 36 41 −5 35
7 Salgaocar 26 9 6 11 34 29 +5 33
8 Mumbai 26 8 8 10 36 42 −6 32
9 ONGC (R) 26 7 10 9 30 40 −10 31 Excluded[lower-alpha 2]
10 Mohun Bagan 26 11 8 7 40 34 +6 29[lower-alpha 3]
11 Shillong Lajong 26 6 10 10 26 40 −14 28
12 Pailan Arrows 26 6 5 15 25 45 −20 23
13 Air India (R) 26 4 7 15 28 63 −35 19 Excluded[lower-alpha 2]
14 United Sikkim (R) 26 2 9 15 23 63 −40 15 Relegation to 2014 I-League 2nd Division
Updated to match(es) played on 12 May 2013. Source: IndiaFooty.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Pune were chosen to represent India in the AFC Champions League as they passed the club licensing requirements.[24]
  2. ONGC and Air India were expelled from I-League because they failed to meet Asian Football Confederation's licensing criteria.[25]
  3. On 29 December 2012, Mohun Bagan failed to turn up in the second half of the match against East Bengal due to crowd trouble; their record was expunged, with their remaining fixtures scratched, and they were banned from the I-League for until 2015 by the I-League core committee.[26] On 15 January 2013, Mohun Bagan appealed against the decision to ban them from the league and were reinstated, but would start on 0 points.[27]

Results
Home \ Away AI CB DEM EB MB MUM ONGC PA USC PFC SFC SLFC SCG USFC
Air India 0–3 2–1 0–3 0–1 4–1 1–2 1–1 1–4 0–6 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–3
Churchill Brothers 3–0 2–2 0–3 1–1 3–1 5–0 3–1 2–2 2–1 2–1 6–0 8–4 2–1
Dempo 1–0 2–1 2–2 3–0 2–2 1–1 0–2 3–1 1–5 2–1 4–1 0–1 7–0
East Bengal 1–1 0–3 1–1 3–0 2–0 5–0 3–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 6–0
Mohun Bagan 3–2 0–2 2–1 0–0 3–2 3–1 2–0 1–2 1–3 3–0 2–2 3–1 0–0
Mumbai 3–1 0–0 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 0–3 0–1 4–1 3–2 1–0
ONGC 2–4 1–1 3–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 3–0 2–2 1–1
Pailan Arrows 2–1 0–3 1–2 1–2 2–3 3–2 4–1 1–2 0–2 1–2 1–0 0–2 1–1
United SC 5–1 1–2 1–0 2–2 1–1 2–3 3–1 4–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–3 10–1
Pune 4–0 0–1 2–0 1–2 2–2 3–2 3–2 2–0 3–1 0–2 2–2 0–0 2–2
Salgaocar 4–0 0–0 1–2 1–4 2–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–3 9–0
Shillong Lajong 2–2 0–1 0–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 3–1 3–2 1–2 1–1 1–2 2–1
Sporting Goa 0–1 1–0 0–5 0–0 1–5 2–2 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–2 2–0 0–0 2–1
United Sikkim 5–0 0–0 1–2 0–1 0–3 2–2 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–2 3–2 0–0 0–3
Updated to match(es) played on 12 May 2013. Source: I-League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistical leaders

Hattricks
PlayerForAgainstResultRoundDate
Nigeria Ranti MartinsPrayag UnitedAir India5–117 October 2012
Lebanon Akram MoghrabiChurchill BrothersONGC5–0211 October 2012
Nigeria Odafe Onyeka OkolieMohun BaganSporting Goa3–144 November 2012
Nigeria Ranti Martins[nb 2]Prayag UnitedUnited Sikkim10–1510 November 2012
India Bineesh BalanChurchill BrothersSporting Goa8–41116 December 2012
Nigeria Chidi EdehEast BengalSalgaocar4–1145 January 2013
Nigeria Koko SakiboDempoUnited Sikkim7–01719 January 2013
India C.K. VineethPrayag UnitedAir India4–1192 February 2013
Nigeria Odafe Onyeka OkolieMohun BaganSporting Goa5–1237 April 2013
Brazil JosimarSalgaocarUnited Sikkim9–02413 April 2013

Notes
  1. Prayag United are allowed up to four foreign players (per I-League rules), one of which must be from Asia. Despite being a New Zealander and having represented them at youth international level Kayne Vincent is considered Japanese due to his Japanese mother.
  2. Martins scored 5 goals in this match.

References
  1. "Century-old Mohun Bagan banned from I-League". Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  2. "AIFF revoke two-year ban on Mohun Bagan". Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  3. Choudhuri, Arunava. "I-League 2012/13: Tentative Fixtures from Round 1 to 13". Arunfoot. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  4. "I-League returns to Delhi". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  5. "DULER STADIUM TO HOST I-LEAGUE ON NEW TURF". Navhindtimes. Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  6. Choudhuri, Arunava. "Interview with Bibek Bhowmik (ONGC Football Team Manager)". Arunfoot. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  7. Howitt, Liam. "Jets' Papas to coach Indian youth soccer". Sydney Morning Herald. AAP. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  8. Vasavda, Mihir. "Air India coach Santosh Kashyap joins Mohun Bagan". DNA India. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  9. Sundaresan, Bharat. "'I will bring an end to Bagan's dry spell'". Indian Express. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  10. "Desmond Bulpin signs for Lajong FC". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 December 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  11. "Mariano Dias appointed head coach for Churchill Brothers". Daily News & Analysis. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  12. "Karim Bencharifa likely to step into Kashyap's shoes". Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  13. "SALGAOCAR FC ANNOUNCES KARIM BENCHERIFA'S RESIGNATION AS HEAD COACH". Salgaocar Football Club. Archived from the original on 8 January 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  14. "Dutchman Eelco Schattorie appointed new coach of Indian Premier Club Prayag United SC !". Prayag United Sports Club. Archived from the original on 10 January 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  15. "I-League News, Results & Transfers | Goal.com".
  16. Srivastava, Ayush. "Bhaichung Bhutia takes over as interim coach of United Sikkim FC". Goal.com. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  17. "Karim Bencharifa begins second stint as chief coach of Mohun Bagan". NDTV. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  18. "Spanish coach for Sporting Clube de Goa". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  19. "New Coaching Regime". United Sikkim FC – Facebook. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  20. Bali, Rahul. "Santosh Kashyap appointed as the head coach of ONGC". Goal.com. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  21. Noronha, Anselm. "Salgaocar FC 4–0 Air India: David Booth's side sign off the year in style". Goal.com. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  22. "Shillong Lajong FC sack Desmond Bulpin, assistant Thangboi Singto to take over as interim coachFC". Goal India. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  23. "Air India meet ONGC in rescheduled tie". I-League. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  24. "Pune FC to play AFC Champions League play-off". Goal.com. 26 November 2013.
  25. "I-League: ONGC, AI hoping against hope". The Times of India. 17 January 2013.
  26. "Century-old Mohun Bagan banned from I-League". Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  27. "AIFF revoke two-year ban on Mohun Bagan". Retrieved 15 January 2013.
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