2016–17 I-League

The 2016–17 I-League was the 10th season of the I-League, the top Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 7 January 2017 and concluded on 30 April 2017.[1]

I-League
Season2016–17
Dates7 January - 30 April 2017
ChampionsAizawl
1st I-League title
1st Indian title
RelegatedMumbai
AFC Champions LeagueAizawl
AFC CupBengaluru FC
Matches played90
Goals scored225 (2.5 per match)
Top goalscorerAser Pierrick Dipanda (11 goals)
Best goalkeeperDebjit Majumder
Albino Gomes
(8 clean sheets)
Biggest home winBengaluru 7–0 DSK Shivajians
(22 April 2017)
Biggest away winMinerva Punjab 0–5 East Bengal
(29 January 2017)
Highest scoringChurchill Brothers 4–5 Minerva Punjab
(19 February 2017)
Longest winning runEast Bengal
(6 games)
Longest unbeaten runEast Bengal
Mohun Bagan
(9 games)
Longest winless runMumbai
(16 games)
Longest losing runMumbai
(6 games)
Highest attendance29,067
East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan
(12 February 2017)
Lowest attendance300
Minerva Punjab vs Chennai City
(8 April 2017)
Total attendance470,941
Average attendance5,233
All statistics correct as of 30 April 2017.

Aizawl won their first title on the final day after securing a draw against Shillong Lajong on 30 April 2017. Defending champions Bengaluru FC finished in the fourth place. Dempo had entered the league after being promoted from the I-League 2nd Division but withdrew from the league along with Salgaocar and Sporting Goa. Aizawl were reinstated into the league after being relegated while Churchill Brothers, Chennai City, and Minerva Punjab were granted direct-entry into the I-League.

Teams

Locations of the 2016–17 I-League teams

Ten teams are competing in the league. The majority of the teams from the previous season as well as recently promoted Dempo were originally supposed to compete this season. Dempo were promoted to the I-League on 30 May 2016, defeating Minerva Academy 3–1.[2] Aizawl were relegated from the I-League the previous season, despite finishing above last place DSK Shivajians who were exempt from relegation. However, on 27 September 2016, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced that Aizawl would be reinstated into the I-League for the 2016–17 season.[3]

Throughout the summer of 2016, the three Goan I-League clubs – Dempo, Salgaocar, and Sporting Goa – had been indecisive over their participation in the league. On 24 June 2016 it was first announced that Salgaocar and Sporting Goa would withdraw from the I-League following their displeasure over the proposed roadmap for Indian football for the 2017–18 season, with Dempo also threatening to do so next.[4] However, in September 2015 it was revealed that despite withdrawing Sporting Goa and Dempo still submitted their AFC Licensing documents needed for I-League play.[5] It was then revealed on 10 November that both Sporting Goa and Dempo were given national licenses for the I-League.[6] Despite this though, however, on 22 November 2016 it was officially announced by Sporting Goa that they would withdraw from the I-League for good.[7]

As well as dealing with the Goan clubs potential exit from the league, the AIFF have also worked on providing direct-entry for certain clubs into the I-League for this season. On 26 October 2016 it was revealed that both Minerva Academy and FC Bardez had submitted documents for direct-entry into the I-League.[8] However, on 23 November, it was announced that the AIFF would be issuing new tenders for a direct-entry side in the league after none of the three sides which applied fulfilled the financial criteria.[9]

On 8 December 2016, after Dempo confirmed their exit from the league, the AIFF reinstated Churchill Brothers into the I-League.[10] Finally, on 11 December 2016, the AIFF granted direct-entry to both Chennai City and Minerva Punjab to bring the number of teams in the league to ten.[11]

Stadiums and locations
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Aizawl Aizawl, Mizoram Rajiv Gandhi Stadium 5,000[12]
Bengaluru FC Bangalore, Karnataka Sree Kanteerava Stadium 24,000[13]
Chennai City Chennai, Tamil Nadu Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium 40,000[14]
Churchill Brothers Vasco da Gama, Goa Tilak Maidan Stadium 12,000[15]
DSK Shivajians Pune, Maharashtra Balewadi Stadium 12,000[16]
East Bengal Kolkata, West Bengal Barasat Stadium 22,000[17]
Minerva Punjab Ludhiana, Punjab Guru Nanak Stadium 15,000[18]
Mohun Bagan Kolkata, West Bengal Rabindra Sarobar Stadium 22,000[19]
Mumbai Mumbai, Maharashtra Cooperage Ground 5,000[20]
Shillong Lajong Shillong, Meghalaya Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium 30,000[21]

Personnel and kits
Team Head coach Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Aizawl India Khalid Jamil Vamos NE Consultancy Services
Bengaluru FC Spain Albert Roca Puma JSW Group
Chennai City India V Soundararajan Classic Polo Baako
Churchill Brothers India Derrick Pereira Strikke Sports Churchill Group
DSK Shivajians England Dave Rogers Nivia DSK Group
East Bengal India Mridul Banerjee Shiv Naresh Kingfisher
Minerva Punjab India Surinder Singh T10 Sports Indian Armed Forces
Mohun Bagan India Sanjoy Sen Shiv Naresh None
Mumbai Spain Oscar Bruzon Nivia Playwin
Shillong Lajong India Thangboi Singto Adidas Gionee

Head coaching changes
Team Outgoing head coach Manner of
departure		 Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming head coach Date of
appointment
Bengaluru FC England Ashley Westwood End of Contract 1 June 2016[22] Pre-season Spain Albert Roca 6 July 2016[23]
DSK Shivajians India Derrick Pereira Resigned 8 June 2016[24] England Dave Rogers 14 June 2016[25]
Mumbai India Khalid Jamil Resigned 15 June 2016[26] India Santosh Kashyap 22 June 2016[27]
Aizawl India K. Malsawmkima Assistant coach 20 December 2016[28] India Khalid Jamil 20 December 2016[28]
Chennai City India Robin Charles Raja Sacked 7 February 2017[29] 10th India V Soundararajan 9 February 2017[30]
Churchill Brothers India Alfred Fernandes Assistant coach 17 February 2017[31] India Derrick Pereira 17 February 2017[31]
Mumbai India Santosh Kashyap Sacked 18 March 2017[32] Spain Óscar Bruzón 19 March 2017[33]
East Bengal England Trevor Morgan Resigned 17 April 2017[34] 3rd India Mridul Banerjee 18 April 2017[35]

Foreign players

A team can register up to four foreign players, of which one should compulsorily be a national of an Asian Country.[36]

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player
Aizawl Ivory Coast Kamo Stephane Bayi Liberia Alfred Jaryan Nigeria Kingsley Obumneme Syria Mahmoud Amnah
Bengaluru FC England John Johnson Serbia Marjan Jugović Spain Juanan Australia Cameron Watson
Chennai City Brazil Charles Brazil Marcos Thank Nigeria Echezona Anyichie
Churchill Brothers Liberia Ansumana Kromah Trinidad and Tobago Anthony Wolfe Kyrgyzstan Bektur Talgat Uulu
DSK Shivajians Bosnia and Herzegovina Saša Kolunija Republic of Ireland Shane McFaul Spain Juan Quero North Korea Kim Song-yong
East Bengal Haiti Wedson Anselme Trinidad and Tobago Willis Plaza Uganda Ivan Bukenya Australia Chris Payne
Minerva Punjab Nigeria Victor Amobi Nigeria Loveday Enyinnaya Nigeria Kareem Omolaja South Korea Sang-Min Kim
Mohun Bagan Equatorial Guinea Eduardo Ferreira Haiti Sony Norde Scotland Darryl Duffy Japan Katsumi Yusa
Mumbai Trinidad and Tobago Densill Theobald Afghanistan Djelaludin Sharityar
Shillong Lajong Brazil Fábio Pena Cameroon Aser Pierrick Dipanda Romania Dan Ignat Japan Yuta Kinowaki

    League table
    Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
    1 Aizawl (C) 18 11 4 3 24 14 +10 37 Qualification to Champions League qualifier
    2 Mohun Bagan 18 10 6 2 27 12 +15 36
    3 East Bengal 18 10 3 5 33 15 +18 33
    4 Bengaluru FC 18 8 6 4 30 15 +15 30 Qualification to AFC Cup qualifying play-off[lower-alpha 1]
    5 Shillong Lajong 18 7 5 6 24 23 +1 26
    6 Churchill Brothers 18 5 5 8 24 26 −2 20
    7 DSK Shivajians 18 4 6 8 22 30 −8 18
    8 Chennai City 18 4 5 9 15 29 −14 17
    9 Minerva Punjab 18 2 7 9 17 33 −16 13[lower-alpha 2]
    10 Mumbai (R) 18 2 7 9 9 28 −19 13[lower-alpha 2] Relegation to I-League 2nd Division
    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) drawing of lots
    (C) Champions; (R) Relegated
    Notes:
    1. Bengaluru FC qualified for the 2018 AFC Cup by winning the 2016–17 Federation Cup.
    2. Minerva Punjab ahead of Mumbai on head-to-head record; Minerva Punjab–Mumbai 2–1, Mumbai–Minerva Punjab 0–0

    Results table
    Home \ Away AFC BFC CCFC CB DSK EB MP MB MFC SLFC
    Aizawl 1–1 1–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–1
    Bengaluru FC 1–0 2–0 3–0 7–0 1–3 1–1 0–0 3–0 3–0
    Chennai City 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 0–0 1–2 2–1 1–4
    Churchill Brothers 1–3 2–1 6–1 3–0 0–2 4–5 2–1 1–2 0–0
    DSK Shivajians 0–1 2–2 2–0 1–1 1–2 4–4 0–0 5–0 2–3
    East Bengal 1–1 2–1 3–0 1–2 0–1 3–1 0–0 2–0 1–1
    Minerva Punjab 2–2 0–1 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–5 0–1 2–1 1–2
    Mohun Bagan 3–2 3–0 2–1 1–0 3–1 2–1 4–0 2–2 2–0
    Mumbai 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–4 0–0 0–0 1–1
    Shillong Lajong 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 2–1 1–1 3–1
    Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: I-League
    Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

    Season statistics
    As of 30 April 2017[37]

    Hat-tricks
    Main article: List of I-League hat-tricks
    PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
    India C.K. VineethBengaluru FCMumbai3–018 January 2017[38]
    Haiti Wedson AnselmeEast BengalMinerva Punjab5–029 January 2017[39]
    Kyrgyzstan Bektur Talgat Uulu 4Churchill Brothers Chennai City6–122 April 2017[40]

    4 Player scored 4 goals.

    Fair play

    Churchill Brothers led the fair play table at the end of the season.[41]

    Rank Team Total Points
    1
    		 Churchill Brothers
    8.07
    2
    		 Chennai City
    7.91
    3
    		 Shillong Lajong
    7.79
    4 Bengaluru FC
    7.76
    DSK Shivajians
    7.76
    6
    		 Aizawl
    7.74
    7
    		 East Bengal
    7.73
    8
    		 Minerva Punjab
    7.69
    9
    		 Mumbai
    7.63
    10
    		 Mohun Bagan
    7.49

    Attendance
    As of 30 April 2017

    Average home attendances
    Team GP Cumulative High Low Mean
    East Bengal988,53729,0672,3519,726
    Bengaluru FC978,77112,6425,3118,752
    Mohun Bagan971,19923,8593,2567,911
    Aizawl962,48811,0004,7256,943
    Shillong Lajong956,20023,7003,2006,244
    Chennai City926,5385,4341,1232,949
    Minerva Punjab924,8145,1693002,757
    Churchill Brothers923,0443,9271,7362,560
    Mumbai919,3193,6248382,145
    DSK Shivajians910,0511,5476481,118
    Total90470,94129,0673005,233

    Highest attendances
    Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Stadium
    1East Bengal0–0Mohun Bagan29,06712 February 2017 (2017-02-12)Kanchenjunga Stadium
    2Mohun Bagan2–1East Bengal23,8599 April 2017 (2017-04-09)Kanchenjunga Stadium
    3Shillong Lajong1–1Aizawl23,70030 April 2017 (2017-04-30)JLN Stadium
    4East Bengal1–1Aizawl12,7007 January 2017 (2017-01-07)Barasat Stadium
    5Bengaluru FC1–3East Bengal12,64225 February 2017 (2017-02-25)Sree Kanteerava Stadium

    Awards

    Hero of the Match
    Round Hero of the Matches
    1 Nigeria Kingsley Obumneme India Udanta Singh India Thoi Singh India Kingsley Fernandes India Karanjit Singh
    2 Syria Mahmoud Amnah Scotland Darryl Duffy Trinidad and Tobago Willis Plaza India Karanjit Singh India Adil Khan
    3 Syria Mahmoud Amnah India Jeje Lalpekhlua India Milan Singh India Lalrindika Ralte India C.K. Vineeth
    4 India Rupert Nongrum India Jerry Mawihmingthanga Brazil Marcos Thank Uganda Ivan Bukenya India Jayesh Rane
    5 Bosnia and Herzegovina Saša Kolunija India Chesterpoul Lyngdoh Cameroon Aser Pierrick Dipanda Brazil Marcos Thank Haiti Wedson Anselme
    6 Cameroon Aser Pierrick Dipanda Liberia Alfred Jaryan India Rowilson Rodrigues Trinidad and Tobago Willis Plaza Japan Katsumi Yusa
    7 India Anirudh Thapa India Prabir Das India Vishal Kaith Haiti Wedson Anselme India Holicharan Narzary
    8 Nigeria Kingsley Obumneme Brazil Charles Republic of Ireland Shane McFaul India Sunil Chhetri India Rehenesh TP
    9 India Brandon Fernandes India Albino Gomes India Laxmikant Kattimani India Vishal Kaith India Vinit Rai
    10 Trinidad and Tobago Anthony Wolfe Cameroon Aser Pierrick Dipanda Trinidad and Tobago Densil Theobald India Balwant Singh India Laldanmawia Ralte
    11 India Brandon Vanlalremdika India Robin Singh Trinidad and Tobago Anthony Wolfe India Arnab Das Sharma India Vishal Kaith
    12 Cameroon Aser Pierrick Dipanda India Chesterpoul Lyngdoh Ivory Coast Kamo Stephane Bayi India Lenny Rodrigues India Nanda Kumar
    13 India Nim Dorjee Tamang India Laldanmawia Ralte India Naveen Kumar India Daniel Lalhlimpuia Haiti Sony Norde
    14 Nigeria Kareem Omolaja India Holicharan Narzary India Arindam Bhattacharya India Vishal Kaith India Karanjit Singh
    15 India Michael Soosairaj India Milan Singh India Laxmikant Kattimani India Jayesh Rane Haiti Sony Norde
    16 Australia Cameron Watson Ivory Coast Kamo Stephane Bayi India Krishna Pandit India Jerry Mawihmingthanga India Karanjit Singh
    17 India Zohmingliana Ralte Kyrgyzstan Bektur Talgat Uulu India Sunil Chhetri India Rowllin Borges India Isaac Vanlalsawma
    18 India Mandar Rao Desai India Bikash Jairu North Korea Kim Song-yong Ivory Coast Kamo Stephane Bayi Haiti Sony Norde

      Season awards

      Hero I-League 2016–17 awards were voted by coaches and captains of the participating teams.[42]

      Award Recipient
      Hero of the LeagueSunil Chhetri (Bengaluru FC)
      Best GoalkeeperDebjit Majumder (Mohun Bagan)
      Jarnail Singh Best DefenderAnas Edathodika (Mohun Bagan)
      Best MidfielderAlfred Jaryan (Aizawl)
      Best StrikerAser Pierrick Dipanda (Shillong Lajong)
      Emerging PlayerJerry Lalrinzuala (DSK Shivajians)
      Syed Abdul Rahim Best CoachKhalid Jamil (Aizawl)
      Best OrganizersDSK Shivajians
      Bengaluru FC
      Fairplay awardChurchill Brothers
      Best refereePranjal Banerjee

      See also

      References
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      2. Jitendran, Nikhil (30 May 2016). "Shrinivas Dempo: 'Dempo SC will reach greater heights'". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
      3. "AIFF reinstates relegated Aizawl FC in I-League after club's impressive run". FirstPost. 27 September 2016. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
      4. "Salgaocar FC, Sporting Clube de Goa withdraw from I-League". Indian Express. 24 June 2016. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
      5. Paransar, Swapnaneel (15 September 2016). "Sporting Clube de Goa submit all licensing documents as Salgaocar stand firm on boycott". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
      6. "Bengaluru FC granted AFC license for 2016–17 season". Goal.com. 10 November 2016. Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
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      12. "Aizawl F.C. Stadium". I-League.
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      14. "Chennai City Stadium". I-League.
      15. "Churchill Brothers Stadium". I-League.
      16. "DSK Shivajians Stadium". I-League.
      17. "East Bengal Stadium". I-League.
      18. "Minerva Punjab Stadium". I-League.
      19. "Mohun Bagan Stadium". I-League.
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      22. "Ashley Westwood leaves Bengaluru FC after contract ends". ESPNFC. 31 May 2016. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
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      32. "I-League 2017 – Official: Mumbai FC SACK Santosh Kashyap". 18 March 2017. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
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      34. "Trevor Morgan resigns as East Bengal coach". 17 April 2017. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
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      36. "Hero I-League regulations 2014–15" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
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      39. "Minerva Punjab 0–5 East Bengal". Soccerway. 1 February 2017. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
      40. "BROTHERS 6–1 CHENNAI CITY – BEKTUR TALGAT NETS FOUR GOALS AS CHURCHILL ROMPS PAST CHENNAI CITY". Goal.com. 22 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
      41. "Here is the standing for the Fair Play award in this season of the #HeroILeague".
      42. "Chhetri, Khalid, Dipanda among others win individual I-League awards". thefangarage.com. The Fan Garage. 2 May 2017. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
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