2018–19 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League

The 2018–19 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League (Nepali: शहीद स्मारक ए डिभिजन लीग २०७५) season, also known as Pulsar Martyr's Memorial A-Division League for sponsorship reasons, was the 42nd edition of the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League since its establishment in 1954/55. A total of 16 teams competed in the league. The season began on 29 September 2018 and concluded on 8 January 2019.[2][3] It was the first top division league held since the 2015 National League due to aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.[4] On 16 September 2018, it was decided that there will be no relegation, however the two bottom placed teams would have two and one points deducted respectively in the following season.[5]

Martyr's Memorial A-Division League[1]
Season2018–19
Dates29 September 2018 – 8 January 2019
ChampionsManang Marshyangdi Club
2019 AFC CupManang Marshyangdi Club
Matches played91
Goals scored226 (2.48 per match)
Top goalscorerAfeez Oladipo
Bharat Khawas
Ranjit Dhimal
(7 goals)
Biggest home winNepal Police Club 5–0 Friends Club
(14 December 2018)
Highest scoringNew Road Team 5–5 Machhindra FC
(31 December 2018)
Longest winning run12 matches
Manang Marshyangdi Club
Longest unbeaten run12 matches
Manang Marshyangdi Club
Longest winless run9 matches
Machhindra Football Club
New Road Team
Longest losing run8 matches
New Road Team
2019-20 →
All statistics correct as of 8 January 2019.

Manang Marshyangdi Club were the defending champions and successfully defended their title on 28 December with two games to spare.[6]

Teams

A total of 14 teams, all based in the Kathmandu Valley, contested the league.[2] Four teams from other parts of Nepal; Jhapa XI, Morang XI, Lumbini F.C. and Far Western F.C., were initially supposed to participate in the league announced initially for 2017.[7] The teams had previously participated in the 2015 National League.[4]

On the other side, six teams, that did not participate in the 2015 league, made their comebacks in the league after participating in the 2013-14 season: Friends Club, Himalayan Sherpa Club, Jawalakhel Youth Club, Machhindra Football Club, Sankata BSC and Saraswoti Youth Club.[4]

As there was no season in the previous year, teams from two editions of the Martyr's Memorial B-Division League were promoted into this season.

Team changes
Promoted from

2014 B-Division League

 Promoted from

2016 B-Division League

 Relegated to

2016 B-Division League

Brigade Boys Club Chyasal Youth Club
New Road Team		 Ranipokhari Corner Team
Boys Union Club

Location
Team Location Previous Season[lower-alpha 1]
Himalayan Sherpa Club Kathmandu 7th
Machhindra Football Club 2nd
Manang Marshyangdi Club 1st
Nepal APF Club 6th
Nepal Army Club 10th
Nepal Police Club 4th
New Road Team 2nd (2016 B-Division)
Sankata BSC 5th
Saraswati Youth Club 9th
Brigade Boys Club Lalitpur 1st (2014 B-Division)
Chyasal Youth Club 1st (2016 B-Division)
Friends Club 8th
Jawalakhel Youth Club 11th
Three Star Club 3rd

Personnel and kits
Team Head Coach Captain Kit Sponsor
Brigade Boys Club Nepal Ujjen Shrestha[8] Nepal Dilen Loktam
Chyasal Youth Club Nepal Raju Kaji Shakya[9] Nepal Devendra Tamang Valley Construction
Friends Club Nepal Ramesh Maharjan Nepal Dhiraj Shrestha Nepal Investment Bank Limited, Panchakanya Group[10]
Himalayan Sherpa Club Nepal Subas Limbu Nepal Man Bahadur Tamang Harvest Moon
Jawalakhel Youth Club Nepal Raj Kumar KC[11] Nepal Ajay Thapa Grand Master XXX Rum
Machhindra Football Club Nepal Nishan Shrestha (caretaker) Nepal Uttam Gurung
Manang Marshyangdi Club Nigeria Fuja Tope[12] and
Nepal Suman Shrestha[13]		 Nepal Biraj Maharjan Signature[14]
Nepal APF Club Nepal Rajendra Tamang[15] Nepal Nabin Lama Agni Mahindra[16]
Nepal Army Club Nepal Nabin Neupane Nepal Bharat Khawas Bajaj Pulsar[17]
Nepal Police Club Nepal Ananta Raj Thapa Nepal Bhola Nath Silwal
New Road Team Nepal Maheshwor Mulmi[18] Nepal Prabin Kumar Sainju
Sankata BSC Nepal Salyan Khadgi Nepal Ravi Silwal CMG Club[19]
Saraswati Youth Club Nepal Pradip Nepal Nepal Raj Kumar Ghising
Three Star Club Nepal Meghraj KC Nepal Bikram Lama Ruslan Vodka[20]

Head coaching changes
Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of appointment
Machhindra Football Club Nepal Dhaneshwor Prajapati Mutual consent 1 December 2018 11th Nepal Nishan Shrestha (caretaker) 1 December 2018

Foreign players

On 16 May 2018, the All Nepal Football Association announced that the number of foreigners for each club would be four.[3] One of those had to be from one of the countries of the SAARC Region.[21]

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 SAARC Player
Brigade Boys Club Nigeria Kazeem Adegoke Busari[22] Nigeria Tajudeen Adukune Busari[22] Nigeria Abdu Kareem Nsiah[22]
Chyasal Youth Club Cameroon Sergio Fils Chico[23] Ivory Coast Florent Koara[24]
Friends Club Ivory Coast Fofana Brahiman Kenya Bobby Ogolla Odongo Bangladesh Mohammed Nurul Karim[25]
Himalayan Sherpa Club Cameroon Dady Junior Wamba Ivory Coast Patrick Private Goha Cameroon Ulrich Siewe
Jawalakhel Youth Club Nigeria Olalaken Afeez Lawal Guinea Fofana Fode Mali Adama Doumbia
Machhindra Football Club Ivory Coast Vassodia Diamande Nigeria Alaba Ademolo Aderibigbe Nigeria Saheed Obenga Anifowose
Manang Marshyangdi Club NigeriaAfeez Oladipo[26] Nigeria Oluwaunmi Somide Adelaja[27] Zimbabwe Victor Kamhuka India Muhammed Asif[28]
Nepal APF Club
Nepal Army Club
Nepal Police Club
New Road Team Cameroon Christian Basile Kameni Nigeria Moshood Opeyemi Agboola Ivory Coast Kouassi Jean Didier
Sankata BSC Cameroon Norbert Cedric Aba[29] Cameroon Maxwell Ellon Cameroon Ernest Tampi
Saraswati Youth Club Nigeria Olusola Khederi Ibrahim Nigeria Victor Amobi Nigeria Francis Okechukwu
Three Star Club Nigeria Ajayi Martins Kayode[30] Nigeria Peter Segun[30] Nigeria Messoumbe Abang Albert

Venues

The league was played centrally in three venues in two cities in the Kathmandu Valley. Nepal's main football stadium, Dasharath Rangasala was unavailable, as it was not yet reconstructed following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.

Nepal
Lalitpur Kathmandu
ANFA Complex[31] Halchowk Stadium[31]
Capacity: 4,000 Capacity: 3,500

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Manang Marshyangdi Club (C) 13 12 0 1 23 7 +16 36 Qualification for 2019 AFC Cup group stage
2 Sankata BSC 13 9 1 3 21 15 +6 28
3 Three Star Club 13 8 2 3 22 11 +11 26
4 Nepal Army Club 13 7 4 2 21 8 +13 25
5 APF Club 13 7 2 4 20 14 +6 23
6 Nepal Police Club 13 5 4 4 19 12 +7 19
7 Himalayan Sherpa Club 13 5 2 6 15 15 0 17
8 Chyasal Youth Club 13 4 4 5 17 15 +2 16
9 Saraswoti Youth Club 13 4 2 7 12 20 −8 14
10 Jawalakhel Youth Club 13 3 4 6 10 15 −5 13
11 Friends Club 13 3 3 7 13 25 −12 12
12 Brigade Boys Club 13 2 4 7 12 21 −9 10
13 Machhindra FC 13 1 4 8 11 24 −13 7
14 New Road Team 13 1 4 8 12 26 −14 7
Source: ANFA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
(C) Champions

Positions by round
Team ╲ Round12345678910111213
Manang Marshyangdi Club1211111111111
Sankata BSC4325433322222
Three Star Club2154322233333
Nepal Army Club5432244444444
APF Club75891188885755
Nepal Police Club3776555556566
Himalayan Sherpa Club9643666768677
Chyasal Youth Club8968877677888
Saraswoti Youth Club1312977999991099
Jawalakhel Youth Club1213131210111110101091010
Friends Club1111141391010111211111211
Brigade Boys Club14141010121212121112131112
Machhindra FC1081111131313131313121313
New Road Team6101214141414141414141414
Leader and qualification to AFC Cup
Source: ANFA

Season statistics
As of 8 January 2019[32]

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Nigeria Afeez Oladipo Manang Marshyangdi Club 7
Nepal Bharat Khawas Nepal Army Club
Nepal Ranjit Dhimal Three Star Club
2 Nepal Yubraj Khadka APF Club 6
Nepal Biswash Shrestha Himalayan Sherpa Club
Nepal Ranjan Bista Three Star Club
3 Nepal Anjan Bista Manang Marshyangdi Club 5
Nepal Amit Tamang Sankata BSC

Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Nepal Bikesh Kuthu Nepal Army Club 7
2 Nepal Bishal Shrestha Manang Marshyangdi Club 6
Nepal Alan Neupane Three Star Club
3 Nepal Raja Babu Thapa Sankata BSC 5
4 Nepal Kishor Giri Himalayan Sherpa Club 4
Nepal Shatrughan Chaudhary Nepal Police Club
5 Nepal Sagar Raya Brigade Boys Club 3
Nepal Dinesh Thapa Magar Chyasal Youth Club
Nepal Dev Limbu Friends Club
Nepal Takendra Thapa Jawalakhel Youth Club
Nepal Deep Karki Machhindra FC
Nepal Pradeep Bhandari Saraswoti Youth Club
6 Nepal Raju Yogi APF Club 2
7 Nepal Amrit Kumar Chaudhary APF Club 1
Nepal Arpan Karki Nepal Police Club
Nepal Sojit Gurung New Road Team

Player
  • Most yellow cards: 5
    • Ivory Coast Adama Doumbia (Jawalakhel Youth Club)
    • Nigeria Afeez Oladipo (Manang Marshyangdi Club)
  • Most red cards: 1
    • Nepal Ashish Gurung (Himalayan Sherpa Club)
    • Nepal Bishwash Shrestha (Himalayan Sherpa Club)
    • Nepal Bishwash Udas (APF Club)
    • Nigeria Francis Okechukwu (Saraswoti Youth Club)
    • Nepal Gaurab Budhathoki (Chyasal Youth Club)
    • Nepal Kuldip Karki (Jawalakhel Youth Club)
    • Cameroon Maxwell Ellon (Sankata BSC)
    • India Muhammed Asif (Manang Marshyangdi Club)
    • Nepal Santosh Sahukhala (Chyasal Youth Club)
    • Nepal Susan Lama (Saraswoti Youth Club)

Team

Awards
Award Winner[33] Club
Best Coach Nepal Suman Shrestha Manang Marshyangdi Club
Best Goalkeeper Nepal Bishal Shrestha Manang Marshyangdi Club
Best Defender Nepal Ranjit Dhimal Three Star Club
Best Midfielder Nepal Heman Gurung Manang Marshyangdi Club
Best Forward Nepal Bharat Khawas Nepal Army Club
Emerging Player Nepal Bikash Khawas[34] Nepal Army Club

Broadcast rights

All matches were streamed live on MyCujoo.[35]

Notes
  1. unless denoted otherwise, this refers to the 2013-14 season

References
  1. "16 teams in 'A' Division League". The Kathmandu Post. Archived from the original on 2017-10-14. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  2. "ANFA Announces Date For Martyr's Memorial A Division League". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-15. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  3. Longtail-e-media. "News-ANFA". the-anfa.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  4. "League to resume in September". The Kathmandu Post. 17 May 2018. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  5. "Martyr's Memorial A Division League Winners To Get Rs 50 Lakh !". 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  6. "'A' Division League: MMC secure record eighth title". The Kathmandu Post. 28 December 2018. Archived from the original on 12 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  7. "16 teams in 'A' Division League". Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  8. "BBC coach Ujjen Shrestha: Target Is To Finish Top Eight". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-28. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  9. "शाक्य च्यासलको मुख्य प्रशिक्षकमा अनुबन्धित | Hamro Khelkud". www.hamrokhelkud.com. Archived from the original on 2018-11-08. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
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  13. "MMC Coach Fuja Tope: ANFA Is Working Hard To Put Every Leg In Right Hole (Interview)". GoalNepal. Archived from the original on 2018-12-29. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  14. "MMC Finalizes Squad For A Division League; Signs Jersey Sponsor With Signature". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  15. "After Taking Helm Of APF, Coach Rajendra Tamang Says,". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  16. Republica. "APF, Mahindra renew five-year deal". My Republica. Archived from the original on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  17. Republica. "Army inks sponsorship deal with Pulsar". My Republica. Archived from the original on 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
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  22. "ब्रिगेड ब्वाइजले तीन विदेशी खेलाडी क्लबमा भित्र्यायो". Online Khabar. Archived from the original on 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
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  25. "Friends Club Signs Bangladeshi Goalkeeper Under SAARC Quota". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
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  33. "Bharat Khawas Adjudged The Best Forward; Suman Shrestha Receives Award Of Best Coach". GoalNepal. Archived from the original on 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  34. "Bikash Khawas Receives An Award Of Emerging Player". GoalNepal. Archived from the original on 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
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