FC Goa

One of the traditional powerhouse regions of Indian football, Goa was bound to be one of the cities to participate in the Indian Super League from its inception.[7] In early 2014, it was announced that the All India Football Federation, the national federation for football in India, and IMG-Reliance would be accepting bids for ownership of eight of nine selected cities for the upcoming Indian Super League, an eight-team franchise league modelled along the lines of the Indian Premier League and Major League Soccer in the United States.[8] On 13 April 2014, it was announced that Venugopal Dhoot had won the bidding for the Goa franchise along with Dattaraj Salgaocar and Shrinivas Dempo.[9] The club was officially launched on 26 August 2014 at a well-attended ceremony at the Goa Marriott Resort and Spa in Miramar.[10] The club represents Goa, the only state to declare football as its official sport. The logo of the club represents Goa's state animal the Gaur, while the colours blue and orange symbolizes the Goan coastline and sunrise.

On 23 September 2014, Indian cricketer Virat Kohli was unveiled as one of the co-owners.[11] Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan was chosen as the brand ambassador of the club.[12] FC Goa is the first Indian sports club to launch a satellite TV channel – FC Goa TV on Videocon D2H.[12]

Robert Pires, the club's first marquee signing in the 2014 season.

Brazilian footballer Zico signed as the club's head coach on 2 September 2014. On 20 September 2014, FC Goa officially confirmed Premier League winner and former Arsenal footballer Robert Pires as their first marquee player.[13] On 15 October 2014, FC Goa played their first Indian Super League match against Chennaiyin FC at the Fatorda Stadium, Goa. FC Goa lost four out of their first six matches but came back strongly in the second half of the tournament with five victories from their last eight encounters keeping five clean sheets in their 14 matches. Overall, Zico has done a remarkable job with six wins, four defeats and four draws, which took them to the second spot of the standings with 22 points.[14] By finishing second in the league, the club qualified for the end-of-season play-offs, where they lost via a penalty shootout against Atlético de Kolkata in the semi-finals after a goalless draw.[15] Particularly encouraging from the first season was the arrival of Romeo Fernandes on the national footballing scene. The Goan's consistent displays on the pitch quickly turned him into a fan favourite and attracted interest from lands as far as Brazil. His performances culminated in him being loaned out to Atletico Paranaense from parent club Dempo SC, where he became the first Indian to play professionally at the senior level in South America.[16]

Zico, Goa's first head coach led them to the finals in the 2015 Indian Super League season.

FC Goa enjoyed a stellar 2015 season in the Indian Super League.[17] Head coach Zico continued as the head coach of the franchise for a second successive year. After a good run in the 2014 season, much was expected from the team. Zico lined up an impressive team ahead of the season with veteran players like Leonardo Moura, Reinaldo Oliveira, and former La Masia youth product, Joffre Mateu who won the first season of the ISL with Atletico de Kolkata joining the ranks. Frenchman, Gregory Arnolin was the only international player retained from the first season with the club. The Indian contingent had familiar faces in Goan wingers Romeo Fernandes and Mandar Rao Dessai and goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani. FC Goa started the season in superb fashion with a commanding 2–0 victory over Delhi Dynamos and that set the tone for the season ahead. Under Zico's tutelage, FC Goa played an attacking brand of football and set the league alight as they finished the league stage of the campaign on top of the standings with 25 points, two clear of the second placed team with 7 victories along the way. In the process, FC Goa scored the most goals in the league stage, having netted 29 times. En route to the semi-finals, the Gaurs earned the record of having attained the highest margin of victory when they beat Mumbai City FC 7–0 in Fatorda. This victory included two players scoring hat-tricks (Dudu Omagbemi and T. Haokip) which was a first in the history of the league. After a 1–0 loss in the first leg of the semi-finals against Delhi Dynamos, FC Goa turned the tie on its head with a dominating 3–0 win at home. This provided them with a chance to win the ISL title at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda in front of the home fans. In the finals, a late surge by Chennaiyin FC saw FC Goa lose out on the title after a well contested match.

On 23 July 2016, Salgaocar and Dempo stepped down from the ownership of FC Goa.[18] On 5 August 2016, new owner Jaydev Mody brought a 65% stake in the FC Goa team.[19] Head coach Zico continued as the head coach of the franchise for his third and final season. FC Goa had a poor 2016 season after finishing last in the table and picking up only four victories throughout the season. They ended the disappointing season with 14 points and finished last in the table. Zico primarily blamed late preparations for FC Goa's failure which was caused due to the incoming of new owners just a few months before the start of the new season. His 3-year contract with FC Goa ended and did not renew it with the club.

In the 2017–18 season, FC Goa won their first match of the 2017–18 Indian Super League 2–3 away against Chennaiyin, this was also their first competitive match under new coach Sergio Lobera, they later went on to lose against Chennayin FC in the semi-finals.[20] Lobera in his second season led Goa to their second final against Bengaluru FC which they lost 0–1 after a late goal from Rahul Bheke in the second half of extra time.[21] In the same season, Goa beat Chennaiyin FC 2–1 in the finals of the 2019 Indian Super Cup to win their first trophy.[22] On 1 February 2020, Goa announced they mutually parted ways with head coach Sergio Lobera and his coaching staff after playing 15 games in the third season.[23] Goa later went on to win the remaining three league games and topped the group stage and won the ISL League Winners Shield, they also became the first Indian club to qualify for AFC Champions League group stage in its current format.[6] However, their 5–6 defeat on aggregate to Chennaiyin FC in the playoffs ended their chance of winning the elusive ISL trophy.[24]

On 30 April 2020, Goa appointed Juan Ferrando as their head coach ahead of the new season.[25] The club also announced their partnership with RB Leipzig for the youth development. The club had an impressive stint in the first year under coach Juan until they bowed in the semi-finals of 2020–21 Indian Super League season.

FC Goa players (left) during an AFC Champions League match against Al Wahda at the Fatorda Stadium in 2021.

Under the guidance of Ferrando, FC Goa scripted history after scoring their first ever goal in the AFC Champions League on 20 April against Persepolis FC through a header by Edu Bedia.[26][27] They finished third in Group E with 3 points ahead of Al Rayyan. In the competition, Dheeraj Singh made a whopping 26 saves in five matches to top the goalkeeping chart of the West Zone group stage.[28]

The line-up of 2021 Durand Cup final between FC Goa and Mohammedan Sporting

Goa participated in the 130th edition of Durand Cup and reached to the final, defeating Bengaluru FC 7–6 in sudden death.[29] On 3 October 2021, they clinched their first ever Durand Cup title defeating Mohammedan Sporting 1–0.[30] On 19 December 2021, club president Akshay Tandon announced that head coach Juan Ferrando had triggered his release clause to join ISL club ATK Mohun Bagan.[31] On 21 December 2021, Derrick Pereira was appointed as the head coach.[32]

On 16 April 2022, FC Goa appointed Carlos Pena as the head coach. He played his first match as manager against East Bengal and won his first game as the manager.

During the early years, the club wore an all blue kit with orange colour coming lightly on the sides. The all blue kit were used until 2017-18 season, when the club adopted the all orange kit.[44]

• Jaydev Mody is the Chairman of Delta Corp Limited, the company focused in gaming (casinos) and hospitality mainly in Goa.
• Virat Kohli, Indian national men's cricket team former captain, is also one of the co-owners.[11]
• Akshay Tandon is an entrepreneur who took over FC Goa in August 2016 as the President and Co-Owner of the club. Since the took over, he has built a youth program, set up the Forca Goa Foundation addressing the challenges with grassroots football in the state of Goa and established a style of play.

• Shrinivas Dempo served as the President of Dempo Sports Club Private Limited. The club was owned and sponsored by the Dempo group of companies. He has been named amongst the 50 most influential people in Indian sports in the annual Sports Illustrated Power list.[69]
• Dattaraj Salgaocar is the Managing Director of VM Salgaocar Corporation. Salgaocar FC is owned and managed by VM Salgaocar and Company to give a platform to the Goan youth to showcase their talent to the country and to the world.[70]
• Venugopal Dhoot is the Chairman of Videocon, and has been its Managing Director since 2005.
• S. Edifices LLP held 15% stake in the original consortium that was transferred for equity swap with Tandon Inc.

As of 19 August 2023[71]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  IND Dheeraj Singh 2 DF  IND Sanson Pereira 3 DF  IND Sandesh Jhingan 4 MF  IRL Carl McHugh 5 DF  IND Narayan Das 6 DF  IND Leander D'Cunha 7 FW  MAR Noah Sadaoui 8 MF  IND Raynier Fernandes 9 FW  ESP Carlos Martínez 10 MF  IND Brandon Fernandes (captain) 13 GK  IND Arshdeep Singh 14 MF  IND Ayush Chhetri 15 MF  IND Udanta Singh 16 DF  ESP Odei Onaindia

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  IND Boris Singh 18 MF  IND Rowllin Borges (on loan from Mumbai City) 20 DF  IND Seriton Fernandes (vice-captain) 21 DF  IND Saviour Gama 28 MF  AUS Paulo Retre 29 FW  IND Devendra Murgaonkar 32 MF  ESP Víctor Rodríguez 41 DF  IND Jay Gupta 42 MF  IND Brison Fernandes 43 DF  IND Lesly Rebello 44 MF  IND Muhammed Nemil 45 DF  IND Rayan Menezes 55 GK  IND Hrithik Tiwari

FC Goa has a reserve side which is fielded in the I-League 2nd Division. It also has a women's team which was announced on 28 July 2018.[72] It also has youth teams for various age group football tournaments and Youth I-League.

FC Goa's grassroots development programme which commenced in February 2015, saw FC Goa reaching out to over 20,000 children. FC Goa has a robust grassroots development programme. Over 1500 children between the age groups of 6 to 14 are currently being groomed by FC Goa. The U-14 team, the Junior Gaurs are doing excellently well. FC Goa assigned coach Gavin Araujo, an AFC A license coach as its Head of the youth development and Katz Naidoo as the program's Technical Director. The adopted 16 schools include St Anthony's High School (Duler), St Anthony's HS (Guirim), Saraswat HS (Mapusa), St Britto's HS (Mapusa), Assagao Union School, St Joseph's HS (Calangute), Pilar Central School, and St Lawrence HS (Agassaim) in the North. Our Lady of Poor HS (Tilamol), Our Lady of Fatima HS (Rivona), St Joseph HS (Chandor), Assumpta HS (Sarzora), Fr Agnel Ashram HS (Verna), St Rita HS (Maina), St Rock HS (Velim), and St Xavier HS (Velim) are the schools which have been adopted by FC Goa from the South.[73]

As of 25 January 2021[74]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  IND Deeshank Kunkalikar 3 MF  IND Versly Paes 5 DF  IND Rayan Menezes 9 FW  IND Aaren D'Silva 14 MF  IND Kapil Hoble 17 MF  IND Delton Colaco 21 DF  IND Brian Faria 22 FW  IND Vasim Inamdar 24 MF  IND Ivon Costa 25 MF  IND Manushawn Joel Fernandes 26 MF  IND Kunal Kundaikar

No. Pos. Nation Player 29 DF  IND Lesly Rebello 31 GK  IND Hansel Coelho 40 DF  IND Alister Fernandes 42 MF  IND Brison Fernandes 43 DF  IND Malsawmtluanga Ralte 46 FW  IND Joybert Almeida 47 FW  IND Omkar Landge 51 GK  IND Viddhesh Bhonsle — GK  IND Hrithik Tiwari — DF  IND Lalhmangaih Sanga — DF  IND Rollin Fernandes

As of 13 July 2022

Role	Name	Refs.
Head coach	Manolo Márquez
Assistant coach	Gouramangi Singh	[75]
Assistant coordinator	Benito Montalvo
Goalkeeping coach	Asier Rey
Strength & conditioning coach	Jose Carlos Barroso

• Indian Super League
  • Premiership (1): 2019–20
  • Runners-up (2): 2015, 2018–19
• Goa Football League
  • Champions (1): 2018–19

• Super Cup
  • Winners (1): 2019
• Durand Cup
  • Winners (1): 2021[83]
• Goa Police Cup
  • Winners (1): 2019
• GFA Charity Cup
  • Winners (1): 2019[84]