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 India Santosh Kashyap Vamos NE Consultancy Services
Chennai City India V Soundararajan Counter Sports[9] None
Churchill Brothers Nigeria Joseph Afusi Faisports Churchill Group
East Bengal India Khalid Jamil PERF Kingfisher
Gokulam Kerala India Bino George Kaizen sports Aachi Group
Indian Arrows Portugal Luís Norton de Matos Nike None
Minerva Punjab India Khogen Singh Astro[10] Apollo Tyres[11]
Mohun Bagan India Sankarlal Chakraborty Shiv Naresh Nilkamal
NEROCA India Gift Raikhan Vector X[12] Classic Group of Hotels
Shillong Lajong India 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 Ivory Coast Léonce Dodoz Liberia Alfred Jaryan Nigeria Kareem Omolaja Romania Andrei Ionescu Afghanistan Masih Saighani Japan Yugo Kobayashi
Chennai City France Jean-Michel Joachim Serbia Aleksandar Rakić Slovenia Uroš Poljanec Kyrgyzstan Venyamin Shumeyko South Korea Kim Dong-hyeon
Churchill Brothers The Gambia Dawda Ceesay Nigeria Francis Onyeama Nigeria Monday Osagie Trinidad and Tobago Willis Plaza Kyrgyzstan Bektur Talgat Uulu Lebanon Hussein Eldor
East Bengal Equatorial Guinea Eduardo Ferreira Liberia Ansumana Kromah Nigeria Dudu Omagbemi Japan Katsumi Yusa Syria Mahmoud Amnah
Gokulam Kerala Ghana Daniel Addo Nigeria Emmanuel Chigozie Uganda Henry Kisekka Uganda Musa Mudde Bahrain Mahmood Al-Ajmi Uzbekistan Gulom Urunov
Minerva Punjab Ghana William Opoku Ivory Coast Bazie Armand Ivory Coast Guy Eric Dano France Kassim Aidara Bhutan Chencho Gyeltshen Nepal Kiran Chemjong
Mohun Bagan Cameroon Aser Pierrick Dipanda Lebanon Akram Moghrabi NepalBimal Gharti Magar Nigeria Kingsley Obumneme Australia Cameron Watson Japan Yuta Kinowaki
NEROCA Bosnia and Herzegovina Nedo Turković Haiti Fabien Vorbe Liberia Varney Kallon Nigeria Felix Chidi Odili Australia Nick Ward Australia Aryn Williams
Shillong Lajong Equatorial Guinea Lawrence Doe Ivory Coast Abdoulaye Koffi Nigeria Daniel Odafin The Gambia Saihou Jagne South Korea Oh Joo-ho

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
Nigeria 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 India Shilton Paul Mohun Bagan 8
2 India Avilash Paul Aizawl 6
3 India Phurba Lachenpa Shillong Lajong 5
Slovenia Uroš Poljanec Chennai City
India Bishorjit Singh NEROCA
6 India Lalit Thapa NEROCA 4
India Rakshit Dagar Minerva Punjab
8 India Luis Barreto East Bengal 3
India James Kithan Churchill Brothers
Nepal Kiran Chemjong Minerva Punjab
11 India Dheeraj Singh Indian Arrows 2
India Prabhsukhan Singh Gill Indian Arrows
India Nidhin Lal Shillong Lajong
India Ubaid C K East Bengal
India 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 Haiti Sony Norde Mohun Bagan 31 Syria Mahmoud Amnah East Bengal 61 Lebanon Akram Moghrabi Mohun Bagan
2 India Alen Deory Shillong Lajong 32 East Timor Murilo de Almeida Chennai City 62 Liberia Varney Kallon NEROCA
3 Japan Katsumi Yusa East Bengal 33 India Subhash Singh NEROCA 63 India Prabhsukhan Singh Gill Indian Arrows
4 India Aniket Jadhav Indian Arrows 34 Slovenia Uroš Poljanec Chennai City 64 Nigeria Monday Osagie Churchill Brothers
5 Bhutan Chencho Gyeltshen Minerva Punjab 35 India Bali Gagandeep Minerva Punjab 65 India Bali Gagandeep Minerva Punjab
6 India Hardy Nongbri Shillong Lajong 36 Cameroon Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan 66 France Jean-Michel Joachim Chennai City
7 Nigeria Kingsley Obumneme Mohun Bagan 37 Ivory Coast Abdoulaye Koffi Shillong Lajong 67 India Lalram Hmunmawia Aizawl
8 India Nikhil Bernard Gokulam Kerala 38 Ivory Coast Mechac Koffi Churchill Brothers 68 India Anwar Ali Indian Arrows
9 Ghana William Opoku Minerva Punjab 39 India Michael Soosairaj Chennai City 69 Kyrgyzstan Venyamin Shumeyko Chennai City
10 Nigeria Felix Chidi Odili NEROCA 40 Bhutan Chencho Gyeltshen Minerva Punjab 70 Cameroon Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan
11 India Laldanmawia Ralte East Bengal 41 India Abhijit Sarkar Indian Arrows 71 Syria Mahmoud Amnah East Bengal
12 Cameroon Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan 42 India David Lalrinmuana Aizawl 72 Liberia Varney Kallon NEROCA
13 Senegal Kassim Aidara Minerva Punjab 43 India Rakshit Dagar Minerva Punjab 73 India Edmund Lalrindika Indian Arrows
14 Afghanistan Masih Saighani Aizawl 44 Nigeria Ogba Kalu Nnanna Churchill Brothers 74 India Bilal Husain Khan Gokulam Kerala
15 India Sheikh Faiaz Mohun Bagan 45 India Avilash Paul Aizawl 75 India Michael Soosairaj Chennai City
16 India Lalit Thapa NEROCA 46 Liberia Varney Kallon NEROCA 76 India Subhash Singh NEROCA
17 India James Kithan Churchill Brothers 47 Nigeria Monday Osagie Churchill Brothers 77 Sweden Saihou Jagne Shillong Lajong
18 India Redeem Tlang Shillong Lajong 48 Nigeria Felix Chidi Odili NEROCA 78 Uganda Henry Kisekka Gokulam Kerala
19 India Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem Indian Arrows 49 India Santu Singh Gokulam Kerala 79 India Lalkhawpuimawia Aizawl
20 India Rana Gharami Mohun Bagan 50 Cameroon Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan 80 Nigeria Dudu Omagbemi East Bengal
21 France Jean-Michel Joachim Chennai City 51 India Prabhsukhan Singh Gill Indian Arrows 81 India Arjun Jayaraj Gokulam Kerala
22 Ghana Daniel Addo Gokulam Kerala 52 Ivory Coast Abdoulaye Koffi Shillong Lajong 82 Ivory Coast Guy Eric Dano Minerva Punjab
23 Slovenia Uroš Poljanec Chennai City 53 Ivory Coast Leonce Dodoz Zikahi Aizawl 83 Cameroon Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan
24 India Phurba Lachenpa Shillong Lajong 54 Bhutan Chencho Gyeltshen Minerva Punjab 84 Ivory Coast Leonce Dodoz Zikahi Aizawl
25 India Jitendra Singh Indian Arrows 55 India Prabhsukhan Singh Gill Indian Arrows 85 India Michael Soosairaj Chennai City
26 Ivory Coast Leonce Dodoz Zikahi Aizawl 56 Bahrain Mahmood Al-Ajmi Gokulam Kerala 86 India Nikhil Kadam Mohun Bagan
27 India Mohammed Rafique East Bengal 57 Nepal Kiran Chemjong Minerva Punjab 87 India Nidhin Lal Shillong Lajong
28 India Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem Indian Arrows 58 Nigeria Felix Chidi Odili NEROCA 88 India Nikhil Bernard Gokulam Kerala
29 Equatorial Guinea Eduardo Ferreira East Bengal 59 India Wayne Vaz Churchill Brothers 89 India Ricardo Cardozo Churchill Brothers
30 Romania Andrei Ionescu Aizawl 60 India Michael Soosairaj Chennai City 90 India 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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