The 2013–14 I-League (known as the Airtel I-League for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the I-League, the top-tier Indian professional league for football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 21 September 2013, and ended on 28 April 2014.
Churchill Brothers were the defending champions, having won their second I-League title in the previous season.
On 21 April 2014, Bengaluru were crowned champions with one game remaining, winning their first ever I-League title by defeating Dempo 2–4 at Fatorda Stadium. Bengaluru FC also created history by becoming the first team ever to win the I-League title in its debut season. On 28 April 2014, Mohammedan were relegated from the I-League when Churchill Brothers defeated Salgaocar 2–1, and hence survived relegation. Churchill Brothers also avoided being the first defending champions to be relegated.
During the season, Maria Rebello became the first woman referee internationally to officiate in a country's premier league match when she officiated in Pune vs Shillong Lajong on 8 March 2014.
Teams A total of 13 teams are currently registered to start the new season. Ten clubs from the previous campaign, two promoted sides from the 2013 I-League 2nd Division and one new expansion team.
Rangdajied United as champions and Mohammedan as runners-up secured direct promotion from the 2nd Division.
United Sikkim and Air India were relegated, although Air India would not have been given a licence to compete in this edition after failing to fulfill the AIFF criteria. This same fate happened to ONGC who have also been left out of the coming season.
Mumbai Tigers was accepted into the league on 27 May 2013 but later withdrew citing unavoidable circumstances with only 20 days left into the start of the new season.
Bengaluru was also accepted into the league and is based in Bangalore. One other consortium from Kerala, whose leading company is Eagles FC, also expressed interest in joining the league. It was also announced in late May that English club Queens Park Rangers also expressed interest but look to be prepared to enter for the 2014–15 season.
On 29 August 2013, the AIFF decided to shut down Pailan Arrows and withdraw them from the coming season. The league committee also announced in May 2013 to use a Conference Model, the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. The top-four from each Conference would advance to play the final round. But this was later dropped.
On 20 September 2013, it was announced that the largest cellular service provider in India, Airtel, will be the title sponsor of I-League for the 2013–14 season.
Venues and locations
Team Location Stadium Capacity Bengaluru Bangalore, Karnataka Bangalore Football Stadium Churchill Brothers Salcette, Goa Fatorda Stadium Dempo Panjim, Goa Fatorda Stadium East Bengal Kolkata, West Bengal Kalyani Stadium Mohammedan Kolkata, West Bengal Salt Lake Stadium Mohun Bagan Kolkata, West Bengal Salt Lake Stadium Mumbai Mumbai, Maharashtra Balewadi Sports Complex Pune Pune, Maharashtra Balewadi Sports Complex Rangdajied United Shillong, Meghalaya Nehru Stadium Salgaocar Vasco da Gama, Goa Tilak Maidan Stadium Shillong Lajong Shillong, Meghalaya Nehru Stadium Sporting Goa Panjim, Goa Duler Stadium United Kolkata, West Bengal Kalyani Stadium
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Shirt sponsor Kit sponsor Bengaluru Ashley Westwood Sunil Chhetri JSW none Churchill Brothers Mariano Dias Lenny Rodrigues Churchill none Dempo Arthur Papas Clifford Miranda Dempo Nike East Bengal Mehtab Hussain Kingfisher and SRMB TMT Shiv-Naresh Mohammedan Sanjoy Sen R Dhanarajan EMTA Group none Mohun Bagan Karim Bencherifa Odafe Okolie McDowell's No.1 Fila Mumbai Khalid Jamil Zohib Amiri TEN HD Seven Pune Mike Snoei Anas Edathodika Peninsula Adidas Rangdajied United Herring Shangpliang Poibang Pohshna none Diadora Salgaocar Derrick Pereira Francis Fernandes Salgaocar none Shillong Lajong Thangboi Singto Minchol Son Aircel Adidas Sporting Goa Óscar Bruzón Matthew Gonsalves Models none United Ananta Kumar Ghosh Deepak Mondal T.H.P.L. none 1. On the back of shirt. 2. On the sleeves.
Transfers
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment BengaluruExpansion team Pre-season 2 July 2013 Dempo End of Contract 31 May 2013 1 June 2013 East Bengal Mutual Agreement 12 May 2013 12 June 2013 Mohammedan Resigned 10 May 2013 10 June 2013 Pune End of Contract 12 May 2013 12 May 2013 Rangdajied UnitedNone 6 June 2013 Salgaocar End of Contract 12 May 2013 12 May 2013 East Bengal Resigned 13 November 2013 10th (5 games in) 20 November 2013 Mohammedan Sacked 17 December 2013 11th (13 games in) 17 December 2013 United Resigned 27 January 2014 9th (15 games in) 15 February 2014 Rangdajied United Sacked 21 February 2014 13th 1 March 2014 1. Rangdajied United, during the 2013 I-League 2nd Division, were under the control of their General Secretary, Karsing Kurbah.
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 four foreign players on the field during each game including at least one player from the AFC country.
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC Player Former Players Bengaluru John Johnson Curtis Osano Johnny Menyongar Sean Rooney Churchill Brothers Cristian Lagos Abdelhamid Shabana Anthony Wolfe Daniell Zeleny Henri Antchouet Amoreirinha Hugo Machado Ahmad Al Kaddour Naser Al Sebai Yasser Shahen Dempo Simon Colosimo Tolgay Ozbey Beto Zohib Islam Amiri Billy Mehmet Shinnosuke Honda East Bengal Chidi Edeh Uga Okpara James Moga Ryuji Sueoka Mohammedan Josimar Luciano Sabrosa Penn Orji Taro Hasegawa Tolgay Ozbey Mohun Bagan Echezona Anyichie Christopher Chizoba Odafe Okolie Katsumi Yusa Harrison Muranda Mumbai Yusif Yakubu Henry Ezeh Ebi Sukore Ahmad Hatifi Sandjar Ahmadi Zohib Islam Amiri Pune Calum Angus Pierre Douhou Riga Mustapha Mirjan Pavlović James Meyer Raul Fabiani Rangdajied United Ranti Martins Kim Song-Yong Lamine Tamba Yohei Iwasaki Edmar Figueira Salgaocar Dudu Omagbemi Chika Wali Darryl Duffy Matthew Foschini Claude Gnakpa Shillong Lajong Uilliams Taisuke Matsugae Cornell Glen Minchol Son Sporting Goa Martins Ekwueme Ogba Kalu Nnanna Gonzalo Hinojal Boima Karpeh Arturo Navarro United Eric Brown Waheed Adekunle Bello Razaq Hasan Al Moustafa Ranti Martins Foreign players who left their clubs midway or after first half of the season.
League table
Results
Season statistics
Top scorers RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Sunil ChhetriBengaluru14 Darryl DuffySalgaocar Cornell GlenShillong Lajong4 JosimarMohammedan135 Ranti MartinsRangdajied United126 Boima KarpehSporting Goa117 Eric BrownUnited10 Sean RooneyBengaluru Balwant SinghChurchill Brothers
Top Indian Scorers RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Sunil ChhetriBengaluru142 Balwant SinghChurchill Brothers103 Gilbert OliveiraSalgaocar64 Boithang HaokipShillong Lajong5 T LalnunpuiaRangdajied United Jeje LalpekhluaDempo Robin SinghBengaluru
Hat-tricks PlayerClubAgainstResultDate Kalu Ogba Sporting Goa Shillong Lajong5—1 14 December 2013 Tolgay Özbey 4 Dempo Churchill Brothers4—1 28 March 2014 Yusif Yakubu Mumbai Churchill Brothers4—2 13 April 2014 Cornell Glen Shillong Lajong Mohammedan5—4 16 April 2014 4 Player scored 4 goals
Disciplinary Most red cards (2) Echezona Anyichie (Mohun Bagan) Amrinder Singh (Pune) Most yellow cards (7) Eric Brown (United SC) Yohei Iwasaki (Rangdajied United) Luciano Sabrosa (Mohammedan) Lamine Tamba (Rangdajied United) Worst disciplinary record (2 red cards & 5 yellow cards) Echezona Anyichie (Mohun Bagan)
Fair play The Fair Play qualities of the participating teams and which are pertinent to the spectators will be evaluated using the FIFA Fair Play evaluation form. Salgaocar led the Fair Play rankings at the end of the season.
RankTeamGamesTotal Points1 Salgaocar241904.6432 United241850.3573 Rangdajied United241841.4294 Mumbai241839.2865 Dempo241824.2866 Bengaluru241816.5717 East Bengal241813.5148 Shillong Lajong241797.1439 Mohun Bagan241788.21410 Pune241760.35711 Mohammedan241744.28612 Sporting Goa241719.28613 Churchill Brothers241672.071
Average attendance Average attendance at the various clubs were as follows:
RankTeamAverage attendance1 Mohun Bagan 17,0682 Shillong Lajong 11,3083 East Bengal 8,6674 Rangdajied United 7,6875 Mohammedan 7,0836 Bengaluru 7,0387 Pune 2,5868 Dempo 2,5429 Churchill Brothers 2,45010 Salgaocar 2,42111 United 2,25012 Sporting Goa 1,60813 Mumbai 321 League Average 5618
Awards
AIFF Awards All India Football Federation awarded the following awards for the I-League season, voted by all the captains and the coaches of all the participating clubs. Best player of I-League: Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru) Best goalkeeper of I-League: Karanjit Singh (Salgaocar) Best defender of I-League: John Johnson (Bengaluru) Best midfielder of I-League: Douhou Pierre (Pune) Best forward of I-League: Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru) Best referee of I-League: Pratap Singh Best assistant referee of I-League: Sapan Kennedy
FPAI Awards Football Player's Association of India awarded the following award for the season Indian player of the year : Balwant Singh Coach of the season : Ashley Westwood Young player of the season : Alwyn George Foreign player of the season : Daryl Duffy Fans player of the season : Boithang Haokip
Number of teams by state StateNo. of teamsTeamsCityWest Bengal4 East BengalKolkata Mohammedan Mohun Bagan UnitedGoa4 DempoPanaji Sporting Goa Churchill Brothers Salcette SalgaocarVasco da GamaMeghalaya2 Rangdajied UnitedShillong Shillong LajongMaharashtra2 MumbaiMumbai PunePuneKarnataka1 BengaluruBangalore
References