The 2018–19 I-League 2nd Division (known as Hero 2018–19 I-League 2nd Division for sponsorship reasons), was the 12th season of the I-League 2nd Division, the second division Indian football league, since its establishment in 2008. The league was played from January to April 2019.
TRAU won the title and earned the promotion to 2019–20 I-League.
Teams Nominated teams At the start of the season 23 teams were nominated by the state associations for participation in this edition of the league. Following clubs were nominated:
Kerala: SAT Tirur, Quartz, Kerala
Delhi: Hindustan, Sudeva Moonlight, Delhi United
Manipur: TRAU, SSU-Singjamei
Meghalaya: Langsning
Mizoram: Chhinga Veng
Sikkim: United Sikkim
West Bengal: Mohammedan Sporting, Rainbow
Jammu and Kashmir: Lonestar Kashmir, J&K Bank
Karnataka: Ozone, South United
Telangana: Fateh Hyderabad
Odisha: Radha Raman Club
Bihar: Shirsh Bihar United
Gujarat: ARA
Jharkhand: Shivansh Jharkhand FC
Madhya Pradesh: Madan Maharaj
Selected teams On 7 December 2018, it was announced by the league committee that nine clubs cleared the licensing criteria and are allowed to participate in this season. Additionally TRAU F.C. were granted three days of extension to clear the club licensing, considering the situation in their state league. TRAU cleared the licensing, taking the total teams competing to sixteen.
Stadiums and locations Team City/State Stadium Capacity ARA Ahmedabad, Gujarat The Arena 22,000 ATK (R) Kolkata, West Bengal Sailen Manna Stadium 15,000 Bengaluru (R) Bengaluru, Karnataka Bangalore Football Stadium 8,400 Chennaiyin (R) Chennai, Tamil Nadu SSN College Ground 400 Chhinga Veng Aizawl, Mizoram Rajiv Gandhi Stadium 20,000 Fateh Hyderabad Hyderabad, Telangana FSV Arena100 Goa (R) Margao, Goa GMC Athletic Stadium 3,200 Hindustan Delhi Ambedkar Stadium 35,000 Jamshedpur (R) Jamshedpur, Jharkhand JRD Tata Sports Complex 24,500 Kerala Blasters (R) Kochi, Kerala Panampally Ground 300 Lonestar Kashmir Katra, Jammu and Kashmir SMVDSB Sports Complex 2,600 Mohammedan Kolkata, West Bengal Kalyani Stadium 20,000 Ozone Bengaluru, Karnataka Bangalore Football Stadium 8,400 Rainbow New Barrackpore, West Bengal Barasat Stadium 22,000 South United Bengaluru, Karnataka Bangalore Football Stadium 8,400 TRAU Imphal, Manipur Khuman Lampak Main Stadium 35,000
Personnel and kits Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor ARA Vivek Nagul Seven Amul ATK (R) Deggie Cardozo Nivia CESC Limited Bengaluru (R) Naushad Moosa Puma Kia Motors Chennaiyin (R) Sameer Shaikh Performax Apollo Tyres Chhinga Veng Danny LalduhawmaNone JSJ FitPro Fateh Hyderabad Vimal Arora Vector X Premier Goa (R) Clifford Miranda Sqad Gear Xiaomi Hindustan Sena Cosco Hero Motocorp Jamshedpur (R) Kundan Chandra Nivia Tata Steel Kerala Blasters (R) Renjith Ajithkumar Six5Six Muthoot Lonestar Kashmir Ishfaq Ahmed Kaizen Rising Kashmir Mohammedan Raghunath Nandi Kaizen Orion Ozone David Booth Lotto Ozone Group Rainbow Jahar Das Vamos New Barrackpore Co-operative Homes Ltd South United Noel Wilson Pyramid Sports Hot Fut TRAU Nandakumar Singh VectorX HVS Constructions
Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Incoming manager Date of appointment Mohammedan Biswajit Bhattacharya2018 Raghunath Nandi2018 South United Miki Lladó2019 Noel Wilson2019
Foreign players Each club, excluding the Indian Super League reserve sides, can register three foreign players in their squad. One of the foreign players has to be from an AFC Member Nation.
Club Player 1 Player 2 Asian Visa ARAChhinga Veng Godwin Quashiga Fateh Hyderabad Edmund Owusu Peprah Forster Addae Emile Demey Hindustan Trokon Saykiamien Ronaque Bakshi Maruf FazlyLonestar Kashmir Wahab Lasisi Jagaba Hamza Lhendup DorjiMohammedan Phillip Adjah Tetteh Arthur KouassiOzone Chika Wali William OpokuRainbow Joel Sunday Emmanuel ChigozieSouth UnitedTRAU Princewill Emeka Joseph Olaleye
Preliminary round TiebreakersThe teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied in the order given to determine the rankings: Greater number of points obtained in the matches between the Teams concerned Goal difference resulting from the matches between the Teams concerned Greater number of goals scored in the matches between the Teams concerned Goal difference in all the matches Greater number of goals scored in all the matches Drawing of lots
Group A
Fixtures and results
Group B
Fixtures and results
Group C
Fixtures and results
Final round Group champions from preliminary round and second placed team from Group C will qualify for this round. The four sides will play each other twice in the home and away format. The team that finishes top of the table in the Final Round will be crowned champions, and earn promotion.
Table
Fixtures and results
Season statistics Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Phillip Adjah Tetteh Mohammedan10 Princewill Emeka OlaricheTRAU3 C. S. Sabeeth Ozone 8 4 Joel SundayRainbow 7 Joseph Mayowa OlaleyeTRAU 6 Aaren D SilvaGoa (R) 6 7 Altamash Sayed Bengaluru (R)5 Arthur Kouassi Mohammedan Thomyo L. ShimrayATK (R) Yumnam Singh ATK (R) Roshan Singh Bengaluru (R) Jagaba Hamza Lonestar Kashmir LalliansangaChhinga Veng
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref Syed Shoaib Ahmed ARA FC Hindustan FC 4–3 (H) Liston Colaco FC Goa (R) Hindustan FC 6-0 (H) Imanuel Lalthazuala Chhinga Veng FC Rainbow AC 3-1 (H) Phillip Adjah Tetteh Mohammedan Jamshedpur (R) 2-4 (A)
Clean sheets
RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Zothanmawia Chhinga Veng 62 Aditya PatraBengaluru (R) 5 Shubham DhasGoa (R) Dharmindar GuruOzone 5 Mithun SamontoTRAU 4 6 Jedidi HaokipATK (R) 3 Priyant Kumar SinghMohammedan 8 Fayaz Shaikh Fateh Hyderabad 2 Dibyendu SarkarRainbow Abhishek DasARA
References
External links Official I-League website.