2015–16 I-League - Misplaced Pages

9th season of the I-League

Football league season

I-League
Season	2015–16
Champions	Bengaluru 2nd I-League title 2nd Indian title
AFC Champions League	Bengaluru
AFC Cup	Mohun Bagan
Matches played	72
Goals scored	186 (2.58 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ranti Martins (12 goals)
Biggest home win	Mohun Bagan 5–0 Bengaluru (23 April 2016)
Biggest away win	Salgaocar 0–3 Sporting Goa (23 April 2016)
Highest scoring	Sporting Goa 5–2 Shillong Lajong (10 April 2016)
Longest winning run	3 games Bengaluru East Bengal
Longest unbeaten run	11 games Mohun Bagan
Longest winless run	10 games Mumbai
Longest losing run	4 games Salgaocar
Highest attendance	62,342 Mohun Bagan 1–1 East Bengal (23 January 2016)
← 2014–15 2016–17 → All statistics correct as of 24 April 2016.

The 2015–16 I-League was the ninth season of the I-League, the Indian professional football league, since its establishment in 2007. The season commenced on 9 January 2016, after the Indian Super League finished, and concluded on 24 April 2016.

Bengaluru won their second I-League title after winning their first title in 2013–14. The defending champions Mohun Bagan finished second. Aizawl and DSK Shivajians entered the league for the first time in their history, Aizawl through promotion from the I-League 2nd Division and DSK Shivajians through a direct-entry spot.

Teams and season Details

After the 2014–15 I-League season, three-time I-League champions, Dempo, were relegated to the I-League 2nd Division. Mizo club, Aizawl, were promoted from the 2nd Division earlier in May following a 4–2 victory over Chanmari. DSK Shivajians were announced as the direct-entry club for this season on 12 November 2015.

In August 2015, it was first reported that Pune clubs, Pune, and Bharat, the direct-entry side from the previous season, would be withdrawing from the I-League due to the lack of a "long-term vision" for the league. Then, towards the end of October, it was announced that both Pune and Bharat FC had failed to compile to the AFC-licensing criteria needed to participate in the I-League. On 21 November 2015, it was confirmed that Royal Wahingdoh, another debutant club from the previous season, were withdrawing from the league.

Stadiums and locations

Goa

Kolkata

Shillong LajongKolkata teams
East Bengal
Mohun Bagan
Goan teams
Salgaocar
Sporting Goa
class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2015–16 I-League teams

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Aizawl	Rajiv Gandhi Stadium	20,000
Bengaluru	Sree Kanteerava Stadium	24,000
DSK Shivajians	Balewadi Sports Complex	22,000
East Bengal	Salt Lake Stadium	68,000
East Bengal	Kanchenjunga Stadium	35,000
Mohun Bagan	Salt Lake Stadium	68,000
Mohun Bagan	Barasat Stadium	22,000
Mumbai	Cooperage Ground	5,000
Salgaocar	Tilak Maidan Stadium	12,000
Shillong Lajong	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium	30,000
Sporting Goa	Fatorda Stadium	19,500

Personnel and kits

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit Sponsor	Shirt sponsor
Aizawl	Jahar Das	David Lalrinmuana	Vamos	North East Consultancy Services
Bengaluru	Ashley Westwood	Sunil Chhetri	Puma	JSW
DSK Shivajians	Derrick Pereira	Aser Pierrick Dipanda	Nivia	DSK Group
East Bengal	Trevor Morgan	Gurwinder Singh	Shiv Naresh	Kingfisher
Mohun Bagan	Sanjoy Sen	Shilton Paul	Shiv Naresh	None
Mumbai	Khalid Jamil	Taisuke Matsugae	Nivia	Playwin
Salgaocar	Santosh Kashyap	Karanjit Singh	Shiv Naresh	Salgaocar
Shillong Lajong	Thangboi Singto	Aibor Khongjee	Adidas	Gionee
Sporting Goa	Mateus Costa	Odafa Onyeka Okolie	None	Models

Head coaching changes

Team	Outgoing head coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming head coach	Date of appointment
East Bengal	Eelco Schattorie	Mutual consent	19 June 2015	Pre-season	Biswajit Bhattacharya	19 June 2015
Salgaocar	Derrick Pereira		26 June 2015		Malky Thomson	26 June 2015
Aizawl	Hmingthana Zadeng		20 August 2015		Manuel Retamero Fraile	20 August 2015
DSK Shivajians	New club				Derrick Pereira	20 August 2015
Salgaocar	Malky Thomson	Mutual consent	29 January 2016	9th	Santosh Kashyap	29 January 2016
Aizawl	Manuel Retamero Fraile	Sacked	7 February 2016	7th	Jahar Das	7 February 2016
East Bengal	Biswajit Bhattacharya	Resigned	11 April 2016	3rd	Trevor Morgan	13 April 2016

Transfers

Main article: I-League transfers for the 2015–16 season

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to Five per team. A team could use Four foreign players on the field each game.

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Asian Player
Aizawl	Alfred Jaryan	Emmanuel Chigozie	Joel Sunday	Yuta Kinowaki
Bengaluru	John Johnson	Michael Collins	Curtis Osano	Kim Song-Yong
DSK Shivajians	Aser Pierrick Dipanda	Douhou Pierre	Juan Quero	Zohib Islam Amiri
East Bengal	Bernard Mendy	Ranti Martins	Bello Razaq	Do Dong-hyun
Mohun Bagan	Luciano Sabrosa	Sony Norde	Cornell Glenn	Katsumi Yusa
Mumbai	Ryuki Kozawa	Eric Brown	Son Min-chol	Taisuke Matsugae
Salgaocar	Éder Monteiro Fernandes	Darryl Duffy	Martin Scott	Calvin Mbarga
Shillong Lajong	Fábio Pena	Uilliams	Penn Orji	Yusuke Yamagata
Sporting Goa	Loveday Enyinnaya	Odafa Onyeka Okolie	Densil Theobald	Mahmoud Amnah

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bengaluru (C)	16	10	2	4	24	17	+7	32	Qualification to Champions League qualifying play-off
2	Mohun Bagan	16	8	6	2	32	16	+16	30	Qualification to AFC Cup qualifying play-off
3	East Bengal	16	7	4	5	22	18	+4	25
4	Sporting Goa	16	5	7	4	24	20	+4	22	Withdrew
5	Mumbai	16	4	7	5	20	19	+1	19
6	Shillong Lajong	16	4	6	6	14	23	−9	18
7	Salgaocar	16	4	4	8	19	27	−8	16	Withdrew
8	Aizawl	16	4	4	8	15	21	−6	16
9	DSK Shivajians	16	3	6	7	16	25	−9	15

Source: I-League
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) play-off match
(C) Champions
Notes:

Mohun Bagan qualified for the 2017 AFC Cup by winning the 2015–16 Federation Cup.
^ Sporting Goa and Salgaocar withdrew from I-League.
Salgaocar ahead on head-to-head record with a 1–1 draw and 1–0 win over Aizawl over the two legs.
Aizawl were supposed to be relegated, but reinstated for 2016–17 season.
DSK Shivajians were given relegation immunity for three years.

Result table

Home \ Away	AFC	BFC	DSK	KEB	MB	MUM	LAJ	SFC	SCG
Aizawl	—	0–1	2–0	2–3	2–1	2–0	0–0	0–1	0–2
Bengaluru	1–0	—	4–1	3–1	0–2	1–0	3–0	2–0	1–2
DSK Shivajians	0–1	1–1	—	2–0	0–2	1–0	1–1	2–3	3–1
East Bengal	2–0	0–1	1–0	—	2–1	2–2	4–0	2–1	0–0
Mohun Bagan	3–1	5–0	3–3	1–1	—	2–0	1–1	4–2	1–0
Mumbai	2–2	2–0	4–0	0–0	0–0	—	2–1	2–1	2–2
Shillong Lajong	3–1	0–2	1–1	1–0	2–2	0–0	—	1–0	1–0
Salgaocar	1–1	1–2	1–1	3–1	1–3	2–2	1–0	—	0–3
Sporting Goa	1–1	2–2	0–0	1–3	1–1	3–2	5–2	1–1	—

Source: Results & Fixtures
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

As of 24 April 2016

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Ranti Martins	East Bengal	12
2	Darryl Duffy	Salgaocar	11
2	Cornell Glen	Mohun Bagan	11
4	Aser Pierrick Dipanda	DSK Shivajians	7
5	Odafa Onyeka Okolie	Sporting Goa	6
6	Katsumi Yusa	Mohun Bagan	5
	Kim Song-Yong	Bengaluru
	Sony Norde	Mohun Bagan
	Sunil Chhetri	Bengaluru
	Sushil Kumar Singh	Mumbai

Top Indian scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Sunil Chhetri	Bengaluru	5
1	Sushil Kumar Singh	Mumbai	5
3	C.K. Vineeth	Bengaluru	4
3	Jeje Lalpekhlua	Mohun Bagan	4
5	Bikash Jairu	East Bengal	3
5	Sumit Passi	Sporting Goa	3
7	Balwant Singh	Mohun Bagan	2
	Eugeneson Lyngdoh	Bengaluru
	Jackichand Singh	Salgaocar
	Marcus Masceranhas	Sporting Goa
	Nicholas Fernandes	Sporting Goa
	Subhasish Bose	Sporting Goa
	Thongkhosiem Haokip	Salgaocar
	Jayesh Rane	Mumbai

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Ranti Martins	East Bengal	Shillong Lajong	4–0	9 February 2016
Darryl Duffy	Salgaocar	DSK Shivajians	3–2	14 February 2016
Ranti Martins	East Bengal	Aizawl	3–2	12 March 2016

Awards

AIFF Awards

All India Football Federation awarded the following awards for the I-League season.

Best player of I-League: Sony Norde (Mohun Bagan)
Best goalkeeper of I-League: Amrinder Singh (Bengaluru)
Best defender of I-League: John Johnson (Bengaluru)
Best midfielder of I-League: Eugeneson Lyngdoh (Bengaluru)
Best forward of I-League: Ranti Martins (East Bengal)
Best coach of I-League: Ashley Westwood (Bengaluru)
Best organizer of I-League: Bengaluru

References

"I-League: Mohun Bagan hold East Bengal to a 1–1 draw in derby". PTI.
"I-League to start on January 9, Goan teams yet to ascertain home grounds". Navhind Times. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
"Dempo SC relegated after losing to Salgaocar". The Times of India. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
Jitendran, Nikhil (7 May 2015). "Aizawl FC become Mizoram's inaugural representatives in the I-League". Goal.com. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
Jitendran, Nikhil (13 November 2015). "DSK Shivajians will fly the flag for Pune this season". Goal.com. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
"I-League clubs Pune, Bharat FC planning to disband first team". The Indian Express. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
"Pune FC, Bharat FC fail licensing criteria". The Times of India. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
"Royal Wahingdoh FC pull out of I-League, 3rd club to do so this year". IBN Live. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
Bera, Kaustav (19 June 2015). "East Bengal announce Biswajit Bhattacharya as Head Coach for the 2015–16 season". Goal.com. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
"Malky Thomson takes over as Salgaocar FC head coach". Goal.com. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
"Salgaocar part ways with Malky Thomson". Goal.com. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
"Kashyap takes charge of Salgaocar". The Times of India. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
^ "Aizawl FC part ways with Manuel Retamero, Jahar Das appointed as new head coach". Goal.com. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
"I-League: East Bengal coach Biswajit Bhattacharya resigns, search for new coach begins". Goal.com. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
"East Bengal appoint Trevor Morgan as head coach, gaffer to arrive in Kolkata by weekend". Goal.com. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
"Salgaocar FC, Sporting Clube de Goa withdraw from I-League". The Indian Express. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
Bilgi, Sumedh (26 September 2016). "Aizawl FC reinstated in the I-League". Goal.com. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
"DSK Shivajians not guaranteed an ISL Berth". goal.com. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
"Players – I-League". soccerway. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
"I-League: East Bengal 4–0 Shillong Lajong: Ranti Martins hat-trick sends Red and Golds top of the table". 9 February 2016.
"Top and Flop: Sporting Clube de Goa 3–2 Mumbai FC". 15 February 2016.
"I-League: Aizawl FC 2–3 East Bengal: Ranti Martins' hat-trick secures victory for stuttering Kolkatans". 12 March 2016.
"Individual awards of Hero I-League 2015–16". AIFF.

External links

Official website

v t e I-League
Current Clubs	Aizawl Churchill Brothers Delhi Gokulam Kerala Inter Kashi Mohammedan Namdhari NEROCA Rajasthan United Real Kashmir Shillong Lajong Sreenidi Deccan TRAU
Former Clubs	Air India Bengaluru Chennai City Dempo DSK Shivajians East Bengal HAL JCT Minerva Academy FC Mohun Bagan Mumbai Kenkre ONGC Punjab Rangdajied United Royal Wahingdoh Salgaocar Sporting Goa Sudeva Vasco United United Sikkim
Dissolved clubs	Bharat Chirag United Club Kerala Indian Arrows Mahindra United Mumbai Pune
Statistics and awards	Seasons Champions Golden Boot Hat-tricks Stats I-League monthly awards
Associated competitions	AFC Cup (performances by clubs)
Seasons	2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Related	National Football League Foreign players

Indian football league seasons

First tier league seasons (1996–present)
National Football League	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07
I-League	2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Indian Super League	2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
List of champions

Second tier league seasons (1997–present)
NFL 2nd Division	1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07
I-League 2nd Division	2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2020 2021
I-League	2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

Third tier league seasons (2006–07, 2022–present)
NFL 3rd Division	2006–07
I-League 2	2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

Fourth tier league seasons (2023–present)
I-League 3	2023–24 2024–25

Youth league seasons (2008–present)
Youth League	2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2022–23 2023–24

2015–16 in Indian football

League competitions

Cup competitions

Federation Cup
- final
IFA Shield
- U19

State leagues

Inter-state tournaments

Men's

Santosh Trophy (Qualification)

Women's

Women's Championship

International

Asian club competitions

AFC Champions League

AFC Cup

National team

Men's	Results ('15–'16) Youth Cup
Women's	Results ('15–'16)

Club seasons

I-League

Aizawl
Bengaluru FC
East Bengal
Mohun Bagan
Mumbai
Salgaocar
Shillong Lajong
Sporting Clube de Goa
DSK Shivajians

Indian Super League

I-League transfers

v t e 2015 in Asian Football (AFC)
« 2014 2016 »
Domestic leagues	Afghanistan Australia '14–'15 '15–'16 Bahrain '14–'15 '15–'16 Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Chinese Taipei '15–'16 East Timor Guam '14–'15 '15–'16 Hong Kong '14–'15 '15–'16 India '14–'15 '15–'16 ~~Indonesia~~ Iran '14–'15 '15–'16 Iraq '14–'15 '15–'16 Japan Jordan '14–'15 '15–'16 Korea DPR Korea Republic Kuwait '14–'15 '15–'16 Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon '14–'15 '15–'16 Macau Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Northern Mariana Islands '14–'15 '15–'16 Oman '14–'15 '15–'16 Pakistan '14–15 '15–16 Palestine '14–'15 '15–'16 Philippines Qatar '14–'15 '15–'16 Saudi Arabia '14–'15 '15–'16 Singapore Sri Lanka '14–'15 '15–'16 Syria '14–'15 '15–'16 Tajikistan Thailand Turkmenistan UAE '14–'15 '15–'16 Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen '14–'15 '15–'16
Domestic cups	Australia Bahrain '15 '15–'16 Bangladesh Fed Cup Independence Cup Brunei '14–'15 '15 Cambodia China Hong Kong Shield '14–'15 FA Cup '14–'15 League Cup '14–'15 Season play-off India Fed Cup'14–'15 Shield Durand Cup ~~Indonesia~~ Iran '14–'15 Iraq '15–'16 Japan League Cup Emperor's Cup Jordan Shield FA Cup '14–'15 Korea DPR Hwaebul Cup Man'gyŏngdae Prize Osandŏk Prize Poch'ŏnbo Torch Prize Korea Republic Kuwait Fed Cup Emir Cup '14–'15 Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Elite Cup FA Cup '14–'15 Laos Macau Malaysia FA Cup Malaysia Cup Maldives ~~FA Cup~~ President's Cup Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman League Cup '14–'15 Sultan Qaboos Cup '14–'15 Pakistan Palestine '14–'15 Philippines PFF Championship '14–'15 UFL Cup PFF Championship '15 Qatar Qatar Cup Emir Cup QNB Cup '14–'15 Saudi Arabia King Cup CP Cup '14–'15 '15–'16 Singapore Singapore Cup League Cup Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand FA Cup League Cup Turkmenistan UAE League Cup '14–'15 President's Cup '14–'15 Uzbekistan Uzbek Cup PFL Cup Vietnam Yemen
Super Cups	China Japan Jordan Malaysia Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Thailand Uzbekistan Vietnam
Regional club competitions	2015 GCC Club Cup 2015 Mekong Club Championship
AFC club competitions	AFC Champions League Qualifying play-off Group stage Knockout stage Final AFC Cup Qualifying play-off Group stage Knockout stage Final 2016 AFC Cup qualifying round
National team competitions	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification 2015 AFC Asian Cup 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification 2016 AFC U-19 Championship qualification 2016 AFC U-16 Championship qualification

v t e 2016 in Asian football (AFC)
« 2015 2017 »
Domestic leagues	Australia '15–'16 '16–'17 Bahrain '15–'16 '16–'17 Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Chinese Taipei '15–'16 '16–'17 East Timor Guam '15–'16 '16–'17 Hong Kong '15–'16 '16–'17 India '15–'16 '16–'17 Indonesia Iran '15–'16 '16–'17 Iraq '15–'16 '16–'17 Japan Jordan '15–'16 '16–'17 Korea DPR Korea Republic Kuwait '15–'16 '16–'17 Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon '15–'16 '16–'17 Macau Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Northern Mariana Islands '15–'16 '16–'17 Oman '15–'16 '16–'17 Palestine West Bank '15–'16 '16–'17 Gaza Strip '15–'16 '16–'17 Philippines Qatar '15–'16 '16–'17 Saudi Arabia '15–'16 '16–'17 Singapore Sri Lanka '16–'17 Syria '15–'16 '16–'17 Tajikistan Thailand Turkmenistan UAE '15–'16 '16–'17 Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen '15–'16 '16–'17
Domestic cups	Australia Bahrain '15–'16 '16–'17 Bangladesh Independence Cup Federation Cup Brunei Cambodia China East Timor Guam Hong Kong '15–'16 '16–'17 India Iran '15–'16 '16–'17 Iraq '15–'16 '16–'17 Japan '15 (final) '16 Jordan '15–'16 '16–'17 Korea DPR Hwaebul Cup Man'gyŏngdae Prize Osandŏk Prize Paektusan Prize Poch'ŏnbo Torch Prize Korea Republic Kuwait '15–'16 '16–'17 Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon '15–'16 '16–'17 Macau Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman '15–'16 '16–'17 Pakistan Palestine '15–'16 '16–'17 Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka '15–'16 '16–'17 Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkmenistan UAE '15–'16 '16–'17 Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
League cups	Bahrain '15–'16 '16–'17 Hong Kong Shield '15–'16 '16–'17 League Cup '15–'16 '16–'17 India Shield Durand Cup Japan Jordan Kuwait KF Cup '15–'16 CP Cup '15–'16 '16–'17 Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Oman '15–'16 '16–'17 Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia '15–'16 '16–'17 Singapore Thailand UAE '15–'16 '16–'17 Uzbekistan
Super Cups	Bahrain East Timor China Iran Iraq Japan Jordan Lebanon Kuwait Malaysia Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Tajikistan Thailand UAE Uzbekistan Vietnam
Regional club competitions	~~2016 GCC Club Cup~~ 2016 Mekong Club Championship 2017 Arab Club Championship
AFC club competitions	AFC Champions League Qualifying play-off Group stage Knockout stage Final AFC Cup Qualifying play-off Group stage Knockout stage Final 2017 AFC Cup qualifying round
National team competitions	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup 2016 AFC U-23 Championship 2016 AFC U-19 Championship 2016 AFC U-16 Championship 2017 AFC U-19 Women's Championship qualification 2017 AFC U-16 Women's Championship qualification 2016 AFF Championship 2016 King's Cup 2016 Kirin Cup 2016 AYA Bank Cup

Categories: