Football league season
| Season | 2017–18 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 25 November 2017 – 8 March 2018 |
| Champions | Minerva Punjab 1st I-League title 1st Indian title |
| Relegated | Churchill Brothers |
| AFC Champions League | Minerva Punjab |
| Matches played | 90 |
| Goals scored | 205 (2.28 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Aser Pierrick Dipanda (13 goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | Shilton Paul (8 clean sheets) |
| Biggest home win | East Bengal 7–1 Chennai City (24 February 2018) |
| Biggest away win | Gokulam Kerala 0–3 NEROCA (9 December 2017) |
| Highest scoring | East Bengal 7–1 Chennai City (24 February 2018) |
| Longest winning run | Minerva Punjab East Bengal(4 games) |
| Longest unbeaten run | NEROCA (9 games) |
| Longest winless run | Churchill Brothers (6 games) |
| Longest losing run | Churchill Brothers (5 games ) |
| Highest attendance | 64,630 Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal (3 December 2017) |
| Lowest attendance | 218 Indian Arrows vs Chennai City (29 November 2017) |
| Total attendance | 832,665 |
| Average attendance | 10,280 |
| ← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 8 March 2018. | |
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. Minerva Punjab won their first I-League title.
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. 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. 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.
AizawlChurchill BrothersNEROCAChennai CityGokulam KeralaMinerva PunjabKolkataShillong LajongIndian Arrows
Kolkata teamsEast Bengal
Mohun Bagan
class=notpageimage| 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 |
| Chennai City | Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore | 30,000 |
| 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 |
| 6,500 | |||
| Gokulam Kerala | Kozhikode, Kerala | EMS Stadium | 54,000 |
| Minerva Punjab | Ludhiana, Punjab | Guru Nanak Stadium | 15,000 |
| Mohun Bagan | Kolkata, West Bengal | Salt Lake Stadium Barasat Stadium Mohun Bagan Ground |
66,687 |
| 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 |  Santosh Kashyap
|
Vamos | NE Consultancy Services |
| Chennai City | V Soundararajan
|
Counter Sports | None |
| Churchill Brothers |  Joseph Afusi
|
Faisports | Churchill Group |
| East Bengal | Khalid Jamil
|
PERF | Kingfisher |
| Gokulam Kerala | Bino George
|
Kaizen sports | Aachi Group |
| Indian Arrows |  Luís Norton de Matos
|
Nike | None |
| Minerva Punjab | Khogen Singh
|
Astro | Apollo Tyres |
| Mohun Bagan | Sankarlal Chakraborty
|
Shiv Naresh | Nilkamal |
| NEROCA | Gift Raikhan
|
Vector X | Classic Group of Hotels |
| Shillong Lajong | Alison Kharsyntiew
|
Nivia Sports | 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.
Indian Arrows cannot sign any foreign players as they are the AIFF developmental team.
Results
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 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 17 | 28 | −11 | 17 | |
| 10 | Indian Arrows | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 13 | 24 | −11 | 15 |
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) Champions
Notes:
- Churchill Brothers were relegated, but reinstated after the appeal.
- 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 | — |
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Season statistics
Scoring
- As of 8 March 2018
Top scorers
|
Top Indian scorers
|
Hat-tricks
Main article: List of I-League hat-tricks| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dudu Omagbemi |
East Bengal | Chennai City | 7–0 | 24 February 2018 |
Player scored 4 goals.
Clean sheets
- As of 8 March 2018
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shilton Paul
|
Mohun Bagan | 8 |
| 2 | Avilash Paul
|
Aizawl | 6 |
| 3 | Phurba Lachenpa
|
Shillong Lajong | 5 |
 Uroš Poljanec
|
Chennai City | ||
| Bishorjit Singh
|
NEROCA | ||
| 6 | Lalit Thapa
|
NEROCA | 4 |
| Rakshit Dagar
|
Minerva Punjab | ||
| 8 | Luis Barreto
|
East Bengal | 3 |
| James Kithan
|
Churchill Brothers | ||
 Kiran Chemjong
|
Minerva Punjab | ||
| 11 | Dheeraj Singh
|
Indian Arrows | 2 |
| Prabhsukhan Singh Gill
|
Indian Arrows | ||
| Nidhin Lal
|
Shillong Lajong | ||
| Ubaid C K
|
East Bengal | ||
| Bilal Husain Khan
|
Gokulam Kerala |
Attendance
Average home attendances
- As of 8 March 2018
| Team | GP | Cumulative | High | Low | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEROCA | 9 | 192,438 | 35,285 | 11,020 | 21,382 |
| East Bengal | 9 | 156,295 | 52,951 | 8,692 | 17,366 |
| Mohun Bagan | 9 | 142,421 | 64,360 | 4,360 | 15,825 |
| Gokulam Kerala | 9 | 73,177 | 25,841 | 621 | 8,131 |
| Chennai City | 9 | 73,739 | 14,751 | 3,082 | 8,194 |
| Minerva Punjab | 9 | 51,627 | 8,243 | 3,845 | 5,736 |
| Shillong Lajong | 9 | 49,086 | 7,880 | 3,000 | 5,454 |
| Aizawl | 9 | 38,297 | 7,280 | 2,800 | 4,256 |
| Indian Arrows | 9 | 29,300 | 5,563 | 218 | 3,256 |
| Churchill Brothers | 9 | 26,285 | 3,437 | 2,400 | 2,921 |
| Total | 90 | 832,665 | 64,360 | 218 | 10,280 |
Highest attendances
| Rank | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Date | Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohun Bagan | 1–0 | East Bengal | 64,360 | 3 December 2017 (2017-12-03) | Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan |
| 2 | East Bengal | 0–2 | Mohun Bagan | 52,951 | 21 January 2018 (2018-01-21) | Salt Lake Stadium |
| 3 | NEROCA | 2–1 | Indian Arrows | 35,285 | 5 January 2018 (2018-01-05) | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium |
| 4 | NEROCA | 1–1 | East Bengal | 28,243 | 30 December 2017 (2017-12-30) | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium |
| 5 | NEROCA | 2–1 | Chennai City | 27,633 | 15 December 2017 (2017-12-15) | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium |
| 6 | East Bengal | 1–1 | NEROCA | 26,900 | 8 March 2018 (2018-03-08) | Salt Lake Stadium |
| 7 | Gokulam Kerala | 1–1 | Chennai City | 25,841 | 4 December 2017 (2017-12-04) | EMS Stadium |
| 8 | NEROCA | 0–0 | Aizawl | 20,345 | 10 February 2018 (2018-02-10) | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium |
| 9 | Mohun Bagan | 1–2 | Chennai City | 18,316 | 2 January 2018 (2018-01-02) | Mohun Bagan Ground |
| 10 | NEROCA | 1–0 | Gokulam Kerala | 17,300 | 4 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 |  Sony Norde
|
Mohun Bagan | 31 |  Mahmoud Amnah
|
East Bengal | 61 |  Akram Moghrabi
|
Mohun Bagan |
| 2 | Alen Deory
|
Shillong Lajong | 32 |  Murilo de Almeida
|
Chennai City | 62 |  Varney Kallon
|
NEROCA |
| 3 |  Katsumi Yusa
|
East Bengal | 33 | Subhash Singh
|
NEROCA | 63 | Prabhsukhan Singh Gill
|
Indian Arrows |
| 4 | Aniket Jadhav
|
Indian Arrows | 34 | Uroš Poljanec
|
Chennai City | 64 | Monday Osagie
|
Churchill Brothers |
| 5 |  Chencho Gyeltshen
|
Minerva Punjab | 35 | Bali Gagandeep
|
Minerva Punjab | 65 | Bali Gagandeep
|
Minerva Punjab |
| 6 | Hardy Nongbri
|
Shillong Lajong | 36 |  Aser Pierrick Dipanda
|
Mohun Bagan | 66 |  Jean-Michel Joachim
|
Chennai City |
| 7 | Kingsley Obumneme
|
Mohun Bagan | 37 |  Abdoulaye Koffi
|
Shillong Lajong | 67 | Lalram Hmunmawia
|
Aizawl |
| 8 | Nikhil Bernard
|
Gokulam Kerala | 38 | Mechac Koffi
|
Churchill Brothers | 68 | Anwar Ali
|
Indian Arrows |
| 9 |  William Opoku
|
Minerva Punjab | 39 | Michael Soosairaj
|
Chennai City | 69 |  Venyamin Shumeyko
|
Chennai City |
| 10 | Felix Chidi Odili
|
NEROCA | 40 | Chencho Gyeltshen
|
Minerva Punjab | 70 | Aser Pierrick Dipanda
|
Mohun Bagan |
| 11 | Laldanmawia Ralte
|
East Bengal | 41 | Abhijit Sarkar
|
Indian Arrows | 71 | Mahmoud Amnah
|
East Bengal |
| 12 | Aser Pierrick Dipanda
|
Mohun Bagan | 42 | David Lalrinmuana
|
Aizawl | 72 | Varney Kallon
|
NEROCA |
| 13 |  Kassim Aidara
|
Minerva Punjab | 43 | Rakshit Dagar
|
Minerva Punjab | 73 | Edmund Lalrindika
|
Indian Arrows |
| 14 |  Masih Saighani
|
Aizawl | 44 | Ogba Kalu Nnanna
|
Churchill Brothers | 74 | Bilal Husain Khan
|
Gokulam Kerala |
| 15 | Sheikh Faiaz
|
Mohun Bagan | 45 | Avilash Paul
|
Aizawl | 75 | Michael Soosairaj
|
Chennai City |
| 16 | Lalit Thapa
|
NEROCA | 46 | Varney Kallon
|
NEROCA | 76 | Subhash Singh
|
NEROCA |
| 17 | James Kithan
|
Churchill Brothers | 47 | Monday Osagie
|
Churchill Brothers | 77 |  Saihou Jagne
|
Shillong Lajong |
| 18 | Redeem Tlang
|
Shillong Lajong | 48 | Felix Chidi Odili
|
NEROCA | 78 |  Henry Kisekka
|
Gokulam Kerala |
| 19 | Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem
|
Indian Arrows | 49 | Santu Singh
|
Gokulam Kerala | 79 | Lalkhawpuimawia
|
Aizawl |
| 20 | Rana Gharami
|
Mohun Bagan | 50 | Aser Pierrick Dipanda
|
Mohun Bagan | 80 | Dudu Omagbemi
|
East Bengal |
| 21 | Jean-Michel Joachim
|
Chennai City | 51 | Prabhsukhan Singh Gill
|
Indian Arrows | 81 | Arjun Jayaraj
|
Gokulam Kerala |
| 22 | Daniel Addo
|
Gokulam Kerala | 52 | Abdoulaye Koffi
|
Shillong Lajong | 82 | Guy Eric Dano
|
Minerva Punjab |
| 23 | Uroš Poljanec
|
Chennai City | 53 | Leonce Dodoz Zikahi
|
Aizawl | 83 | Aser Pierrick Dipanda
|
Mohun Bagan |
| 24 | Phurba Lachenpa
|
Shillong Lajong | 54 | Chencho Gyeltshen
|
Minerva Punjab | 84 | Leonce Dodoz Zikahi
|
Aizawl |
| 25 | Jitendra Singh
|
Indian Arrows | 55 | Prabhsukhan Singh Gill
|
Indian Arrows | 85 | Michael Soosairaj
|
Chennai City |
| 26 | Leonce Dodoz Zikahi
|
Aizawl | 56 |  Mahmood Al-Ajmi
|
Gokulam Kerala | 86 | Nikhil Kadam
|
Mohun Bagan |
| 27 | Mohammed Rafique
|
East Bengal | 57 | Kiran Chemjong
|
Minerva Punjab | 87 | Nidhin Lal
|
Shillong Lajong |
| 28 | Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem
|
Indian Arrows | 58 | Felix Chidi Odili
|
NEROCA | 88 | Nikhil Bernard
|
Gokulam Kerala |
| 29 |  Eduardo Ferreira
|
East Bengal | 59 | Wayne Vaz
|
Churchill Brothers | 89 | Ricardo Cardozo
|
Churchill Brothers |
| 30 |  Andrei Ionescu
|
Aizawl | 60 | Michael Soosairaj
|
Chennai City | 90 | Lalit Thapa
|
NEROCA |
Season awards
Hero I-League 2017–18 awards were announced on March 22.
| Award | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Best Goalkeeper | Shilton Paul (Mohun Bagan) |
| Jarnail Singh Award for Best Defender | Varney Kallon (NEROCA) |
| Best Midfielder | Michael Soosairaj (Chennai City FC) |
| Best Forward | Chencho Gyeltshen (Minerva Punjab) |
| Highest Scorer | Aser Pierrick Dipanda (Mohun Bagan) |
| Best Emerging Player (U-22) | Samuel Lalmuanpuia (Shillong Lajong) |
| Syed Abdul Rahim Award for Best Coach | Gift Raikhan (NEROCA) |
| Best Organizers | NEROCA |
| Fairplay award | NEROCA |
See also
References
- Jonathan Selvaraj (8 March 2018). "Minerva give India another champion team from Punjab". ESPN. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- "AIFF Invites New Bids For Hero I-League 2017–18". 21 July 2017. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
- "AIFF WELCOMES SREE GOKULAM GROUP IN HERO I-LEAGUE". 20 September 2017. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
- "Aizawl F.C. Stadium". I-League.
- "Chennai City Stadium". I-League.
- "Shillong Lajong Stadium". I-League.
- "Minerva Punjab Stadium". I-League.
- "Mohun Bagan Stadium". I-League.
- @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.
- @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.
- @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.
- 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. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- @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.
- Mergulhao, Marcus (2 August 2017). "I-LEAGUE Foreign players: Mohun Bagan, EB get their way". Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 January 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- "AIFF reinstates Churchill Brothers in I-League". The Times of India. 20 September 2018. Archived from the original on 18 November 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
- "Top scorers". i-league.org. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
- "I-League: East Bengal hits seven to decimate Chennai City". Sportstar. 25 February 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
- "Clean Sheets". I–league. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- "I-League 2017–18: Minerva Punjab presented with winners' trophy; NEROCA's Gift Raikhan named season's best coach". firstpost.com. Chandigarh: The FirstPost News. Press Trust of India. 22 March 2018. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
External links
| I-League | |
|---|---|
| Current Clubs | |
| Former Clubs | |
| Dissolved clubs | |
| Statistics and awards | |
| Associated competitions | |
| Seasons | |
| Related | |
| Indian football league seasons | |||||||||||
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