2014–15 I-League

The 2014–15 I-League (known as the Hero I-League for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the I-League, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 17 January 2015, after the conclusion of the 2014–15 Federation Cup and finished on 31 May 2015 with a title deciding match between defending champions Bengaluru and Mohun Bagan. Mohun Bagan scored a late equalising goal to win the championship by two points. It was to be their first I-League title and fourth Indian championship in total^[2][3]

I-League

Season	2014–15
Dates	17 January – 31 May 2015
Champions	Mohun Bagan 1st I-League title 4th Indian title
Relegated	Dempo
AFC Champions League	Mohun Bagan
AFC Cup	Bengaluru
Matches played	110
Goals scored	280 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ranti Martins (East Bengal) (17 goals)
Biggest home win	Salgaocar 5–1 Bharat (24 May 2015) Shillong Lajong 5–1 East Bengal (30 May 2015) Sporting Goa 4–0 Pune (30 May 2015)
Biggest away win	Mumbai 0–6 Shillong Lajong (3 April 2015)
Highest scoring	Pune 5–2 Shillong Lajong (29 January 2015) Mohun Bagan 4–3 Shillong Lajong (27 February 2015)
Longest winning run	Bengaluru Pune Royal Wahingdoh Mumbai Mohun Bagan Sporting Goa (3 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Bengaluru (13 games)
Longest winless run	Sporting Goa (13 games)
Longest losing run	Salgaocar (4 games)
Highest attendance	57,780 (Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal) (28 March 2015)
Average attendance	5,909[1]
← 2013–14 2015–16 →

Teams

The official number of teams for the new season will be eleven. After the success of the leagues first direct-entry side, Bengaluru FC, the All India Football Federation held bidding for new teams from 15 May to 2 June 2014 with cities such as Chennai and Ahmedabad in the running.^[4] At the same time the federation would review the AFC Club Licensing Criteria and any club which failed to pass the criteria will be banned from entering the league.^[4]

On 22 May 2014 the All India Football Federation officially announced that former I-League champions Churchill Brothers, Rangdajied United, and United S.C had been axed from the 2014–15 season for failing to pass the club licensing criteria.^[5] Then, in August 2014, it was announced that the AIFF had awarded a direct-entry spot to the Kalyani Group and that they would start a team based in Pune.^[6] The team was officially launched in November 2014 as Bharat FC.^[7]

In terms of promotion and relegation, Mohammedan were relegated from the I-League the previous season, while Royal Wahingdoh were promoted after winning the 2014 I-League 2nd Division.^[8][9] This would be Wahingdoh's first season in the I-League after remaining unbeaten through the entire 2nd Division campaign.^[9]

Stadiums and locations

Bengaluru

Mumbai

Pune

Goa

Kolkata

Shillong

Kolkata teams
East Bengal
Mohun Bagan

Goan teams
Dempo
Salgaocar
Sporting Goa

Shillong teams
Royal Wahingdoh
Shillong Lajong

Pune teams
Pune
Bharat

Locations of the 2014–15 I-League teams

Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Bengaluru	Sree Kanteerava Stadium	24,000
Bharat	Balewadi Sports Complex	22,000
Dempo	Fatorda Stadium	19,800
East Bengal	Salt Lake Stadium	68,000[10]
Mohun Bagan	Salt Lake Stadium	68,000[10]
Mumbai	Cooperage Ground	5,000
Pune	Balewadi Sports Complex	22,000
Royal Wahingdoh	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium	30,000
Salgaocar	Fatorda Stadium	19,800
Shillong Lajong	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium	30,000
Sporting Goa	Fatorda Stadium	19,800

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Head coach	Captain	Main Sponsor
Bengaluru	Ashley Westwood	Sunil Chhetri	JSW Group
Bharat	Stuart Watkiss	Gouramangi Singh	Kalyani Group
Dempo	Trevor Morgan	Calum Angus	Dempo
East Bengal	Eelco Schattorie	Harmanjot Khabra	Kingfisher
Mohun Bagan	Sanjoy Sen	Shilton Pal	McDowell's No.1
Mumbai	Khalid Jamil	Climax Lawrence	Playwin
Pune	Karim Bencherifa	Anas Edathodika	Peninsula
Royal Wahingdoh	Santosh Kashyap	Lalchhawnkima	Imperial Blue
Salgaocar	Derrick Pereira	Karanjit Singh	Salgaocar
Shillong Lajong	Thangboi Singto	Son Min-chol	Gionee
Sporting Goa	Mateus Costa	Anthony Wolfe	Models

Transfers

Further information: I-League transfers for the 2014–15 season

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Mohun Bagan	Karim Bencherifa	Sacked	29 April 2014[11]	Pre-season	Sankarlal Chakraborty	27 July 2014[12]
Pune	Mike Snoei	Sacked	30 May 2014[13]		Karim Bencherifa	10 June 2014[14]
Royal Wahingdoh	Nandakumar Singh	Unknown	25 October 2014[15]		Santosh Kashyap	25 October 2014[15]
Bharat	New team				Stuart Watkiss	4 November 2014[16]
Sporting Goa	Óscar Bruzón	Mutual Consent	4 December 2014[17]		Mateus Costa	Unknown[18]
Mohun Bagan	Subhash Bhowmick	Unknown	8 December 2014[19]		Sanjoy Sen	8 December 2014[19]
East Bengal	Armando Colaco	Sacked	19 February 2015[20]	4th	Eelco Schattorie	19 February 2015[21]
Dempo	Arthur Papas	Mutual Consent	2 March 2015[22]	8th	Trevor Morgan	3 March 2015[23]

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries and a marquee player. 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
Bengaluru	John Johnson	Josh Walker	Curtis Osano	Sean Rooney
Bharat	Romuald Boco	Bobby Hassell	Kris Bright	Omar Jarun
Dempo	Zohib Islam Amiri	Carlos Hernández	Calum Angus	Tolgay Özbey
East Bengal	Leo Bertos	Ranti Martins	Dudu Omagbemi	Milan Susak
Mohun Bagan	Pierre Boya	Sony Norde	Bello Razaq	Katsumi Yusa
Mumbai	Josimar	Chika Wali		Taisuke Matsugae
Pune	Luciano Sabrosa	Darko Nikač	Edgar Marcelino	Ryuji Sueoka
Royal Wahingdoh	Bekay Bewar	Loveday Enyinnaya	Densill Theobald	Kim Seng-yong
Salgaocar	Douhou Pierre	Darryl Duffy	Francis Kasonde	Khaled Baleid
Shillong Lajong	Uilliams	Penn Orji	Cornell Glen	Son Min-chol
Sporting Goa	Odafa Okolie	Miguel Garcia	Anthony Wolfe	Mahmoud Amnah

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Mohun Bagan (C)	20	11	6	3	33	16	+17	39	Qualification for AFC Champions League qualifying play-off
2	Bengaluru	20	10	7	3	35	19	+16	37	Qualification for AFC Cup group stage[a]
3	Royal Wahingdoh	20	8	6	6	27	27	0	30
4	East Bengal	20	8	5	7	30	28	+2	29[b]
5	Pune	20	8	5	7	24	26	−2	29[b]
6	Mumbai	20	5	9	6	22	27	−5	24[c]
7	Salgaocar	20	7	3	10	25	27	−2	24[c]
8	Sporting Goa	20	5	8	7	22	27	−5	23[d]
9	Shillong Lajong	20	6	5	9	34	29	+5	23[d]
10	Dempo (R)	20	3	10	7	15	26	−11	19	Relegation to I-League 2nd Division
11	Bharat[e]	20	4	6	10	13	28	−15	18

Source: IndiaFooty.com
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; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Bengaluru FC, as the winner of 2014–15 Federation Cup, qualified for the 2016 AFC Cup
2. East Bengal ahead on goal difference, head-to-head record being the same; Pune 2–3 East Bengal
   East Bengal 1–2 Pune
3. Mumbal ahead on head-to-head goal difference; Mumbai–Salgaocar 3–0, Salgaocar–Mumbai 3–1
4. Sporting Goa ahead on head-to-head record; Sporting Goa–Shillong Lajong 1–1, Shillong Lajong–Sporting Goa 1–2
5. Bharat FC were not relegated as they had relegation immunity for two years.^[24]

Results

Home \ Away	BFC	KBFC	DEM	EB	MB	MUM	PFC	RWFC	SFC	SLFC	SCG
Bengaluru		1–0	0–0	3–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	3–3	3–1	2–0	4–1
Bharat	0–2		0–0	0–3	1–0	0–2	1–0	1–2	2–0	1–1	1–0
Dempo	1–1	0–0		1–5	1–1	0–0	1–2	3–2	0–0	0–2	3–0
East Bengal	1–0	1–1	3–1		1–1	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–2
Mohun Bagan	4–1	2–0	2–0	1–0		3–1	1–0	2–0	3–1	0–0	2–0
Mumbai	1–1	2–1	0–1	2–1	1–1		1–1	2–1	3–0	0–6	0–0
Pune	0–2	1–1	0–0	2–3	0–2	3–2		1–0	1–0	5–2	1–1
Royal Wahingdoh	0–4	1–1	1–1	1–0	3–2	1–1	2–0		4–2	1–1	2–0
Salgaocar	0–1	5–1	2–0	3–1	0–0	3–1	1–1	0–1		2–1	0–2
Shillong Lajong	1–1	3–1	3–0	5–1	3–4	1–0	0–1	1–2	1–3		1–2
Sporting Goa	1–3	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–1	1–1	4–0	0–0	0–2	1–1

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

As of 31 May 2015 ^[25]

Scoring

Top scorers Rank Player Team Goals 1 Ranti Martins East Bengal 17 2 Cornell Glen Shillong Lajong 16 3 Sony Norde Mohun Bagan 9 Dudu Omagbemi East Bengal 5 Josimar Mumbai 8 Odafe Onyeka Okolie Sporting Goa 7 Darryl Duffy Salgaocar 7 Thongkhosiem Haokip Pune Uilliams Shillong Lajong Katsumi Yusa Mohun Bagan

Top Indian Scorers Rank Player Team Goals 1 Thongkhosiem Haokip Pune 7 2 Eugeneson Lyngdoh Bengaluru 6 Balwant Singh Mohun Bagan Robin Singh Bengaluru Satiyasen Singh Royal Wahingdoh 6 Jackichand Singh Royal Wahingdoh 5 Thoi Singh Bengaluru 8 Bikash Jairu Salgaocar 4

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref.
Thongkhosiem Haokip	Pune	Shillong Lajong	5–2	29 January 2015	[26]
Ranti Martins 5	East Bengal	Dempo	5–1	1 March 2015	[27]
Satiyasen Singh	Royal Wahingdoh	Salgaocar	4–2	3 May 2015	[28]
Cornell Glen	Shillong Lajong	Bharat	3–1	17 May 2015	[29]
Odafe Onyeka Okolie	Sporting Goa	Pune	4–0	30 May 2015
Cornell Glen	Shillong Lajong	East Bengal	5–1	30 May 2015

⁵ Player scored 5 goals

Discipline

• Most yellow cards (7)^[30]
  • Dharmaraj Ravanan (Bharat)
  • Robin Singh (Bengaluru)
• Most red cards (2)^[30]
  • Dhanpal Ganesh (Pune)
• Worst disciplinary record (2 red cards & 5 yellow cards)
  • Dhanpal Ganesh (Pune)

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. East Bengal led the Fair Play rankings at the end of the season.^[31]

Rank	Team	Games	Total Points
1	East Bengal	20	1451.1
2	Royal Wahingdoh	20	1450.0
3	Pune	20	1438.6
4	Salgaocar	20	1427.5
5	Bharat	20	1415.0
6	Mumbai	20	1394.3
7	Shillong Lajong	20	1377.5
8	Bengaluru	20	1367.9
9	Dempo	20	1342.5
10	Mohun Bagan	20	1337.9
	Sporting Goa	20	1337.9

Awards

AIFF Awards

All India Football Federation awarded the following awards for the I-League season.^[32]

• Best player of I-League: Jackichand Singh (Royal Wahingdoh)
• Best goalkeeper of I-League: Debjit Majumder (Mohun Bagan)
• Best defender of I-League: Bello Razaq (Mohun Bagan)
• Best midfielder of I-League: Eugeneson Lyngdoh (Bengaluru)
• Best forward of I-League: Ranti Martins (East Bengal)
• Best coach of I-League: Sanjoy Sen (Mohun Bagan)

See also

• 2014–15 Bengaluru FC season
• 2014–15 Bharat FC season
• 2014–15 Dempo S.C. season
• 2014–15 East Bengal F.C. season
• 2014–15 Mohun Bagan A.C. season
• 2014–15 Mumbai F.C. season
• 2014–15 Pune F.C. season
• 2014–15 Royal Wahingdoh F.C. season
• 2014–15 Salgaocar F.C. season
• 2014–15 Shillong Lajong F.C. season
• 2014–15 Sporting Clube de Goa season