2016 Kerala Blasters FC season

The 2016 season was the third season in Kerala Blasters FC's existence, as well as their third season in Indian Super League. After finishing second position in the league stage, the club managed to make it to the final. In the finals, they were again defeated by Atlético de Kolkata, this time through the penalty shoot-out.

Kerala Blasters

2016 season
Head Coach	Steve Coppell
Stadium	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Indian Super League	2nd
Finals	Runners-Up
Top goalscorer	League: C.K. Vineeth (5 goals) All: C.K. Vineeth (5 goals)
Highest home attendance	80,294
Average home league attendance	55,535
Home colours Away colours
← 2015 2017-18 →

Background

In 2016, in an effort to rebuild after failing to qualify for the finals the previous season, Kerala Blasters announced the signing of former Crystal Palace manager Steve Coppell as head coach on 21 June 2016.^[1] A week later, the club announced the signing of Northern Ireland international Aaron Hughes as their marquee player for the season.^[2] Other moves made before the season included the signing of Graham Stack, Kervens Belfort, Duckens Nazon, and Mohammed Rafique and return of former players Michael Chopra and Cédric Hengbart.^[3]

The season began where the previous left off, with a 1–0 defeat away from home against NorthEast United.^[4] After the first month of the season, the Blasters had one of the best defenses statistically in the league but struggled in attack.^[5] In the second half of the season, after the return of C.K. Vineeth from loan with Bengaluru FC, the Blasters managed to surge their way into the playoffs.^[6] They achieved this by defeating Delhi Dynamos 3–0 in a penalty shootout during the semi-final.^[7] In the final, the Kerala Blasters would play host to Atlético de Kolkata. The Blasters took the lead early through Mohammed Rafi before Kolkata equalized soon after. The match went into a penalty shootout, Despite taking the lead early in the shootout, the Kerala Blasters lost 4–3 and thus were defeated in their second final in three seasons.^[8]

Players

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  IRL Graham Stack 2 DF  IND Pratik Chowdhary 5 DF  FRA Cédric Hengbart 6 DF  NIR Aaron Hughes 7 MF  IND Mohammed Rafique 8 MF  IND Vinit Rai 9 FW  HAI Kervens Belfort 10 FW  GRN Antonio German 11 MF  IND Ishfaq Ahmed 12 FW  IND Thongkhosiem Haokip 13 FW  IND C.K. Vineeth 14 MF  IND Mehtab Hossain 16 DF  IND Gurwinder Singh 17 FW  IND Farukh Choudhary

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 DF  SEN Elhadji Ndoye 20 FW  IND Mohammed Rafi 21 DF  IND Sandesh Jhingan 22 FW  IND Prasanth Karuthadathkuni 23 GK  IND Kunal Sawant 24 GK  IND Sandip Nandy 27 FW  ENG Michael Chopra 30 GK  IND Mohammad Ansari 31 DF  IND Rino Anto 57 MF  CIV Didier Kadio 78 FW  HAI Duckens Nazon 88 MF  CHA Azrack Mahamat 99 DF  ESP Josu

Source: Indian Super League 2016

Transfers

Main article: List of 2016 Indian Super League season roster changes

Retained

Foreign players Position Player MF Josu[9] FW Antonio German[9]

Indian players Position Player GK Sandip Nandy[9] DF Gurwinder Singh[9] DF Sandesh Jhingan[9] MF C.K. Vineeth[10] MF Ishfaq Ahmed[9] MF Mehtab Hossain[9] FW Mohammed Rafi[9]

New signings

Position	Player	Last club	Date	Ref
FW	Thongkhosiem Haokip	Goa	7 July 2016	[11]
DF	Pratik Chowdhary	Mumbai	13 July 2016	[12]
DF	Aaron Hughes	Melbourne City	28 July 2016	[13]
GK	Graham Stack	Barnet	3 August 2016	[14]
FW	Michael Chopra	Alloa Athletic	7 August 2016	[15]
DF	Elhadji Ndoye	Kyzylzhar	9 August 2016	[16]
FW	Kervens Belfort	1461 Trabzon	12 August 2016	[17]
DF	Cédric Hengbart	NorthEast United	16 August 2016	[18]
MF	Mohammed Rafique	Atlético de Kolkata	22 August 2016	[19]
MF	Azrack Mahamat	Levadiakos	23 August 2016	[20]
DF	Rino Anto	Atlético de Kolkata	26 August 2016	[21]
MF	Didier Kadio	Zhetysu	30 August 2016	[22]
MF	Vinit Rai	Dempo	2 September 2016	[23]
FW	Duckens Nazon	Tondela	6 September 2016	[24]
GK	Kunal Sawant	Mumbai	7 September 2016	[25]
GK	Mohammad Ansari	Pune	7 September 2016	[25]
FW	Prasanth Karuthadathkuni	AIFF Elite Academy	7 September 2016	[25]
FW	Farukh Choudhary	Lonestar Kashmir	7 September 2016	[25]

Pre-season

BBCU v Kerala Blasters

12 September 2016 (2016-09-12) Friendly	BBCU	1–2	Kerala Blasters	Bangkok
		Report

Bangkok United v Kerala Blasters

15 September 2016 (2016-09-15) Friendly	Bangkok United	0–0	Kerala Blasters	Bangkok
		Report

Southern Samity v Kerala Blasters

24 September 2016 (2016-09-24) Friendly	Southern Samity	1–1	Kerala Blasters	Kolkata
		Report

Indian Super League

Main article: 2016 Indian Super League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mumbai City	14	6	5	3	16	8	+8	23	Advance to ISL Play-offs
2	Kerala Blasters	14	6	4	4	12	14	−2	22
3	Delhi Dynamos	14	5	6	3	27	17	+10	21
4	Atlético de Kolkata (C)	14	4	8	2	16	14	+2	20
5	NorthEast United	14	5	3	6	14	14	0	18

Source: Indian Super 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) ISL Cup winners

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
14	6	4	4	13	15	−2	22	5	1	1	9	4	+5	1	3	3	4	11	−7

Source: https://int.soccerway.com/teams/india/kerala-blasters/31407/matches/

Results

NorthEast United v Kerala Blasters

1 October 2016 (2016-10-01) 1	NorthEast United	1–0	Kerala Blasters	Guwahati
19:00 IST	Yusa 55'	Report		Stadium: Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium Attendance: 27,629 Referee: Pranjal Banerji

Kerala Blasters v Atlético de Kolkata

5 October 2016 (2016-10-05) 2	Kerala Blasters	0–1	Atlético de Kolkata	Kochi
19:00 IST		Report	Lara 53'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 54,900 Referee: Umesh Bora

Kerala Blasters v Delhi Dynamos

9 October 2016 (2016-10-09) 3	Kerala Blasters	0–0	Delhi Dynamos	Kochi
19:00 IST		Report		Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 54,913 Referee: Tejas Nagvenkar

Kerala Blasters v Mumbai City

14 October 2016 (2016-10-14) 4	Kerala Blasters	1–0	Mumbai City	Kochi
19:00 IST	Chopra 58'	Report		Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 40,013 Referee: Ajit Dutta

Pune City v Kerala Blasters

17 October 2016 (2016-10-17) 5	Pune City	1–1	Kerala Blasters	Pune
19:00 IST	Sissoko 68'	Report	Hengbart 3'	Stadium: Balewadi Stadium Attendance: 8,556 Referee: Ajit Meetei

Goa v Kerala Blasters

24 October 2016 (2016-10-24) 6	Goa	1–2	Kerala Blasters	Margao
19:00 IST	César 24'	Report	Rafi 46' Belfort 84'	Stadium: Fatorda Stadium Attendance: 18,157 Referee: C. R. Srikrishna

Chennaiyin v Kerala Blasters

29 October 2016 (2016-10-29) 7	Chennaiyin	0–0	Kerala Blasters	Chennai
19:00 IST		Report		Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 23,163 Referee: Pranjal Banerjee

Delhi Dynamos v Kerala Blasters

4 November 2014 (2014-11-04) 8	Delhi Dynamos	2–0	Kerala Blasters	Delhi
19:00 IST	Lewis 56' Marcelinho 60'	Report		Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 15,471 Referee: Nick Waldron

Kerala Blasters v Goa

8 November 2016 (2016-11-08) 9	Kerala Blasters	2–1	Goa	Kochi
19:00 IST	Belfort 48' (pen.) Vineeth 90+9'	Report	Coelho 9'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 34,196 Referee: Nick Waldron

Kerala Blasters v Chennaiyin

12 November 2016 (2016-11-12) 10	Kerala Blasters	3–1	Chennaiyin	Kochi
19:00 IST	Kadio 66' Vineeth 85', 89'	Report	Mendy 22'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 53,152 Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini

Mumbai City v Kerala Blasters

19 November 2016 (2016-11-19) 11	Mumbai City	5–0	Kerala Blasters	Mumbai
19:00 IST	Forlán 5', 14', 63' Alves 69' Goian 73'	Report		Stadium: Mumbai Football Arena Attendance: 7583

Kerala Blasters v Pune City

25 November 2016 (2016-11-25) 12	Kerala Blasters	2–1	Pune City	Kochi
19:00 IST	Nazon 7' Hughes 57'	Report	Zurdo 90+5'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 51341

Atlético de Kolkata v Kerala Blasters

29 November 2016 (2016-11-29) 13	Atlético de Kolkata	1–1	Kerala Blasters	Kolkata
19:00 IST	Stephen Pearson 18'		C.K. Vineeth 8'	Stadium: Rabindra Sarobar Stadium

Kerala Blasters v NorthEast United

4 December 2016 (2016-12-04) 14	Kerala Blasters	1–0	NorthEast United	Kochi
19:00 IST	C.K. Vineeth 66'			Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 53000

Player statistics

Season stats

#	Position	Player	GP	G
1	GK	Graham Stack	6	0
2	DF	Pratik Chowdhary	8	0
5	DF	Cédric Hengbart	17	1
6	DF	Aaron Hughes	9	1
7	MF	Mohammed Rafique	10	0
8	MF	Vinit Rai	2	0
9	FW	Kervens Belfort	13	3
10	FW	Antonio German	11	0
11	MF	Ishfaq Ahmed	6	0
12	FW	Thongkhosiem Haokip	1	0
13	FW	C.K. Vineeth	9	5
14	MF	Mehtab Hossain	16	0
16	DF	Gurwinder Singh	1	0
17	FW	Farukh Choudhary	2	0
19	DF	Elhadji Ndoye	4	0
20	FW	Mohammed Rafi	13	2
21	DF	Sandesh Jhingan	17	0
22	FW	Prasanth Karuthadathkuni	0	0
23	GK	Kunal Sawant	0	0
24	GK	Sandip Nandy	10	0
27	FW	Michael Chopra	10	1
30	GK	Mohammad Ansari	0	0
31	DF	Rino Anto	3	0
57	MF	Didier Kadio	11	1
78	FW	Duckens Nazon	11	2
88	MF	Azrack Mahamat	11	0
99	DF	Josu	15	0

See also

• 2016–17 in Indian football