2017–18 I-League

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.^[1]

I-League

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 →

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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.

Aizawl

Churchill Brothers

NEROCA

Chennai City

Gokulam Kerala

Minerva Punjab

Kolkata

Shillong Lajong

Indian Arrows

Kolkata teams
East Bengal
Mohun Bagan

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[4]
Chennai City	Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore	30,000[5]
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]
			6,500
Gokulam Kerala	Kozhikode, Kerala	EMS Stadium	54,000
Minerva Punjab	Ludhiana, Punjab	Guru Nanak Stadium	15,000[7]
Mohun Bagan	Kolkata, West Bengal	Salt Lake Stadium Barasat Stadium Mohun Bagan Ground	66,687[8]
			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[9]	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[10]	Apollo Tyres[11]
Mohun Bagan	Sankarlal Chakraborty	Shiv Naresh	Nilkamal
NEROCA	Gift Raikhan	Vector X[12]	Classic Group of Hotels
Shillong Lajong	Alison Kharsyntiew	Nivia Sports[13]	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.^[14]

Indian Arrows cannot sign any foreign players as they are the AIFF developmental team.

Club	Foreigner 1	Foreigner 2	Foreigner 3	Foreigner 4	AFC Foreigner 1	AFC Foreigner 2
Aizawl	Léonce Dodoz	Alfred Jaryan	Kareem Omolaja	Andrei Ionescu	Masih Saighani	Yugo Kobayashi
Chennai City	Jean-Michel Joachim	Aleksandar Rakić	Uroš Poljanec		Venyamin Shumeyko	Kim Dong-hyeon
Churchill Brothers	Dawda Ceesay	Francis Onyeama	Monday Osagie	Willis Plaza	Bektur Talgat Uulu	Hussein Eldor
East Bengal	Eduardo Ferreira	Ansumana Kromah	Dudu Omagbemi		Katsumi Yusa	Mahmoud Amnah
Gokulam Kerala	Daniel Addo	Emmanuel Chigozie	Henry Kisekka	Musa Mudde	Mahmood Al-Ajmi	Gulom Urunov
Minerva Punjab	William Opoku	Bazie Armand	Guy Eric Dano	Kassim Aidara	Chencho Gyeltshen	Kiran Chemjong
Mohun Bagan	Aser Pierrick Dipanda	Akram Moghrabi	Bimal Gharti Magar	Kingsley Obumneme	Cameron Watson	Yuta Kinowaki
NEROCA	Nedo Turković	Fabien Vorbe	Varney Kallon	Felix Chidi Odili	Nick Ward	Aryn Williams
Shillong Lajong	Lawrence Doe	Abdoulaye Koffi	Daniel Odafin	Saihou Jagne	Oh Joo-ho

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[a]	18	5	2	11	17	28	−11	17
10	Indian Arrows[b]	18	4	3	11	13	24	−11	15

Source: i-league.org
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:

1. Churchill Brothers were relegated, but reinstated after the appeal.^[15]
2. 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	—

Source: I-League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

As of 8 March 2018^[16]

Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan 13 2 Dudu Omagbemi East Bengal 8 3 Chencho Gyeltshen Minerva Punjab 7 Felix Chidi Odili NEROCA 5 Katsumi Yusa East Bengal 6 6 Jean-Michel Joachim Chennai City 5 William Opoku Minerva Punjab 8 Yugo Kobayashi Aizawl 4 Mechac Koffi Churchill Brothers Abhijit Sarkar Indian Arrows Subhash Singh NEROCA Abdoulaye Koffi Shillong Lajong Léonce Dodoz Zikahi Aizawl Akram Moghrabi Mohun Bagan Henry Kisekka Gokulam Kerala

Top Indian scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Abhijit Sarkar Indian Arrows 4 Subhash Singh NEROCA 3 Laldanmawia Ralte East Bengal 3 Bali Gagandeep Minerva Punjab Lalkhawpuimawia Aizawl Michael Soosairaj Chennai City Samuel Lalmuanpuia Shillong Lajong 8 William Lalnunfela Aizawl 2 Aniket Jadhav Indian Arrows Ronald Singh NEROCA Redeem Tlang Shillong Lajong Rahul Praveen Indian Arrows Jobby Justin East Bengal Sheikh Faiaz Mohun Bagan Kivi Zhimomi Gokulam Kerala

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of I-League hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Dudu Omagbemi4	East Bengal	Chennai City	7–0	24 February 2018	[17]

⁴ Player scored 4 goals.

Clean sheets

As of 8 March 2018^[18]

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.^[19]

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

• 2017–18 Indian Super League season
• 2018 Indian Super Cup