2018–19 I-League

The 2018–19 I-League was the 12th season of the I-League, the top Indian professional football league, since its establishment in 2007. The season started on 26 October 2018 and is scheduled to conclude in March 2019.^[2] Unlike the Indian Super League, the I-League did not take a mid-season break during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.^[2]

I-League

Season	2018–19
Champions	Chennai City 1st I-League title 1st Indian title[1]
Relegated	Shillong Lajong
AFC Champions League	Chennai City
Matches played	109
Goals scored	303 (2.78 per match)
Top goalscorer	Pedro Manzi Willis Plaza (21 goals)
Biggest home win	Real Kashmir 6–1 Shillong Lajong (11 December 2018) Chennai City 6–1 Shillong Lajong (29 December 2018) East Bengal 5-0 Shillong Lajong (14 February 2019)
Biggest away win	Mohun Bagan 0–3 Churchill Brothers (25 November 2018) Shillong Lajong 0–3 Indian Arrows (13 January 2019)
Highest scoring	Real Kashmir 6–1 Shillong Lajong (11 December 2018) Chennai City 6–1 Shillong Lajong (29 December 2018) Chennai City 4–3 Aizawl (18 January 2019)
Longest winning run	Chennai City, East Bengal (4 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Real Kashmir (13 games)
Longest winless run	Shillong Lajong (11 games)
Longest losing run	Shillong Lajong (5 games)
Highest attendance	64,867 East Bengal 3–2 Mohun Bagan (16 December 2018)
Lowest attendance	100 Indian Arrows 0–2 Chennai City (8 February 2019)
Total attendance	1,114,349
Average attendance	10,223
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

Minerva Punjab was the defending champions having won the previous season. Real Kashmir joined as a promoted club from the I-League 2nd Division. Churchill Brothers, having been relegated the previous season, were given an exemption by the All India Football Federation for this season.

Chennai City FC were the champions for this season, winning the title on the last day.^[3] This was their first title win in the history of the club. The top scorer in the league was Chennai City FC's Pedro Manzi, who finished the season with 21 goals.^[4]

Teams

Aizawl

Chennai City

Churchill Brothers

Gokulam Kerala

Indian Arrows

Minerva Punjab

NEROCA

Real Kashmir

Shillong Lajong

Kolkata

Kolkata teams
East Bengal
Mohun Bagan

Locations of the I-League clubs

Stadiums and locations

Team	City/State	Stadium	Capacity
Aizawl	Aizawl, Mizoram	Rajiv Gandhi Stadium	25,000
Chennai City	Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium	35,000
Churchill Brothers	Vasco da Gama, Goa	Tilak Maidan Stadium	15,000
East Bengal	Kolkata, West Bengal	Salt Lake Stadium	85,000
Gokulam Kerala	Kozhikode, Kerala	EMS Stadium	80,000
Indian Arrows	Cuttack, Odisha Bhubaneswar, Odisha	Barabati Stadium Kalinga Stadium	60,000 30,000
Minerva Punjab	Panchkula, Chandigarh	Tau Devi Lal Stadium	15,000
Mohun Bagan	Kolkata, West Bengal	Salt Lake Stadium	85,000
NEROCA	Imphal, Manipur	Khuman Lampak Main Stadium	40,000
Real Kashmir	Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir	TRC Turf Ground	15,000
Shillong Lajong	Shillong, Meghalaya	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium	35,000

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Aizawl	Stanley Rozario	Vamos	NECS Limited
Chennai City	Akbar Nawas	Penalty	Nippon Paint
Churchill Brothers	Petre Gigiu	Nivia	Churchill Group
East Bengal	Alejandro Menéndez	Perf	Quess Corp
Gokulam Kerala	Gift Raikhan	Kaizen	Aqualine
Indian Arrows	Floyd Pinto	Nike	Hero
Minerva Punjab	Sachin Badadhe	Astro	Apollo Tyres
Mohun Bagan	Khalid Jamil	Shiv Naresh	None
NEROCA	Manuel Retamero Fraile	Sqad Gear	Classic Group
Real Kashmir	David Robertson	Adidas	J&K Bank
Shillong Lajong	Alison Kharsyntiew	Lotto	McDowell's No.1

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Chennai City	V. Soundararajan	Contract finished	Pre-season	Akbar Nawas	20 March 2018[5]
Aizawl	Santosh Kashyap	Contract finished		Gift Raikhan	6 June 2018[6]
NEROCA	Gift Raikhan	Contract finished		Manuel Retamero Fraile	6 July 2018[7]
Indian Arrows	Luís Norton de Matos	Contract finished		Floyd Pinto	25 July 2018[8]
Minerva Punjab	Khogen Singh	Contract finished		Paul Munster	9 August 2018[9]
East Bengal	Khalid Jamil	Mutual consent		Alejandro Menéndez	20 August 2018[10]
Mohun Bagan	Sankarlal Chakraborty	Resigned	6th(11 game in)	Khalid Jamil	7 January 2019[11]
Aizawl	Gift Raikhan	Resigned	10th(11 game in)	Stanley Rozario	9 January 2019
Minerva Punjab	Paul Munster	Resigned	9th(16 game in)	Sachin Badadhe(interim)	12 February 2019
Gokulam Kerala	Bino George	Move To Technical Director	10th(18 game in)	Gift Raikhan	28 February 2019

Foreign players

On 20 June 2018, it was decided by the All India Football Federation that the number of foreigners for each I-League club will be kept six as previous season. Asian player quota is abolished. Clubs can sign maximum six players of any nationality.^[12]

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

Club	Foreigner 1	Foreigner 2	Foreigner 3	Foreigner 4	Foreigner 5	Foreigner 6
Aizawl	Léonce Dodoz	Alfred Jaryan	Ansumana Kromah	Kareem Omolaja	Richard Kasagga
Chennai City	Mauro Boerchio	Jozef Kapláň	Roberto Eslava	Néstor Gordillo	Pedro Manzi	Sandro Rodríguez
Churchill Brothers	Nenad Novakovic	Lorougnon Christ Remi	Hussein Eldor	Willis Plaza	Anthony Wolfe	Khalid Aucho
East Bengal	Jhonny Acosta	Enrique Esqueda	Kassim Aidara	Toni Dovale	Borja Gómez Pérez	Jaime Santos
Gokulam Kerala	Daniel Addo	Fabien Vorbe	Ejiogu Emmanual	Andre Ettienne	Marcus Joseph
Minerva Punjab	Jorge Caceido	Kalif Alhassan	Juan Quero	Mahmoud Amnah	Roland Bilala
Mohun Bagan	Aser Pierrick Dipanda	Omar Elhussieny	Sony Norde	Yuta Kinowaki	Kingsley Obumneme	Henry Kisekka
NEROCA	Aryn Williams	Chencho Gyeltshen	Eduardo Ferreira	Katsumi Yusa	Varney Kallon	Felix Chidi Odili
Real Kashmir	Abednego Tetteh	Bazie Armand	Gnohere Krizo	Loveday Enyinnaya	Mason Robertson	Aaron Katebe
Shillong Lajong

League table

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Chennai City (C)	20	13	4	3	48	28	+20	43	Qualification for AFC Champions League preliminary round 1[a]
2	East Bengal	20	13	3	4	37	20	+17	42
3	Real Kashmir	20	10	7	3	25	14	+11	37[b]
4	Churchill Brothers	20	9	7	4	35	23	+12	34
5	Mohun Bagan	20	8	5	7	27	28	−1	29
6	NEROCA	20	7	5	8	27	26	+1	26
7	Aizawl	20	6	6	8	27	28	−1	24
8	Indian Arrows	20	6	3	11	19	28	−9	21
9	Minerva Punjab	20	4	6	10	10	19	−9	18[b]
10	Gokulam Kerala	20	3	8	9	25	33	−8	17
11	Shillong Lajong (R)	20	3	2	15	23	56	−33	11	Relegation to I-League 2nd Division (withdrew)

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) drawing of lots
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. If the league champions cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage, they will enter the AFC Cup group stage.
2. The game between Minerva Punjab and Real Kashmir was rescheduled, but eventually it was not played and both teams were awarded a point.^[13]

Results

Home \ Away	AFC	CHE	CHU	EAB	GOK	INA	MIN	MOH	NER	REK	SHI
Aizawl	—	1–2	2–1	3–2	3–2	0–1	1–2	1–2	0–0	0–0	4–1
Chennai City	4–3	—	2–2	2–1	3–2	4–1	3–1	3–1	2–1	0–1	6–1
Churchill Brothers	4–1	3–2	—	1–2	3–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	4–2
East Bengal	1–1	1–2	1–1	—	3–1	1–0	0–1	3–2	2–1	1–1	5–0
Gokulam Kerala	1–3	2–3	1–1	1–2	—	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	3–1
Indian Arrows	0–0	0–2	0–1	1–2	1–0	—	2–1	0–2	2–3	2–2	1–0
Minerva Punjab	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	—	0–1	1–0	0–1	0–1
Mohun Bagan	2–2	1–1	0–3	0–2	2–2	1–3	2–0	—	1–0	1–2	2–0
NEROCA	0–0	3–3	2–1	0–2	1–1	3–0	0–0	2–1	—	2–3	3–2
Real Kashmir	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	2–0	–[a]	0–1	0–2	—	6–1
Shillong Lajong	2–1	2–4	3–2	1–3	1–1	0–3	2–2	2–3	1–2	0–1	—

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

1. Both teams agreed to share one point each. Match was abandoned because of security issue.^[14]

Season statistics

Scoring

As of 9 March 2019^[15]

Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Willis Plaza Churchill Brothers 21 Pedro Manzi Chennai City 3 Enrique Esqueda East Bengal 9 Jobby Justin East Bengal Sandro Rodríguez Chennai City Ansumana Kromah Aizawl 7 Néstor Gordillo Chennai City 8 Aser Pierrick Dipanda Mohun Bagan Felix Chidi Odili NEROCA Laldanmawia Ralte East Bengal 11 Marcus Joseph Gokulam Kerala 7

Top Indian scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Jobby Justin East Bengal 9 2 Laldanmawia Ralte East Bengal 8 3 Lalkhawpuimawia Aizawl 6 Phrangki Buam Shillong Lajong 5 Samuel Kynshi Shillong Lajong 5 6 Naorem Mahesh Singh Shillong Lajong 4 Rohit Danu Indian Arrows Subhash Singh NEROCA 9 Surchandra Singh Real Kashmir 3 Samuel Lalmuanpuia Shillong Lajong Amarjit Singh Kiyam Indian Arrows Rahul Kannoly Praveen Indian Arrows

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of I-League hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Pedro Manzi	Chennai City	Indian Arrows	4–1 (H)	26 October 2018	[16]
Willis Plaza	Churchill Brothers	Shillong Lajong	4–2 (H)	15 November 2018	[17]
Pedro Manzi	Chennai City	Shillong Lajong	6–1 (H)	29 December 2018	[18]
Pedro Manzi	Chennai City	Gokulam Kerala	3–2 (H)	4 January 2019	[19]
Pedro Manzi	Chennai City	NEROCA	3–3 (A)	11 February 2019	[20]
Laldanmawia Ralte	East Bengal	Shillong Lajong	5–0 (H)	14 February 2019	[21]

Cleansheets

As of 9 March 2019

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Bilal Khan	Real Kashmir	9
2	James Kithan	Churchill Brothers	5
	Prabhsukhan Singh Gill	Indian Arrows
	Rakshit Dagar	East Bengal
5	Shilton Paul	Mohun Bagan	4
6	Bhaskar Roy	Minerva Punjab	3
	Lalit Thapa	NEROCA
	Lalawmpuia	Aizawl
9	Nauzet Santana	Chennai City	2
	Mauro Boerchio	NEROCA
	Arshdeep Singh	Minerva Punjab
	Shankar Roy	Mohun Bagan
	Gurpreet Singh Chabal	Aizawl

Average home attendances

As of 9 March 2019^[22][23]

Team	GP	Cumulative	High	Low	Mean
East Bengal	10	272,699	64,867	9,952	27,270
NEROCA	10	191,383	29,932	6,135	19,139
Mohun Bagan	10	176,486	62,628	3,388	17,649
Gokulam Kerala	10	148,230	30,246	2,136	14,823
Real Kashmir	9	92,440	12,857	2,792	11,206
Chennai City	10	61,381	9,856	3,253	6,138
Minerva Punjab	10	56,239	8,591	3,470	5,624
Shillong Lajong	10	41,231	14,697	1,107	4,123
Churchill Brothers	10	33,867	3,796	2,417	3,387
Aizawl	10	28,801	5,324	863	2,881
Indian Arrows	10	16,497	4,520	100	1,640
Total	109	11,14,349	64,867	100	10,223

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
Match 1	Pedro Manzi	Chennai City	Match 38	Nagen Tamang	Real Kashmir	Match 75	Jobby Justin	East Bengal
Match 2	Enrique Esqueda	East Bengal	Match 39	Amarjit Singh Kiyam	Indian Arrows	Match 76	Gnohere Krizo	Real Kashmir
Match 3	Arjun Jayaraj	Gokulam Kerala	Match 40	Khalid Aucho	Churchill Brothers	Match 77	Arnab Das Sharma	Gokulam Kerala
Match 4	Philip Njoku	Minerva Punjab	Match 41	Ningthoujam Pritam Singh	Gokulam Kerala	Match 78	Willis Plaza	Churchill Brothers
Match 5	Naorem Mahesh Singh	Shillong Lajong	Match 42	Alexander Romario	Chennai City	Match 79	Boris Singh Thangjam	Indian Arrows
Match 6	Bilal Khan	Real Kashmir	Match 43	Laldanmawia Ralte	East Bengal	Match 80	Lalrinchhana	Aizawl
Match 7	Ronald Singh	NEROCA	Match 44	Henry Kisekka	Mohun Bagan	Match 81	Rahim Ali	Indian Arrows
Match 8	Jobby Justin	East Bengal	Match 45	Jaime Santos	East Bengal	Match 82	Naorem Mahesh Singh	Shillong Lajong
Match 9	Nenad Novaković	Churchill Brothers	Match 46	Amarjit Singh Kiyam	Indian Arrows	Match 83	Loveday Enyinnaya	Real Kashmir
Match 10	Sony Norde	Mohun Bagan	Match 47	Roberto Eslava	Chennai City	Match 84	Enrique Esqueda	East Bengal
Match 11	Ajith Kumar	Chennai City	Match 48	Malemngamba Meitei	NEROCA	Match 85	Sandro Rodríguez	Chennai City
Match 12	Ashish Rai	Indian Arrows	Match 49	Henry Kisekka	Mohun Bagan	Match 86	Nenad Novaković	Churchill Brothers
Match 13	Danish Farooq	Real Kashmir	Match 50	Eduardo Ferreira	NEROCA	Match 87	Pedro Manzi	Chennai City
Match 14	Malemngamba Meitei	NEROCA	Match 51	Jobby Justin	East Bengal	Match 88	Laldanmawia Ralte	East Bengal
Match 15	Lancine Touré	Minerva Punjab	Match 52	Alfred Jaryan	Aizawl	Match 89	Henry Kisekka	Mohun Bagan
Match 16	Aser Pierrick Dipanda	Mohun Bagan	Match 53	Pedro Manzi	Chennai City	Match 90	Marcus Joseph	Gokulam Kerala
Match 17	Felix Chidi Odili	NEROCA	Match 54	Nickson Castanha	Churchill Brothers	Match 91	Lalrindika Ralte	East Bengal
Match 18	Gani Nigam	Gokulam Kerala	Match 55	Subhash Singh	NEROCA	Match 92	match not held
Match 19	Edwin Sydney Vanspaul	Chennai City	Match 56	Pedro Manzi	Chennai City	Match 93	Pedro Manzi	Chennai City
Match 20	Willis Plaza	Churchill Brothers	Match 57	Anwar Ali	Indian Arrows	Match 94	Naorem Mahesh Singh	Shillong Lajong
Match 21	Kabir Thaufiq	Chennai City	Match 58	Anthony Wolfe	Churchill Brothers	Match 95	Juan Quero	Minerva Punjab
Match 22	Rajesh S	Gokulam Kerala	Match 59	Mason Robertson	Real Kashmir	Match 96	Suresh Singh Wangjam	Indian Arrows
Match 23	Aser Pierrick Dipanda	Mohun Bagan	Match 60	Jobby Justin	East Bengal	Match 97	Néstor Gordillo	Chennai City
Match 24	Novin Gurung	Shillong Lajong	Match 61	Omar Elhussieny	Mohun Bagan	Match 98	Léonce Dodoz	Aizawl
Match 25	Léonce Dodoz Zikahi	Aizawl	Match 62	Dawda Ceesay	Churchill Brothers	Match 99	Enrique Esqueda	East Bengal
Match 26	Néstor Gordillo	Chennai City	Match 63	Alfred Jaryan	Aizawl	Match 100	Lalkhawpuimawia	Aizawl
Match 27	Bazie Armand	Real Kashmir	Match 64	Shilton Paul	Mohun Bagan	Match 101	Rahul Kannoly Praveen	Indian Arrows
Match 28	Willis Plaza	Churchill Brothers	Match 65	Lalengmawia	Indian Arrows	Match 102	Willis Plaza	Churchill Brothers
Match 29	Arjun Jayaraj	Gokulam Kerala	Match 66	Alexander Romario	Chennai City	Match 103	Laldanmawia Ralte	East Bengal
Match 30	Philip Njoku	Minerva Punjab	Match 67	Borja Gómez Pérez	East Bengal	Match 104	Daniel Addo	Gokulam Kerala
Match 31	Sony Norde	Mohun Bagan	Match 68	Sandro Rodríguez	Chennai City	Match 105	Paul Ramfangzauva	Aizawl
Match 32	Subhash Singh	NEROCA	Match 69	Marcus Joseph	Gokulam Kerala	Match 106	Phrangki Buam	Shillong Lajong
Match 33	William Opoku	Minerva Punjab	Match 70	Phurba Lachenpa	Shillong Lajong	Match 107	Lalawmpuia	Aizawl
Match 34	Bazie Armand	Real Kashmir	Match 71	Willis Plaza	Churchill Brothers	Match 108	Danish Farooq	Real Kashmir
Match 35	Felix Chidi Odili	NEROCA	Match 72	Phurba Lachenpa	Shillong Lajong	Match 109	Laldanmawia Ralte	East Bengal
Match 36	Jobby Justin	East Bengal	Match 73	Willis Plaza	Churchill Brothers	Match 110	Gaurav Bora	Chennai City
Match 37	Israil Gurung	Churchill Brothers	Match 74	Malemngamba Meitei	NEROCA

See also

• 2018–19 Indian Super League