Yendrembam Denechandra Meitei

Yendrembam Denechandra Meitei (born 28 March 1994) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender.

Denechandra Meitei

Personal information
Full name	Yendrembam Denechandra Meitei
Date of birth	(1994-03-28) 28 March 1994 (age 31)
Place of birth	Manipur, India
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Left-back
Youth career
2008–2009	Mohun Bagan
2009	Sambhalpur Academy
2011–2013	Pune
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2014	Pune	1	(0)
2016–2017	Ozone	1	(0)
2017	Sagolband United
2017–2018	Churchill Brothers	15	(0)
2018–2019	NEROCA	4	(0)
2019–2020	TRAU	12	(0)
2020–2023	Kerala Blasters	9	(0)
2022–2023	→ Odisha (loan)	14	(0)
2023–2025	Punjab	0	(0)
International career
	India U23
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21:34, 4 March 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Born in Manipur, Meitei started playing football from the age of 10 years.^[1] He initially trained at a local stadium to improve his technical ability.^[1] He eventually managed to make it into his district team and then the Manipur football team in the youth nationals.^[1] Then in 2008 he was signed by Mohun Bagan A.C. to join their academy.^[1] After a one-year stay at the academy, Meitei joined the Sambhalpur Academy in Orissa.^[1] However, due to problems with both academies in terms of how they taught academics, Meitei dropped out of both.^[1] He then went back to Manipur to play for a local club.^[1]

Then, after going back to Manipur, James Singh of Mumbai F.C. recommended Meitei to trial at Pune F.C. for a spot in the Pune F.C. Academy.^[1] Meitei trialed for the spot in the academy and passed.^[1] While with the Pune F.C. Academy Meitei had won the I-League U19 twice.^[1]

Pune Football Club

On 10 October 2013, Meitei made his professional debut for Pune F.C. in the I-League against Mohun Bagan A.C. at the Balewadi Sports Complex in which he came on in the 89th minute for Pierre Douhou as Pune won the match 2–0.^[2]

Kerala Blasters

On 5 August 2020, it was announced that Meitei would join Kerala Blasters from TRAU FC.^[3] He made his first appearance for the club on 29 November 2021, against Chennaiyin FC.^[4] On 6 May 2021, Metei signed a new three-year contract with Kerala Blasters, keeping him at the club until 2024.^[5]

Meitei was included in the Kerala Blasters squad for the 2021 Durand Cup,^[6] and played his first match against arch-rivals Bengaluru FC on 15 September, where he received a red card and the match ended in a 2–0 defeat for the Blasters.^[7] He played his first match of the 2021–22 Indian Super League season as a substitute for Nishu Kumar against Bengaluru itself in the 88th minute of the, which they lost 0–1.^[8]

Odisha FC (loan)

On 6 July 2022, Odisha FC announced the signing of Meitei on a season long loan deal from the Blasters.^[9]

International career

Meitei has represented India at the under-23 level in which he played for them in a tournament held at Bangladesh.^[1]

Career statistics

Club

As of 23 August 2024^[10]

Club	Season	League			Cup		AFC		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Pune	2013–14	I-League	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
Ozone	2016–17	I-League 2nd Division	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
Churchill Brothers	2017–18	I-League	15	0	2[a]	0	—		17	0
NEROCA	2018–19	I-League	4	0	0	0	—		4	0
TRAU	2019–20	I-League	12	0	0	0	—		12	0
Kerala Blasters	2020–21	Indian Super League	6	0	0	0	—		6	0
	2021–22	Indian Super League	3	0	1[b]	0	—		4	0
	Total		9	0	1	0	0	0	10	0
Odisha (loan)	2022–23	Indian Super League	14	0	4[b][a]	0	1[c]	0	19	0
Punjab	2023–24	Indian Super League	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2024–25	Indian Super League	0	0	2[b]	0	—		2	0
	Total		0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
Career total			56	0	9	0	1	0	66	0

1. Appearance(s) in Super Cup
2. Appearance(s) in Durand Cup
3. Appearance(s) in play-offs for AFC Cup

Honours

Club

Kerala Blasters FC

• Indian Super League runner up: 2021–22.^[11]