2021–22_I-League

2021–22 I-League

2021–22 I-League

15th season of the I-League


The 2021–22 I-League (also known as Hero I-League for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th season of I-League, last as the top tier of Indian football league system, since its establishment in 2007. All the matches were hosted in a bio-secure bubble in West Bengal due to COVID-19 pandemic in India.

Quick Facts Season, Dates ...

After the commencement of the first match-week of the league on 27 December 2021, the tournament got suspended on 29 December due to reports of numerous COVID-19 cases among the players and staff.[1] All India Football Federation released new dates on 1 February 2022, with a revised schedule of the league resuming from 3 March.

The AIFF allowed spectators in the second phase of the league.[2] On final matchday, with only a draw needed, Gokulam Kerala defeated Mohammedan by 2–1 to successfully defend the title, becoming the first team to do so in I-League and first time in 14 years to do so in the Indian football league's history.[3]

Changes from last season

Number of clubs

The total number of clubs participating increased from 11 in the previous season to 13 in this season.

In 2020 the AIFF issued an invitation to accept bids for new clubs from non I-League cities, like Delhi, Gangtok, Ranchi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Mangalore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Kanpur, Ahmedabad and Calicut among many others, to join the league from 2020 onwards. The invitation mentioned that the entity which wins the bid will be granted the right to own and operate a new football club.[4] On 12 August 2020, the AIFF announced that Sreenidi Deccan, which is based in Visakhapatnam would join from this season.[5][6]

On 4 December 2021, the AIFF replaced Chennai City by Kenkre.

Promoted from the 2021 I-League Qualifiers

Through Direct entry

Relegated clubs

Relegated from the 2020–21 I-League

Notes:

  1. Chennai City was barred from participation in the league on failing to comply with club licensing regulations, therefore Kenkre, the runner-up of 2021 I-League Qualifiers, replaced them
  2. Viewing the deprecating financial conditions of the many clubs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the AIFF decided to withdraw relegation for a season.

Format

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament's format was shortened last season, and the same format is being followed. All teams will face each other once in the first leg of the league, then they will be divided into two different groups. According to points table from first leg, top seven teams will face each other once again in the Championship stage, where the team with most points (cumulative points collected from all seventeen matches) will be declared the winner of the league and qualify for the Playoffs for 2023–24 AFC Cup group stage. The other six teams will play against each other in a Relegation stage where the team with the lowest points (cumulative points collected from all sixteen matches) will be relegated to 2nd Division League.[7]

Teams

Locations of the stadiums for I-league

Stadiums and locations

AIFF declared West Bengal as the venue for the second straight season on 26 June,[8] with all matches being played at Kalyani Stadium in Kalyani and Naihati Stadium in Naihati.[9] The final match of the league was later rescheduled to be hosted at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan.

Personnel and sponsorship

More information Team, Head coach ...

Head coaching changes

More information Team, Outgoing coach ...

Transfers

Foreign players

Note: Players in bold has senior international cap(s) for their respective nations.

AIFF allowed maximum of six foreign players including one from AFC-affiliated country per team but only four can be part of matchday squad.[27] Indian Arrows cannot sign any foreign player as they are part of AIFF's developmental program.

Phase 1

Standings

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: Hero 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

Fixtures and results

All matches were played at neutral venues. The "home" and "away" are designated to identify Team 1 and Team 2 respectively.

More information Home \ Away, GOK ...
Source: I-League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each round mentioned in official fixtures.

More information Round, Aizawl ...
Promotion to Championship stage
Demotion to Relegation stage
Source: [citation needed]

Results by games

More information Match, Aizawl ...
Source: [citation needed]
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Phase 2

Championship stage (Group A)

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: Hero 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

Relegation stage (Group B)

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: Hero 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
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head standings: Indian Arrows 4 points, Sudeva Delhi 1 point.

Fixtures and results

All matches were played at neutral venues. The "home" and "away" are designated to identify Team 1 and Team 2 respectively.

More information Home \ Away, AIZ ...
Source: I-League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each round mentioned in official fixtures.

More information Round, Aizawl ...
Relegation position
Source: [citation needed]

Results by games

More information Match, Aizawl ...
Source: [citation needed]
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Final standings

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: Hero 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

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 15 May 2022

Note: Only top 10 goalscorers of the season has been listed below.

More information Rank, Player ...

Top assists

As of 14 May 2022

Note: Only top 3 assist providers have been listed below.

More information Rank, Player ...

Hat-tricks

Note: The score of the player's team is displayed first in the result column.

More information Player, For ...

Clean sheets

As of 14 May 2022

Note: Only top 5 goalkeepers with most cleansheets have been listed below.

More information Rank, Player ...

Discipline

Player

Club

Awards

  • Match 1 - 78 = First phase
  • Match 79 - 114 = Second phase

Hero of the Match

More information Match No., Hero of the Match ...

Season awards

More information Award, Winner ...

I-League All Stars

A combined all Indian squad of this season's I-League was prepared to play to a friendly against India national football team.[28][29]

  • Goalkeepers: Bhaskar Roy, Shubham Dhas.
  • Defenders: Manoj Mohammad, Mohammed Salah, Chungnunga Lal, Lalramchullova, Suresh Meitei, Asheer Akhtar, Gurmukh Singh, Tanmoy Ghosh.
  • Midfielders: Faisal Ali, Sweden Fernandes, William Pauliankhum, Freddy Lallawmawma, Konsam Phalguni Singh, Maheson Singh, Jijo Joseph, Kabir Nath, Jiteshwor Singh.
  • Forwards: Ranjeet Singh Pandre, Parthib Sundar Gogoi.

More information India, 2–0 ...
Exhibition friendly

See also


References

  1. "I-League likely to be suspended for two weeks after many players test positive for Covid-19 dgtl". anandabazar.com (in Bengali). Anandabazar Patrika. Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  2. "Fans to be Allowed in Selected Areas for Hero I-League 2021-22 Phase 2 Matches". News18. 18 April 2022. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  3. TEAM SPORTSTAR, 21:22 IST (14 May 2022). "Gokulam Kerala 2-1 Mohammedan SC Highlights: GKFC becomes 1st club in 15 years to defend the I-League". sportstar.thehindu.com. Kolkata, West Bengal: Sportstar. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. "AIFF invites bids for new clubs to join Hero I-League 2020 onwards". AIFF. 5 June 2020. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  5. "Sreenidhi Football Club". AIFF. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  6. "Hero I-League 2020-21 to start on January 9 with a new shorter format". the-aiff.com. 7 November 2020. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  7. "I-League 2021-22 to be held in Kolkata: Everything you need to know | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  8. "I-League to kick off on Boxing Day in Kolkata; 13 teams to compete this season". Free Press Journal. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  9. "Aizawl FC announce Vamos as Kit Sponsor". Facebook. 20 November 2020. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  10. Das Sharma, Amitabha (19 January 2018). "Aizawl looks to build future with own hands". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  11. Ruiz, Bernardo (15 February 2022). "Un viaje en busca de la fortuna [A journey in search of fortune]". muchodeporte.com (in Spanish). Fútbol Regional. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  12. "Nivia Sports Official Website". Nivia Sports. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  13. "Gokulam Kerala sign new kit sponsorship deal with SEGA Shoes". Facebook. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  14. Zaidi, Waseem (21 January 2022). "I-LEAGUE: Introducing shirt sponsors of every I-league club for 2021-22 season". www.khelnow.com. Khel Now. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  15. "NEW YEAR, NEW KIT FOR INDIAN FOOTBALL". 19 December 2018. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  16. "Mohammedan Sporting appointed Andrey Chernyshov as head coach". IFTWC.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  17. "Mohammedan Sporting Club - Official Website". Mohammedan. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  18. "I-League – Former I-League winning coach Khogen Singh signs for NEROCA FC". IFTWC. 4 July 2021. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  19. NEROCA F.C. [@NerocaFC] (2 September 2021). "We are glad to announce Nivia Sports as the official kit partner of Neroca FC" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 September 2021 via Twitter.
  20. "Real Kashmir FC: Official Website". Real Kashmir FC. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  21. "Real Kashmir FC: Official Website". Arunava Chaudhuri. 11 April 2020. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  22. "Our Sponsors & Partners". Sudeva Delhi FC. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  23. "Mohammedan Sporting appointed Russian Andrey Chernyshov as their head coach |". IFTWC.com. 12 May 2021. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  24. "Ashley Westwood appointed coach of Punjab Football Club". The Statesman. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  25. "AIFF Implements '3+1' rule for I-League 2020-21". Indo-Asian News Service. Times Now. 14 May 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  26. "Indian Football team comfortably defeats I-League XI". Football Monk. 18 May 2022. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.

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