2013–14 I-League


The 2013–14 I-League was the seventh season of the I-League, the top-tier Indian professional league for football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 21 September 2013, and ended on 28 April 2014.
Churchill Brothers were the defending champions, having won their second I-League title in the previous season.
On 21 April 2014, Bengaluru FC were crowned champions with one game remaining, winning their first ever I-League title by defeating Dempo 2–4 at Fatorda Stadium. Bengaluru FC also created history by becoming the first team ever to win the I-League title in its debut season. On 28 April 2014, Mohammedan were relegated from the I-League when Churchill Brothers defeated Salgaocar 2–1, and hence survived relegation. Churchill Brothers also avoided being the first defending champions to be relegated.
During the season, Maria Rebello became the first woman referee internationally to officiate in a country's premier league match when she officiated in Pune vs Shillong Lajong on 8 March 2014.

Teams

A total of 13 teams are currently registered to start the new season. Ten clubs from the previous campaign, two promoted sides from the 2013 I-League 2nd Division and one new expansion team.
Rangdajied United as champions and Mohammedan as runners-up secured direct promotion from the 2nd Division.
United Sikkim and Air India were relegated, although Air India would not have been given a licence to compete in this edition after failing to fulfill the AIFF criteria. This same fate happened to ONGC who have also been left out of the coming season.
Mumbai Tigers was accepted into the league on 27 May 2013 but later withdrew citing unavoidable circumstances with only 20 days left into the start of the new season.
Bengaluru was also accepted into the league and is based in Bangalore. One other consortium from Kerala, whose leading company is Eagles FC, also expressed interest in joining the league. It was also announced in late May that English club Queens Park Rangers also expressed interest but look to be prepared to enter for the 2014–15 season.
On 29 August 2013, the AIFF decided to shut down Pailan Arrows and withdraw them from the coming season. The league committee also announced in May 2013 to use a Conference Model, the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. The top-four from each Conference would advance to play the final round. But this was later dropped.
On 20 September 2013, it was announced that the largest cellular service provider in India, Airtel, will be the title sponsor of I-League for the 2013–14 season.

Venues and locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
Bengaluru FCBangalore, KarnatakaBangalore Football Stadium
Churchill BrothersSalcette, GoaFatorda Stadium
DempoPanjim, GoaFatorda Stadium
East BengalKolkata, West BengalKalyani Stadium
MohammedanKolkata, West BengalSalt Lake Stadium
Mohun BaganKolkata, West BengalSalt Lake Stadium
MumbaiMumbai, MaharashtraBalewadi Sports Complex
PunePune, MaharashtraBalewadi Sports Complex
Rangdajied UnitedShillong, MeghalayaNehru Stadium
SalgaocarVasco da Gama, GoaTilak Maidan Stadium
Shillong LajongShillong, MeghalayaNehru Stadium
Sporting GoaPanjim, GoaDuler Stadium
United SCKolkata, West BengalKalyani Stadium

Personnel and kits

Transfers

Managerial changes

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team could use four foreign players on the field during each game including at least one player from the AFC country.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3AFC PlayerFormer Players
Bengaluru FC John Johnson Curtis Osano Johnny Menyongar Sean Rooney
Churchill Brothers Cristian Lagos Abdelhamid Shabana Anthony Wolfe Daniell Zeleny Henri Antchouet
Amoreirinha
Hugo Machado
Ahmad Al Kaddour
Naser Al Sebai
Yasser Shahen
Dempo Simon Colosimo Tolgay Ozbey Beto Zohib Islam Amiri Billy Mehmet
Shinnosuke Honda
East Bengal Chidi Edeh Uga Okpara James Moga Ryuji Sueoka
Mohammedan Josimar Luciano Sabrosa Penn Orji Taro Hasegawa Tolgay Ozbey
Mohun Bagan Echezona Anyichie Christopher Chizoba Odafe Okolie Katsumi Yusa Harrison Muranda
Mumbai Yusif Yakubu Henry Ezeh Ebi Sukore Ahmad Hatifi Sandjar Ahmadi
Zohib Islam Amiri
Pune Calum Angus Pierre Douhou Riga Mustapha Mirjan Pavlović James Meyer
Raul Fabiani
Rangdajied United Ranti Martins Kim Song-Yong Lamine Tamba Yohei Iwasaki Edmar Figueira
Salgaocar Dudu Omagbemi Chika Wali Darryl Duffy Matthew Foschini Claude Gnakpa
Shillong Lajong Uilliams Taisuke Matsugae Cornell Glen Minchol Son
Sporting Goa Martins Ekwueme Ogba Kalu Nnanna Gonzalo Hinojal Boima Karpeh Arturo Navarro
United SC Eric Brown Waheed Adekunle Bello Razaq Hasan Al Moustafa Ranti Martins

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

Top Indian Scorers

Hat-tricks

4 Player scored 4 goals

Disciplinary

The Fair Play qualities of the participating teams and which are pertinent to the spectators will be evaluated using the FIFA Fair Play evaluation form. Salgaocar led the Fair Play rankings at the end of the season.
RankTeamGamesTotal Points
1
Salgaocar
24
1904.643
2
United SC
24
1850.357
3
Rangdajied United
24
1841.429
4
Mumbai
24
1839.286
5
Dempo
24
1824.286
6
Bengaluru FC
24
1816.571
7
East Bengal
24
1813.514
8
Shillong Lajong
24
1797.143
9
Mohun Bagan
24
1788.214
10
Pune
24
1760.357
11
Mohammedan
24
1744.286
12
Sporting Goa
24
1719.286
13
Churchill Brothers
24
1672.071

Average attendance

Average attendance at the various clubs were as follows:
RankTeamAverage attendance
1
Mohun Bagan
17,068
2
Shillong Lajong
11,308
3
East Bengal
8,667
4
Rangdajied United
7,687
5
Mohammedan
7,083
6
Bengaluru FC
7,038
7
Pune
2,586
8
Dempo
2,542
9
Churchill Brothers
2,450
10
Salgaocar
2,421
11
United SC
2,250
12
Sporting Goa
1,608
13
Mumbai
321
League Average
5618

Awards

AIFF Awards

awarded the following awards for the I-League season, voted by all the captains and the coaches of all the participating clubs.
Football Player's Association of India awarded the following award for the season