Airtel I-League 13/14: Events & Numbers

The Airtel I-League has finally come to an end, and with it, curtains are drawn on a season of Indian Club Football that produced a plethora of emotions – joy, sadness, drama, and at times, even relief.

However, we can only say that this is just the start of greater things to come. Of course, the victory of Bengaluru FC in their debut season is in itself a commendable feat and will forever be a part of history, but apart from that, there have some been noteworthy anecdotes as well this season!

OH MARIA: For the first time in the history of the I-League or even the NFL (National Football League), a game was supervised by a woman referee.

Maria Rebello of Goa was the referee in the Airtel I-League match between Pune FC and Shillong Lajong FC on April 8 this year – co-incidentally, also Women’s Day.

HISTORY REPEATED: Bengaluru FC became the first franchise to play in the I-League, and also became Champions in their first attempt itself.

This distinction was earlier held by Mohun Bagan, who won the NFL in 1997-98 in their maiden venture after a direct entry to the tournament.

TWO TOP SCORERS: For the first time, the top scorers spot in the I-League was shared by two players – Darryl Duffy of Salgaocar and Sunil Chhetri of Bengaluru FC – with 14 goals each.

Indian National Team Sunil Chhetri also became the third Indian in the process to score 14 goals after Bhaichung Bhutia (JCT – 1996/97) and Raman Vijayan (FC Kochin – 1997/98).

MAN OF THE MATCH: Sunil Chhetri for Bengaluru FC and Calum Angus of Pune FC shared the spot of winning the highest Man of the Match Awards this season – five times each.

GOLDEN GLOVE: Indian National Team Custodian Karanjit Singh of Salgaocar FC bagged the award after picking up nine clean sheets this season.

He is closely followed by Laxmikant Kattimani of Dempo and Ravi Kumar of Sporting Clube de Goa, who have eight and seven clean sheets to their names respectively.

TWO SHILLONG CLUBS: For the first time, two teams from Shillong – Shillong Lajong FC and Rangdajied FC – played in the I-League.

They will be joined by Royal Wahingdoh FC – the winners of the Second Division League 2013/14 – as well next season.

15 MATCHES: Referees Santosh Kumar of Kerala and CR Srikrishna of Tamil Nadu officiated 15 matches each this season.

100-GOAL CLUB: East Bengal goal-poacher Chidi Edeh became the fifth player to score 100 goals or more in the Indian Club Football – both in NFL/I-League. He achieved this feat following his goal for the Red and Golds against Mohammedan Sporting at the Salt Lake Stadium on April 5 this year.

Chidi joined Yusif Yakubu, Odafa Okolie, Jose Ramirez Barreto, and Ranti Martins in the 100-Goal Club. Ranti leads the pack with 185 goals.

TEN GOALS OR MORE: Seven Foreigners – Darryl Duffy – 14(Salgaocar FC), Cornell Glen – 13 (Shillong Lajong FC), Ranti Martins – 12 (Rangdajied United FC), Boima Karpeh – 11 (Sporting Clube de Goa), Sean Rooney – 10 (Bengaluru FC), and Eric Brown – 10 (United SC)

Two Indians – Sunil Chhetri – 14 (Bengaluru FC), Balwant Singh – 10 (Churchill Brothers)

2.57 GOALS PER MATCH: A total of 402 goals were scored in the Airtel I-League from 156 matches.

Bengaluru FC scored a total of 42 goals, while Kingfisher East Bengal conceded the least – 23 goals. The Kolkata outfit also conceded the least number of goals (18) last year as well.

FOUR-GOAL VICTORIES: The highest margin of victory of four goals was recorded by the following teams:

14.12.13 Sporting Clube de Goa beat Shillong Lajong – 5-1 at Mapusa

09.10.13 East Bengal beat Shillong Lajong – 4-0 at Shillong

06.12.13 Mohun Bagan beat United SC – 4-0 at Kolkata

08.03.14 Dempo SC beat Sporting Clube de Goa – 4-0 at Margao

09.03.14 Rangdajied United beat United SC – 4-0 at Shillong

NINE GOALS: A total of nine goals were scored in the match between Mohammedan Sporting and Shillong Lajong FC at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, on April 16.

Lajong won the game 5-4.

GOAL SCORERS:

1^st Goal of the Airtel I-League: Josimar da Silva of Mohammedan Sporting (against Pune FC on September 21, 2013, in Kolkata).

100^th Goal: Seiminlen Doungel of Kingfisher East Bengal (against Salgaocar FC on November 1, 2013, in Kalyani).

200^th Goal: Mustapha Riga of Pune FC (against United SC on December 15, 2013, in Kalyani).

300^th Goal: Uilliams Bomfin of Shillong Lajong FC (against Bengaluru FC on March 23, 2014, in Shillong).

400^th Goal: Seiminlen Doungel of Kingfisher East Bengal (against United SC on April 28, 2014, in Kolkata).

HIGHEST GOALS IN A MATCH: Tolgay Ozbey of Dempo SC – 4 Goals (against Churchill Brothers on March 28, 2014, in Margao).

Ogba Kalu of Sporting Clube de Goa (against Shillong Lajong on December 14, 2013), Yusif Yakubu of Mumbai FC (against Churchill Brothers on April 12, 2014), and Cornell Glen of Shillong Lajong (against Mohammedan Sporting on April 16, 2014) – have a hat-trick each.

600 GOALS: Churchill Brothers – I-League 2012/13 Champions – were the first team to score a total of 600 goals in NFL/I-League.

They achieved the feat this season, and have 623 goals at the moment.