The I-League bandwagon — once the cynosure of all eyes in Indian club football and now living under the shadow of Indian Super League — starts rolling in and around Kolkata from Sunday, promising to be a bigger and more expansive.
For the second season running, the City of Joy and its surroundings will host the tournament in a bio-secure bubble. And the onset of coronavirus early last year coincided with a dramatic paradigm shift in India’s domestic football structure when I-League lost its status to newly-formed ISL as the top division of Indian football and Mohun Bagan and East Bengal subsequently migrated to the franchise-based league.
Despite the setback, I-League continues to hold one’s imagination because of its unique nature of staying competitive and throwing up surprises. The past five seasons have given birth to four new champions and, barring Mohun Bagan’s title-march in the pandemic-ridden 2019-2020 season, the other four seasons during this period had seen the championship battle go down the wire.
This time around, the I-League looks more pan-Indian with teams from Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh making the grade. There will be usual pretenders like defending champions Gokulam Kerala, Churchill Brothers and Real Kashmir, vying for the top honours. But former champions Aizawl FC, a rebranded Punjab FC or Kolkata’s lone representatives Mohammedan Sporting are capable of upsetting the applecart.
On Sunday, the 2021-22 edition of I-League will kick-off with the TRAU vs Indian Arrows match at the Mohun Bagan ground (2 pm kick-off), followed by Gokulam Kerala’s match against Churchill Brothers (4.30pm kick-off) and Punjab FC’s meeting with promoted side Rajasthan United (7.30 pm kick-off).
Kenkre’s dramatic entry
When Rajasthan United — formed only in 2014 — managed a goalless draw with Kenkre FC to finish their qualifying campaign in Bengaluru on October 23, it was enough for the Jaipur-based club to seal the deal and become the first team from Rajasthan to make the I-League. Kenkre FC needed a win to earn their promotion but saw their dream quashed in the final hurdle. However, as fate would have it, the Mumbai-based side made a dramatic last-minute entry after Chennai City FC were barred from participation on account of failing to comply with the mandatory club licensing criteria. Sreenidhi Deccan FC from Vizag will be the third debutants in the league.
The format
The four-month-long league will be divided into two halves — Phase 1 and Phase 2. In Phase 1, 13 teams will face each other once. In Phase 2, the top seven teams will make the championship-fighting group and play each other to identify the winner. The bottom six on the Phase 1 standings will fight to avoid relegation.
For the second season running, the City of Joy and its surroundings will host the tournament in a bio-secure bubble. And the onset of coronavirus early last year coincided with a dramatic paradigm shift in India’s domestic football structure when I-League lost its status to newly-formed ISL as the top division of Indian football and Mohun Bagan and East Bengal subsequently migrated to the franchise-based league.
Despite the setback, I-League continues to hold one’s imagination because of its unique nature of staying competitive and throwing up surprises. The past five seasons have given birth to four new champions and, barring Mohun Bagan’s title-march in the pandemic-ridden 2019-2020 season, the other four seasons during this period had seen the championship battle go down the wire.
This time around, the I-League looks more pan-Indian with teams from Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh making the grade. There will be usual pretenders like defending champions Gokulam Kerala, Churchill Brothers and Real Kashmir, vying for the top honours. But former champions Aizawl FC, a rebranded Punjab FC or Kolkata’s lone representatives Mohammedan Sporting are capable of upsetting the applecart.
On Sunday, the 2021-22 edition of I-League will kick-off with the TRAU vs Indian Arrows match at the Mohun Bagan ground (2 pm kick-off), followed by Gokulam Kerala’s match against Churchill Brothers (4.30pm kick-off) and Punjab FC’s meeting with promoted side Rajasthan United (7.30 pm kick-off).
Kenkre’s dramatic entry
When Rajasthan United — formed only in 2014 — managed a goalless draw with Kenkre FC to finish their qualifying campaign in Bengaluru on October 23, it was enough for the Jaipur-based club to seal the deal and become the first team from Rajasthan to make the I-League. Kenkre FC needed a win to earn their promotion but saw their dream quashed in the final hurdle. However, as fate would have it, the Mumbai-based side made a dramatic last-minute entry after Chennai City FC were barred from participation on account of failing to comply with the mandatory club licensing criteria. Sreenidhi Deccan FC from Vizag will be the third debutants in the league.
The format
The four-month-long league will be divided into two halves — Phase 1 and Phase 2. In Phase 1, 13 teams will face each other once. In Phase 2, the top seven teams will make the championship-fighting group and play each other to identify the winner. The bottom six on the Phase 1 standings will fight to avoid relegation.
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