The 2014–15 I-League (known as the ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

I-League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 17 January 2015, after the conclusion of the 2014–15 Federation Cup and finished on 31 May 2015 with a title deciding match between defending champions

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 20 July 2013, and began its first ...

and

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

. Mohun Bagan scored a late equalising goal to win the championship by two points. It was to be their first

title and fourth Indian championship in total

Teams

The official number of teams for the new season will be eleven. After the success of the leagues first direct-entry side,

, the All India Football Federation held bidding for new teams from 15 May to 2 June 2014 with cities such as

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

in the running. At the same time the federation would review the AFC Club Licensing Criteria and any club which failed to pass the criteria will be banned from entering the league. On 22 May 2014 the All India Football Federation officially announced that former I-League champions

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

, Rangdajied United, and United S.C had been axed from the 2014–15 season for failing to pass the club licensing criteria. Then, in August 2014, it was announced that the AIFF had awarded a direct-entry spot to the Kalyani Group and that they would start a team based in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. The team was officially launched in November 2014 as

Bharat FC Bharat FC (also known as Kalyani Bharat FC) was an Indian professional football team based in Pune, Maharashtra that competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system. The team was founded on 26 August 2014 by Kalyani G ...

. In terms of promotion and relegation, Mohammedan were relegated from the

the previous season, while Royal Wahingdoh were promoted after winning the

2014 I-League 2nd Division The 2014 I-League 2nd Division was the seventh season of the I-League 2nd Division under its current title. The season began on 7 February 2014. It contained 11 clubs in two groups and twelfth club United Sikkim F.C. directly entered into fina ...

. This would be Wahingdoh's first season in the I-League after remaining unbeaten through the entire 2nd Division campaign.

Stadiums and locations

:''Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.''

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Head coaching changes

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries and a marquee player. A team could use four foreign players on the field during each game including at least one player from the AFC country.

League table

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Top Indian Scorers

Hat-tricks

⁵ Player scored 5 goals

Discipline

Most yellow cards (7) **

Dharmaraj Ravanan Dharmaraj Ravanan (born 27 July 1987) is an Indian professional football player who plays as a defender. He most recently appeared with I-League club Real Kashmir. Career Ravanan started his professional career at Dempo S.C., coach Armando ...

(

) ** Robin Singh (

) *

Most red cards (2) **

Dhanpal Ganesh Dhanpal Ganesh (born 13 June 1994) is an Indian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder (association football), midfielder for Chennaiyin FC, Chennaiyin in the Indian Super League. Career Pune Born in Chennai, ...

(

) *

Worst disciplinary record (2 red cards & 5 yellow cards) **

(

)

Fair play

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.

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

led the Fair Play rankings at the end of the season.

Awards

AIFF Awards

All India Football Federation awarded the following awards for the I-League season. * Best player of I-League: Jackichand Singh (Royal Wahingdoh) * Best goalkeeper of I-League:

Debjit Majumder Debjit Majumder (born 6 March 1988), is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Indian Super League club Chennaiyin. Early life Majumder hails from Hindmotor, known for Hindustan Motors factory(now closed), in Hooghly ...

(Mohun Bagan) * Best defender of I-League: Bello Razaq (Mohun Bagan) * Best midfielder of I-League:

Eugeneson Lyngdoh Eugeneson Lyngdoh (born 10 September 1986) is a member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly representing the Mawphlang constituency. He is also a former Indian footballer who lastly played as a midfielder for Indian Super League side East Be ...

(Bengaluru FC) * Best forward of I-League: Ranti Martins (East Bengal) * Best coach of I-League:

Sanjoy Sen Sanjoy Sen (born 12 December 1960) is a association football, football manager who currently serves as the assistant manager of Indian Super League side ATK Mohun Bagan FC, ATK Mohun Bagan. Under his leadership Mohun Bagan won the title of 2014 ...

(Mohun Bagan)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2014-15 I-League I-League seasons 2014–15 in Indian football leagues