The 2015 Nepal National League also known as the RedBull National League for sponsorship reasons is the 2nd edition of

Nepal National League The National League (also known as Red Bull National League) is a club-level association football competition in Nepal. The champions secured qualification to a continental cup, previously the AFC President's Cup (now AFC Cup). It took place for ...

. The winners

Three Star Club Three Star Club is a Nepali professional football club based in Patan, Lalitpur, that competes in the Qatar Airways Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, the top flight of Nepalese football. The club was previously known as the ''Laxmi Bank ...

received 1

Crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

or 10,000,000

rupees Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

($149,278 USD).

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...

energy drink is the main sponsor.

San Miguel Beer San Miguel Beer refers to San Miguel Pale Pilsen, a Filipino pale lager produced by San Miguel Brewery (a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation). Established in San Miguel, Manila in 1890 by the original San Miguel Brewery (renamed San Miguel Cor ...

is also a co-sponsor of the competition. The League featured 9 teams from

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

and the rest of

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. The League was heavily affected by the

April 2015 Nepal earthquake The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,964 people and injured 21,952 more. It occurred at on Saturday, 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8 Mw or 8.1 Ms and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X (''Extreme ...

, with play being suspended from late April and due to resume in September.

Teams

A total of 9 teams featured in the league. The teams are

Nepal Police Club Nepal Police Club (formerly known as Mahendra Police Club) is a sports club owned and managed by Nepal Police. The club competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, the top flight of Nepali club football. History Established in 1952 and ...

Nepal Army Club Nepal Army Club, also known as Tribhuwan Army Club, is the departmental Army sporting club of Nepal and is based in Kathmandu. In cricket they play top domestic league National League Cricket, and in Prime Minister One Day Cup whereas in footbal ...

Manang Marshyangdi Club Manang Marshyangdi Club ( ne, मनाङ मर्स्याङ्दी क्लब) is a Nepali professional football club based in Kathmandu, that competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League. The club is record champion of Nepales ...

, Nepal APF,

, Far Western FC,

Morang XI Morang XI is a Nepali football club which played the National Football League in Nepal. This club was formed in Biratnagar. They reached the semi-finals of the Birat Gold Cup in February 2016. Ground The club official home ground is Sahid Rangsa ...

, Lumbini FC, and

Jhapa XI Jhapa XI is a football club that represents Jhapa district in the Nepal National Football League. Jhapa XI is participating in Nepal National League for the first time in the season 2015. All of the players of Jhapa XI are home based, none of t ...

Machhindra Football Club Machhindra FC (formally known as Machhindra Bahal Club) is a Nepali professional football club from the central Kathmandu, neighborhood of Keltole, playing in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League. History Machhindra FC was established in 19 ...

Himalayan Sherpa Club Himalayan Sherpa Club is a Nepali professional football club based in the city of Kathmandu (originally from Hattigauda), that competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, top flight of Nepali football. They play at the Dasarath Rangasa ...

Saraswoti Youth Club Saraswoti Youth Club is a Nepali football club from the Koteshwor neighborhood of Kathmandu that competes in the Martyr's Memorial B-Division League. They play at the Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, which has a capacity of 25,000 spectators. League fin ...

and

Friends Club Friends Club is a Nepali professional football club from the Kopundole neighborhood of Lalitpur. The club is known for nurturing young talent of Nepalese Football. Friends Club has produced more than 200 national football players to date. It a ...

became unable to take part due to the ban by ANFA Makwanpur DFA were supposed to take part in the league but where disqualified for not filling out the required entries, while

Sankata Boys Sports Club Sankata Boys Sports Club, commonly known as Sankata Club, is a Nepalese professional football club based in Kathmandu, that competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League. Named after Sankata Temple, the club has won the national championsh ...

had earlier pulled out.

Stadia and locations

Remarks:
¹ Dasarath Rangasala Stadium was heavily damaged due to the

.
² Matches shifted to ANFA Complex due to violent protests in the region.

Personnel and sponsoring

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Matches

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

League resumption

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Hat-tricks

Own Goals

Awards

All Nepal Football Association The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) (Nepali language, Nepali: अखिल नेपाल फुटबल संघ (एन्फा)) is the governing body of football in Nepal. It is responsible for the Nepal national football team, natio ...

awarded the following awards for the National League season. * Best goalkeeper :

Kiran Chemjong Kiran Kumar Limbu ( ne, किरण चेम्जोङ), also known as Kiran Chemjong (born 24 March 1990), is a Nepalese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for I-League club RoundGlass Punjab and the Nepal national team. C ...

(

) * Best defender : Devendra Tamang (

) * Best midfielder : Bishal Rai (

) * Best forward : Nawayug Shrestha (

) * Best coach : Rajendra Tamang (

)

Controversy

The conditions of many stadiums has been heavily criticized as many; including the national stadium, are in poor condition. Some Jhapa XI fans were left feeling aggrieved after the venue was moved from

Chandragadhi Bhadrapur ( ne, भद्रपुर) is a town and municipality in Jhapa District in the Province No. 1 of southeastern Nepal. It lies on the banks of the Mechi River, and shares borders with Bihar state, India on the south and West Bengal ...

, where there was a well maintained stadium to the Domalal Stadium in

Birtamod Birtamod (Nepali: बिर्तामोड नगरपालिका) is a municipality in Jhapa District of Nepal. It is the commercial, educational and transport hub of Jhapa District. Sarnamati Bazar, Dhulabari Bazar, Dhaijan Bazar, Char ...

, which is smaller but in a more central location. It was initially decided that matches would only be played on weekends so teams had adequate rest time and venues wouldn't be overused, but the

ANFA Anfa (Berber language: ''Anfa'' or ''Anaffa'', ⴰⵏⴼⴰ; ar, أنفا; es, Anafe; pt, Anafé) was the ancient toponym for Casablanca during the classical period. The city was founded by Berbers around the 10th century BC, with the Romans un ...

decided to revert this decision and schedule matches one after the other, which vexed many team officials and supporters.

coach Megraj KC publicly criticized the cramped schedules saying that they would hurt team performances.

were unable to train on a proper pitch before an away match against

on 3 April. Instead of being allowed to train in the Police Club's

Dasarath Stadium Dasharath Rangasala ( ne, दशरथ रंगशाला; ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Tripureshwar, Kathmandu. It is named after Dasharath Chand, one of the four great martyrs of Nepal. The stadium is used mostly for football matches ...

they were instead made to train on the Tudhikhel grounds, whose surface is composed of sand and rocks not grass and is not a proper football pitch. Jhapa coach Bhagirath Ale publicly criticized the

for refusing to grant them permission to train at the national stadium, although he stated that the improper practice session would not have an effect on Jhapa's performance against the police club.

Effects of the April earthquake and subsequent May aftershock on league play

Following the 25 April the National League was immediately suspended by the

as the Country was in a State of emergency. Many of the venues were damaged. The

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium Dasharath Rangasala ( ne, दशरथ रंगशाला; ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Tripureshwar, Kathmandu. It is named after Dasharath Chand, one of the four great martyrs of Nepal. The stadium is used mostly for football matches a ...

, which was already in poor shape and in need of repair before the earthquake was rendered completely unplayable as it sustained severe damaged to the stands, grounds, and many of the walls surrounding the stadium collapsed. Following the quake and subsequent aftershock the vast majority of players and staff of the respective teams took time off to help,

Bikram Lama Bikram Lama ( ne, बिक्रम लामा; born 23 February 1989) is a Nepalese football player. He currently plays for the Three Star Club in Martyr's Memorial A-Division League. Style of play Bikram is known for his passing abilities a ...

spent time delivery relief supplies in

Sindhupalchowk Sindhupalchowk District ( ne, सिन्धुपाल्चोक जिल्ला ) is a part of Bagmati Province and one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal, with an area of . The district's headquarters is in Chautara. In 2006, 336 ...

for example, and many charitable matches and tournaments were also held to raise awareness and money. On 8 July the

announced that the National League would resume in mid September.

Prizes

The winning club will receive 1 Crore while the runners up 50 Lakhs and the third place team is set to receive 25 Lakhs. The fourth placed will get 15Lakhs and 5th place will get 7 Lakhs Coaches and players who are the recipients of individual awards will each be gifted a motorbike.

References

{{2015 in Asian football (AFC) Nepal National League seasons 1 1 Football in Nepal