The 2016 season was the third season in

Kerala Blasters FC Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established ...

's existence, as well as their third season in

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

. After finishing second position in the league stage, the club managed to make it to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. In the finals, they were again defeated by

Atlético de Kolkata ATK (formerly Atlético de Kolkata) was an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competed in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football and were the league champions during the inaugural ...

, this time through the penalty shoot-out.

Background

In 2016, in an effort to rebuild after failing to qualify for the finals the previous season,

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established i ...

announced the signing of former

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

manager Steve Coppell as head coach on 21 June 2016. A week later, the club announced the signing of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

international

Aaron Hughes Aaron William Hughes (born 8 November 1979) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Hughes played mainly at centre back, but was also used at right back or left back, as well as anywhere in midfield. He i ...

as their marquee player for the season. Other moves made before the season included the signing of Graham Stack,

Kervens Belfort Kervens Fils Belfort (born 16 May 1992) is a Haitian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Malaysian club Kelantan and the Haiti national team. Club career Belfort has played for Tempête, Le Mans B, Le Mans, FC Sion, Grenobl ...

Duckens Nazon Duckens Nazon (born 7 April 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bulgarian First League club CSKA Sofia. Born in France, he plays for the Haiti national team. Club career After going through the youth system at Vannes, ...

, and Mohammed Rafique and return of former players

Michael Chopra Rocky Michael Chopra (born 23 December 1983) is an English former professional footballer who plays as a striker for West Allotment Celtic. A product of the Newcastle United youth system, he spent six years at the club without managing to se ...

and

Cédric Hengbart Cédric Hengbart (born 13 July 1980) is a French professional football manager and former player. He is assistant coach at Ligue 2 club Caen. In his playing days, he was a defender. Playing career Ajaccio On 31 May 2013, AC Ajaccio announc ...

. The season began where the previous left off, with a 1–0 defeat away from home against

NorthEast United NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Sup ...

. After the first month of the season, the Blasters had one of the best defenses statistically in the league but struggled in attack. In the second half of the season, after the return of

C.K. Vineeth Chekiyot Kizhakkeveettill Vineeth (born 20 May 1988), commonly known as C. K. Vineeth, is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for RoundGlass Punjab in the I-League. Personal life Born in Kannur district in the state of K ...

from loan with

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 ...

, the Blasters managed to surge their way into the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. They achieved this by defeating

Delhi Dynamos Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

3–0 in a penalty shootout during the semi-final. In the final, the Kerala Blasters would play host to

. The Blasters took the lead early through

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...

before Kolkata equalized soon after. The match went into a penalty shootout, Despite taking the lead early in the shootout, the Kerala Blasters lost 4–3 and thus were defeated in their second final in three seasons.

Background

Players

Squad

Transfers

Retained

Foreign players

Indian players

New signings

Pre-season

Indian Super League

Results summary

Results

Player statistics

See also

References