The 2020–21 I-League (known as the ''Hero I-League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th 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 ...

, one of the top tier Indian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

leagues, since its establishment in 2007. The tournament was hosted in

bio-secure bubble A bio-secure bubble, also known as a bubble, or hub city, was a hosting arrangement for sporting events that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, under which events were held at a centralized site, often behind closed doors, with strict quarant ...

across four venues in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

situation in India.

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 ...

was declared the champion of the 2019–20 season after the cancellation of matches due to the

, since the second placed team could not catch up even if all 20 games were completed. However, following Mohun Bagan's merger with

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 ...

(ISL) club ATK, the club began competing in the ISL from the 2020–21 ISL season. Throughout the First Phase, Churchill Brothers kept its dominance with an unbeaten run of 11 games, while in the

Second Phase The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

, Gokulam Kerala, Churchill Brothers and TRAU traded the lead several times throughout the

Championship Stage In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. Entering the final matchday, Gokulam Kerala were ahead on goal difference. However, with the Gokulam and TRAU facing off, either team could claim the title with a win. A draw in the Gokulam Kerala–TRAU match and a win were needed for Churchill Brothers to be crowned champions. The game ended in a 4–1 win for Gokulam, giving the ''Malabarians'' their first I-league title and qualification for the

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...

. NEROCA finished bottom of the

Relegation Stage In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

and were to relegated, but were reinstated by AIFF after the viewing the situation of

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Changes from last season

Changes in rules and regulations

*AIFF has implemented the '3+1' foreigners rule from this season. Under this rule, each club will be allowed to field a maximum of four foreign players and one of those four foreign players must be from an AFC affiliated country. *Due to

, this season's league format was shortened. All teams will face each other once in the first leg of the league, then they will be divided into two different groups. According to points table from first leg, top six teams will face each other once again in the

Championship stage In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, where the team with most points (cumulative points collected from all fifteen matches) will be declared the winner of the league and qualify for the 2022 AFC Cup group stage. The other five teams will play against each other in a

Relegation stage In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

where the team with the lowest points (cumulative points collected from all fourteen matches) will be relegated to the 2nd Division League.

Number of clubs

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry o ...

(AIFF) issued an invitation to accept bids for new clubs from non I-League cities, like

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Gangtok Gangtok is a city, municipality, the capital and the largest populated place of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is also the headquarters of the East Sikkim district, Gangtok District. Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayas, Himalayan range, at an e ...

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...

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 ...

and

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

among many others, to join the league from 2020 onwards. The invitation mentioned that the entity which wins the bid will be granted the right to own and operate a new football club. On 12 August, AIFF announced that Sudeva of

would join the league from this season and Sreenidi Deccan, which is based in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, will be playing from

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

from the following season.

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 ...

and

moved to the

, when East Bengal joined the league as an expansion team, while

and ATK, the champions of 2019–20 ISL season, merged to play as

ATK Mohun Bagan ATK Mohun Bagan FC () is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club, which was formed as a merger between the football section of m ...

in the ISL.

Promoted clubs

Promoted from the 2019–20 2nd Division League *

Mohammedan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muham ...

Relegated clubs

Relegated from the 2019–20 I-League *None

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Due to

, all the matches will be played in a single venue. AIFF declared

as the venue on 14 August. Matches will be played in

Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan The Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK; ), commonly known as the Salt Lake Stadium, is an all-seater stadium, all-seater multi-purpose stadium located in Bidhannagar, with current capacity of 85,000 spectators. Named after Swami Vivekan ...

Kishore Bharati Krirangan Kishore Bharati Krirangan (commonly known as both Mukundapur Stadium and Mukundapur Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Kolkata, India, used mainly for football matches. The capacity of the stadium is 12,000 and the size of the sports compl ...

and

Mohun Bagan Ground Mohun Bagan Ground, also known as Mohun Bagan–Calcutta FC Ground, is a football stadium located in the maidan region of central Kolkata, just opposite the Eden Gardens. The stadium is leased to Mohun Bagan AC and is mostly used as training gro ...

in Kolkata, and

Kalyani Stadium Kalyani Stadium is a stadium in Kalyani, West Bengal, India. The stadium holds 20,000 spectators. Currently the stadium has been re-modelled with full-fledged modern structure and 5 storied gallery with added facilities. It now hosts matches of ...

in Kalyani.

Personnel and sponsorship

Head coaching changes

Transfers

Foreign players

Minimum of three and maximum of four foreign players including one player from AFC—affiliated country per team. Indian Arrows cannot sign any foreign players as they are a part of AIFF's developmental program. The newly joined team, Sudeva Delhi will field an all-Indian squad for its debut I-League season. * Players name in bold indicates the players who are capped for their respective national team.

First phase

Standings

Fixtures and results

All matches were played at neutral venues. The "home" and "away" are designated for administrative purposes.

Positions by matchday

Results by games

Second phase

Championship stage (Group A)

Fixtures and results

All matches were played at neutral venues. The "home" and "away" are designated for administrative purposes.

Positions by matchday

Results by games

Relegation stage (Group B)

Fixtures and results

All matches were played at neutral venues. The "home" and "away" are designated for administrative purposes.

Positions by matchday

Results by games

Final standings

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

''The table includes only the top 10 goalscorers of this season.''

Top Indian scorers

''The table includes only the list of top Indian goalscorers with more than 2 goals in this season.''

Top assists

''The table includes only the top 10 assist providers of the season.''

Hat-tricks

Clean Sheets

''The table includes only the list of top goalkeepers with more than 1 cleansheet in this season.''

Discipline

* Most yellow cards: 5 **

Lalrindika Ralte Lalrindika Ralte (born 7 September 1992 in Lunglei, Mizoram), popularly known as Dika, is a former Indian professional association football, footballer who last played as an midfielder (association football), attacking midfielder for Real Kashm ...

(Real Kashmir) ** Sairuat Kima (Sudeva Delhi) * Most red cards: 2 ** Vincy Barretto (Gokulam Kerala)

Awards

* Match 1 - Match 55 = ''First Phase'' * Match 56 - Match 80 = ''Second Phase''

Hero of the Match

Season awards

Team of the season

Source
arunfoot.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 Indian Super League season I-League seasons 1

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Changes from last season

Changes in rules and regulations

Number of clubs

Promoted clubs

Relegated clubs

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsorship

Head coaching changes

Transfers

Foreign players

First phase

Standings

Fixtures and results

Positions by matchday

Results by games

Second phase

Championship stage (Group A)

Fixtures and results

Positions by matchday

Results by games

Relegation stage (Group B)

Fixtures and results

Positions by matchday

Results by games

Final standings

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Top Indian scorers

Top assists

Hat-tricks

Clean Sheets

Discipline

Awards

Hero of the Match

Season awards

Team of the season

See also

References