RoundGlass Punjab FC is an Indian professional football club from Mohali in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

that competes in the

Punjab State Super Football League The Punjab State Super Football League is an Indian top state-level regional league for men's football clubs. The league serves as the top football league in the state of Punjab and is sanctioned by Punjab Football Association. The league is c ...

and

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 ...

. Founded as ''Minerva Academy FC'', in 2005, the club name was rebranded to ''Minerva Punjab'' after being accepted into I-League, and in 2019 the club was again rebranded as Punjab FC. In April 2020, owner of ''Minerva Academy'' Ranjit Bajaj sold the football club to RoundGlass Sports Pvt Ltd, and hereafter it is recherished as RoundGlass Punjab. The club has won I-League title once, in 2017–18, their second season in the league.

History

The team was established in 2005 as ''Minerva Academy'', and has both the football and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

sections. Initially, the team took part in its first major tournament at the national level, the

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

, and were the runners up for the season. They lost to five-time I-League champions

Dempo SC Dempo Sports Club, or simply known as Dempo, is an Indian professional football club based in Panjim, Goa, that competes in the Goa Professional League. The club is owned and sponsored by the Dempo Mining Corporation Limited. Popularly known ...

in the final. They were promoted to I-League after an impressive stint at the 2nd Division. They finished their first-ever 2016–17 I-League season at the second last position. They also participated in the

2016 Durand Cup The 2016 Durand Cup was the 128th edition of the Durand Cup since the tournament's founding in 1888. 12 teams competed in the tournament hosted at the Ambedkar Stadium and Harbaksh Stadium in Delhi from 28 August 2016. The final took place at ...

. They came last in the group stage and hence couldn't qualify for the semi-finals. Kareem&sehijpal

Next season, surprising everyone, they won the

title, which was their first league win ever in top division. They became first ones from

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

to win the league since 1996. This title made the team qualify for their first-ever Asian stint. The club qualified for

Group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

of the

2019 AFC Cup The 2019 AFC Cup was the 16th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club association football, football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Al Ahed FC, Al-Ahed won the title for the first time, defeating 4.25 SC, ...

, along 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 ...

side Chennaiyin, starting from Preliminary Round 2. However, they lost to Iranian side

Saipa SAIPA ( fa, سایپا, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'') was established in 1965 as with 75% Iranian ownersh ...

in the preliminary round of

2019 AFC Champions League The 2019 AFC Champions League was the 38th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 17th under the current AFC Champions League title. Al-Hilal defeated Urawa Red Diamond ...

and therefore couldn't make it to the play-offs. But, in their AFC Cup stint, they impressed with unbeaten run of five games until the last group fixture, which they lost against

Abahani Limited Dhaka Abahani Limited Dhaka ( bn, ঢাকা আবাহনী লিমিটেড), also referred as Dhaka Abahani or Abahani Limited, is a Bangladeshi professional football club based in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club cu ...

. Minerva were also placed in the round of 16 bracket of

2018 Indian Super Cup The 2018 Hero Super Cup was the inaugural edition of the Super Cup and 39th season of the main club knockout football competition in India. The competition is sponsored by Hero MotoCorp and is officially known as the Hero Super Cup. The competi ...

in which they lost to Jamshedpur 4–5 on penalties. In

2018–19 I-League The 2018–19 I-League was the 12th season of the I-League, the top Indian professional football league, since its establishment in 2007. The season started on 26 October 2018 and is scheduled to conclude in March 2019. Unlike the Indian Super ...

, the club managed to win four of their twenty fixtures and finished ninth in the league table. They were placed in

2019 Indian Super Cup The 2019 Super Cup was the second edition of the Super Cup and 40th season of the main club knockout football competition in India. The competition is sponsored by Hero MotoCorp and is officially known as the Hero Super Cup. The competition b ...

qualifying round, but refused to play protesting against uncertainty of

clubs' future in Indian football. Thereafter, they were also not invited to play 2019 Durand Cup, which was disappointing for the Punjabi side. On 30 October 2019, announcement was made that after a partnership agreement with RoundGlass Sports Private Ltd. the club has been renamed as ''Punjab Football Club''. Ahead of the 2020–21 I-League season, RoundGlass Sports completed acquisition of Punjab FC and rebranded the club to RoundGlass Punjab Football Club. On 15 June 2020, they appointed

Curtis Fleming Curtis Fleming (born 8 October 1968 in Manchester) is an Irish professional football manager and former player, who is currently the assistant manager of Championship club Bristol City. Fleming played right back and won international honour ...

as their head coach. On 15 July, they appointed Nikolaos Topoliatis as new technical director. As the season progressed, Punjab made it to the championship stage and finished their season with a 2–3 loss to

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 ...

. They achieved 2nd position with 22 points in 15 league matches. In August 2022, Staikos Vergetis was appointed as new head coach of RoundGlass Punjab.

Stadium

RoundGlass Punjab currently plays their home matches at the

Guru Nanak Stadium Guru Nanak Stadium is a football and athletics stadium located in Ludhiana, India. It is currently the home ground of I-League team RoundGlass Punjab FC. With seating capacity of 30,000 spectators, there is a provision of 8 lane synthetic tr ...

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...

. Stadium has a capacity of 30,000 spectators. The club previously used

Tau Devi Lal Stadium Tau Devi Lal Stadium is a multi-purpose sports complex located in Gurgaon within the state of Haryana, India. The Tau Devi Lal Football Stadium has a capacity of 12,000 and the Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium has a capacity of 7,000. The site cu ...

for their home matches, but only for one season. When ''Minerva'' entered AFC Cup, they used various stadiums which could fit the competitions standards. During the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

, club played two matches at the

Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, also known as Sarusajai Stadium, is a football stadium in Guwahati, Assam, India. It is the current home ground of NorthEast United FC. Besides hosting football matches, the stadium is also used for athletics. I ...

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

, and another at the

Kalinga Stadium The Kalinga Stadium is a multi-purpose International stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Its foundation stone was laid by former chief minister of Odisha Late Biju Patnaik in 1978. It is the home ground of the I League Club Indian Arrows ...

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

Supporters

A recognised fan club named "The Warriors", has been in support since 2018. The

has seen an average attendance of 12,000.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Players

First-team squad

Personnel

Current technical staff

Team records

Season-by-season

;Key *Attendance = Average league attendance

Overall records

Continental statistics

Managerial record

Notable players

The following RoundGlass Punjab players have been capped at '' full international level''. Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club. * Ivan Filatov (2017) * Palsang Lama (2017–18) *

Chencho Gyeltshen Chencho Gyeltshen (born 10 May 1996) is a Bhutanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for I-League club RoundGlass Punjab and captains the Bhutan national team. Gyeltshen is the all-time leading international goalscorer for Bhutan ...

(2017–18, 2020–21) * Aimable Nsabimana (2018) * Papa Niang (2018) *

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 ...

(2018, 2019–20, 2022–) * Mahmoud Amnah (2019) * Cornelius Stewart (2019) *

Robert Primus Robert Primus (born 10 November 1990) is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Port of Spain. Club career Primus made his senior debut for San Juan Jabloteh in the 2008 season. Aktobe In February 2011, Primus m ...

(2019) * Ali Ashfaq (2019) * Teah Dennis Jr. (2019–20) *

Kurtis Guthrie Kurtis Owen Guthrie (born 21 April 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Livingston. He won a bronze medal for Jersey at the 2011 Island Games, and later represented England C, scoring on his debut in Mar ...

(2021–22) *

Adnan Šećerović Adnan Šećerović (born 1 December 1991) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. Club career Šećerović had previously played in the Netherlands with Roda JC Kerkrade, NEC, Fortuna Sittard and MVV Maastricht ...

(2022–)

Honours

League

''as Minerva Punjab'' *

**Champions (1): 2017–18 **Third place (1): 2019–20 *

**Runners-up (1): 2015–16 * Punjab Super League **Champions (2): 2018,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

''as RoundGlass Punjab'' * Punjab Super League **Champions (1): 2022–23

Cup

''as Minerva Punjab'' * J&K Invitational Cup **Winners (1): 2018 () * Bodousa Cup **Runners-up (1): 2019

Youth

''as Minerva Punjab'' * Youth League U18 **Champions (1): 2018–19 ''as RoundGlass Punjab'' * JSW U-18 Youth Cup **Winners (1): 2022 * JSW U-13 Youth Cup **Winners (1): 2022

References

External links

RoundGlass Punjab official website
* *
Team profile
at ''the-aiff.com''. (

AIFF Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) is an audio file format standard used for storing sound data for personal computers and other electronic audio devices. The format was developed by Apple Inc. in 1988 based on Electronic Arts' Interchange File ...

)
Team archive
at Arunava about Football {{DEFAULTSORT:RoundGlass Punjab FC RoundGlass Punjab FC I-League clubs Football clubs in Punjab, India Association football clubs established in 2005 2005 establishments in India