The 2014–15 season will be

Bharat FC Bharat Football Club (also known as Kalyani Bharat Football Club) was an Indian professional football club based in Pune, Maharashtra. Founded in 2014, the club usually competed in I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system. The t ...

's first season in the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

and first season in existence.

Background

On 25 August 2014 it was announced that

Kalyani Group Kalyani Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Pune, India, founded in 1961. It operates in various key sectors including engineering, steel, automotive and non-automotive components, renewable energy and infrastruct ...

had won the bidding rights to a new

team and that they would base the team in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. On 4 November 2014 it was announced that former

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

defender

Stuart Watkiss Stuart Watkiss (born 8 May 1966) is an English football coach and former professional player who was most recently the assistant manager of National League South club Eastbourne Borough. As a player, he was a defender and notably played in t ...

would be the first head coach of the team's history. Then, six days later, on 10 November, it was announced that the team had signed their first player in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

international Kris Bright. On 15 November, Stanley Rozario was appointed as the assistant coach. On 23 November, the team was officially unveiled as ''Bharat FC''.

Pre-season

The club started the season with two friendlies against

Bombay Engineer Group The Bombay Engineer Group, or the ''Bombay Sappers'' as they are informally known, are a regiment of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The Bombay Sappers draw their origin from the erstwhile Bombay Presidency army of the British Raj ...

, which they won 3–0 and the second one 5–0, courtesy two goals from

Steven Dias Steven Benedic Dias (born 25 December 1983) is an Indian former professional footballer who is currently the head coach of Jamshedpur B. An attacking midfielder who played on the wings, he was known for his long range shooting, crosses and pas ...

and a goal each from

Subhash Singh Singam Subhash Singh (born 1989) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a winger for indian club Sagolband United. Youth career Subhash had to choose between football or weight-lifting as a career option, his father preferred h ...

Surojit Bose Surojit Bose (born 19 December 1986) is an Indian footballer from Kolkata who currently plays for Mumbai Tigers. He has previously played for Mahindra United in the I-League, and for Bengal in the Santosh Trophy. Before joining Mahindra United ...

and

Jayashelan Prasad Jayashelan Prasad (born 26 May 1988) is an Indian footballer who last played for Bharat FC. Career Pune Jayashelan joined Pune F.C. during 2008. He was selected to play for the Pune FC senior team during the II-Division I-League campaign in 20 ...

. In the last friendly before the season, Bharat FC played against

Air India Air India is the flag carrier of India with its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, and secondary hubs at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, alo ...

and managed a 2–2 draw with a goal each from Kris Bright and

Gunashekar Vignesh Gunashekar Vignesh (born 30 September 1988) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bengaluru United in the I-League 2nd Division. Career Born in Karnataka, Bangalore, Vignesh began his career with I-League club Pun ...

Background

Pre-season

Matches

I-League

Table

First-team squad

Technical Staff

References