The 2014–15 I-League (known as the ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

I-League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of 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 ...

, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 17 January 2015, after the conclusion of the 2014–15 Federation Cup and finished on 31 May 2015 with a title deciding match between defending champions

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

. Mohun Bagan scored a late equalising goal to win the championship by two points. It was to be their first

title and fourth Indian championship in total

Teams

The official number of teams for the new season will be eleven. After the success of the leagues first direct-entry side, Bengaluru FC, the

All India Football Federation All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

held bidding for new teams from 15 May to 2 June 2014 with cities such as

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

and

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled 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 ...

in the running. At the same time the federation would review the AFC Club Licensing Criteria and any club which failed to pass the criteria will be banned from entering the league. On 22 May 2014 the All India Football Federation officially announced that former I-League champions Churchill Brothers, Rangdajied United, and United S.C had been axed from the 2014–15 season for failing to pass the club licensing criteria. Then, in August 2014, it was announced that the AIFF had awarded a direct-entry spot to the Kalyani Group and that they would start a team based 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 ...

. The team was officially launched in November 2014 as Bharat FC. In terms of promotion and relegation,

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 Muhamm ...

were relegated from the

the previous season, while Royal Wahingdoh were promoted after winning the 2014 I-League 2nd Division. This would be Wahingdoh's first season in the I-League after remaining unbeaten through the entire 2nd Division campaign.

Stadiums and locations

:''Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.''

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Transfers

Managerial changes

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries and a marquee player. A team could use four foreign players on the field during each game including at least one player from the AFC country.

League table

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Top Indian Scorers

Hat-tricks

⁵ Player scored 5 goals

Discipline

Most yellow cards (7) ** Dharmaraj Ravanan (

Bharat Bharat, or Bharath, may refer to: * Bharat (term), the name for India in various Indian languages ** India, a country ** Bharata Khanda, the Sanskrit name for the Indian subcontinent ** Bharatavarsha, another Sanskrit name for the Indian subcon ...

) ** Robin Singh (

) *

Most red cards (2) ** Dhanpal Ganesh (

) *

Worst disciplinary record (2 red cards & 5 yellow cards) ** Dhanpal Ganesh (

)

Fair play

The Fair Play qualities of the participating teams and which are pertinent to the spectators will be evaluated using the FIFA Fair Play evaluation form.

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

led the Fair Play rankings at the end of the season.

Awards

AIFF Awards

awarded the following awards for the I-League season. * Best player of I-League: Jackichand Singh (Royal Wahingdoh) * Best goalkeeper of I-League: Debjit Majumder (Mohun Bagan) * Best defender of I-League:

Bello Razaq Rasaq Oladimeji Bello (born 19 August 1984) is a Nigerian professional footballer, who plays for Aryan as a centre-back in the Calcutta Football League. Career Razaq played for Viva Kerala before heading towards United SC of Kolkata. He firs ...

(Mohun Bagan) * Best midfielder of I-League: Eugeneson Lyngdoh (Bengaluru) * Best forward of I-League: Ranti Martins (East Bengal) * Best coach of I-League: Sanjoy Sen (Mohun Bagan)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2014-15 I-League I-League seasons 2014–15 in Indian football leagues