The 2015–16 I-League was the ninth 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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league, since its establishment in 2007. The season commenced on 9 January 2016, after the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

finished, and concluded on 24 April 2016.

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 ...

won their second I-League title after winning their first title in 2013–14. The defending champions Mohun Bagan finished second.

Aizawl Aizawl (, American English, US: , British English, UK: ; Mizo language, Mizo: ), formerly known as Aijal, is the capital city and the most populous city of Mizoram, India. It is also the third largest city in northeast India. It is situated ato ...

and DSK Shivajians entered the league for the first time in their history, Aizawl through promotion from the I-League 2nd Division and DSK Shivajians through a direct-entry spot.

Teams and season Details

After the 2014–15 I-League season, three-time

champions, Dempo, were relegated to the I-League 2nd Division. Mizo club,

, were promoted from the 2nd Division earlier in May following a 4–2 victory over Chanmari. DSK Shivajians were announced as the direct-entry club for this season on 12 November 2015. In August 2015, it was first reported that

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 ...

clubs,

, and Bharat, the direct-entry side from the previous season, would be withdrawing from the I-League due to the lack of a "long-term vision" for the league. Then, towards the end of October, it was announced that both Pune and Bharat FC had failed to compile to the AFC-licensing criteria needed to participate in the I-League. On 21 November 2015, it was confirmed that Royal Wahingdoh, another debutant club from the previous season, were withdrawing from the league.

Stadiums and locations

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

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Transfers

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to Five per team. A team could use Four foreign players on the field each game.

League table

Result table

Season statistics

Top scorers

Top Indian scorers

Hat-tricks

Awards

AIFF Awards

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 ...

awarded the following awards for the I-League season. * Best player of I-League: Sony Norde (Mohun Bagan) * Best goalkeeper of I-League: Amrinder Singh (Bengaluru) * Best defender of I-League: John Johnson (Bengaluru) * Best midfielder of I-League: Eugeneson Lyngdoh (Bengaluru) * Best forward of I-League: Ranti Martins (East Bengal) * Best coach of I-League: Ashley Westwood (Bengaluru) * Best organizer of I-League:

References

External links

Official website