Minerva Academy Football Club (often referred to as Minerva Punjab) is an Indian professional

multi-sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

based in

Mohali Mohali, officially Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar or Ajitgarh, is a planned city in the Mohali district in Punjab, India, Punjab, India, which is an administrative and a commercial hub lying south-west of Chandigarh. It is the headquarters of the M ...

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, best known for its

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 ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

teams. The club's football section predominantly competed in the Punjab State Super League. Minerva previously participated 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 ...

, then the highest division of

Indian football league system The Indian football league system is the league structure of football club competitions in India. The highest level of men's club football competition is the Indian Super League. Indian Women's League, founded in 2016, is the highest level of ...

. The club reached the

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

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 concentr ...

, in the 2019 edition of the continental second tier. After selling Punjab FC to Roundglass Sports, owner Ranjit Bajaj bought stakes in

Delhi FC Delhi Football Club is an Indian professional football club founded in 1994 in Delhi. The club competes in both the I-League 2 and the Delhi Premier League. The club debuted in the 2023–24 I-League, the second tier of Indian football, foll ...

. However, Minerva Academy remained active since its inception. After being promoted into the I-League in 2016, the academy based club was rebranded as ''Minerva Punjab FC'', and in 2019 the football section was relabeled as ''Punjab FC''. The club has won the I-League title once, in 2017–18. Widely known as "the factory" of Indian football, Minerva is one of the most successful sports academies in the country.

History and overview

2005–2020

The club was established in 2005 as Minerva Academy. It was founded as a purpose of reviving the glory of the Minerva Club, a football team of Minerva Public School in Mohali, that emerged as one of the most formidable in the state of Punjab. Until 2013, it was operated as an amateur

six-a-side Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from association football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. ...

team for local players, alongside appearing in age-grouped tournaments. Minerva initially fielded players in various regional competitions in Punjab and beyond, while club's first major tournament at the national level was the

I-League 2nd Division The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

in 2015–16. On 22 November 2015, the club began league journey with a 2–0 win against Kenkre. Goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh maintained cleen-sheets as Minerva thrashed PIFA 3–0 on 11 December. They reached

final round A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the tournament and maintained good form, but ended campaign earning second place after a 3–1 defeat to

Dempo Dempo Mining Corporation Limited is a prominent mining company from the western Indian state of Goa. The mineral business was founded by Vasantrao S. Dempo in 1941, along with his younger brother Vaikuntrao Dempo. Vasantrao was the founding c ...

. They were promoted to the I-League after an impressive stint at the 2nd Division. Minerva later took part in

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 Delhi, officially the National Capita ...

, getting the direct entry. They earned only point from a 2–2 tie with

Army Green Olive is a dark yellowish-green color, like that of unripe or green olives. As a color word in the English language, it appears in late Middle English. Variations Olivine Olivine is the typical color of the mineral olivine. The first re ...

in the last group stage fixture, hence couldn't qualify for the semi-finals. Minerva along with

Chennai City Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian censu ...

was promoted to the I-League, after the withdrawal of Dempo. The club ended its 2016–17 I-League season at the second last position. In December 2016, Minerva roped in Colm Joseph Toal as technical director. In October 2017,

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

actor

Rannvijay Singha Rannvijay Singha is an Indian film actor, television personality, host, and VJ. He is known for his role in ''MTV Roadies''. He was a part of the show from 2004 to 2020, earlier as a gang leader and then as a host. He was also a part of the aud ...

was unveiled as co-owner of the club. Next season, surprising everyone, Minerva clinched the

title. It was their first ever top division title. They became the first club from

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

to win the league since 1996; The title made the team qualify for their first-ever continental tournament. Minerva appeared in the Group stages of

2019 AFC Cup The 2019 AFC Cup was the 16th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Al-Ahed from Lebanon won the title for the first time, defeating April 25 from North Korea in ...

, alongside

Chennaiyin Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural seas ...

, starting from

Preliminary round 2 Preliminary may refer to: * Preliminary internships * Preliminary English Test * Preliminary finals * Preliminary hearing * Preliminary Notice In Mechanics lien law a ''Preliminary Notice'' (also known as a Notice to Owner, Materialmens Notice to ...

. However, they lost to Iranian club

Saipa SAIPA (, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'' lit. ''Iranian Limited Company for the Production of Citroën Autom ...

in Tehran, in the qualifying play-offs 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 Diamo ...

; therefore couldn't make it to the final round. On 3 April 2019, Minerva kicked-off their AFC cup campaign against Chennaiyin in Ahmadabad, which ended in a 0–0 stalemate. On 17 April, the club held

Abahani Limited Dhaka Abahani Limited Dhaka (), also referred as Dhaka Abahani or Abahani Limited, is a Bangladeshi professional Association football, football club based in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club currently competes in the Bangladesh Pr ...

of Bangladesh by 2–2 at

Bangabandhu National Stadium National Stadium, Dhaka () is a multipurpose sports arena and the national stadium of Bangladesh. Located in the Motijheel area of Dhaka, it is predominantly used for Association football, football matches and serves as the home venue for the B ...

in Dhaka. They maintained undefeated form, drew both home and away games with Nepali side

Manang Marshyangdi Manang Marshyangdi Club () is a Nepali professional football club based in Kathmandu, that competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League. The club has won the National Championship title a record 8 times. Historically, they have had a fierce ...

. They drew another game with Chennaiyin, this time 1–1 in Guwahati. In last group stage fixture at home, the club lost 1–0 to Abahani. Minerva were also placed in the round of 16 bracket of

2018 Indian Super Cup The 2018 Super Cup (also known as the 2018 Hero Super Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the inaugural edition of the Super Cup and the 39th season of the national knockout football competition in India. The competition was sponsored by Hero Moto ...

, in which they lost to

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

4–5 on penalties. In July 2018, Minerva roped in noted Indian manager

Sukhwinder Singh Sukhwinder Singh (born 18 July 1971) is an Indian playback singer who primarily sings Bollywood songs. He sang " Jai Ho" in the film '' Slumdog Millionaire'', for which he won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Televisi ...

as technical director. Later on 8 August 2018, Northern Irish manager

Paul Munster Paul Munster (born 9 February 1982) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former professional footballer who played as a striker who is currently the head coach of Liga 1 club Bhayangkara Presisi. Playing career Munster be ...

was appointed as new technical director—head coach of the club. The club won Punjab State Super League for the first time after becoming undefeated in 11 games, and later went on to win J&K Invitational Cup in Kashmir, jointly with Real Kashmir. In February 2019, Minerva signed a strategic partnership with

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

, aiming football development at grassroots level. On 8 February 2019, Minerva announced Munster's departure. In the

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 L ...

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

2019 Indian Super Cup The 2019 Super Cup (also known as the 2019 Hero Super Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the second edition of the Super Cup and the 40th season of the national knockout football competition in India. The competition was sponsored by Hero MotoCorp ...

qualifying round, but refused to play protesting against uncertainty of I-League clubs' future in

Indian football Association football is one of the most popular sports in India. The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the first FIFA event the country hosted. It was called the most successful FIFA U-17 World Cup ever, with a record-breaking attendance of 1,347,133 ...

. Thereafter, they were also not invited to play

2019 Durand Cup The 2019 Durand Cup was the 129th edition of the Durand Cup, oldest football tournament in Asia, since the tournament's founding in 1888. 16 teams competed in the tournament. The matches were played across three locations in West Bengal, name ...

. 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'. From mid 2019 until May 2020, the club was coached by Yan Law. After losing I-League spot, Minerva started playing football again in Punjab football league system with its youth age groups. It is the only Indian club to win all age group national titles in the same year, 2017–18, winning U13, U15, U18 and the senior I-League.

2020–present

RoundGlass Sports bought 50% of Minerva Academy's share earlier; In 2020, they bought remaining 50% from owners Ranjit and Heena Bajaj to form ''RoundGlass Punjab'' a year later. In November 2020, Minerva Academy was accredited as

Khelo India Khelo India: National Programme for Development of Sports, branded as Khelo India (), aims at improving India's sports culture at the grass-root level through organized talent identification, structured sporting competitions and infrastructure ...

State Centre of Excellence (KISCE) by the

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is a branch of the Government of India which administers the Department of Youth Affairs and the Department of Sports in India. Mansukh Mandaviya is the current Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports foll ...

. The same year,

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India, SAI, was set up in 1984 to carry forward the legacy of the 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi under the Department of Sports. SAl has been entrusted with promoting sport in India and achieving sporting excellen ...

(SAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Minerva for a period of four years under the "Khelo India Talent Identification and Development Program". The club became a regular participant in Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Memorial Tournament.

Crest and colours

Club crest and emblem of Minerva depicting emblems of the three armed forces, the Sikh

khanda Khanda may refer to: Places * Khanda, Sonipat, a large historical village in Sonipat district of Haryana, India * Khanda, Jind, a village in Jind district of Haryana, India * Khanda Kheri, a village in Hansi Tehsil of Hisar district of Haryana, ...

symbol and the profile of

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

– the Roman goddess of wisdom. Omolajanurain

Club colours are predominantly blue, white and black.

Stadiums

The official home ground of Minerva Academy was

Tau Devi Lal Stadium Tau Devi Lal Stadium is a multi-purpose sports complex located in Gurgaon in the state of Haryana, India. The site consists of two sports venues in addition to several practice facilities, namely cricket and football. It is mostly used by th ...

of Panchkula, used in the I-League, with a seating capacity of 12,000. The club previously used the Guru Nanak Stadium, but only for one season. During I-League Second Division, the club used Minerva Academy Ground in

as home venue. When the club entered into continental tourney AFC Cup, they used various stadiums which could fit the competitions standards. During the group stage, club played two matches at the

Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium The Arjuna Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex, formerly known as Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, also known as Sarusajai Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Lokhra locality, Guwahati, Assam, India. Seating 21,600 people, it is the home ground ...

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest 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 seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

, and remaining at the

Kalinga Stadium The Kalinga Stadium is a Multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose international sports complex in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Its foundation stone was laid by then chief minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik in 1978. It is best known as the home ground ...

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

. They previously used Sector 17 Training Ground in Chandigarh for training purposes. The club is currently using Minerva Academy Ground, which is located in Chandigarh.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Records and statistics

Overall records

Continental records

Other records

* Top goalscorer in

, representing Minerva Punjab: Aser Pierrick Dipanda (with 12 goals). * Youngest goalscorer in

Thoiba Singh Moirangthem Thoiba Singh Moirangthem (, born 12 December 2002) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Indian Super League club Odisha. Club career Minerva Punjab Thoiba became the youngest player to make a first team debut in ...

(at 16 years and 154 days), representing Minerva Punjab: 1–1 tie vs

; 15 May 2019. * Maximum number of points earned in the country's highest division: 35 (in

2017–18 I-League The 2017–18 I-League was the 11th season of the I-League. Aizawl were the defending champions. NEROCA entered as the promoted team from the 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division. The season began on 25 November 2017. Minerva Punjab won their first ...

). * Highest scoring in domestic league: 5–4 (away win vs.

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers Futebol Clube de Goa (simply known as Churchill Brothers) is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, alongside the Goa Professional League (reserves). Founded in 1 ...

at the Tilak Maidan in Goa; 19 February 2017). * Biggest margin win/most goals scored by a team in the AIFF Sub Junior League: 33–1 win against Namdhari Academy (31 March 2024). * Youngest goalscorer in

Baoringdao Bodo Baoringdao Bodo (born 17 October 1999) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a winger for TRAU football club Manipur. He became India's youngest player in history to play, upon making his senior debut in January 2017. Bodo repres ...

(at 17 years 3 months and 18 days), representing Minerva Punjab: 2–1 win vs

Mumbai FC Mumbai Football Club was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The club predominantly competed in I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. Mumbai also participated in MDFA Elite League. The club ...

; 4 February 2017.

Performance in AFC competitions

Managerial record

Minerva youth

Youth and academy

Since the foundation in 2005, Minerva focused on youth development, and has more than hundred residential academies in the country. Club's youth men's section has been participating in various age-group domestic competitions, including U13, U15, and U18 Hero Youth Leagues, in which they clinched multiple titles. Club's academy is responsible in nurturing talents, bringing up promising youngsters; Many of them graduated from the club's academy and went on to represent India internationally. In 2017–18, Spanish manager José Carlos Hevia served as head of Minerva's academy and reserve team. Ahead of the

2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 17th FIFA U-17 World Cup, a biennial international association football, football tournament contested by men's under-17 national teams. Organised by FIFA, the tournament took place in India from 6 to 28 Octo ...

, club's reserve team appeared in an exhibition match against one of the participants Columbia U17. In June 2020, Minerva Academy was recommended for "Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar" for producing more than 70 players for the various India national football sides. In 2022, U12 team of Minerva Academy took part in

Mina Cup The Mina Cup is an international youth football tournament held annually in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Established in 2021, it features competitions for youth teams across multiple age categories and both genders. It has attracted elite academie ...

, an youth international tournament held in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. In that tournament, they won title with dominant performance, beating Barcelona Academy 4–0 in final. Later in July 2023, they went to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and took part in U13 category of the prestigious

Gothia Cup The Gothia Cup () is an international youth association football tournament organized by professional football club BK Häcken, which has been held annually since 1975 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Considered the biggest tournament in the world in terms ...

. On 22 July, defeating Brazilian side Ordin by 3–1 in final at the SKF Arena, Minerva Academy became the first ever Indian team to clinch Gothia Cup title. In that edition, more than 150 teams competed; Minerva went on to seal the championship winning all their matches, scoring 46 goals, and conceding only 2. Club's academy gained an 'elite category' accreditation by 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 ...

in December 2023. The club won Sub Junior League title in 2024, defeating Bengaluru FC 7–4 in final. In October 2024, Minerva Academy's player Mohammad Razin made headlines by signing the Saudi U-15 Premier League side Al-Nassr FC U14 through passing the trials. In May 2025, the club clinched AIFF Sub-Junior League, defeating hosts FC Madras 2–1 in the final day.

Notable Minerva youth graduates/players

* Jeakson Singh Thounaojam *

Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem (born 4 July 2000), is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan. He gained fame for his performance at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Club career Early life ...

* Givson Singh * Amarjit Singh Kiyam *

Vikram Pratap Singh Vikram Partap Singh Sandhu (; born 16 January 2002) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club Mumbai City and the India national team. Club career Vikram started his youth career at the Chandig ...

* Dilliram Sanyasi *

Kamalpreet Singh Kamalpreet Singh (born 15 November 1997) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Real Kashmir in the I-League. Career Born in Punjab, Singh began his career at the AIFF Elite Academy where he played along with both t ...

* Arshdeep Singh * Aakash Sangwan *

Krishna Pandit Krishna Pandit (born 29 August 1998) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for FC Goa B in the Goa Professional League. Club career Pandit was born in Chandigarh, he took his schooling at St. John's High School, Chandiga ...

Other departments

Cricket

Minerva has been running academies and teams for

since inception. It is widely known for producing international cricketers including

Gurkeerat Singh Mann Gurkeerat Singh Mann (born 29 June 1990) is a former Indian professional cricketer who played for Punjab in domestic cricket. A right-handed batsman and off break bowler, he appeared for Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL ...

Mandeep Singh Mandeep Singh (born 18 December 1991) is an Indian cricketer. He plays for Punjab cricket team (India), Punjab in the top-flight of Indian cricket. Ahead of India's 2023-24 domestic season, he moved to Tripura cricket team, Tripura. A right-ha ...

Rishi Dhawan Rishi Dhawan (born 19 February 1990) is an Indian cricketer who plays first-class and List A cricket for Himachal Pradesh. Dhawan is primarily a medium-fast bowling all-rounder who bats in the middle-order. Dhawan played for Kings XI Punjab in ...

Barinder Sran Barinder Sran (born 10 December 1992) is a former Indian international cricketer. He is a left-arm medium-fast bowler who played for Punjab and Chandigarh in domestic cricket. He was a member of the Rajasthan Royals squad in the 2015 Indian Pre ...

Manan Vohra Manan Vohra (born 18 July 1993) is an Indian cricketer. He has previously played for the India Under-19 cricket team and most recently has played in the Indian Premier League. Early life Manan is the son of Sanjeev Vohra, and the grandson o ...

Siddarth Kaul Siddarth Kaul (born 19 May 1990), also spelled Siddharth Kaul, is an Indian former professional cricketer. A fast bowler who bowls at about 130 km/h, he made his first-class debut for Punjab in 2007. Kaul was a part of the victorious India Un ...

, and

Shubman Gill Shubman Gill (born 8 September 1999) is an Indian international cricketer who is the captain of the India Test team. Gill is ranked the number one batter in the ODI rankings as of May 2025. Nicknamed as Prince of Indian Cricket and Kaka, Gill ...

. The cricket section is accredited to

Punjab Cricket Association Punjab Cricket Association is the governing body for cricket activities in the state of Punjab in India and the Punjab cricket team. It is affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Currently there are two international cricket ...

(PCA). Minerva clinched JP Atray Cricket Tournament title in Mohali, in September 2005, in their debut season.

Futsal

The

section was included within Minerva Academy in later years, and the team participated in the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

Futsal Club Championship The Futsal Club Championship is the highest level futsal club competition in India, organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The inaugural edition kicked off on 5th November 2021 in New Delhi with 16 teams. It acts as qualifier f ...

organised by the

(AIFF). The club emerged as champion in the 2022–23 edition, and qualified for the

AFC Futsal Club Championship The AFC Futsal Club Championship is the current highest Asian futsal club competition, hosted by the Asian Football Confederation. It is futsal equivalent to AFC Champions League. For the inaugural edition, AFC Futsal Committee decided to make ...

. The club also clinched the Punjab Futsal Club Championship title in 2023 and 2024.

Honours

Association football

League *

From 2017–18 season until 2021–22 season,

and

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 ...

shared joint top flight status in Indian Football. **Champions (1): 2017–18 **Third place (1): 2019–20 *

**Runners-up (1): 2015–16 * Punjab State Super League **Champions (2): 2017–18, 2019–20 **Runners-up (1): 2018–19 *Punjab State Second Division League **Champions (1): 2020–21 *Punjab State Third Division League **Champions (1): 2020–21 Cup * J&K Invitational Cup **Champions (1): 2018Title shared with Real Kashmir. *Harbhajan Singh Memorial All-India Football Tournament **Champions (1): 2018 * Sukhia Gold Cup **Champions (1): 2019 *

Bodousa Cup The Bodousa Cup is an invitational football tournament in India, held across multiple venues of Assam and organised by Bodousa Sports Club of Tinsukia annually under the supervision of Assam Football Association. The tournament was incorporated i ...

**Runners-up (1): 2019 Youth Anthony Andrews after clinching the Youth I-league

Youth League U18 The Youth League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the All India Football Federation. It consists of 3 age groups competitions: U17 (AIFF Youth League), U15 (Junior League) and U13 (Sub-Junior Le ...

**Champions (1): 2018–19 *Punjab State Youth League **Champions (1): 2021–22 *All India Balachur Open Cup **Champions (1): 2018 *Principal Harbhajan Singh Memorial Tournament (U17) **Champions (1): 2022 * Youth League U15Youth League U15 was formerly known as "Nike Premier Cup". **Champions (4): 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 * Youth League U13 **Champions (3): 2017–18, 2023–24, 2024–25 *Chandigarh U17 Youth Championship **Champions (1): 2015 *RFYS National Championship **Champions (1): 2018 *Administrator's U17 Challenge Cup **Champions (1): 2018 *Namdhari Under-17 Football League **Champions (1): 2021 *CISCE Pre-Subroto Cup (U14) **Champions (2): 2023 , 2023 *

Subroto Cup The Subroto Cup International Football Tournament is a prestigious international inter-school football tournament that is held in New Delhi, India. The tournament held annually since 1960, is named after the Indian Air Force Air Marshal Subrot ...

**Champions (1): 2023 International *

(U12) **Champions (1): 2022 *

(U13) **Champions (1): 2023

Futsal

* Hero Futsal Club Championship **Champions (1):

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

*Punjab Futsal Club Championship **Champions (2): 2023, 2024

Cricket

*JP Atray Cricket Trophy **Champions (1): 2005 **Runners-up (1): 2019 *Chandigarh One-day Open Cricket Tournament **Champions (1): 2005 *Amey Tripathi Cricket Championship **Champions (1): 2016 *Uttrakhand Gold Cup **Champions (1): 2016

Notable players

Past and present internationals

The following Minerva Academy/Minerva Punjab players have been capped at '' full international level''. Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club. India Asia (AFC) Africa (CAF) North America (CONCACAF)

Other foreign players

''All the players below, appeared in

, representing the club. * Dzmitry Kowb (2017) *

Kassim Aidara Kassim Aidara (born 12 May 1987) is a Senegalese-French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Aidara started his career with Wellington United of New Zealand and subsequently represented lower league German clubs nam ...

(2017–2018) * William Opoku (2017–2019) * Yu Kuboki (2018) * Philip Njoku (2018–2019) *

Lancine Touré Lancine Touré (born 21 January 1995) is an Ivorian professional footballer, who plays for Bangladesh Police FC in the Bangladesh premier League as a defender. Career Touré started his career with AS GNN of Niger Premier League. In 2015, h ...

(2018–2019) *

Jorge Caceido Jorge Iván Caicedo Rodríguez (born 12 August 1995), sometimes known as El Kaiser, is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Nepal Super League club Dhangadhi. Career Minerva Punjab Jorge Caceido made his professional ...

(2018–2019) *

Dawda Ceesay Dawda Ceesay (born 25 January 1993) is a Gambian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains Bangladesh Premier League club Rahmatganj MFS. He played for Gambia U-17 in the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Club career He has b ...

(2019) * Roland Bilala (2019) *

Juan Quero Juan Quero Barraso (born 17 October 1984) is a Spanish footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Real Aranjuez. Club career Born in Vallecas, Madrid, Quero began playing football for Real Madrid, joining lowly DAV Santa Ana ( fourth ...

(2019) *

Kalif Alhassan Kalif Alhassan (born 15 October 1990 in Accra) is a Ghanaian footballer. Career Professional Alhassan began his career with Ghana Premier League side Liberty Professionals in 2007, helping the club to the semifinals of the 2009 WAFU Club Cha ...

(2019) * Sérgio Barboza Júnior (2019–2020) * Aser Pierrick Dipanda (2019–2020) * Jay Hart (2019–2020) *

Danilo Quipapá Danilo Augusto Chapoval de Azevedo (born 21 February 1994) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defender. Club career Born in Brazil, Danilo joined the squad of Série A side Náutico, in the 2014 season. However, he didn ...

(2019–2021)

Affiliations & partnerships

''The following clubs/academies are/were affiliated with Minerva Academy FC:'' Club * Techtro Swades United (2020–) *

(2020–) * Techtro Lucknow (2020–) *

(2019–2020) Academy * Chandigarh Football Academy (2015–) * Kick Football Academy (2019–) * Poirei Lamdam Football Academy (2022–)

Footnotes

References

Cited sources Bibliography * * Further reading * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Minerva Academy FC
on

AIFF AIFF may refer to: * Audio Interchange File Format * All India Football Federation, the national governing body of Association football in India Film festivals * Addis International Film Festival, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia * Alexandria Internation ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minerva Academy FC Minerva Academy FC Football academies in India Youth football in India 2005 establishments in India

History and overview

2005–2020

2020–present

Crest and colours

Stadiums

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Records and statistics

Overall records

Continental records

Other records

Performance in AFC competitions

Managerial record

Minerva youth

Youth and academy

Notable Minerva youth graduates/players

Other departments

Cricket

Futsal

Honours

Association football

Futsal

Cricket

Notable players

Past and present internationals

Other foreign players

Affiliations & partnerships

Footnotes

See also

References

External links