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This edition of the Hero I-League had one of the most thrilling finishes in the tournament's history. Four out of the 10 teams were vying for the championship on D-Day, with Minerva Punjab scripting a historic win in the final day to clinch their maiden I-League trophy.
This season saw a lot of thrilling encounters with both the big two of Kolkata being in the title race till the last game of the season.
Northeast India discovered a new powerhouse(in terms of clubs), in NEROCA who finished second in the league against all odds.
The I-League teams also got the better of their cousins, the ISL franchises in the Super Cup, with five of the eight quarterfinalists being from the cash-deprived I-League.
Another success story has to be the rise of the Indian Arrows, even though they finished the league in the 10th spot, their style of play and never say die attitude won all hearts. Their tendency to gain points from unlikely situations added a different flavour to the league.
In this article, we take a look at the season ratings of all the 10 clubs who played in the I-league and Super Cup.
#10 Indian Arrows(7/10)
Some of you reading this piece probably will not agree with the rating given to them, but believe me, these young lads exceeded expectations this season.
They had to play most of the league without their star man and national hero goalkeeper, Dheeraj Singh who has gone on to sign for Scottish side Motherwell. Despite the loss of their guardian between the posts, the blue cubs put in a spirited display in every game.
This was the youngest ever Arrows side to play in the I-League and they gave a good account of their playing abilities.
The way they took Mumbai City FC to extra time in the Super Cup is another proof of how good a season they had despite the stats stating otherwise.
Their age, inexperience, and physicality all had a role to play in the position they finished in the league, but they won a lot of hearts with their style of play.
Naorem scored the I-League goal of the season, and Abhijeet Sarkar finished as the highest Indian goal scorer in the I-league.
#9 Churchill Brothers(5/10)
The lone representative from Goa in this season’s I-League finished ninth in the league and were relegated, or to say officially finished in the relegation spot(since Arrows are immune to relegation Churchill is the team which will be relegated).
Churchill has had its glory years, but now are battling survival in the I-League. They started the league poorly, and things went bad to worse.
They eventually sacked coach Mykola Schevchenko and also signed five new players in a single day, which was seen as a knee-jerk reaction by many. The new additions though failed to make any meaningful impact, in the I-League.
The Red Machine did manage to salvage some pride in this season when they got the better of Delhi Dynamos in the Super Cup. Their win against the ISL side started a series of victories for the I-League sides against their much-fancied rich rivals from ISL, in the Super Cup.
#8 Chennai City FC (5.5/10)
The one-man team will be the best description of the team from Tamil Nadu. They relied heavily on Michael Soosairaj (the league’s midfielder of the season), and the man did eventually bail them out on a couple of occasions.
The days Soosairaj failed Chennai seemed to drift into an abyss. Off-field issues seemed to hamper their season as well, with a rift between the players and the coach being highlighted during the season.
The positives for them though would be the performance of their young Indian players like Michael, and Arjun.
They had a disappointing Super Cup campaign as they crashed out in the qualifiers to ATK after losing 4-1. They were completely overrun in the game and failed to do anything meaningful during the 90 minutes.
#7 Gokulam Kerala FC(7/10)
The newest kid in the block, Gokulam got off to a slow start in the I-League but eventually gained speed and went on to earn the tag of ‘Giant Killers’ after having beaten the all the top placed teams.
It was Gokulam’s late surge in the league that disrupted a lot of equations, for the other teams. Good foreign signings with a young, energetic Indian contingent seemed to have worked wonders for Gokulam this season.
A lot of the ISL and I-League clubs have already started poaching their players for next season.
Gokulam continued their dream late run into the Super Cup. They eliminated Northeast United in the first round and almost eliminated eventual Champions Bengaluru FC in the second round.
Gokulam’s seventh spot finish in the I-League and Second Round exit in the Super Cup can eventually count as a huge success given the club spent the first half of the season sitting in the relegation spot.
#6 Shillong Lajong (6.5/10)
The Southampton of Indian Football, Shillong Lajong, is India’s ever-present mid-table team. With most of their last season’s team having joined the ISL, the Reds from Shillong fielded a team which included only their academy graduates, in the Indian contingent.
They had the lowest average age among all the professional clubs playing in the I-League and were led by a 19-year-old boy named Samuel Lalmuanpuia.
Lalmuanpia was the youngest captain in the I-League excluding the Indian Arrows team. Lajong finished sixth in the league and it is seen as a good achievement given the youngsters present in their side.
Their biggest achievement this season has to be the victory over FC Pune City in the Super Cup. They overcame all odds in a tie which had all the bets stacked against them, but the young, resilient boys from Shillong achieved victory in the most unlikely situation.
#5 Aizawl FC (6/10)
Last season’s champions Aizawl had a topsy-turvy season. They saw most of their players from last season move to bigger clubs and had to build a team from scratch.
They had issues off the field too with their coach Paulo Menezes being sacked halfway through the season.
Santosh Kashyap was roped in to guide the team till the end of the season. Their inconsistent form this season had a big role to play in the position they finished in the I-League.
They did a brilliant job to oust ISL champions Chennaiyin FC in the second round of the Super Cup and fought brilliantly against East Bengal in the third round.
Their inexperience and burden of playing in Asia got the better of them as they failed to manage to play in Asia and the cup tie simultaneously.
Their form is Asia has been very poor as they lie bottom of the group with just one game to play.
#4 East Bengal (5/10)
I would have rated them a few points lower if only the I-League campaign was taken into account, but finishing as the Super Cup runners-up got them those extra points.
East Bengal bottled up and choked in the final stages of the I-League like they have been doing for the past 14 years.
This season though the equation was crystal clear for them, with two games remaining, they had to win both the games to be crowned champions.
None of the other teams had a clear scenario like that, but the Khalid Jamil coached side drew both their games to finish fourth in the league. Off the field, issues have been plaguing the Red and Golds for some time now, and it had an effect in the I-League too.
East Bengal had a decent run in the Super Cup, reaching the finals of the tournament, but choked in the finals as they bowed down to a superior Bengaluru FC.
Khalid Jamil’s tactics this season has been questionable as his defensive-minded strategy seemed to backfire on most occasions.
His spat with Technical Director Subhas Bhowmick had a mental effect on the players during the Super Cup which eventually resulted in the club's defeat in the finals.
#3 Mohun Bagan (5/10)
While it was raining sorrow in the East Bengal half of town, it wasn’t all rosy for the Mariners, who were riding a storm in the middle of the I-League.
Bagan started the League in a good way winning their first game away and then defeating East Bengal in the derby, but then everything seemed to go south as Sony Norde got injured and left for his homeland, Sanjoy Sen resigned in dramatic fashion, after having had shoes and chairs hurled at him, some of the fans even spat on him.
After Sen’s resignation, Shankar Lal took over the reigns of a sinking ship and eventually managed to anchor it on shore, by finishing the I-League above their arch-rivals East Bengal. Bagan made some crucial mid-season singings in Cameroon Watson and Akram Moghrabi, both had a role in ensuring the Mariners stayed in the title race till the end of the season.
Bagan had a relatively easy Super Cup campaign till the semi-finals, as they faced only I-League sides in the tournament, but eventually bowed down to the Champions Bengaluru FC.
#2 NEROCA FC (8/10)
The best performers this season for me has been NEROCA FC. The newly promoted side from the I League 2nd division made a statement to all those people who were talking about Manipur’s demise as a footballing powerhouse in India.
Most of the Indian players in NEROCA were local Manipuri boys.Their mix of experience with youthful exuberance paid off brilliantly as they showcased eye-catching football throughout the season.
Their fans made it a daunting task for opposing players to play in Imphal by filling the stands in numbers, and overall as a product NEROCA FC has been the best thing that the I-League had to offer this season.
Their victory against Kerala Blasters in the Super Cup added another feather in their cap, and it showed the ability of their coach Gift Raikhan to turn around games.
Finishing as the I-League’s runners-up and reaching the quarter-final of the Super Cup, even the staunchest of NEROCA fans couldn’t have dreamt of a debut season like this one.
#1 Minerva Punjab FC (9/10)
Grit, Determination, Hard work, and Hunger for success, is what one can learn from Minerva’s success this season.
If at the start of the season anyone in their right minds predicted that Minerva were going to be champions then either he/she was lying or they were daydreaming, but now everyone is still trying to get a grasp of what really happened in the I-League.
Minerva's approach this season was really professional, as their strict coaching regime under Khogen Singh and hands-on approach by owner Ranjit Bajaj ensured that Minerva had always been a step ahead of the rest.
Their emphasis on statistical analysis of opponents and physical fitness paid dividends at the end of the season. Adding to those factors were their foreign signings, as the likes of Chencho and Kassim Aidara took the league by storm.
Minerva’s Super cup sojourn wasn’t so rosy like their I-League campaign, as they were eliminated by Jamshedpur FC in their first game in the tournament.
Their unwillingness to play in the tournament also could have had a part in their lacklustre performance in the Cup tie.
