Jamshedpur FC

Jamshedpur FC is a professional football club that is based in the industrial city of Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and plays in the Indian Super League. They play their home games at the JRD Tata Sports Complex which has a seating capacity of 24,424. Owing to the rich history of the city’s hand in India’s steel industry, the team is also known as the “Men of Steel”. In fact their home stadium is also called “The Furnace” for that very reason.

One of the two new clubs introduced in the 2017-18 season after the Indian Super League opened up two expansion spots, Jamshedpur FC joined alongside Bengaluru FC.

For the upcoming 2020-21 ISL season, they will be captained by former Premier League playing centre-back Peter Hartley. The 32-year-old comes after a successful stint with Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League where his side finished third with Hartley playing 25 matches. This is going to be his first time playing in ISL and he will be looking forward to test his prime qualities against the domestic players. Jamshedpur FC will be coached by former Chennaiyin FC manager Owen Coyle, who led his former side from the bottom of the table to runners-up position in the last season of ISL.

Background

The club was formed after Tata Steel, a subsidiary of the Tata Group won the bid for forming two new teams which will feature from the 2017-18 season. The steel giants have been a pioneer in the development of sports in India, and will be looking for a new project with Jamshedpur FC.

The owners host an annual community football cup, which is participated by over 25,000 locals. They even have a decent grassroots programme to bring out the talent in young footballers, who are then selected to play for the ‘B’ team.

Trajectory in the ISL

Jamshedpur FC have played in the last three seasons of ISL so far. However, the team hasn't qualified for the playoffs for a single time. They finished at the fifth spot in their first two seasons, but crumbled to the eighth position in the points table last season.

Low Points

Jamshedpur FC finished just two spots above the bottom of the pile last season despite having the highest average stadium attendance in the league. The Men of Steel began their campaign on a high note, picking up 10 points in their first five matches. However, Jamshedpur FC picked up only eight points in their next thirteen matches, with injuries to their key foreign players like Piti and Sergio Castel hampering their prospects.

Key Players for 2020-21

Jamshedpur FC's key acquisition has been Nerijus Valskis from Chennaiyin FC. The Lithuanian striker won the Golden Boot last season after scoring 15 goals and bagging 6 assists for his former side. Jackichand Singh is another household name in Indian Football whom the fans should keep an eye on as he dazzled FC Goa's right wing last season. Amarjit Singh Kiyam and Jitendra Singh are the young players Jamshedpur FC fans can keep an eye on as they were a part of India's FIFA U-17 World Cup squad with the former leading the outfit.

Goalkeeper Subrata Paul will be the biggest miss for Jamshedpur FC as the Indian Spiderman joins Hyderabad FC. He won the Golden Glove award for his heroic saves in Jamshedpur FC's inaugural ISL season. The departure of Farukh Choudhary to Mumbai City FC will also be a big setback for the club as he was one of the rising stars of the competition.