NorthEast United FC

NorthEast United FC, commonly referred to as NEUFC, is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football.[1] The club represents the 8 states of India known as North East India which consist Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Mizoram.[2] The club is owned and operated by Bollywood actor John Abraham.[1]

NorthEast United
Full nameNorthEast United Football Club
Nickname(s)The Highlanders
Founded13 April 2014 (2014-04-13)
GroundIndira Gandhi Athletic Stadium
Capacity35,000
OwnerJohn Abraham
ManagerKhalid Jamil (Interim)
LeagueIndian Super League
2019–20Indian Super League, 9th of 10
Playoffs: DNQ
WebsiteClub website
Departments of Northeast United FC
Football (Men's) Football (Reserves Men's) Football (Youth Men's)

History

Formation

In early 2014, it was announced that the All India Football Federation, the national federation for football in India, and IMG-Reliance would be accepting bids for ownership of eight of nine selected cities for the upcoming Indian Super League, an eight-team franchise league modeled along the lines of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament.[3] On 13 April 2014, it was announced that the Bollywood actor John Abraham and Shillong Lajong Football Club had won the bidding for the franchise.

On 16 July 2014, the club signed Joan Capdevila, a European Championship and World Cup winning defender with Spain, as its marquee player. He said: "India is a huge country and it should be a privilege for me to be a small part in popularizing this global game here and working with the young talented footballers of North East India".[4]

On 19 August the club hired its first manager, New Zealander Ricki Herbert, who had represented and managed his nation at World Cups.[5]

2014 season: The first season

On 13 October 2014, the team won their first ISL match at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Spaniard Koke scoring the only goal of the game to defeat Kerala Blasters.[6] The team did not make the end-of-season play-offs, finishing in last place among the eight teams.

2015 season: Narrowly missed play-offs

For their second season, NorthEast United signed former Portugal international Simão Sabrosa as their new marquee signing.[7] On 1 July 2015 the team announced their manager for the 2015 season, former Venezuela national coach, César Farías. The team lost all three of their opening matches with Simão absent through injury, but then earned a 2–0 home win over Chennaiyin FC in which the marquee player won and dispatched an added-time penalty kick to open the scoring.[8] The club entered the top-four for semi-finals by the end of the season but lost their position to Chennaiyin, who defeated Pune City to gain 3 points and secure the spot.

2016 season: Nelo Vingada, Velez, Alfaro era

On 13 May 2016, NorthEast United announced Sérgio Farias as the club's new manager.[9] However, Sérgio Farias joined his former club Suphanburi FC for a second stint forcing NorthEast United to look for a new coach. On July 9, 2016, NorthEast United officially announced Sérgio Farias' exit.[10] On July 23, 2016, NorthEast United announced Nelo Vingada as the club's new manager.[11] The club also appointed Francisco Bruto Da Costa as their Assistant Manager.[12] The club again got a chance to enter the top-four for semi-finals if they defeat Kerala Blasters but lost and hence, losing their semi-final chance. The club scored 14 goals and conceded 14 goals in that season. More than half of the goals (8) were scored by the South American duo Nicholas Velez and Emiliano Alfaro with 3 and 5 goals respectively.

2017—18 season: A forgettable season

On 17 July 2017, in hope for a great season NorthEast United signed the young Portuguese manager Joao Carlos Pires de Deus.[13] After playing its preseason games in Antalya, Turkey. The team began its season against the ISL debutants Jamshedpur FC. The game ended in a draw with neither side managing to find the back of the net despite NorthEast playing against a 10 men Jamshedpur in the last 20 minutes.[14] Next they played Chennaiyin FC in Chennai, where they failed to keep the record of never losing in Chennai after losing 3–0.[15] NorthEast witnessed their first win of the season where they defeated Delhi Dynamos 0–2 in the opponent's ground. The first goal of the match came from Marcinho in the 17th minute, when a cross by Halicharan Narzary from the left flank found him unmarked inside the box. The second goal came from the striker Danilo in the 22nd minute, when he pressured the Delhi custodian Albino Gomes and made him make error inside his own box, leaving an open goal for Danilo to score his first and last goal of the season and, 500th goal of the league.[16] It was followed by a 4 match losing streak right after which the Portuguese manager was sacked.[17] The team management brought in the ex-Chelsea boss Avram Grant as a technical advisor who acted as a caretaker manager in the absence of Joao.[18] He was later promoted to Head Coach on 12 January 2018, after the team released an official statement about Joao's sacking.[19] The team won 2 out of the first 3 games under Grant, where they defeated FC Goa 2–1[20] and Chennaiyin FC 3–1[21] at home. Seiminlen Doungel scored the first ever hat-trick for NorthEast United in that match. The team failed to win a single match after that, ending the season in a long 8 match winless streak in which they drew 1 match and lost all other matches. They finished the season at the last position managing to win only 3 matches and scoring 12, which was the lowest for the season. Overall the team didn't perform well enough. It was the worst performance in the season since the club came into existence

On 19 February 2018, AIFF announced the Indian Super Cup as a replacement for the Federation Cup. It will be played between 16 teams, the top 6 teams of ISL and I-League and the remaining 4 will be picked through a qualifier played between the bottom 4 from both league. NorthEast United participated in the Cup Qualifiers for the 4 remaining spots. NorthEast United played their qualifier match against Gokulam Kerala on 15 March 2018 which they lost 2–0 and got eliminated.

2018—19 season: Eelco Schatorrie era, maiden play-offs

Lineup against Bengaluru FC in 2018-19 Indian Super League semi-finals leg 1

2018-19 is the fifth season of the club's existence. The season started with a positive start under coach Eelco Schatorrie with NorthEast United drawing with Goa and two consecutive wins over ATK and defending champions Chennaiyin. Against Chennaiyin, NorthEast United made a thrilling comeback after down 3-1 in 35th minute to 3-3 in first half and winning the match 4-3. After Some thrilling victories against Kerala Blasters and Chennaiyan the club strengthened its way to the playoffs. After playing 17 matches and getting 28 points Northeast United finally qualified for the playoffs with Jamshedpur losing a chance to the playoffs with a draw against Chennaiyan FC and also for Super Cup. They also lost the fewest matches and conceded the fewest goals of any team in the league. They also made a club record of 29 points. Former Nigerian international Bartholomew Ogbeche became the highest goalscorer of the club scoring 12 goals. NorthEast United became a major force in the league driven by the trio of Borges-Ogbeche-Gallego. They defeated Bengaluru in the first leg of semi-finals with 'Boot Jolokia' Mascia scoring in the dying moments in the game. Northeast United lost their second leg against Bengaluru which also saw Federico Gallego getting injured. The aggregate score was 4-2.

In the Super Cup, the team reached quarter-finals after fellow northeastern club NEROCA didn't play the match in round of 16 hence, giving them a walkover. In the quarter-finals, they lost to Chennaiyin by 1-2. After a successful season, the team was 'dismantled'. Head Coach Schattorie and top-scorer Ogbeche moving to Kerala Blasters, Borges moving to Mumbai City.

Fan's Player of the Season (2018—19)
Position Player
Goalkeeper Pawan Kumar[22]
Defender Gurwinder Singh[23]
Forward Panagiotis Triadis
Forward Bartholomew Ogbeche

2019—20 season

2019—20 is the sixth season of the club's existence. The season started well for the club and they managed to stay unbeaten for 6 games and on the top half of the table. But the club failed to carry on the momentum and remained winless for the rest of the season. The club also lost their scoring boots not managing to score in 6 matches out of 7 matches that followed and losing its Marquee striker Asamoah Gyan to an injury in the early half of the season. The head coach Robert Jarni was sacked in the later half of the season and replaced by Assistant Manager and Head of Academy Khalid Jamil. Robert Jarni managed his final match against Jamshedpur which ended in a 3-3 draw. The club failed to reach the play-offs, and were at 9th place at the end of the season.

2020—21 season

The club appointed Gerard Nus, a Spanish manager as their head coach and also signed the mauritian international Khassa Camara ,Ghanian striker Kwesi Appiah and Belgium defender Benjamin Lambot. The club announced the retention of their star goalkeeper Subashish roy and some local indian players.They also retained their Uruguyan midfeilder Federico Gallego. They signed some great indian players Rocharzella , Lalengmawia , Autosh Mehta and Gurjinder Kumar. They signed Luis Machado, Idrissa Sylla and Dylan Fox as their AFC player. The team played their first match of the season against Mumbai City FC and won it by 1-0 as Kwesi Appiah scored a penalty. The club parted ways with coach Gerard Nus after 11 matches in the ISL season.[24]

Stadium

Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium during ISL match of NorthEast United

NorthEast United FC play their home matches at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati. In 2014, to meet FIFA regulations, the stadium was renovated and its capacity was increased from 12,000 to 35,000. Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium hosted the opening ceremony of ISL 2016. NorthEast had the highest attendance on 20 October 2016, when a record attendance of 32,844 turned up to witness the match between NorthEast United and Chennaiyin FC. The capacity was again reduced to 23,850 after the installation of bucket seats for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. The stadium saw the lowest attendance in the history of ISL when only 1,121 fans turned up to witness the match played between NorthEast United FC and Kerala Blasters FC on 17 February 2018.[25]

Supporters

The unofficial supporters group of the club is the Highlander Brigade.[26][27] The fan club can be traced back to its roots where it was merely a WhatsApp group formed out of a handful of followers of a Facebook page "NorthEast United FC Fans". They not only support NorthEast United but also support the Indian team.

Before the fourth season of the Indian Super League, keeping an eye on the occasion, a major chunk of the group members decided to meet and attempt to do something big. And under the tutelage of key members helming certain responsibilities, the Brigade grew and spread out rapidly.

The Highlander Brigade host football-related events in the city. To ensure that the football culture remains proactive in the city, the brigade plans to indulge in more fan activities in the future as well.

Even after a lackluster fourth season for the club, the Highlander Brigade could be seen cheering them on with the red-white-black flags and banners thumping down the beats in a raging winter cold under the lights. Therefore, they were received fondly by the club and the players.

Highlander Brigade remains an excited bunch of people in a football crazy region and along with the other fan clubs of the country, they form a pivotal part of the umbrella of football culture as fans in India.

Fan park

NorthEast United organises its fan park in Sarusajai Stadium. It attracts large number of supporters. Several events like music and dance are organised in the fan park.[28][29]

Rivalries

NorthEast United played the Eastern Derby or East Indian Rivalry against neighbouring club Jamshedpur FC. NorthEast United now also shares a new rivalry with kolkata based clubs East Bengal & ATK Mohun Bagan. The two rival clubs along with NEUFC represent two football crazy regions of India and also have one of the huge fan base.

Crest and colours

The crest of NorthEast United FC is featured with 8 stars at the top representing each state of Northeast India. The crest is designed with red, black and white applications, with the club name written in bold letters between the main crest and the stars. The club changed the crest with an entirely gold crest for its third season of ISL. It was changed back to the original color after the end of the season.

Kit Evolution

2014
2016, 2017—18
2015, 2018—19
2019—Present

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2014 Adidas HTC
2015—2016 Performax
2017—2019 McDowell's No.1
2019—2020 Federal Bank
2020—present JA Entertainment

Players

Current squad

As of 1 November 2020[30]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  IND Subhasish Roy Chowdhury
3 DF  IND Wayne Vaz
4 DF  IND Provat Lakra
5 DF  IND Gurjinder Kumar
6 MF  MTN Khassa Camara
7 MF  IND Ninthoinganba Meetei
8 MF  IND Imran Khan
10 MF  URU Federico Gallego
11 FW  GUI Idrissa Sylla
12 DF  IND Ashutosh Mehta
15 FW  IND V.P. Suhair
16 DF  AUS Dylan Fox
19 DF  BEL Benjamin Lambot
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 FW  POR Luís Machado
23 MF  IND Fanai Lalrempuia
25 DF  IND Nabin Rabha
26 FW  JAM Deshorn Brown
27 FW  IND Lalkhawpuimawia
29 DF  IND Nim Dorjee Tamang
31 GK  IND Gurmeet Singh
33 DF  IND Rakesh Pradhan
43 MF  IND Pragyan Gogoi
44 GK  IND Nikhil Deka
45 MF  IND Lalengmawia
50 MF  IND Britto PM
51 GK  IND Sanjiban Ghosh
54 DF  IND Ponif Vaz
66 DF  IND Mashoor Shereef
77 MF  IND Rochharzela

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF  IND Rakesh Pradhan (to Odisha FC till 31 May 2021)

Other Players on contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
FW  GHA Kwesi Appiah (Injured)

Reserves and Academy Players

Notable former players

See: List of NorthEast United FC's Notable Former players

Ownership

NorthEast United is owned by John Abraham, who is an Indian Bollywood actor, producer and former model,[31] and it is the only ISL club that is not owned by any company or corporation.

During his younger days, John had an ambition for playing football for India before becoming an actor. When he got the opportunity for investing in a football club during the formation of ISL, instead of investing in his hometown of Mumbai, he invested in Northeast India, a football hotbed in the country. His wife Priya Runchal is the chairperson of the club.[32]

Current technical staff

Position Name
Head coach Khalid Jamil (Interim)
Assistant Coach Ivan Piñol
Assistant Coach Alison Kharsyntiew
Head of Academy Khalid Jamil[33]
Technical Director Ohad Efrat
Goalkeeping coach Asier Rey Santìn
Chairperson Priya Runchal
Team Manager Shahashad Muhammed
Kit Manager Ishaan Alsi
Media Manager Anurag Saikia
Team Doctor Tanveer Siddiqui
Sports Therapist Adith KD

Statistics and records

Season by season

Season Teams Position Pld. W D L GF GA GD Pts. League Top Scorer Goals Manager Super Cup
2014 8 8th 14 3 6 5 11 13 -2 15 Koke 4 Ricki Herbert No Cup
2015 8 5th 14 6 2 6 18 23 -5 20 Nicolás Vélez 5 César Farías
2016 8 5th 14 5 3 6 14 14 0 18 Emiliano Alfaro 5 Nelo Vingada
2017—18 10 10th 18 3 2 13 12 27 -15 11 Len
Marcinho
4 Avram Grant
Joao de Deus until 3 January (sacked)
DNQ
(inaugural)
2018—19 10 4th 18 7 8 3 22 18 +4 29 Ogbeche 12 Eelco Schattorie Quarter-finals
2019—20 10 9th 18 2 8 8 16 30 -14 13 Asamoah Gyan 4 Khalid Jamil
Robert Jarni until 10 February (sacked)
Not organised
2020—21 11 5th 15 5 7 3 21 20 1 22 Luís Machado

Federico Gallego

4 Khalid Jamil

Gerard Nus until 13 January (sacked)

TBD

Records

As of 10 November 2020

Team Records

Source:[34] [35] ***Stats counted for domestic league only***

Top goalscorers

# Name Year Goals
1 Bartholomew Ogbeche 2018—1912 (18)
2 Federico Gallego 2018—Present9 (31)
3 Nicolás Vélez 2015—20168 (25)
4 Emiliano Alfaro 20165 (13)
Seiminlen Doungel 2014, 2017—20185 (25)
5 Asamoah Gyan 2019—20204 (8)
Koke 20144 (12)
Marcinho 2017—20184 (16)
Redeem Tlang 2014, 2018—20204 (36)
Rowlin Borges 2015—20194 (48)
Luís Machado 2020- 4 (12)

Top assists

Rank Name Years Assists
1
Federico Gallego2018—Present10 (31)
2 Koke20144 (12)
Halicharan Narzary2015—20184 (28)
4 Sanju Pradhan20153 (11)
Diomansy Kamara20153 (12)
Martín Cháves2019—2020 3 (18)
Nicolás Vélez2015—20163 (25)

Most appearances

# Name Position Years Appearance
1 Reagan Singh DF 2015—202068
2 Rehenesh TP GK 2014—201950
3 Rowllin Borges MF 2016—201948
4Redeem Tlang MF 2014, 2018—202036
5 José David Leudo MF 2018—202033
6 Federico Gallego MF 2018—Present31
7Lalthathanga Khawlhring MF 2018—202029
8 Holicharan Narzary MF 2015—201828
9 Nicolás Vélez FW 2015—201625
Seminlen Doungel MF 2014, 2017—201825

Managerial

Name Nationality From To
Ricki Herbert New Zealand 13 October 2014 20 December 2014
César Farías Venezuela 30 June 2015 20 December 2015
Nelo Vingada Portugal 23 July 2016 15 May 2017[36]
João de Deus Portugal 17 July 2017 3 January 2018
Avram Grant Israel 4 January 2018
(caretaker)
12 January 2018
(Head Coach)
14 August 2018
Eelco Schattorie Netherlands 17 August 2018[37] 19 May 2019
Robert Jarni Croatia 5 August 2019 10 February 2020
Khalid Jamil (caretaker) India 10 February 2020 5 August 2020
Gerard Nus Spain 25 August 2020 13 January 2021
Khalid Jamil India 14 January 2021

References

  1. Basu, Saumyajit. "Stars embrace football through Indian Super League". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 June 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  2. "John Abraham: From Bollywood star to the football boardroom at NorthEast United". 23 March 2019. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019 via www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. "Indian Super League sees interest from 30 franchise bidders". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  4. Bali, Rahul (16 July 2014). "Capdevila: 'It's a privilege to popularize football in India'". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  5. "Herbert 'looking forward' to Indian Super League". 3news. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  6. Ganguily, Abhishek (13 October 2014). "ISL: NorthEast United ride high on Koke, beat Kerala Blasters 1–0". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  7. "Former Portugal winger Simao Sabrosa joins Indian Super League". ESPN FC. 26 June 2015. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  8. "Indian Super League: NorthEast United 2–0 Chennaiyin FC: Simao & Velez earn first points for NorthEast". Goal.com. 20 October 2015. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  9. "Sergio Farias to NorthEast United". NorthEast United FC (Twitter). 13 May 2016. Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  10. "Sergio Farias exits NorthEast United". NorthEast United FC (Twitter). 9 July 2016. Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  11. "NorthEast United FC announce Nelo Vingada as the club's new manager". NorthEast United FC (Twitter). 15 July 2016. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  12. "NorthEast United FC rope in Francisco Bruto Da Costa as assistant coach for ISL 3". ANI News. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  13. "Joao Carlos Pires signs with NorthEast United". NorthEast United FC (Twitter).
  14. "NorthEast drew against 10 men Jamshedpur". 18 November 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  15. "Chennaiyin defeats NorthEast". 23 November 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  16. "NorthEast register first win". 2 December 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  17. "Joao de Deus sacked". Archived from the original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  18. "Grant to take over as stand-in coach". Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  19. "Grant officially NorthEast head coach". Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  20. "First win for Grant". 6 January 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  21. "Len hat-trick". Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  22. "Pawan Kumar wins Fan's Goalkeeper of the season". 13 April 2019. Archived from the original on 14 June 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  23. "Gurwinder Singh wins Fan's defender of the season". 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on 12 June 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  24. "Same story continues at struggling NorthEast United camp; coach Gerard Nus departs". 13 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  25. "lowest ISL attendance". 17 February 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  26. "Highlander Brigade – NorthEast United FC". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  27. "Highlander Brigade (@HighlanderB8) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  28. Now, Khel. "Northeast united Fan Park to host various musical performances on Monday This fan park is started from october 2018". khelnow.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  29. "Colourful show for football fans at NEUFC Fan Park » Northeast Today". Northeast Today. 1 October 2018. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  30. "The official Website of the Hero Indian Super League | 0 Squad, Fixtures, Live Scores, Videos, Players & more | http://www.indiansuperleague.com". Indian Super League. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  31. "John Abraham enters Bollywood with Jism". The Times of India. 10 January 2003. Archived from the original on 22 March 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  32. "John Abraham: From Bollywood star to the football boardroom at NorthEast United". 23 March 2019. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  33. "Former Aizawl FC coach Khalid Jamil joins NorthEast United FC". The News Mill. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  34. "India " Indian Super League " All-time appearances " NorthEast United FC " rank 1 – 50". World Football. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  35. "ISL Statistics". IndianSuperLeague(official). Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  36. "Vingada leaves NorthEast United FC". NorthEast United FC (Twitter).
  37. "Eelco appointed as Head coach". Retrieved 17 August 2018.
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