Odisha FC

Odisha Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football.

Odisha FC
Full nameOdisha Football Club
Nickname(s)The Kalinga Warriors
Juggernauts
Short nameOFC
Founded
  • 16 July 2014 (2014-07-16), as Delhi Dynamos FC
  • 31 August 2019 (2019-08-31), as Odisha FC
GroundKalinga Stadium
Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Capacity15,000[1]
OwnerGMS Inc.[2]
PresidentRaj Athwal[3]
Head CoachGerry Peyton (interim)
LeagueIndian Super League
2019–20Indian Super League, 6th of 10
WebsiteClub website
Odisha FC
Active Departments
Football
(Men's)		 Football Reserves
(Men's)
Football U15
(Men's)		 Football U13
(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 or 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.[4] On 13 April 2014, it was announced that DEN Networks had won the bidding for the Delhi franchise.[5] The team had entered an alliance with Dutch club Feyenoord which lasted only for one year.[6]

Re−branding

On 31 August 2019, Delhi Soccer Private Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Odisha, to shift the home base from the national capital New Delhi to Bhubaneswar, Odisha and re-branded the franchise as Odisha FC. The new home for the team was decided to be the Kalinga Stadium at Bhubaneswar.[7] As per the MoU, it was mutually decided that the club's first team, youth teams, youth football development program and grassroots football development program will be based in Odisha.[8]

Delhi Dynamos (2014−2019)

The team started their campaign in the inaugural Indian Super League season on 14 October 2014 with a 0–0 draw against FC Pune City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. The Dynamos did not experience the best of starts to their ISL campaign as they lagged behind at the last place till the 9th Round. The team rejuvenated and regrouped to climb out of the situation to finish in 5th place with a five match unbeaten run which included three wins and two draws. Delhi narrowly missed out on qualification for the semi-finals falling short only by a point. In the 2015 season, Delhi Dynamos qualified for the first time for the semi-finals of the Indian Super League with the fewest games played in 2015. In the 2016 season, the club finished third in the league stage with 21 points[9] and lost to the Kerala Blasters FC in the semi-finals of the season. In the 2017–18 season, the club finished eighth in the league stage with 19 points[10] and couldn't qualify for semi-finals of the season. In the 2018–19 season, the club again finished eighth in the league round with 18 points[11] and couldn't qualify for the semi-finals of the season.

Odisha (2019−)

Odisha had to play their first three home fixtures of the 2019−20 season at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune due to unavailability of the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.[12] Odisha started off their season on 22 October 2019, with a 2−1 loss in an away match against Jamshedpur at the JRD Tata Sports Complex.[13] In their second fixture they faced another defeat; this time against the NorthEast United.[14] Odisha secured their first ever win in their third fixture registering a 4−2 victory against Mumbai City at the Mumbai Football Arena. Decent first half display pushed Odisha to a good start, scoring three goals by Xisco Hernández, Aridane Santana and Jerry Mawihmingthanga in the 6th, 21st and 41st minutes respectively. Mohamed Larbi pulled one back for the hosts at the 51st minute. Santana's second goal in the 73rd minute only firmed their victory. However, Mumbai pulled another one back at the 90+5th minute, but that wasn't enough to register a win.[15] In the next remaining 15 matches of the league, Odisha registered six wins, four draws and five losses to end the season at the 6th spot with 25 points on the league table.[16] Later, on 18 March 2020, due to the head coach's familial obligations, Odisha parted ways with Josep Gombau.[17]

Crest and colours

Crest
The first crest of the club as Odisha FC
(2019)

On 16 September 2019 the club unveiled its official logo.[18] Design of the crest is inspired from the Chakras or the chariot wheels of the famous Konark Sun Temple, a World Heritage Site in Odisha which represents culture and heritage, and embodies a ship design which symbolizes GMS, the parent company of the club, which represents progress and development of the state.[18][2]

Since 2014, the club had multiple deals with various kit manufacturers, with Lotto for the first season 2014−2015, Puma for 2015−2016, Dryworld for 2016−2017, T10 Sports for 2017−2018, TYKA for the final season of Delhi Dynamos as club name. TYKA continued as the kit manufacturers for the inaugural season of Odisha as club name, followed by T10 Sports, the current manufacturers.

Kit evolution
Delhi Dynamos (2014)
Delhi Dynamos (2015)
Delhi Dynamos
(2016−2018)
Delhi Dynamos (2018−2019)
Odisha
(2019−2020)
Odisha
(2020−)

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors
Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2014—2015 Lotto FreeCharge
2015—2016 Puma EKANA Sportz City
2016—2017 Dryworld GMS
2017—2018 T10 Sports Kent RO Systems
2018—2019 TYKA Andslite
2019—2020 Odisha Sports
2020—present T10 Sports

Stadium
Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar
Main article: Kalinga Stadium

On 31 August 2019, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of Sports and Youth Services (DSYS) of the Government of Odisha, it was mutually decided to re-brand the franchise as Odisha FC with its base being the 15,000 capacity Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, operated by DSYS.[7][8] Previously, the 60,000 capacity Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, owned by Sports Authority of India was the home ground of the club when its franchise name was Delhi Dynamos FC. The club under the brand franchise name Delhi Dynamos FC, played first five seasons of Indian Super League, from 2014 season to 2018–19 at the JLN. But due to various economic factors and failure to maintain a sustained attendance for home games over the course of the seasons at the JLN, the then owner of the franchise Dr. Anil Sharma decided to shift the base from Delhi to Bhubaneswar in 2019.[19]

Support
Fans at the Kalinga Stadium

Odisha FC had immediately grown its popularity post its inception which resulted in the formation of its supporters group, named The Juggernauts.[20][21][22] The name of the group is derived from Jagannātha i.e. the "world-lord", combining jagata ("world") and natha ("lord"). Juggernaut is defined as a large powerful force or organization that cannot be stopped.[23]

Ownership

On 13 April 2014, IMG Reliance announced that DEN Networks had won the bidding for the Delhi franchise to be the eighth team in the inaugural season of Indian Super League.[5] The team had entered an alliance with Dutch club Feyenoord in 2015, which lasted only for one year.[6] World's largest cash buyer of ships and offshore assets for recycling, GMS, was brought in March 2016 as club's new majority co-owner.[24] GMS currently holds 100% of the ownership in club which it purchased in three installments of 55%, 25% and 20% respectively from DEN Networks.[25][26]

Records and statistics
Main article: List of Odisha FC records and statistics
As of 24 January 2021
Overall records
Season Indian Super League Finals Top Scorer
P W D L GF GA Pts Position Player Goals
As Delhi Dynamos FC
2014 14 4 6 4 16 14 18 5th – Gustavo Marmentini 5
2015 14 6 4 4 15 11 20 Top 4 (4th) Semi-final Richard Gadze
Robin Singh		 4
2016 14 5 6 3 27 17 21 Top 4 (3rd) Semi-final Marcelinho 10
2017–18 18 5 4 9 27 37 19 8th – Kalu Uche 13
2018–19 18 4 6 8 23 27 18 8th – Lallianzuala Chhangte 5
As Odisha FC
2019–20 18 7 4 7 28 31 25 6th – Aridane Santana 9
2020–21 13 1 5 7 13 20 8 11th – Diego Maurício 7

Head coaches' records
Roberto Carlos, managed Delhi Dynamos from July to December 2015, and also played for the club.
As of 24 January 2021
Head coach records
NameNationalityFromToPWDLGFGAWin%
For Delhi Dynamos FC
Harm van Veldhoven[27]  Netherlands August 2014 December 2014 14 4 6 4 16 14 028.57
Roberto Carlos  Brazil July 2015 December 2015 16 7 4 5 19 23 043.75
Gianluca Zambrotta  Italy July 2016 December 2016 16 6 6 4 29 19 037.50
Miguel Ángel Portugal  Spain July 2017 May 2018 18 5 4 9 16 30 027.78
Josep Gombau  Spain July 2018 May 2019 18 4 6 8 23 27 022.22
For Odisha FC
Josep Gombau  Spain August 2019 March 2020 18 7 4 7 28 31 038.89
Stuart Baxter  Scotland June 2020 February 2021 14 1 5 8 13 21 007.14
Gerry Peyton  Ireland February 2021 Present 0 0 0 0 0 0 !—

Players
For a list of all former and current Odisha players, see List of Odisha FC players.

First-team
As of 1 February 2021[28]

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 Arshdeep Singh
2 MF  IND Thoiba Singh Moirangthem
3 DF  IND Mohammad Sajid Dhot
4 MF  IND Lalhrezuala Sailung
5 DF  IND Hendry Antonay
6 MF  RSA Cole Alexander
7 MF  AUS Brad Inman (on loan from ATK Mohun Bagan)
8 MF  IND Paul Ramfangzauva
9 MF  IND Samuel Lalmuanpuia
11 FW  BRA Diego Maurício
12 DF  IND Saurabh Meher
13 DF  IND Gaurav Bora
14 FW  IND Daniel Lalhlimpuia
15 MF  IND Shubham Sarangi
16 MF  IND Vinit Rai
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF  IND Jerry Mawihmingthanga
18 DF  AUS Jacob Tratt
19 MF  IND Isak Vanlalruatfela
21 GK  IND Kamaljit Singh
22 MF  IND Nanda Kumar
23 GK  IND Ravi Kumar
24 FW  ESP Manuel Onwu
26 DF  IND Kamalpreet Singh
27 DF  ENG Steven Taylor (Captain)
28 MF  IND Laishram Premjit Singh
30 GK  IND Ankit Bhuyan
32 DF  IND George D'Souza
33 MF  IND Baoringdao Bodo
66 DF  IND Rakesh Pradhan (on loan from NorthEast United)

Reserves
Main article: Odisha FC Reserves and Academy

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 Jones Lalthakima
— DF  IND Ronaldo Wairokpam
— MF  IND CVL Remtluanga
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  IND Nischay Adhikari
— FW  IND Rishab Dobriyal
— FW  IND Akshunna Tyagi

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
10 FW  BRA Marcelinho (at ATK Mohun Bagan until 31 May 2021)

Player of the Season
Season Player Nationality Position Refs.
2019–20 Aridane Santana Spain Forward [29]

Personnel

Current technical staff
Position Name
Head Coach Gerry Peyton
Assistant Coach Steven Dias[30]
Goalkeeping Coach Rogerio Ramos[31]
Strength & Conditioning Coach Joan Casanova[32]
Head of Football Operations Abhik Chatterjee[32]
Performance & Recruitment Analyst Abhijit Bharali[33]
Head of Football Development Aakash Narula[34]
Team Doctor Praveen Choudhary[35]
Team Physiotherapist Firoz Shaikh[36]
Team Masseur Bybu Ponnarassery Ravunny Thrissur[37]

Management
Position Name
President Raj Athwal[3]
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rohan Sharma[3]
Club Director Ashok Bajaj[38]
Head of Sales & Marketing Mayank Sharma[39]
Head of Finance Ajit Panda[38]

References
  1. "Odisha FC – Venue". indiansuperleague.com. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  2. "ISL newbies Odisha FC unveil official logo". Outlook India. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  3. "Odisha FC announce Raj Athwal as new Club President". medium.com. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  4. "Indian Super League sees interest from 30 franchise bidders". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  5. Basu, Saumyajit. "Stars embrace soccer through Indian Super League". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 June 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  6. "Manchanda: Our dream is to take India to the World Cup". www.goal.com. Goal. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  7. "Delhi Soccer Private Limited signs MoU with Government of Odisha to facilitate Bhubaneswar move". indiansuperleague.com. ISL. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  8. "It's official – Delhi Dynamos renamed as Odisha Football Club". sportstar.thehindu.com. The Hindu. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  9. "The Official Site of the Hero Indian Super League | 2016 Standings". Indiansuperleague.com. 12 October 2014. Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  10. "The Official Site of the Hero Indian Super League | 2017 Standings". Indiansuperleague.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  11. "The Official Site of the Hero Indian Super League | 2018 Standings". IndianSuperLeague.com. Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  12. "Odisha FC to play their first three home matches in Pune". Indian Super League. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  13. "Castel nets winner as ten-man Jamshedpur beat Odisha". Indian Super League. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  14. "Gyan's maiden Hero ISL goal hands NorthEast a thrilling win over Odisha". Indian Super League. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  15. "Stunning first half display helps Odisha beat Mumbai". Indian Super League. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  16. "Odisha FC: One for the future?". Indian Super League. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  17. "Odisha FC part ways with Josep Gombau". Indian Super League. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  18. "Odisha FC unveil official logo". .indiansuperleague.com. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  19. "Why Delhi Dynamos shifting to Odisha is a blow to football in the capital". khelnow.com. Khel Now. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  20. Das, Srijandeep (22 October 2019). "ISL 2019-20: Odisha FC CEO Ashish Shah talks about shifting base from Delhi, tapping local talent, building fanbase and more". Firstpost. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  21. Jena, Suryakant; Biswas, Ramakant (7 October 2019). "Odisha FC Gears Up For Debut In Indian Super League 2019-20". Odisha Tv. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  22. "Team Odisha FC arrives in Bhubaneswar and gets warm welcome from fans". orissadiary.com. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  23. "Meaning of juggernaut in English". dictionary.cambridge.org. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  24. "Delhi Dynamos ropes in GMS-led Wall Street Investments". www.sportstarlive.com. Sportstarlive. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  25. "Delhi Dynamos F.C. Welcome New Co-Owners". www.delhidynamos.com. 7 October 2016. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  26. "DEN Networks give up 25% stake in Delhi Dynamos". ptinews.com. PTI. 16 November 2016. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  27. "Voetbalzone – Meepraten over voetbal". Voetbalzone.nl. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  28. "Squad". Indian Super League. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  29. @OdishaFC (23 March 2020). "Aridane Santana" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  30. "Odisha FC ropes in Steven Dias as assistant coach ahead of ISL 7". Outlook (Indian magazine). Press Trust of India (PTI). 13 August 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  31. "Odisha FC appoints Rogerio Ramos as goalkeeping coach for ISL 7". Sportstar. The Hindu. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  32. "Stuart Baxter: There will be an emphasis on youth at Odisha FC". khelnow.com. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  33. "The man behind Odisha FC's performance and recruitment: Abhijit Bharali". SportsKindle. 6 September 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  34. "Odisha FC promote five U-18 players to senior team". KhelNow. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  35. "Dr Praveen Choudhary credits ISL management for ensuring safety of players and staff". Medium.com. 31 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  36. "Odisha FC physios work hard to maintain player fitness in tough times". Medium.com. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  37. @OdishaFC (23 March 2020). "Bybu Ponnarassery Ravunny Thrissur" (Tweet) – via Twitter. |date= mismatches calculated date from |number= by two or more days (help)
  38. "Odisha FC celebrate their first foundation day amidst the pandemic virtually". SportsKindle. 6 September 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  39. "T10 Sports becomes Odisha FC's Official Kit Partner". medium.com. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
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