| Full name | Air India Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Pilots | ||
| Founded | 1952 | ||
| Ground | Cooperage Ground (Capacity: 5,000 reported) |
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| Owner | Air India | ||
| Chairman | Haroon Jamakra | ||
| Manager | Santosh Kashyap | ||
| League | I-League | ||
| 2010–11 | I-League, 11th | ||
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| Current season | |||
Air India FC, is an Indian professional football club founded in 1952, based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. They are sponsored by Air India under the management of T.K. Singh and have enjoyed some success in the Maharashtrian Football and the NFL India. They play in the I-League and Mumbai Super Division. Former India International and AFC A license coach Santosh Kashyap is head coach of the team.
Recently, Air India has seen a much better outcome in their game play and they have bagged a good amount of trophies under their belt with two recent trophies - Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup and Nadkarni Cup. They used to play in NFL 2nd Division but got promoted to Premier Division and have maintained their position there till now.
Founded in 1952, Air India Football Club is one of the oldest institutional sides in the country. Though never considered as frontrunners in the I-League, the Mumbai based club has often proved to be a thorn in the flesh for many top sides.
In the inaugural I-League season, Air India caused the biggest upset when their 3-1 win over Mohun Bagan in Goa and threw the mighty Kolkata club out of the competition in the qualifying rounds. In the later years, Air India managed to maintain their giant killing image by regularly defeating stronger teams in the I-League and other competitions.
Generally a low budget side, Air India’s best finish in the National Football League (now I-League) came in the 1997-1998 season when they were placed sixth in the table and their coach Bimal Ghosh received the Best coach award.
Four times champions in the local league in Mumbai, Air India are best known for nurturing youngsters into big time players. Many of these boys have played with distinction for bigger teams in the later years. [1]
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Air India FC has been playing in the Premier Harwood League since 1980. The team though qualified for the National Football League in 1995. In 1996 the club finished 6th in the League and then 5th in 1997.
After being relegated to the second division in 1998, Air India paved their way back into the first division the next year and played in the National Football League in 2000 as well. The years 2001 to 2004 saw Air India going through a tough phase as they were playing in the second division. In 2005 the team qualified to the National Football League first division and then 2007 saw Air India finishing 7th and were the Mumbai Harwood Champions in 2005. [2]
The Air India football crest is different from the one used by the airline company Air India (Note: Air India are the owners of FC Air India). The first crest used by FC Air India looks like the current one but pink. The newest one which was unveiled in 2006 is the same as the old one but red.
To keep up with there image of being a sponsor of aircraft company Air India the club decided to make the colors of the club red which is the color associated with the aircraft Air India.
Air India will play at the 12,000 seater Cooperage Ground which is currently going through a renovation and should be completed by December 2011.
Sense the beginning FC Air India has been owned by airline company Air India which currently own a hub at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
As of December 27, 2011 [1]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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As of August 2, 2011
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Santosh Kashyap | Head Coach |
| Yusuf Ansari | Assistant Manager |
| Khambiton Singh | Manager |
| Pinge Dilip | Senior Manager |
| Sandeep Kurale | Physio |
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