Bharat FC

Bharat FC
Full name Bharat FC
Founded 26 August 2014[1]
Ground Balewadi Sports Complex
Pune, Maharashtra
Capacity 12,000[2]
Owner Kalyani Group
Managing Director Amit Kalyani[3]
Head Coach Stuart Watkiss
League I-League
Website Club home page

Bharat FC is an Indian professional football team based in Pune, Maharashtra that will compete in the I-League. The team was founded on 26 August 2014 by Kalyani Group as a direct-entry team into the I-League, making them the second direct-entry side in league history after Bengaluru FC.[1] The name of the team, as well as their home stadium, the Balewadi Sports Complex, were officially announced on 23 November 2014.[4]

History

In 2013, in a bid to increase the popularity of the I-League – India's top football league – the All India Football Federation approved the addition of teams into the league via bidding for a direct-entry slot.[5] The first two teams to be allowed into the I-League via direct-entry were Bengaluru FC and Mumbai Tigers but only Bengaluru FC played in the 2013–14 season.[6] Despite the failure of Mumbai Tigers, Bengaluru FC proved to be an amazing success for the I-League as the Bangalore club managed to bring in full-houses to all their matches as well as even win the league in their very first season.[7] This thus made the AIFF announce that they would be accepting bids for new direct-entry teams for the 2014–15 season.[8] On 26 August 2014, after the AIFF reviewed the bidders, they announced that Kalyani Group had won the right to start a direct-entry club for the 2014–15 season.[1]

After winning the bid for the team, in November 2014, Kalyani Group signed their first ever head coach for the football team in former Wolverhampton Wanderers player Stuart Watkiss.[9] Kalyani Group then signed their first ever player on 10 November 2014 when New Zealand international Kris Bright signed for the club.[10] After making their first signings, the Kalyani Group officially announced the name of the club on 23 November 2014 as Bharat FC.[4]

Colours and kits

During the clubs first ever kit launch event on 2 January 2015, it was announced that the clubs colours would be based on the teams motto, "Together, Forever and Triumphant", which are blue, red, and white.[11] The home kit was coloured in dark blue which stands for the "Peoples Football" while the away kit is predominantly red.[11] The clubs third kit was coloured completely white with the colours blue and red running horizontally across the shirt. The red denotes "passion and vitality" while blue stands for "truth and loyalty".[11]

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2015– Nivia[12] Kalyani Group[12]

Stadium

When Bharat FC's name was announced, the Balewadi Sports Complex was also announced as the first ever stadium to be used by the club.[4] The stadium has a capacity of 12,000.[2] The team has stated their intention to eventually construct their own football stadium with Manjri being the initial looked at location for the stadium.[12]

Currently, the team has their training group located in Manjri.[12]

Players

First-team squad

As of 27 March 2015[13]

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

No. Position Player
2 State of Palestine DF Omar Jarun
3 India DF Nallappan Mohanraj
4 India MF Tomba Singh
5 India DF Bikramjeet Singh
6 India MF Dipendu Dowry
7 India MF Adil Khan
8 England DF Bobby Hassell
9 New Zealand FW Kris Bright
10 Benin MF Romuald Boco
11 India MF Simranjit Singh
12 India FW Subhash Singh
13 India DF Dharmaraj Ravanan (on loan from FC Pune City)
14 India MF Steven Dias
15 India FW Manjit Singh
16 India MF Gunashekar Vignesh
No. Position Player
17 India FW Surojit Bose
18 India MF Jayashelan Prasad
19 India DF Gouramangi Singh (captain)
20 India DF Sabas Saleel
21 India GK Shahinlal Meloly
22 India MF Lester Fernandez
23 India DF Naorem James Singh
24 India FW Rajinder Kumar
25 India GK Harshad Meher
26 India DF Mehrajuddin Wadoo (on loan from FC Pune City)
27 India GK Arindam Bhattacharya
28 India DF Syed Nabi
29 India MF Asif Kottayil
30 India MF Tapan Maity

Team management

As of 5 January 2015[13]
Position Name
Head coach England Stuart Watkiss
Assistant coach India Stanley Rozario
Goalkeeping coach Montenegro Zoran Lemajić
Fitness and conditioning coach England Lindsay Davis
Physiotherapist England Ian Farmery
Player–coach England Bobby Hassell
Head of Youth Development England Barry Knowles

Team records

Overall records

As of 5 January 2015
Season I-League Federation Cup Durand Cup Asia Top Scorer
P W L D GF GA Pts Position Player Goals
2014–15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — — TBD TBD

Head Coach's Record

As of 6 January 2015
NameNationalityFromToPWDLGFGAWin%
Stuart Watkiss  England 4 November 2014 Present 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mazumdar, Rakhi. "Kalyani Group bags bid to launch team in I-league". Economic Times. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Pune ISL franchise unveils team jersey". Zee News. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "New I-League side Bharat FC launches official kits". Times of India. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Kalyani Group names I-League team as 'Bharat FC'". Zee News. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "AIFF clears two new teams for I-League". Times of India. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Mumbai Tigers pull out of I-League". Zee News. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Sarbajna, Boudhayan. "Bengaluru FC’ S Success Story Opens The Door For More Franchisee Clubs In I-League". The Hard Tackle. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "AIFF to invite bids for new I-League teams". The Shillong Times. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "I-League: Kalyani Group appoints Stuart Watkiss as head coach". IBN Live. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  10. ↑ Mitra, Atanu. "Kalyani Group rope in Kris Bright". Goal.com. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "New I-League side Bharat FC launches official kits". Times of India. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Viswanath, G. "High hopes for Bharat FC". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "SQUAD". Bharat FC. Retrieved 6 January 2015.

External links