NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian Super League football franchise based in Guwahati, Assam.[1] The club claims to represent the 8 states of India known as North East India: Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Mizoram. The team is owned and operated by Bollywood actor John Abraham.[1] Its manager is Venezuelan César Farías and its marquee player is former Portugal international winger Simão Sabrosa.
History
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.[2] On 13 April 2014, it was announced that Bollywood actor John Abraham and Shillong Lajong Football Club had won the bidding for the franchise.[1]
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 popularising this global game here and working with the young talented footballers of North East India".[3]
On 19 August the club hired its first manager, New Zealander Ricki Herbert, who had represented and managed his nation at World Cups.[4]
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 the Kerala Blasters.[5] The team did not make the end-of-season play-offs, finishing in last place among the eight teams.
For their second season, NorthEast United signed former Portugal international Simão Sabrosa as their new marquee signing.[6] 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.[7]
Crest
The crest of Northeast United is featured with 8 stars at the top representing each state of North-east 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.
Stadium
North East United FC play their home matches at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati. To meet FIFA regulations, it was renovated and its capacity was increased from 12,000 to 35,000.
Ownership
NEUFC is owned by John Abraham, who is an Indian Bollywood actor, producer and former model.[8] It is the only ISL club that is not owned by any company or corporation.
Players
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Current technical staff
| Position |
Name |
| Manager |
 César Farías |
| Assistant Manager |
Guillermo Sánchez |
| Assistant Coach |
 Santosh Kashyap |
| Goalkeeping Coach |
 Gennaro Bracigliano |
| Technical Director |
 Simon Festinesi
Bruno Satin |
| Team Manager |
Rahul Sharma |
| Head Physiotherapist |
Tanveer Siddiqui |
| Physiotherapist |
Utsav Shah |
| Logistics and Kit Manager |
Manish Kochar |
|
| Media Manager |
Abhik Chatterjee |
|
| Performance Analyst |
Nachiket Patil |
|
| Masseuer |
Kamal Chandra Das |
|
Head coach record
Sponsors
References
External links
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New Zealand