NorthEast United FC

NorthEast United FC
Full name NorthEast United Football Club
Nickname(s) The Highlanders
Founded 13 April 2014 (2014-04-13)
Ground Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati
Ground Capacity 23,850
Owner John Abraham
Head coach João de Deus
League Indian Super League
2016 Regular season: 5th
Finals: DNQ
Website Club website

NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football franchise based in Guwahati, Assam. It competes in the Indian Super League.[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] The club is currently managed by João de Deus.

History

Joan Capdevila, seen here lifting the FIFA World Cup Trophy in 2010, was signed as the club's first marquee player

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]

On 13 May 2016, NorthEast United announced Sérgio Farias as the clubs new manager.[8] 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.[9] On July 23, 2016, NorthEast United announced Nelo Vingada as the club's new manager.[10]

League history

Season League Finals Top goalscorer Managers Kit Manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Name League
2014 ISL 8th 14 3 6 5 11 13 15 - Spain Koke 4 New Zealand Ricki Herbert Adidas HTC
2015 5th 14 6 2 6 18 23 20 - Argentina Nicolás Vélez 5 Venezuela César Farías Performax
2016 5th 14 5 3 6 14 14 18 - Uruguay Emiliano Alfaro 5 Portugal Nelo Vingada

Crest

Former crest (2014−15)

The crest of NorthEast United FC 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

NorthEast 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. Later, the capacity was again reduced to 23,850 after the installation of bucket seats for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Ownership

NEUFC is owned by John Abraham, who is an Indian Bollywood actor, producer and former model.[11] It is the only ISL club that is not owned by any company or corporation.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period Kit Manufacturer Shirt Sponsor
2014 Adidas HTC
2015— Performax

Players

Current squad

As of 8 August, 2017

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

No. Position Player
— India GK Gurpreet Singh Chabhal
— India GK Ravi Kumar
13 India GK Rehenesh TP
— India DF Abdul Hakku Nediyodath
— India DF Gursimrat Singh Gill
4 India DF Nirmal Chettri
12 India DF Reagan Singh
— India DF Robert Lalthlamuana
No. Position Player
45 India MF Fanai Lalrempuia
— India MF Lalrindika Ralte
— India MF Malemngamba Meitei
14 India MF Rowllin Borges
— India MF Sushil Meitei
18 India FW Halicharan Narzary
— India FW Seminlen Doungel

Current technical staff

Position Name
Head coach Portugal João Carlos Pires de Deus
Assistant coach
Assistant coach
GoalKeeping Coach
Team Manager India Abhik Chatterjee
Head Of Team Operations India Manish Kochar
Media Manager India Kapil Garg
Club Analyst India Gaurav Khilari
Team Doctor India Amruta Deshpande
Head Physiotherapist India Tanveer Siddiqui
Assistant Physiotherapist India Pratik Kamble
Sports Therapist India Kamal Chandra Das

Records

Top goalscorers

As of Match played 4 December 2016
Name Years League Finals Total
1Argentina Nicolás Vélez2015, 20168 (25)0- 0(-)8 (25)
2Uruguay Emiliano Alfaro20165 (13)0- 0(-)5 (13)
3Spain Koke20144 (12)0- 0(-)4 (12)
4Portugal Simão20153 (10)0- 0(-)3 (10)
4Senegal Diomansy Kamara20153 (12)0- 0(-)3 (12)
4India Seityasen Singh2015, 20163 (15)0- 0(-)3 (15)
7Zambia Kondwani Mtonga20142 (13)0- 0(-)2 (13)
7Senegal Massamba Sambou20142 (6)0- 0(-)2 (6)
7Ivory Coast Romaric20162 (12)0- 0(-)2 (12)

Most appearances

As of Match played 4 December 2016
Name Years League Finals Total
1India Rehenesh TP2014, 2015, 201627 (0)0- 0(-)27 (0)
2Argentina Nicolás Vélez2015, 201625 (8)0- 0(-)25 (8)
3India Robin Gurung2014, 2015, 201624 (0)0- 0(-)24 (0)
4India Aiborlang Khongjee2014, 201521 (0)0- 0(-)21 (0)
5India Reagan Singh2015, 201619 (0)0- 0(-)19 (0)
6India Holicharan Narzary2015, 201615 (0)0- 0(-)15 (0)
7Ivory Coast Didier Zokora201614 (0)0- 0(-)14 (0)
7Japan Katsumi Yusa201614 (1)0- 0(-)14 (1)
7Portugal Miguel Garcia2014, 201514 (1)0- 0(-)14 (0)
9Zambia Kondwani Mtonga201413 (2)0- 0(-)13 (2)
9Uruguay Emiliano Alfaro201613 (5)0- 0(-)13 (5)
9India Rowllin Borges201613 (0)0- 0(-)14 (0)

Managerial

As of Match played 4 December 2016
NameNationalityFromToPWDLGFGAWin%
Ricki Herbert  New Zealand 13 October 2014 20 December 2014 14 3 6 5 11 13 021.43
César Farías  Venezuela 30 June 2015 20 December 2015 14 6 2 6 18 23 042.86
Nelo Vingada  Portugal 23 July 2016 18 December 2016 14 5 3 6 14 14 035.71

References

  1. 1 2 3 Basu, Saumyajit. "Stars embrace football through Indian Super League". Times of India. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Indian Super League sees interest from 30 franchise bidders". Business Standard. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  3. ↑ Bali, Rahul (16 July 2014). "Capdevila: 'It's a privilege to popularise football in India'". Goal.com. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Herbert 'looking forward' to Indian Super League". 3news. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  5. ↑ Ganguily, Abhishek (13 October 2014). "ISL: NorthEast United ride high on Koke, beat Kerala Blasters 1-0". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Former Portugal winger Simao Sabrosa joins Indian Super League". ESPN FC. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Indian Super League: NorthEast United 2-0 Chennaiyin FC: Simao & Velez earn first points for NorthEast". Goal.com. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Sergio Farias to NorthEast United". NorthEast United FC (Twitter). 13 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Sergio Farias exits NorthEast United". NorthEast United FC (Twitter). 9 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "NorthEast United FC announce Nelo Vingada as the club's new manager". NorthEast United FC (Twitter). 15 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "John Abraham enters Bollywood with Jism". Times of India. 10 January 2003. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
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