Pailan Arrows

Pailan Arrows
Founded 2010 as AIFF XI
Dissolved 2013
Ground Salt Lake Stadium
Ground Capacity 120,000
Chairman All India Football Federation
2012–13 I-League, 12th

Pailan Arrows was an Indian football club located in Kolkata, West Bengal that compete in the I-League. The club was formed with the main goal of nurturing young Indian football talents in the hope of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[1]

History

2010–11 season

Pailan Arrows was founded as the AIFF XI in 2010 under the recommendation of then India head coach Bob Houghton and All India Football Federation president Praful Patel after Bob noticed that almost all the India U19 and India U23 players were on the bench during the I-League season and were never getting any game time.[2] The club was originally slated to join the I-League 2nd Division but after the disbanding of Mahindra United the AIFF allowed AIFF XI into the I-League automatically.[3] The club participated in their first competition in 2010 which was the Federation Cup and played their first ever professional match on 21 September 2010 against JCT FC in the Federation Cup, in which AIFF XI won 1–0 with Malsawmfela scoring the first goal in the team's history.[4] The team finished third in the group in the end, missing out on going to the next round by four points.[5] The club then participated in their first I-League match on 3 December 2010 against Chirag United in which the club lost 1–2 and with Lalrindika Ralte scoring the first goal for the club in the league.[6] The club then earned their first points on 8 December 2010 against ONGC F.C. after drawing 1–1.[7] On 11 January 2011 it was announced that AIFF XI would change their name to Indian Arrows which would take effect on 1 February 2011.[8] Arrows finished the 2010–11 I-League season in 9th place.

2011–12 season

The summer of 2011 would be a busy one for the club. The club changed their name to Pailan Arrows on 15 June 2011 after the All India Football Federation reached an agreement with Pailan Group to sponsor the team.[9] With the deal Pailan Arrows was also relocated to Kolkata and the Salt Lake Stadium. Then on 13 August 2012 head coach Desmond Bulpin was sacked by the club due to his "style of football" while former India national football team coach Sukhwinder Singh was signed to take over the club.[10] The club also lost many of the stars of the previous season like Lalrindika Ralte, Jeje Lalpekhlua (top scorer for Pailan and among Indians in 2010–11), Manandeep Singh and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. The club again participated in the Federation Cup in 2011 where Pailan won two matches but lost one which meant that they would finish 2nd behind Salgaocar and thus meant Pailan were knocked out in the group stage again.[11] Pailan Arrows then began the 2011–12 I-League campaign against Mohun Bagan at the Salt Lake Stadium on 23 October 2012 in which they lost 1–3 after Lalrozama Fanai gave them the early lead.[12] On 7 February 2012 Sukhwinder Singh resigned as coach of Pailan Arrows due to personal reasons, at this point also Pailan had not won a single match in I-League and had only managed eight draws in 17 matches.[13] Assistant coach Sujit Chakravarty took over the reigns as head coach for the remainder of the season.[13] Towards the end of the season Pailan managed to win two matches, one against Chirag United Club Kerala and another against HAL to finished the season in 13th place out of 14 teams but since they are a developmental team, Pailan were not relegated.[14][15]

2012–13 season

After the disastrous season Pailan endured, the club and All India Football Federation signed Australian Arthur Papas as the new permanent head coach of the India U23 and Pailan Arrows on 24 May 2012.[16] Papas came to the club after coaching his former club, Oakleigh Cannons FC, to the 2011 Victorian Premier League runners-up title.[16]

Disbanding

On 29 August 2013 it was announced that Pailan Arrows had been disbanded by the All India Football Federation as the club sponsors, Pailan Group, could not financially support the team.[17]

Colours

The club's colours were blue and white, just like the India national football team. During the first season Pailan Arrows started with a dark blue kit[18] but eventually during the 2010–11 season the club started using a normal blue kit with black shorts.[19] For the 2011–12 season Pailan used a dark blue jersey[20] and a white kit with black or red socks.[21]

Stadium

For the 2010–11 I-League season the club played at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon, Haryana when they were originally due to play at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi but due to the pitch condition the club was moved to Gurgaon.[22] After relocating to Kolkata the club started to play at the Salt Lake Stadium which is also home to East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, and Prayag United.[23]

The Salt Lake Stadium

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2010–2011 Nike None
2011–2013 None Poto Potato Flakes

Final Technical Staff

Position Name
Head Coach Vacant
Manager India Pratham Basu
Assistant Coach India Sujit Chakravarty
Assistant Coach Australia Aaron Symons
Goalkeeping Coach India Tanumoy Basu

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sharma, Siddharth. "Vital steps to improve the Indian U23 football team". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  2. ↑ Bali, Rahul. "Why Pailan Arrows isn’t India’s best bet for talent but the rest of the clubs are". goal.com. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "I-League to start in November with 14 teams". Tha Indian. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Federation Cup results". Sam80dev3. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  5. ↑ Sengupta, Rahul. "Federation Cup: Group C Match Day Three – JCT Hold Dempo, ONGC Bow Out With A Win". goal.com. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Chirag United 2–1 AIFF XI". Soccerway. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "AIFF XI open account in I-League". Times of India. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "AIFF XI rechristened as Indian Arrows". Indian Express. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "I-League: Kolkata Based Pailan Group Are The New Sponsors Of Indian Arrows". Goal.com. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Football coach Desmond Bulpin sacked by AIFF". Zee News. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Salgaocar beat Pailan Arrows to enter Federation Cup semis". Times of India. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  12. ↑ lahiri, Debjit. "I-League: Pailan Arrows 1–3 Mohun Bagan AC – Odafa Okolie Hat-trick Powers A Second Half Bagan Rally". Goal.com. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  13. 1 2 Bali, Rahul. "I-League: Sukhwinder Singh resigns from Pailan Arrows". Goal.com. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  14. ↑ Noronha, Anselm. "Chirag United Kerala 0–3 Pailan Arrows: CS Sabeeth's hat-trick sinks his former side into second division". Goal.com. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  15. ↑ Noronha, Anselm. "HAL Bangalore 1–2 Pailan Arrows: Allwyn scores late in his side's second successive win". Goal.com. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  16. 1 2 "Arthur Papas to coach India U-23 football national team". DNA India. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  17. ↑ Bali, Rahul. "AIFF decide to shut down Pailan Arrows". Goal.com. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  18. ↑ http://www.the-aiff.com/siteadmin/uploads/1285427823ONGC-%26-India-XI-match-in-Ludhiana-2.jpg Pailan vs. ONGC 2010
  19. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PahsMF7fw5I Pailan vs Pune as Indian Arrows
  20. ↑ http://footballkerala.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Pailan-Arrows-striker-CS-Sabeeth-dribbles-past-a-horde-of-Chirag-Kerala-defenders-500x275.jpg Pailan vs Chirag United 2011–12
  21. ↑ http://www.chrispd.de/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111022-2-650x291.jpg Pailan in the white kit 2011–12
  22. ↑ "Wedding reception at Ambedkar stadium spoils turf, forces AIFF XI to shift base to Gurgaon". Indian Express. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  23. ↑ "Pailan Arrows muff chances, settle for a draw". The All India Football Federation. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
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