The 2011–12 I-League was the fifth season of the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the win ...

. The season began in October 2011 and ended in May 2012.

Salgaocar Salgaocar Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Vasco, Goa, that competes in the Goa Professional League. They have also played in the I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. Founded in 1956, the clu ...

are the defending champions, having won their maiden title in the previous season. The current edition has a total of 14 teams contesting for the honors. These include the top twelve teams from the 2010–11 season along with the two promoted sides,

Shillong Lajong Shillong Lajong FC (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya, that competes in the Shillong Premier League. The club was established in 1983 with the prime objective of improving the declining st ...

and

Sporting Clube de Goa Sporting Clube de Goa, simply known as Sporting Goa (also known by its abbreviation SCG), is an Indian professional football club based in Panaji, in the Indian state of Goa, that competes in Goa Professional League. The club has also compet ...

, who had been the winner and the runner-up in the

2011 I-League 2nd Division The 2011 I-League 2nd Division is the fourth season of the second division of the I-League, the Indian professional football league. A total of 21 teams were divided into three groups and top two teams from each group played in final round, the ...

respectively.

Teams

According to the

AIFF Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) is an audio file format standard used for storing sound data for personal computers and other electronic audio devices. The format was developed by Apple Inc. in 1988 based on Electronic Arts' Interchange Fil ...

's rules, the two bottom-most teams from the 2010–11 season-ending points table were supposed to be relegated to the second tier, but in actuality, only ONGC FC were relegated after their second to last place finish, while the team finishing the last,

JCT FC Jagatjit Cotton & Textile Football Club (formerly known as JCT Mills FC; abbreviated as both JCT FC, or simply JCT) was an Indian professional football club based in Phagwara, Punjab. Founded in 1971, the club was sponsored by Jagatjit Cotton ...

decided to disband their senior football team at the close of the session. Shillong Lajong FC and Sporting Clube de Goa, the Champions & Runner-up respectively, of the

, were promoted to the

after being relegated only the previous year.

Stadiums and locations

Managerial changes

''In chronological order from the bottom''

Foreign players

Ownership changes

*¹: Anglian Holdings only brought 20% in Shillong Lajong. The rest of the club is still owned by Shillong Lajong plc.

League table

Season charity

IMG Reliance and the

have joined hands with the polio eradication campaign India Unite to End Polio Now. IUEPN is an initiative of Aidmatrix Foundation, supported by UNICEF, and a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), World Health Organization (WHO), National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP), Rotary International and US Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

Season statistics

Top scorers

Top Indian scorers

Hat-tricks

Scoring

*First goal of the season: C.K. Vineeth for Chirag United Club Kerala against HAL (''22 October 2011'') *Fastest goal of the season: 3 minutes – Anthony Pereira for Dempo against Shillong Lajong (''23 November 2011'') *Widest winning margin: 7 goals **HAL 1-8 East Bengal (''23 November 2011'') *Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 10 goals ** Pune 6-4 HAL (''10 April 2012'') *Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 4 goals **Pune 6-4 HAL (''10 April 2012'') *Most goals scored in a match by a single player: 4 goals ** Tolgay Özbey for East Bengal against HAL (''23 November 2011'') **

Gbeneme Friday Gbeneme Friday (born 28 January 1985) is a Nigerian former footballer who plays as a forward. Career Mumbai Friday signed for Mumbai F.C. from Indonesian club, Persih Tembilahan in 2011. On 14 April 2012 Friday scored four goals for Mumbai aga ...

for Mumbai against HAL (''14 April 2012'')

End-of-season awards

* Fan's Player of the Year — Francis Fernandes * FPAI Young Player of the Year —

Manandeep Singh Manandeep Singh (born 3 November 1992, in Hisar, Haryana) is an indian ex footballer, model and actor who played as a striker for Minerva Punjab in the I-League. Career Pailan Arrows and Air India Singh started his professional career in ...

* FPAI Foreign Player of the Year —

Ranti Martins Ranti Martins Soleye (born 5 September 1986) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Martins regarded as one of the best foreign players to play in the India. He is the record goal scorer in National Football Le ...

* FPAI Indian Player of the Year —

Syed Rahim Nabi Syed Rahim Nabi (Bengali: সৈয়দ রহিম নবী; born 14 December 1985) is a retired professional Indian international footballer who primarily played as a midfielder though he could play as a striker and defender. Nabi last ...

* FPAI Coach of the Year — Trevor Morgan

FPAI Team of the Year

Formation: 4-4-2

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 I-League I-League seasons 1

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...