The I-League is the men's second professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

division of the

Indian football league system The Indian football league system is the league structure of football club competitions in India. The highest level of men's club football competition is the Indian Super League. Indian Women's League, founded in 2016, is the highest level of ...

behind the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

. Administered by the

All India Football Federation All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a system of

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

with the

(ISL) and the

I-League 2 The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

. The competition was founded in 2007 as the successor to the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

, with the first season starting in November 2007. The league was launched as India's first top-tier professional football league with the aim to increase the player pool for the India national team. I-League operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the I-League 2 and at first only promotion system with the ISL, from the 2022–23 season. Since the inception of the I-League, a total of ten clubs have been crowned champions.

Dempo Dempo Mining Corporation Limited is a prominent mining company from the western Indian state of Goa. The mineral business was founded by Vasantrao S. Dempo in 1941, along with his younger brother Vaikuntrao Dempo. Vasantrao was the founding c ...

have won the most titles in league history, being crowned champions three times.

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers Futebol Clube de Goa (simply known as Churchill Brothers) is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, alongside the Goa Professional League (reserves). Founded in 1 ...

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and Gokulam Kerala have won the league twice.

Salgaocar Salgaocar Football Club (formerly Salgaocar Sporting Club) is an Indian professional football club based in Vasco, Goa. Being one of the country's most successful clubs, it is currently operating youth teams. Until the disfunction of its seni ...

Aizawl Aizawl (, American English, US: , British English, UK: ; Mizo language, Mizo: ), formerly known as Aijal, is the capital city and the most populous city of Mizoram, India. It is also the third largest city in northeast India. It is situated ato ...

, Minerva Punjab, Chennai City, Roundglass Punjab and

Mohammedan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muhamm ...

have won it once.

History

Origins

In 1996, the first domestic league was started in India, known as the National Football League, in an effort to introduce professionalism in Indian football. Despite that ambition, that has not been achieved to this date. During the National Football League days, the league suffered from poor infrastructure and unprofessionalism from its clubs. One of the clubs in the league,

FC Kochin FC Kochin (often spelt FC Cochin) was an Indian professional association football, football club based in Kochi (India), Kochi, Kerala. In the late 1990s, it was the only football club from Kerala to participate in National Football League (Ind ...

, went defunct in 2002 after it was revealed that the club had not paid salaries since 2000, after making up 2.5 crores of losses in a season. After a decade of decline with the National Football League, the All India Football Federation decided it was time for a change. This resulted in the modern day iteration of the top-tier in India.

Formation

After the 2006–07 NFL season, it was announced that it would be rebranded as the I-League for the 2007–08 season. The league's first season consisted of eight teams from the previous NFL campaign and two teams from the 2nd Division to form a 10 team league.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is an Indian central public sector undertaking which is the largest government-owned oil and gas explorer and producer in the country. It accounts for around 70 percent of India's domestic pro ...

(ONGC), the title sponsors of the previous NFL, were named as the title sponsors of the I-League before the league kicked off in November 2007. The league also announced a change in their foreign-player restrictions with the new rule being that all the clubs could sign four foreigners – three non-Asian and one which must be Asian. The league also announced that, for the first season, matches will be broadcast on Zee Sports. The original ten clubs in the I-League's first season were

Air India Air India is the flag carrier of India with its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, and secondary hubs at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, alo ...

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

, JCT,

Mahindra United Mahindra United Football Club (formerly known as Mahindra & Mahindra) was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 1962, the club competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system, bef ...

, Sporting Goa and

Viva Kerala Viva Kerala Football Club (also known as Chirag United Club Kerala) was an Indian professional association football, football club based in the city of Kochi, Kerala. The club was originally formed in 2004 as ''Viva Kerala''. They participated ...

The early seasons (2007–2012)

The first I-League match took place on 24 November 2007 between

and

. The match, which took place at the

Fatorda Stadium Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (also known as Fatorda Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Margao, Goa, India. The venue has been used to host both football and cricket matches. It is Goa's only international stadium and has a seating capac ...

Margao Margao (, ) is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on the banks of the river Sal. It is the district headquarters of South Goa, and administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district. It is Goa's second largest ci ...

, ended 3–0 in favour of Dempo with

Chidi Edeh Chidi Edeh (born 18 August 1987) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker. He played most of his career for clubs in India. Career Dempo In 2007, Edeh signed with I-League side Dempo SC and appeared in 15 league matches. H ...

scoring the first goal in league history in the third minute. After eighteen rounds it was Dempo who came out as the first champions in the I-League.

and Salgaocar, however, ended up as the first two teams to ever be relegated from the I-League. The next season the I-League was expanded from 10 to 12 teams.

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, Chirag United,

, and Vasco were all promoted from the I-League 2 to make the expansion possible. This however brought up early concerns over how "national" the I-League was. The 2008–09 season would see eleven of the twelve teams come from three different cities. The previous season saw all ten teams come from four different cities.

Bhaichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

, then captain of the India national team, said that it was the

federations A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governing status of the co ...

job to spread the game across the country and that it needed to happen. Regardless of the early criticism, the I-League went on as scheduled and once the 2008–09 season concluded. it was Churchill Brothers who came out on top. Then, before the 2009–10 season, the league was once again expanded from 12 teams to 14. In order to make this happen Salgaocar, Viva Kerala,

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, and Shillong Lajong were all promoted from the 2nd Division to the I-League. This helped the I-League retain some criticism about how national the league was as now the league would be played in seven different cities/states:

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, and

Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...

. After the 2009–10 season it was Dempo who came out on top for the second time in I-League history.

Conflict of parties

On 9 December 2010 the All India Football Federation signed a 15-year, 700-crore deal with

Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Its businesses include energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, entertainment, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is the ...

and International Management Group of the United States. The deal gave IMG-Reliance exclusive commercial rights to sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, merchandising, video, franchising, and rights to create a new football league. This deal came about after the AIFF ended their 10-year deal with Zee Sports five years early. Two months later, on 8 February 2011, it was reported that twelve of the fourteen I-League clubs held a private meeting in Mumbai to discuss the ongoing issues related to the league. It was never revealed what was exactly talked about at this meeting. Then, on 22 February, it was announced that the same twelve I-League clubs that attended the meeting would not be signing the AFC–licensing papers needed to play in the I-League. The reasoning for this was because the I-League clubs were not happy over the fact that IMG-Reliance had so far done nothing to promote the I-League and that they demanded the I-League be made a separate entity from both the AIFF and IMG-Reliance. At this time however there were rumours that IMG-Reliance had been planning on revamping the I-League along the same lines as

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

of the United States for the 2012–13 season. On 11 March 2012, following the disbanding of two former I-League clubs – JCT and

, it was announced that the I-League clubs would be forming their own organization known as the ''Indian Professional Football Clubs Association'' (IPFCA) in order to safeguard their interest and promote football in India. Every club, except for

HAL HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bengaluru, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...

and AIFF–owned Pailan Arrows, joined the newly formed organization. Soon after, it was announced that there would be a meeting held between the AIFF, IMG-Reliance, and the IPFCA on 20 April 2012. In this meeting, IMG-Reliance would present their plan on how they would grow the I-League but the meeting never occurred for reasons unknown. Then, on 4 May 2012, the AIFF hosted the last ad hoc meeting – an annual meeting between the AFC and AIFF to assess the growth of Indian football. The AFC president at the time,

Zhang Jilong Zhang Jilong (; born 9 February 1952) is a Chinese football administrator who is the current senior vice president of the Asian Football Confederation. He previously served as Vice President of AFC from 2002 to 2011 and as Senior Vice President ...

, was also in attendance at this meeting. It was reported that the IPFCA would use this meeting to voice their displeasure at the AIFF and IMG-Reliance but the association never showed up at the meeting. On 18 June 2012 the IPFCA was officially sanctioned under the Society's Act of 1960.

League improvement

Despite the ongoing war between the AIFF, IMG-Reliance, and the IPFCA, the league did manage to improve its product on the field and awareness did increase during this period. It all started when the India national team participated in the

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

for the first time in 27 years. Despite being knocked-out in the group stage after losing all three of their games, India came back home more popular than ever. Subrata Pal, of Pune gained the most popularity after his impressive performances in goal for India during the Asian Cup. At the same time, before the Asian Cup,

Sunil Chhetri Sunil Chhetri (, born 3 August 1984) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club Bengaluru and captains the India national team. He is the all-time top scorer in Indian Super League history. He is ...

became the second Indian footballer in the modern footballing era to move abroad when he signed for the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

in Major League Soccer in 2010. He also became the first exported Indian from the I-League. The league was then given a major boost from its main derby, the

Kolkata derby The Kolkata Derby (locally known as "Boro Match") is the association football, football match in Kolkata, between Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal FC, East Bengal. The rivalry between these two teams is over 100 years old, ...

, between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. On 20 November 2011, 90,000 people watched at the

Salt Lake Stadium The Salt Lake Stadium, officially known as Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), is a multi-purpose stadium, used mostly for football matches, located in Salt Lake City, Greater Kolkata, with a capacity of 68,000 spectators. Named after S ...

as Mohun Bagan defeated East Bengal 1–0. The league also saw more expansion to others areas with the promotion of

United Sikkim United Sikkim Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Gangtok, Sikkim. Incorporated in 2011, the club usually competed in the Sikkim Premier Division League. United Sikkim is the only club from Sikki ...

from the 2nd Division, however, their reign was short lived as financial troubles saw them relegated the next season. Meanwhile, while the league continued to grow, so did the players' demand. During this period plenty of Indian players were wanted on trial by foreign clubs, mainly in Europe. After his return from MLS, Sunil Chhetri and international teammate Jeje Lalpekhlua were called for trials at

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

in 2011. Subrata Pal had trials at

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

before finally signing for Vestsjælland in 2014. And

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (born 3 February 1992) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the India national football team Sandhu was named captain of the India national team for the ...

underwent trials at then

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

and finally signing for

Stabæk Fotball Stabæk Fotball is a Norway, Norwegian professional association football, football club based in Bærum, a suburb of Oslo. It is part of the multi-sport organization Stabæk IF. Founded in 1912, the club's name is an archaic spelling of the sub ...

, Norway in 2014. At the same time, as Indian players demand abroad increased, the demand for higher quality foreigners in the I-League also increased. Former

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

player of the year and

Costa Rican Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

international Carlos Hernández signed with Prayag United before the 2012–13 season from the

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

. Lebanese international Bilal Najjarine also signed with Churchill Brothers in 2012.

Demotion to second tier

On 18 May 2016,

IMG img or IMG is an abbreviation for image. img or IMG may also refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics *IMG (file format), file that stores a complete and uncompressed copy of the contents of a storage device * IMG, a prefix for camera ima ...

– Reliance, along with the AIFF and I-League representatives met during a meeting in Mumbai. At the meeting, it was proposed that starting from the 2017–18 season, the Indian Super League becomes the top-tier football league in India while the I-League gets relegated to the second tier, but the idea was not entertained by the I-League representatives. In 2017,

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and the AFC had appointed a committee to look at the footballing landscape in the country which was in disarray due to two simultaneous leagues running together, and come up with solutions to re-establish a singular league pyramid which would be acceptable for everyone. In the month of June, IMG–Reliance, the AIFF and the I-League representatives, met with the AFC in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

in order to find a new way forward for Indian football. The AFC were against allowing the ISL as the premier league in India while the clubs like East Bengal and Mohun Bagan wanted a complete merger of ISL and I-League. A couple weeks later, the AIFF proposed that both ISL and I-League run simultaneously on a short–term basis with the I-League champions retaining the spot for the AFC Champions League qualifying stage, while the AFC Cup qualifying stage spot going to the ISL champions. The proposal from the AIFF was officially approved by the AFC on 25 July 2017, with the ISL replacing the domestic cup competition, the Federation Cup. On 14 October 2019, the AFC held a summit in Kuala Lumpur, chaired by the AFC Secretary General Windsor John, which involved key stakeholders from the AIFF, the FSDL, the ISL and the I-League clubs, and other major stakeholders to propose a new roadmap to facilitate the football league system in India. Based on the roadmap that was prepared by the AFC and the AIFF at the summit and was finally approved by the AFC Executive Committee on 26 October in

Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...

, in 2019–20 season, ISL will attain the country's top-tier league status, allowing the ISL premiers to play AFC Champions League and the I-League champions to play AFC Cup. In addition, starting with the 2022–23 season, I-League will lose the top-tier status, wherein the champion of the I-League will stand a chance to be promoted to the ISL with no participation fee. In its recommendation for 2024–25, it was agreed to fully implement promotion and relegation between the two leagues, and abolition of parallel league system.

Competition format

Since the league began in 2007, the rules have changed over the years. Each club plays each other twice during the season, once at home and the other time away. At the end of the season, the club with the most points wins the league and gains promotion to the top flight Indian Super League. In the case of a tie, head-to-head record and the goal difference are looked.

Clubs

Current clubs

All time clubs

A total of 42 clubs have participated so far in the I-League since its inception from 2007, up to the 2025–26 season. The following is a list of clubs that have played in the I-League at any time since its formation in 2007 to the current season. Teams playing in the next season are indicated in bold. '

Clubs qualifying for I-League

Clubs promoted/relegated from I-League

Timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:2007 till:2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom PlotArea = right:70 left:0 bottom:75 top:0 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:line value:pink id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) legend:League_member id:Former value:rgb(0.4,0.80,0.67) legend:Former_member id:Future value:rgb(0.5,0.7,0.95) legend:Future_member id:Other value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) legend:Other_leagues PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:S bar:1 color:Full from:2007 till:2014 text: Churchill Brothers (2007–2014) bar:1 color:Full from:2016 till:end text: Churchill Brothers (2016–2025) bar:1 color:Other from:2025 till:end text: ISL bar:2 color:Former from:2007 till:2020 text: Mohun Bagan (2007–2020) bar:2 color:Other from:2020 till:end text: ISL bar:3 color:Former from:2007 till:2020 text: East Bengal (2007–2020) bar:3 color:Other from:2020 till:end text: ISL bar:4 color:Full from:2007 till:2016 text: Dempo (2007–2016) bar:4 color:Other from:2016 till:2022 text: Goa Pro League bar:4 color:Other from:2022 till:2024 text: IL-2 bar:4 color:Full from:2024 till:end text: Dempo (2024–present) bar:5 color:Former from:2007 till:2008: text: i) bar:5 color:Other from:2008 till:2009 text: IL-2 bar:5 color:Former from:2009 till:2016 text: ii) Salgaocar •(i) (2007–2008) •(ii) (2009-2016) bar:5 color:Other from:2016 till:end text: Goa Pro League bar:6 color:Former from:2007 till:2016 text: Sporting Goa (2007–2016) bar:6 color:Other from:2016 till:end text: Goa Pro League bar:7 color:Former from:2007 till:2013 text: Air India (2007–2013) bar:7 color:Other from:2013 till:end text: Mumbai Football League bar:8 color:Former from:2007 till:2011 text: JCT (2007–2011) bar:9 color:Former from:2007 till:2010 text: Mahindra United (2007–2010) bar:10 color:Former from:2007 till:2012 text: Viva Kerala (2007–2012) bar:11 color:Former from:2008 till:2017 text: Mumbai (2008-2017) bar:11 color:Other from:2007 till:2008 text: IL-2 bar:12 color:Other from:2007 till:2008 text: IL-2 bar:12 color:Former from:2008 till:2014 text: United SC(2008–2014) bar:12 color:Other from:2014 till:2015 text: IL-2 bar:12 color:Other from:2022 till:2023 text: IL-2 bar:12 color:Other from:2015 till:2022 text: Calcutta Football League bar:13 color:Other from:2007 till:2008 text: IL-2 bar:13 color:Former from:2008 till:2009 text: iii) bar:13 color:Other from:2009 till:2013 text: IL-2 •(iii) Mohammedan (2008–2009) bar:13 color:Former from:2013 till:2014 text: iv) bar:13 color:Other from:2014 till:2020 text: IL-2 •(iv) Mohammedan (2013–2014) bar:13 color:Former from:2020 till:2024 text: Mohammedan (2020–2024) bar:13 color:Other from:2024 till:end text: ISL bar:14 color:Other from:2007 till:2008 text: IL-2 bar:14 color:Former from:2008 till:2009 text: v) bar:14 color:Other from:2009 till:2010 text: IL-2 bar:14 color:Other from:2010 till:end text: Goa Pro League •(v) Vasco (2008-2009) bar:15 color:Other from:2007 till:2009 text: IL-2 bar:15 color:Former from:2009 till:2015 text: Pune (2009-15) bar:16 color:Other from:2008 till:2009 text: IL-2 bar:16 color:Full from:2009 till:2019 text: Shillong Lajong (2009-2019) bar:16 color:Full from:2023 till:end text: Shillong Lajong (2023–present) bar:16 color:Other from:2019 till:2022 text: Shillong Premier League bar:16 color:Other from:2022 till:2023 text: IL-2 bar:17 color:Former from:2010 till:2013 text:AIFF XI/Pailan Arrows (2010-2013) bar:17 color:Former from:2017 till:2022 text: Indian Arrows (2017-2022) bar:18 color:Former from:2010 till:2013 text: ONGC (2010-2013) bar:18 color:Other from:2007 till:2010 text: IL-2 bar:19 color:Other from:2007 till:2008 text: IL-2 bar:19 color:Other from:2009 till:2010 text: IL-2 bar:19 color:Former from:2010 till:2012 text: HAL (2010-2012) bar:19 color:Other from:2012 till:end text: Bangalore Super Division bar:20 color:Former from:2012 till:2013 text: vi) bar:20 color:Other from:2010 till:2012 text: IL-2 bar:20 color:Other from:2013 till:2014 text: IL-2 bar:20 color:Other from:2014 till:end text: Sikkim Premier League •(vi) United Sikkim (2012-2013) bar:21 color:Other from:2017 till:end text: ISL bar:21 color: Former from:2013 till:2017 text: Bengaluru (2013-2017) bar:22 color:Other from:2009 till:2013 text: IL-2 bar:22 color:Former from:2013 till:2014 text: vii) bar:22 color:Other from:2014 till:end text: Shillong Premier League •(vii) Rangdajied United (2013-2014) bar:23 color:Former from:2014 till:2015 text: Royal Wahingdoh (2014-2015) bar:23 color:Other from:2010 till:2014 text: IL-2 bar:24 color:Former from:2014 till:2015 text: Bharat (2014-2015) bar:25 color:Other from:2007 till:2011 text: Mizoram Premier League bar:25 color:Other from:2011 till:2015 text: IL-2 bar:25 color:Full from:2015 till:end text: Aizawl (2015–present) bar:26 color:Former from:2015 till:2017 text: DSK Shivajians (2015-2017) bar:26 color:Other from:2007 till:2013 text: Pune Football League bar:26 color:Other from:2012 till:2013 text: IL-2 bar:27 color:Other from:2015 till:2016 text: IL-2 bar:27 color:Former from:2016 till:2020 text: Minerva Punjab (2016-2020) bar:27 color:Former from:2020 till:2023 text: RoundGlass Punjab (2020-2023) bar:27 color:Other from:2023 till:end text: ISL bar:28 color:Former from:2016 till:2021 text: Chennai City (2016-2021) bar:29 color:Full from:2017 till:end text: Gokulam (2017–present) bar:30 color:Other from:2015 till:2017 text: IL-2 bar:30 color:Former from:2017 till:2024 text: NEROCA (2017–2024) bar:30 color:Other from:2024 till:end text: IL-2 bar:31 color:Full from:2018 till:end text: Real Kashmir (2018–present) bar:31 color:Other from:2016 till:2018 text: IL-2 bar:32 color:Other from:2017 till:2019 text: IL-2 bar:32 color:Former from:2019 till:2024 text: TRAU (2019–2024) bar:32 color:Other from:2024 till:end text: IL-2 bar:33 color:Other from:2007 till:2020 text: Delhi Football League bar:33 color:Former from:2020 till:2023 text: Sudeva Delhi (2020-2023) bar:33 color:Other from:2023 till:end text: IL-2 bar:34 color:Full from:2021 till:end text: Sreenidi Deccan (2021–present) bar:35 color:Full from:2021 till:end text: Rajasthan United (2021–present) bar:35 color:Other from:2020 till:2021 text: IL-2 bar:36 color:Former from:2021 till:2023 text: Kenkre (2021-2023) bar:36 color:Other from:2023 till:2024 text: IL-2 bar:36 color:Other from:2024 till:end text: IL-3 bar:36 color:Other from:2010 till:2017 text: IL-2 bar:36 color:Other from:2017 till:2021 text: Mumbai Football League bar:36 color:Other from:2020 till:2021 text: IL-2 bar:37 color:Other from:2007 till:2020 text: Delhi Football League bar:37 color:Other from:2020 till:2023 text: IL-2 bar:37 color:Full from:2023 till:end text: Delhi (2023–present) bar:38 color:Full from:2023 till:end text: Inter Kashi (2023–present) bar:39 color:Full from:2023 till:end text: Namdhari (2023–present) bar:40 color:Other from:2023 till:2024 text: IL-3 IL-2 bar:40 color:Full from:2024 till:end text: Sporting Bengaluru (2024-present) bar:41 color:Other from:2022 till:2024 text: CFL bar:41 color:Other from:2024 till:2025 text: IL-3 IL-2 bar:41 color:Full from:2025 till:end text: Diamond Harbour (2025-present) bar:42 color:Other from:2007 till:2015 text: Mizoram Premier League bar:42 color:Other from:2015 till:2016 text: IL-2 bar:42 color:Other from:2016 till:2025 text: Mizoram Premier League bar:42 color:Full from:2025 till:end text: Chanmari (2025-present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2007 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:

Sponsorship

Since the original National Football League, the Indian league has always been sponsored. When the I-League began in 2007 the last sponsor from the old National Football League,

ONGC The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is an Indian central public sector undertaking which is the largest government-owned oil and gas explorer and producer in the country. It accounts for around 70 percent of India's domestic pro ...

, were brought in as the sponsors, making the league be known as the ''ONGC I-League''. However, after the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, the deal with ONGC was not renewed and the I-League was left without a sponsorship deal till 2013. On 24 September 2013, it was announced that

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

s company,

Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited is an Indian multinational telecommunications company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, Airtel provides 5G, 4G and LTE Advanced ...

would be the new title sponsor of the I-League, thus making the league known as the ''Airtel I-League''. In December 2014, it was announced that

Hero MotoCorp Hero MotoCorp Limited is an Indian multinational motorcycle and scooter manufacturer headquartered in Delhi. It has a market share of about 30% in the Indian two-wheeler industry. The Munjal family, with its 34.75% stake, is the biggest shar ...

would replace Airtel as the title sponsor for the league and hence the league would be known has ''Hero I-League''. The league is currently without a title sponsor, as Hero decided not to renew its sponsorship deal with Indian football after 2022–23 season.

Media coverage

Coaches

The role of the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

in the I-League varies from club to club. Some like to appoint

technical Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match * Technical advisor, a person who ...

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

s as well as manager-style coaches. The All India Football Federation does impose licensing requirements for head coaches in the I-League, the rule being that the head coach must have an

AFC Professional Coaching Diploma The AFC Professional Coaching Diploma, also known as the AFC Pro-Diploma, is the highest level of coaching accreditation issued by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), equivalent to the UEFA Pro Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documen ...

in order to coach in the I-League. However, some clubs and coaches like Subhash Bhowmick,

Subrata Bhattacharya Subrata Bhattacharya (; born 3 March 1953) is an Indian football manager and former professional footballer. He primarily played as a defender for India national team and spent seventeen years playing for Mohun Bagan. Regarded as one of the ...

Sukhwinder Singh Sukhwinder Singh (born 18 July 1971) is an Indian playback singer who primarily sings Bollywood songs. He sang " Jai Ho" in the film '' Slumdog Millionaire'', for which he won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Televisi ...

and Bimal Ghosh were known for accepting a technical director role in order to bypass the head coaching requirements. This has bought about a lot of controversial news, most recently being when Churchill Brothers won the I-League after the 2012–13 season with Subhash Bhowmick not winning the "Coach of the Year" award, due to being listed as the technical director. Seeing this, the AIFF technical director,

Rob Baan Robert Baan (born 1 April 1943 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch football coach. He was coach of FC VVV, Roda JC, and FC Twente, assistant coach of PSV and assistant and interim coach of the Dutch national football team. He won Dutch First Division c ...

, as well as others, advocated that the federation make it mandatory for both technical directors and head coaches to have an AFC Pro-Diploma. On 14 May 2014 this was officially put into act by the AIFF during their I-League licensing committee meeting. In terms of coaching performance, after the first seven seasons of the I-League, an Indian head coach has won the I-League four times while a foreign head coach has won it three times. Zoran Đorđević of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

was the first foreign head coach to win the I-League.

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese became the first coach to win back-to-back I-League titles in 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons. Armando Colaco was the first Indian coach to win the I-League in the league's opening season and he has the most I-League championships at three.

Khogen Singh Wangkhem Khogen Singh (born 1 February 1971) is a former Indian football player and current head coach of I-League club NEROCA. He was head coach of I-League side, Minerva Punjab, whom he led to the 2017–18 title. Playing career Born in ...

is the latest Indian coach to win the I-League in 2017–18 season. Zico

Champions

Successful clubs by seasons

;Notes:

Performance by clubs

Records and statistics

Individual game highest attendance records

Seasonal statistics

Player transfer fees

Top transfer fees paid by I-League clubs

Top transfer fees received by I-League clubs

Top scorers

Season after season, players in the I-League compete for the golden boot title, which is awarded at the end of each season to the top scorer throughout the entire season. The most recent winner of the golden boot is

Bidyashagar Singh Bidyashagar Singh Khangembam (born 11 March 1998) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Bidyashagar is a product of East Bengal' youth system. He was part of East Bengal U18 squad that had narrowly lost in ...

, who won the golden boot at the end of the 2020–21 season after scoring 12 goals. Ranti Martins is both currently the holders of the most golden boot titles with five golden boots. Along with Odafa Onyeka Okolie, the two Nigerians make up the eight golden boots won by Nigerians, the most of any nationality in the league.

Awards

The trophy

The I-League has only been awarding a proper trophy to the champion since 2013 when the 2012–13 season champions,

, won the league. Before 2013 the I-League champions received a basic trophy. The new trophy was designed in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and is modeled along the lines of the champion trophies in the top European leagues. Regarding the trophy, the AIFF general secretary, Kushal Das, said: "It is the endeavour of AIFF to practice the best principles of other leagues and accordingly we thought to create a more contemporary look to the I-League trophy in line with trophies given in European leagues".

Season awards

End of the season I-League awards were previously conducted by the Football Players' Association of India and

since 2008–09 season. Currently the awards include the

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

of the league, the golden boot, the golden glove, the best head coach (

Syed Abdul Rahim Syed Abdul Rahim (17 August 1909 – 11 June 1963), popularly known as Rahim Saab, was an Indian football coach and manager of the India national team from 1950 until his death in 1963, and a former player. He is regarded as the architect of m ...

Award), the best defender ( Jarnail Singh Award), the best midfielder and the emerging player of the league, all of which are sponsored by

Hero of the League

Syed Abdul Rahim Award

Emerging player of the season

Foreign player of the year

Indian Player of the Season

Fans' player of the year

I-League clubs in Asia

Traditionally, I-League clubs have done particularly well in the AFC Cup. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

managed to reach the semi-finals of the AFC Cup before being defeated by Al-Safa of

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

also managed to reach the semi-finals in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

before being knocked-out by Al-Kuwait.

is the only I-League club to reach the AFC Cup Final in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

but lost to

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya () is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Iraq, Rusafa District, Baghdad that competes in the Iraq Stars League, the top-flight of Football in Iraq, Iraqi football. Founded in 1931, it is the oldest existing club in Iraq. ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. However, in the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

, no I-League club has ever managed to make it past the qualifiers.

References

External links

*
"iLeague Fixtures"
– League Winner (archived 29 June 2017). Retrieved on 31 May 2015. {{Authority control Professional sports leagues in India All India Football Federation Football leagues in India 2007 establishments in India Sports leagues established in 2007 Second level football leagues in Asia