Odisha FC

Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded as ''Delhi Dynamos Football Club''. In 2019, prior to the 2019–20 Indian Super League season, the club rebranded to ''Odisha Football Club'', and relocated to its current base, the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

Odisha played its first home match on 14 October 2014, with a 0–0 draw against Pune City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi as Delhi Dynamos. As Odisha FC, the club played their first match on 22 October 2019, however they had to play their first three matches of 2019–20 ISL season at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, before making Kalinga Stadium as their permanent base. The club went on to win the 2023 Indian Super Cup, its first trophy. After defeating Gokulam Kerala FC in the Indian club qualifiers for 2023–24 AFC Cup group stage 3–1, Odisha qualified for the 2023–24 AFC Cup, its first participation in any continental stage.

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 or 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. On 13 April 2014, it was announced that DEN Networks had won the bidding for the Delhi franchise. The team had entered an alliance with Dutch club Feyenoord which lasted one year.

The team started their inaugural Indian Super League campaign on 14 October 2014 with a 0–0 draw against FC Pune City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. Dynamos did not experience the best of starts to their ISL campaign as they were placed last in the points table till the ninth game-week. But, against all odds, the team finished fifth with a five-match unbeaten run which included three wins and two draws. However, the team could not qualify for the semi-finals. In the 2015 season, Delhi Dynamos, for the first time, qualified for the semi-finals of the Indian Super League in 2015. In the 2016 season, the club finished third in the league stage with 21 points, but lost to Kerala Blasters FC in the semi-finals. In the 2017–18 season, the club finished eighth in the league stage with 19 points and couldn't qualify for semi-finals. In their last season under the ''Delhi Dynamos '' banner, i.e. the 2018–19 season, the club again finished eighth in the league round with 18 points and therefore, couldn't qualify for the semi-finals.

Ahead of the 2019–20 Indian Super League season, the club decided to relocate to a new base, the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha and rechristen itself as Odisha FC. In the presence of Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha, and Tusharkanti Behera, the Minister for Department of Sports and Youth Services (DSYS), Government of Odisha, the Delhi Soccer Private Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Odisha, to facilitate the relocation of the club from the national capital New Delhi to the Odisha state capital Bhubaneswar. As per the MoU, it was mutually decided that the club's first team, youth teams, youth football development program and grassroots football development program will be based in Odisha.

Odisha played three of their initial home fixtures of the 2019−20 season at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune, due to unavailability of the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Odisha started off their season on 22 October 2019, with a 2−1 loss in an away match against Jamshedpur at the JRD Tata Sports Complex. Odisha secured their first ever win in their third fixture registering a 4−2 victory against Mumbai City at the Mumbai Football Arena. Odisha ended the season at the sixth spot with 25 points. Later, on 18 March 2020, due to the head coach's familial obligations, Josep Gombau left the club. Stuart Baxter replaced Josep Gomabau on 19 June 2020, as he was announced as the head coach of Odisha in a two-year contract. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the 2020−21 season was hosted behind closed doors across three venues in Goa, the Fatorda Stadium in Margao, the GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim, and the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco da Gama. Due to inconsistent display throughout the season, Odisha FC ended up at the bottom of the league with twelve points. On 2 February 2021, Baxter was sacked for his comments in a post-match press conference.

On 20 July 2021, Odisha announced the appointment of Kiko Ramírez as the head coach for 2021–22 Indian Super League season along with the appointment of Assistant Coach and Head of Football Development, Joaquin "Kino" Garcia Sanchez. On 1 September 2021, the club entered into a 3-year international partnership deal with Premier League club Watford. On 4 November 2021, the club announced the finalisation of a strategic football and commercial partnership with Brazil's Avaí Futebol Clube as a part of OFC's Global Football Alliance initiative. Odisha began the 2021–22 season campaign win a historic 3–1 win over Bengaluru FC on 24 November. Odisha ended the season at the seventh spot with 23 points.

The 2022 Durand Cup kicked of the 2022–23 Indian football season, followed by the Indian Super League season, and later ended with the Super Cup. In the 2022 Durand Cup group stage, Odisha topped their group with four wins in four games, scoring 11 goals without conceding a single goal, and qualified for the 2022 Durand Cup quarter-finals. Odisha went down a.e.t. against Bengaluru in the quarter-finals 1-2, bowing out of the competition. In the 2022-23 Indian Super League season, Odisha finished 6th with 30 points on the table and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since rebranding into Odisha FC. However, they lost to Mohun Bagan 2-0 in the knock-outs. In the 2023 Indian Super Cup, Odisha began their campaign by drawing 1-1 against East Bengal. They then went on to win 3-0 against I-League side Aizawl FC and a 2-1 win against Hyderabad FC to top their group and qualify for the Semi-final of the tournament. In the Semi-final, they beat the surprise team in the tournament Northeast United FC on a scoreline of 3-1 to qualify for their first ever Super Cup Final where they were up against current ISL runner-up Bengaluru FC.

On 25 April 2023, Odisha clinched their first ever silverware, the Indian Super Cup title, defeating Bengaluru FC 2-1 in the 2023 Indian Super Cup final. They faced 2021–22 I-League champions Gokulam Kerala in the Indian club qualifiers for 2023–24 AFC competitions. Diego Maurício's hat-trick helped Odisha cruise past Gokulam Kerala to qualify for the AFC Cup.

Odisha kicked-off their 2023-24 season with the 2023-24 AFC Cup, in which they were placed in the South Zone group alongside Mohun Bagan SG from India, Bashundhara Kings from Bangladesh, and Maziya from the Maldives. Odisha finished as the South Zone Winners, topping the group with 12 points from 6 games, qualifying for the inter-zonal play-off semi-finals. Odisha faced the Australian side Central Coast Mariners in the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals. They lost the first leg 4-0 away, and drew the second leg 0-0 at home, exiting the competition. In the 2023–24 Indian Super League season, the club finished 4th with 39 points from 22 games, qualifying for the play-offs. In the knock-outs, they defeated Kerala Blasters 2–1, and reached the semi-finals for the first time in club history. In the two-legged semi-final, Odisha faced Mohun Bagan SG. They won the first leg 2–1 at home, however, lost 0–2 away, exiting the league play-offs with an aggregate score of 2–3.

Club crest and kits

Crest

On 15 September 2019, Odisha unveiled their official logo embodying the heritage and the culture of the state of Odisha and the vision and the ideology of its parent company, GMS Inc. The design for the crest is inspired from the Chakras or the chariot wheels of the famous Konark Sun Temple in Odisha which represents movement and development; the ship design represents GMS, the world's largest buyer of ships and offshore assets, and the owner of the club.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Kit evolution

Stadium

Established in 1978, the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, is the home ground of Odisha. The 12,000-capacity stadium has hosted several national and international tournaments including the I-League, Super Cup, and 2019 Gold Cup. It was one of the venues to host the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. The stadium also serves as the home base for the India national football team and youth national teams. Indian Arrows, AIFF's defunct developmental side, was also based at the Kalinga Stadium.

On 31 August 2019, the Kalinga Stadium was announced as the home base of the club. Earlier, the 60,000-capacity Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, served as the home ground of the club, under the brand franchise name Delhi Dynamos FC. In 2019, due to various economic factors and improper attendance for home games over the course of the seasons at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the then owner of the club, Dr. Anil Sharma, decided to shift the base from Delhi to Bhubaneswar, and rechristen the club as Odisha FC.

Support

Odisha FC had immediately grown its popularity post its inception which resulted in the formation of its supporters group, known as The Juggernauts. The name of the group is derived from i.e. the "world-lord", combining ("world") and ("lord"). Juggernaut is defined as a large powerful force or organization that cannot be stopped. After the club entered into a 3-year technical affiliation with the Premier League side Watford, the Juggernauts became the first Indian football supporters' group to get into an international alliance with supporters' group of a foreign club on September 3. They partnered with Watford's largest supporters' group, i.e. ''The 1881 Movement'', for a cross-cultural fan exchange programme.

Ownership

On 13 April 2014, Indian Super League announced that DEN Networks had won the bidding for the Delhi franchise to be the eighth team in the inaugural season of the League. The club entered an alliance with Dutch club Feyenoord in 2015, which lasted only for one year. The world's largest cash buyer of ships and offshore assets for recycling, GMS, was brought in in March 2016 as the club's new majority co-owner. GMS currently holds 100% of the ownership in club which it purchased in three installments of 55%, 25% and 20% respectively from DEN Networks.

Records and statistics

Seasonal statistics

Notable wins against foreign teams

Players

First-team squad

Player of the Season

Personnel

Current technical staff

Managerial history

Football Management

Management

Board of Directors

Honours

Domestic

Cup

* Indian Super Cup
**Winners (1): 2023
**Runners-up (1): 2024

Regional

* Bandodkar Trophy
**Runners-up (1): 2024

Performance in AFC competitions

Affiliated clubs

The following clubs are affiliated with Odisha FC:
* Watford FC (2021–present)
* Avai FC (2021–present)

Other departments

Women's section

eSports

The organizers of ISL introduced eISL, a FIFA video game tournament, for the ISL playing clubs. Each club has represented in the game by two players. Odisha FC (the eSports section is now defunct), hosted a series of qualifying games for all the participants desiring to represent the club in eISL. On 20 November, the club announced the signing of the two selected players.

References

External links

*
Odisha FC's ISL Profile

{{Football in Odisha, state=collapsed

Football clubs in Odisha
2019 establishments in Odisha
Indian Super League teams