Everything you need to know about the Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-21 season - List of players, team names, coaches, format, schedule, etc
The seventh edition of India's top-tier football league -- the Indian Super League (ISL) -- starts on November 10, 2020 with a mouth-watering clash between Kerala Blasters FC and ATK Muhon Bagan FC. According to the ISL, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the season "promises to be bigger than ever before following the expansion of the league with the addition of SC East Bengal and ATK Mohun Bagan." (More Football News)
The 2020 edition "will now witness an unprecedented 115 games, up from 95 last season. All clubs will play each other in a double round-robin format with the top four clubs in the standings at the end of the regular season qualifying for the playoffs."
That's ISL 2020-21 in a nutshell.
Before the start of the season, here's everything you need to know -- fixtures, teams, squads, venues, live streaming, TV telecast details:
Fixtures: The organisers of the league, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), has so far released the schedule for the first 11 rounds of matches, featuring six double-headers – all of which will be played on Sundays. Yes, the date for the first-ever ISL Kolkata derby match has also been announced.
Format: Home/away, even though all the matches will be played in Goa, in a round-robin format. The top four sides will qualify for the playoffs with table-toppers qualifying for the AFC Champions League.
Telecast and live streaming details: Official broadcasting partner Star Network will exclusively telecast ISL matches in India on Star Sports 1 SD & HD, Star Sports 2 SD & HD (English); Star Sports Hindi 1 SD & HD, Star Sports 3, Star Gold 2 (Hindi), Asianet Plus, Asianet Movies (Malayalam); Star Sports Bangla; Star Sports Kannada; Star Sports Tamil; Star Sports Telugu and Star Sports Marathi. Online streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar VIP and JioTV.
5 international partners will also showcase ISL to football fans across the globe, covering 82 territories in the Asia Pacific, Australia, Central Asia, Continental Europe, Far East, South East Asia, and the USA. Following is the list of international broadcasters and live streaming partners:
ESPN + : USA & Canada
Fox Sports : Australia
1Play Sports (YouTube channel and Facebook page): Singapore, Indonesia (Genflix), Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Macau
Yupp TV: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Vatican City, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Digicel PNG (TVWan Action) : Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomons, Samoa, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, American Samoa, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Niue, Tokelau, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Tonga, Nauru
Asianet Plus: Middle East
Jalsha Movies SD: Middle East and Bangladesh
Jalsha Movies HD: Maldives and Bangladesh
Venues: The entire tournament will be played in Goa, behind closed doors across three stadiums -- The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, the Tilak Nagar Stadium in Vasco, and the GMC Stadium in Bambolim.
Teams: This season, 11 teams will fight for the prestigious trophy and the right to represent India in continental tournaments. Defending champions ATK have merged with Mohun Bagan, thus bringing in one of India's biggest clubs into the ISL fold. And, soon enough, another legacy club - East Bengal followed the suit, leaving the I-League.
Here are the teams - ATK Mohun Bagan FC, Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC, FC Goa, Hyderabad FC, Jamshedpur FC, Kerala Blasters FC, Mumbai City FC, NorthEast United FC, Odisha FC and SC East Bengal.
Squads (Provisional): Each club can register a maximum of 35 players in their respective squads, with a minimum of five and a maximum of seven foreign players.
ATK Mohun Bagan FC
Goalkeepers - Arindam Bhattacharja, Dheeraj Moirangthem, Arsh Shaikh, Aryan Niraj Lamba,
Avilash Paul; Defenders - Tiri, Sandesh Jhingan, Prabir Das, Pritam Kotal, Subhasish Bose, Sumit Rathi, Boris Thangjam; Midfielders - Edu Garcia, Javier Hernandez, Carl McHugh, Glan Martins, Michael Soosairaj, Jayesh Rane, Pronay Halder, Bradden Inman, Michael Regin, Sahil Sheikh, Ningombam Engson, Md. Fardin Ali Molla; Forwards - Roy Krishna, David Williams, Manvir Singh.
Head coach - Antonio Lopez Habas (Spain)
Bengaluru FC
Goalkeepers - Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Lalthummawia Ralte, Lara Sharma; Defenders - Ajith Kumar, Diswa Darjee, Francisco Gonzalez, Joe Zoherliana, Juanan, Namgyal Bhutia, Parag Srivas, Pratik Chaudhari, Rahul Bheke, Wungngayam Muirang; Midfielders - Ajay Chhetri, Amay Morajkar, Cleiton Silva, Dimas Delgado, Emanuel Lalchhanchhuaha, Erik Paartalu, Harmanjot Khabra, Suresh Wangjam, Thoi Khangebam; Forwards - Deshorn Brown, Edmund Lalrindika, Kristian Opseth, Leon Augustin, Ashique Kuruniyan, Mahesh Naorem, Sunil Chhetri, Semboi Haokip.
Head coach - Carles Cuadrat (Spain)
Chennaiyin FC
Goalkeepers - Karanjit Singh, Vishal Kaith, Revanth BY, Samik Mitra; Defenders - Eli Sabia, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Enes Sipovic, Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, Reagan Keisham, Deepak Tangri, Aqib Nawab, Remi Aimol, Ganesan Balaji; Midfielders - Anirudh Thapa, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rafael Crivellaro, Memo Moura, Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev, Edwin Vanspaul, Thoi Khangebam, Dhanpal Ganesh, Germanpreet Singh, Abhijit Sarkar, Srinivasan Pandiyan, Aman Chetri; Forwards - Esmael Goncalves, Jakub Sylvestr, Rahim Ali.
Head coach - Csaba Laszlo (Romanian–Hungarian)
FC Goa
Goalkeepers - Mohammad Nawaz, Naveen Kumar, Dylan D'Silva, Shubham Dhas; Defenders - Ivan Gonzalez, James Donachie, Seriton Fernandes, Aibanbha Dohling, Leander D'Cunha, Mohamed Ali, Sanson Pereira, Sarineo Fernandes, Saviour Gama; Midfielders - Edu Bedia, Flan Gomes, Jorge Ortiz, Brandon Fernandes, Alberto Noguera, Lenny Rodrigues, Redeem Tlang, Seiminlen Doungel, Nestor Dias, Phrangki Buam, Princeton Rebello, Alexander Jesuraj, Makan Chothe; Forwards - Igor Angulo, Ishan Pandita, Aaren D'Silva, Devendra Murgaonkar.
Head coach - Juan Ferrando (Spain)
Hyderabad FC
Goalkeepers - Subrata Paul, Laxmikant Kattimani, Manas Dubey, Lalbiakhlua Jongte; Defenders - Chinglensana Konsham, Odei Onaindia, Dimple Bhagat, Nikhil Prabhu, Sahil Panwar, Akash Mishra, Kynsailang Khongsit, Asish Rai; Midfielders - Adil Khan, Halicharan Narzary, Joao Victor, Laldanmawia Ralte, Lluis Sastre, Hitesh Sharma, Abhishek Halder, Sahil Tavora, Mark Zothanpuia, Mohamed Yasir, Nikhil Poojary, Souvik Chakrabarti, Sweden Fernandes; Forwards - Aridane Santana, Fran Sandaza, Joel Chianese, Liston Colaco, Ishan Dey, Lalawmpuia, Rohit Danu.
Head coach - Manuel Marquez Roca (Spain)
Jamshedpur FC
Goalkeepers - TP Rehenesh, Pawan Kumar, Niraj Kumar, Raj Mahato, Vishal Yadav; Defenders - Peter Hartley, Stephen Eze, Narender Gehlot, Joyner Lourenco, Laldinliana Renthlei, Karan Amin, Manash Protim Gogoi, Sandip Mandi, Ricky Lallawmawma, Subhash Barua; Midfielders - Aitor Monroy, Alex Lima, Jackichand Telem, Nicholas Fitzgerald, Issac Vanmalsawma, Amarjit Kiyam, Mobashir Rahman, Jitendra Singh, Manisana Pukhrambam, Harsha Parui, Billu Teli, Gorachand Mardi, Gaurab, Bhupender Singh; Forwards - Nerijus Valskis, David Grande, Aniket Jadhav, Sapam Kennedy, William Lalnunfela.
Head coach - Owen Columba Coyle (Scotland)
Kerala Blasters
Goalkeepers - Albino Gomes, Bilal Khan, Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Muheet Khan; Defenders - Costa Nhamoinesu, Nishu Kumar, Bakary Kone, Jessel Carneiro, Sandeep Singh, Abdul Hakku, Lalruatthara; Midfielders - Sergio Cidoncha, Sahal Abdul Samad, Vicente Gomez, Seityasen Irom, Rahul KP, Givson Moirangthem, Lalthathanga Khawlhring, Yendrembam Denechandra, Nongdamba Naorem, Arjun Jayaraj, Ayush Adhikari, Jeakson Thounaojam, Prasanth Karuthadathkuni, Ritwik Das, Rohit Kumar; Forwards - Gary Hooper, Jordan Murray, Facundo Pereyra, Naorem Mahesh, Shaiborlang Kharpan.
Head coach - Kibu Vicuna (Spain)
Mumbai City FC
Goalkeepers - Amrinder Singh, Nishit Shetty, Vikram Singh, Phurba Lachenpa; Defenders - Mourtada Fall, Mandar Rao Dessai, Tondonba Ngasepam, Sarthak Golui, Amey Ranawade, Mohamad Rakip, Mehtab Singh, Hmingthanmawia (Valpuia); Midfielders - Ahmed Jahouh, Cy Goddard, Hugo Boumous, Herman Santana, Rowllin Borges, Farukh Choudhary, Raynier Fernandes, Bidyananda Ningthoujam, Asif Khan, Bipin Thounajam, Pranjal Bhumij, Sourav Das, Vikram Singh, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy; Forwards - Bartholomew Ogbeche, Adam Le Fondre.
Head coach - Sergio Lobera (Spain)
NorthEast United FC
Goalkeepers - Sanjiban Ghosh, Subhasish Roy, Gurmeet, Nikhil Deka; Defenders - Ashutosh Mehta, Benjamin Lambot, Dylan Fox, Gurjinder Kumar, Mashoor Shereef, Nabin Rabha, Nim Dorjee, Provat Lakra, Wayne Vaz, Rakesh Pradhan; Midfielders - Federico Gallego, Khassa Camara, Lalengmawia, Imran Khan, Lalrempuia Fanai, Pragyan Gogoi, Rochharzela; Forwards - Idrissa Sylla, Luis Machado, Kwesi Appiah, Britto PM, Khumanthem Ninthoinganba Meetei, Lalkhawpuimawia, Suhair Vadakkepeedika.
Head coach - Gerard Nus (Spain)
Odisha FC
Goalkeepers - Kamaljit Singh, Ravi Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Ankit Bhuyan; Defenders - Steven Taylor, Jacob Tratt, Shubham Sarangi, Gaurav Bora, Hendry Antonay, Kamalpreet Singh, George D'Souza, Mohammad Dhot, Saurabh Meher; Midfielders - Cole Alexander, Nandhakumar Sekar, Paul Ramfangzauva, Samuel Lalmuanpuia, Vinit Rai, Thoiba Moirangthem, Isak Vanlalruatfela, Jerry Mawihmingthana, Boaringdao Bodo, Lahrezuala Sailung; Forwards - Marcelo Pereira, Manuel Onwu, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Diego Mauricio, Premjit Laishram.
Head coach - Stuart Baxter (England)
SC East Bengal
Goalkeepers - Debjit Majumder, Rafique Ali, Mirshad Michu, Sankar Roy; Defenders - Daniel Fox, Scott Neville, Gurtej Singh, Narayan Das, Lalramchullova, Abhishek Ambekar, Rana Gharami, Samad Mallick, Mohamed Irshad, Ningthoukhongjam Rohen, Anil Chawan, Novin Gurung, Pritam Soraisam; Midfielders - Aaron Hammadi-Holloway, Anthony Pilkington, Matti Steinman, Jacques Maghoma, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Bikash Jairu, Sehnaj Singh, Surchandra Chandam, Moirangthem Loken Meitei, Haobam Tomba, Milan Oinam, Wahengbam Luwang, Mohamed Rafique, Yumnam Gopi; Forwards - Jeje Lalpekhlua, Balwant Singh, CK Vineeth, Girik Khosla, Harmanpreet Singh.
Head coach -Robbie Fowler (England)