Chennai City F.C.
Chennai City Football Club is an Indian football club based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The club has compete as a member of the I-League, under license from All India Football Federation (AIFF). The club was established in 1946 as Netaji Sports Club by five friends. The club has spend the grand majority of its history competing in the local state and city tournaments but entered the national stage in 2016. On 11 December 2016, the team were awarded a direct-entry spot into the I-League for the 2016–17 season, and became I-League champions the 2018-19 season.
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Full name | Chennai City Football Club | ||
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Nickname(s) | The Lions | ||
Founded | 1946; 73 years ago (as Nethaji Sports Club) | ||
Ground | Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore Nehru Stadium, Chennai (most games) | ||
Capacity | 30,000 40,000 | ||
Owners | Rohit Ramesh and Family 69% and R Krishnakumar (5%) FC Basel (26%) | ||
League | I-League | ||
2018–19 | I-League,1st of 11 (champions) | ||
Website | Club website | ||
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History
The club was founded in 1946 as Netaji Sports Club by five friends, SV Kanagasabai, E Vadivelu, TR Govindarajan, PV Chellappa and K Ekambaram.[1] On 11 December 2016, the club was accepted as a direct entry club for 2016–17 I-League and became the second club from Tamil Nadu to play in the top division after Indian Bank team in National Football League.[2] On 6 February 2019 Chennai City FC had agreed for a partnership with FC Basel who now owns 26 percent of the club and would develop football in the state by building football schools for young talents
FC Basel will also have a player exchange program, including first team players, with CCFC and help the club with technical know how.[3][4]
On 9 March 2019, Chennai City FC beat former champions Minerva Punjab 3–1 to be crowned the 2018–19 I-League champions. This marked the finish of a very successful season for the club, defying all expectations to win the league. Spanish-Uruguayan forward Pedro Manzi also scored a brace in this match, and was the joint top scorer of the league, scoring 21 league goals. This was Chennai City FC's first ever I-League title, and they will now represent India in the AFC Champions League.
Chennai City FC also played in the Hero Super Cup during March–April 2019, and lost in the semi-finals to eventual champions FC Goa. However, they did manage to win 2–1 against ISL champions Bengaluru FC in the quarter finals.
Stadium

The club plays its home games at Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore. Constructed in 1971, it is currently used mostly for football matches and has a capacity of 30,000. Prior to 2017–2018 season, the club played their home matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Chennai. The club decided to play their continental matches from Ahmedabad.
Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors
Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
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2016—2017 | Classic Polo | Baako |
2017—2018 | Counter Sports | — |
2018—19 | Penalty | |
2019—present | Uhlsport | Nippon Paint |
Players
First-team squad
- As of 3 March 2020.[5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Current technical staff
Position | Name |
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Head coach | ![]() |
Assistant Coach | ![]() |
Team Manager | ![]() |
Goalkeeping Coach | ![]() |
Sports Physiotherapist | ![]() |
Video Analyst | ![]() |
Contiental record
Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
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2020 | AFC Champions League | Preliminary round 1 | ![]() |
0–1 | ||
2020 | AFC Cup | Group E | ![]() |
2–2 | ||
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Team records
I-League
Season | Div. | Tms. | Pos. | Attendance/G | Federation Cup/Super Cup | Durand Cup | AFC Champions League | AFC Cup |
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2016–17 | I-League | 10 | 8 | 2,949 | Group stage | DNP | DNP | DNP |
2017–18 | I-League | 10 | 8 | 8,194 | Qualification round | DNP | DNP | DNP |
2018–19 | I-League | 11 | 1 | 6,138 | Semi-finals | Group stage | TBD | TBD |
2019–20 | I-League | 11 | TBD | TBD | Group Stage | TBD | TBD |
- Key
- Tms. = Number of teams
- Pos. = Position in league
- Attendance/G = Average league attendance
Overall records
- As of 14 January 2017
Season | I-League | Asia | Top Scorer | |||||||||||||
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P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Position | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Player | Goals | |
2016–17 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 29 | 17 | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | Charles | 4 |
2017–18 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 24 | 19 | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | Joachim | 5 |
2018–19 | 18 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 48 | 28 | 43 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | Manzi | 21 |
Head Coach's Record
- As of 8 February 2017
Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Win% |
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Robin Charles Raja | ![]() |
13 December 2016 | 8 February 2017 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 14.29 |
V. Soundararajan | ![]() |
9 January 2017 | 14 March 2018 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 19 | 23.08 |
Akbar Nawas | ![]() |
15 March 2018 | Present | 23 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 48 | 28 | 65.22 |
Team Record
- Highest transfer fee received – €125,000 plus sell-on clause from Albirex Niigata for Pedro Manzi, 2020
References
- "From Senior Division to I-League: The Chennai City FC story". 11 December 2016.
- "I-League Update: Chennai City FC and Minerva Punjab FC to play in the coming season". 11 December 2016.
- "Federer's home club Basel to invest 20m euros in CCFC – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- "Der FCB und sein Bollywood-Farmteam – Basel steigt bei Chennai City ein". watson.ch (in German). Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- "CHENNAI CITY FC: Squad". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
- "Chennai City FC appoint Nawas as coach, Barcelona's Villa named assistant". timesofindia.com. Retrieved 27 October 2018.