NorthEast United FC
NorthEast United FC, also known as NEUFC, is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam. It competes in the Indian Super League.[1] The club represents the 8 states of India known as North East India: Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Mizoram.[2] The team is owned and operated by Bollywood actor John Abraham.[1]
 | |||
| Full name | NorthEast United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Highlanders | ||
| Founded | 13 April 2014 | ||
| Ground | Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 35,000 | ||
| Owner | John Abraham | ||
| League | Indian Super League | ||
| 2019–20 | Indian Super League, 9th of 10 Playoffs: DNQ | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
|
| |||
History
Formation
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 of 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.[3] On 13 April 2014, it was announced that Bollywood actor John Abraham and Shillong Lajong Football Club had won the bidding for the franchise.
On 16 July 2014, the club signed Joan Capdevila, a European Championship and World Cup winning defender with Spain, as its marquee player. He said: "India is a huge country and it should be a privilege for me to be a small part in popularizing this global game here and working with the young talented footballers of North East India".[4]
On 19 August the club hired its first manager, New Zealander Ricki Herbert, who had represented and managed his nation at World Cups.[5]
2014 season: The first season
On 13 October 2014, the team won their first ISL match at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Spaniard Koke scoring the only goal of the game to defeat Kerala Blasters.[6] The team did not make the end-of-season play-offs, finishing in last place among the eight teams.
2015 season: Narrowly missed play-offs
For their second season, NorthEast United signed former Portugal international Simão Sabrosa as their new marquee signing.[7] On 1 July 2015 the team announced their manager for the 2015 season, former Venezuela national coach, César Farías. The team lost all three of their opening matches with Simão absent through injury, but then earned a 2–0 home win over Chennaiyin FC in which the marquee player won and dispatched an added-time penalty kick to open the scoring.[8] The club entered the top-four for semi-finals by the end of the season but lost their position to Chennaiyin, who defeated Pune City to gain 3 points and secure the spot.
2016 season: Nelo Vingada, Velez, Alfaro era
On 13 May 2016, NorthEast United announced Sérgio Farias as the club's new manager.[9] However, Sérgio Farias joined his former club Suphanburi FC for a second stint forcing NorthEast United to look for a new coach. On July 9, 2016, NorthEast United officially announced Sérgio Farias' exit.[10] On July 23, 2016, NorthEast United announced Nelo Vingada as the club's new manager.[11] The club again got a chance to enter the top-four for semi-finals if they defeat Kerala Blasters but lost and hence, losing their semi-final chance. The club scored 14 goals and conceded 14 goals in that season. More than half of the goals (8) were scored by the South American duo Nicholas Velez and Emiliano Alfaro with 3 and 5 goals respectively.
2017–18 season: A forgettable season
On 17 July 2017, in hope for a great season NorthEast United signed the young Portuguese manager Joao Carlos Pires de Deus.[12] After playing its preseason games in Antalya, Turkey. The team began its season against the ISL debutants Jamshedpur FC. The game ended in a draw with neither side managing to find the back of the net despite NorthEast playing against a 10 men Jamshedpur in the last 20 minutes.[13] Next they played Chennaiyin FC in Chennai, where they failed to keep the record of never losing in Chennai after losing 3–0.[14] NorthEast witnessed their first win of the season where they defeated Delhi Dynamos 0–2 in the opponent's ground. The first goal of the match came from Marcinho in the 17th minute, when a cross by Halicharan Narzary from the left flank found him unmarked inside the box. The second goal came from the striker Danilo in the 22nd minute, when he pressured the Delhi custodian Albino Gomes and made him make error inside his own box, leaving an open goal for Danilo to score his first and last goal of the season and, 500th goal of the league.[15] It was followed by a 4 match losing streak right after which the Portuguese manager was sacked.[16] The team management brought in the ex-Chelsea boss Avram Grant as a technical advisor who acted as a caretaker manager in the absence of Joao.[17] He was later promoted to Head Coach on 12 January 2018, after the team released an official statement about Joao's sacking.[18] The team won 2 out of the first 3 games under Grant, where they defeated FC Goa 2–1[19] and Chennaiyin FC 3–1[20] at home. Seiminlen Doungel scored the first ever hat-trick for NorthEast United in that match. The team failed to win a single match after that, ending the season in a long 8 match winless streak in which they drew 1 match and lost all other matches. They finished the season at the last position managing to win only 3 matches and scoring 12, which was the lowest for the season. Overall the team didn't perform well enough. It was the worst performance in the season since the club came into existence
On 19 February 2018, AIFF announced the Indian Super Cup as a replacement for the Federation Cup. It will be played between 16 teams, the top 6 teams of ISL and I-League and the remaining 4 will be picked through a qualifier played between the bottom 4 from both league. NorthEast United participated in the Cup Qualifiers for the 4 remaining spots. NorthEast United played their qualifier match against Gokulam Kerala on 15 March 2018 which they lost 2–0 and got eliminated.
2018–19 season: Eelco Schatorrie era, maiden play-offs
2018-19 is the fifth season of the club's existence. The season started with a positive start under coach Eelco Schatorrie with NorthEast United drawing with Goa and two consecutive wins over ATK and defending champions Chennaiyin. Against Chennaiyin, NorthEast United made a thrilling comeback after down 3-1 in 35th minute to 3-3 in first half and winning the match 4-3. After Some thrilling victories against Kerala Blasters and Chennaiyan the club strengthened its way to the playoffs. After playing 17 matches and getting 28 points Northeast United finally qualified for the playoffs with Jamshedpur losing a chance to the playoffs with a draw against Chennaiyan FC and also for Super Cup. They also lost the fewest matches and conceded the fewest goals of any team in the league. They also made a club record of 29 points. Former Nigerian international Bartholomew Ogbeche became the highest goalscorer of the club scoring 12 goals. NorthEast United became a major force in the league driven by the trio of Borges-Ogbeche-Gallego. They defeated Bengaluru in the first leg of semi-finals with 'Boot Jolokia' Mascia scoring in the dying moments in the game. Northeast United lost their second leg against Bengaluru which also saw Federico Gallego getting injured. The aggregate score was 4-2.
In the Super Cup, the team reached quarter-finals after fellow northeastern club NEROCA didn't play the match in round of 16 hence, giving them a walkover. In the quarter-finals, they lost to Chennaiyin by 1-2. After a successful season, the team was 'dismantled'. Head Coach Schattorie and top-scorer Ogbeche moving to Kerala Blasters, Borges moving to Mumbai City.
You cannot make from a Mini Cooper a Ferrari
— E. Schatorrie, Head Coach (2018-)
| Position | Player | |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper |  | |
| Defender | | |
| Forward |  | |
| Forward |  |
2019–20 season
2019-20 is the sixth season of the club's existence. The club again failed to reach the play-offs, and were at 9th place at the end of the season.
League statistics
| Season | Teams | Position | Pld. | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts. | League Top Scorer | Goals | Manager | Super Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 8 | 8th | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 13 | -2 | 15 |  |
4 |  |
No Cup |
| 2015 | 8 | 5th | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 23 | -5 | 20 |  |
5 |  | |
| 2016 | 8 | 5th | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 18 |  |
5 | | |
| 2017–18 | 10 | 10th | 18 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 27 | -15 | 11 |  |
4 |  * |
DNQ (inaugural) |
| 2018–19 | 10 | 4th | 18 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 22 | 18 | +4 | 29 | |
12 |  |
Quarter-finals |
| 2018–19 | 10 | 9th | 18 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 30 | -14 | 13 |  |
4 | *  |
Not organised |
Current squad
- As of 20 January 2020[23]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
