Indian Super League is an indigenous and internationally acclaimed football league in modern India. This football league in 2014 and 2015 is officially known as the Hero Indian Super League for sponsorship reasons.
In 2016, Indian Super League is sponsored by Hero India. The deal with Hero India is scheduled to last for three-years from 2014 to 2016. This is a professional football league in India with an imitation from English Premier League.
Indian Super League (ISL) will be one of the top tier football leagues in India, the other being the I-League. It will feature eight franchise teams from all around India. The format is directly influenced from Indian Premier League and Pro Kabaddi League. Indian Super League (ISL) will run from October to December, with a final series determining the champion in this league. 2016 ISL began from 1st October 2016 and ended on 18th December 2016 with the final match between Atletico de Kolkata and Kerala Blasters where the Atletico de Kolkata defeated Kerala Blasters.
History of Indian Super League
Indian Super League was founded in the year 2013 in an effort to make football a top sport in India and to make Indian football a major player worldwide. Indian Super League (ISL) will operate along the lines of the Twenty-20 cricket Indian Premier League, and Major League Soccer of the United States.
Unlike the majority of football leagues around the world, the Indian Super League (ISL) will not use the promotion and relegation system. Instead, the Indian Super League (ISL) will use a franchise system in which eight teams will be created to participate in the league. The teams in Indian Super League (ISL) are Atletico de Kolkata, Chennaiyin, Delhi Dynamos, Goa, Kerala Blasters, MumbaiCity, North East United and Pune City.
2014 Indian Super League
The regular season started on 12th October when Atletico de Kolkata defeated Mumbai City 3-0 at the Salt Lake Stadium. The season featured eight teams, each playing 14 matches during the regular season. 2014 Indian Super League Season ended on 20th December when Atletico de Kolkata defeated the Kerala Blasters in the final. Mohammed Rafique was the lone goal scorer as the Kolkata club became the inaugural champions.
Teams of Indian Super League
The teams of Indian super League are as follows:
On 9th December 2010, the
All India Football Federation signed a 15-year, 700-crore deal with Reliance Industries and the 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 in India. This deal came about after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) ended their 10-year deal with Zee Sports, a commercial sports broadcasting satellite channel five years early back in October 2010.
On 25th April 2011, the first version of an IPL-type football league was officially launched when the
Indian Football Associations of
West Bengal launched the Bengal Premier League Soccer with the first season scheduled for 2012.
Owners of Indian Super League
All six franchises would be based within West Bengal. The league would feature top players such as Fabio Cannavaro, Robbie Fowler, Herny Crespo, and Robert Pirès. However, in February 2012, it was announced that the league would be postponed to an undecided date before finally disbanding officially in 2013 due to financial reasons.
Official Launch of Indian Super League
Indian Super League (ISL) was officially launched on 21st October 2013 by IMG-Reliance, STAR Sports, and the All India Football Federation (AIFF). It was also announced that the league would take place from January 2014 to March 2014. However, on 29 October 2013, it was announced that Indian Super League (ISL) would be postponed to September 2014. Also in October, it was announced that former Manchester United player and France international Louis Saha had become the first marquee signing for the Indian Super League.
At first, it was announced that bidding for the eight teams of Indian Super League (ISL) would be complete before the end of 2013 and that there was already high-interest from big corporate, Indian Premier League teams, Bollywood stars, and other consortiums. However, due to the rescheduling of the league, the bidding for the teams was moved to 3 March 2014. It was also revealed around this time that not only would bidders need to comply with a financial requirement but they would also need to promote grass-roots development plans for football within their area.
Finally, in early April 2014, the winning bidders were announced. The selected cities in the end were
Chennai, Delhi, Goa,Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and
Pune. The former India cricket player
Sachin Tendulkar, along with PVP Ventures, won the bidding for the Kochi franchise. Another former Indian cricket player and erstwhile captain of Indian Cricket team,
Sourav Ganguly, along with a group of Indian businessmen and La Liga side Atlético Madrid, had won the bidding for the Kolkata franchise. Meanwhile, Bollywood stars
John Abraham, Ranbir Kapoor, and
Salman Khan had won the bidding for the Guwahati, Mumbai, and Pune franchises respectively. Bangalore and Delhi were won by companies while Goa was won by a partnership between Videocon and I-League sides Dempo and Salgaocar.
2015 Indian Super League
2015 Indian Super League was the second season of the Indian Super League. 2015 Indian Super League season featured eight teams like the previous year. The regular season kicked-off on 3rd October and ended on 6th December, with the finals that began on 11th December and concluded on 20th December 2015. The defending champions of 2014 ISL Atlético de Kolkata were eliminated in the semi-finals by Chennaiyin FC. The final was played between Goa and Chennayin on 20th December 2015 at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa. Chennayin crowned as champions defeating Goa in 3-2 in the final match.
2016 Indian Super League
2016 Indian Super League season is the third season of the Indian Super League. 2016 ISL features eight teams, each playing 14 matches during the regular season before culminating with the finals. 2016 Indian Super League had its first ownership switch within a team on 1st June 2016 when the Kerala Blasters announced their new ownership structure. Along with Sachin Tendulkar, the team bought in businessman Nimmagadda Prasad and film stars Allu Aravind, Chiranjeevi, and
Akkineni Nagarjuna after PVP Ventures withdrew their stake in the team. 2016 Indian Super League began on 1st October and ended on 4 December. The finals began on 10th December and concluded with the final on 18 December. In the finals, Atlético de Kolkata came out as champions after defeating the Kerala Blasters in a penalty shootout, 4-3. The match had ended 1-1 after ninety minutes and extra time.
Since the inaugural season, two teams have been crowned as the champions of the Indian Super League. Atlético de Kolkata has won the league twice, in 2014 and 2016. Chennaiyin FC are the second team to have won the league, winning in 2015.
