I-League 2015-16 | General Discussions

ArsenalFan700

We have the transfers page but lets keep other things I-League squarely here.

AIFF signals intention for new I-League teams

So, who do we want to see come into the I-League? I think the favorites on this forum are Hyderabad or Chennai but I would not mind a team from Delhi or Punjab to come in. Maybe Assam could join in or perhaps Ranchi or Jharkhand. Plenty of areas where an I-League team can be viable. Just hope the AIFF actually are careful here, we need more Bengaluru FC's, not Bharat FC's.

Also, iffy news for Goan I-League clubs: SAG may close West stand for I-League

We still have the Tilak Maidan and Panjim Stadium which can be used.

Deb_Ban

I strongly root for a Hyderabad club. Second on preference is Kochi and then maybe Chennai or Delhi. How does Nagpur sound?

Both Hyderabad and Guwahati are 'so near yet so far' case. But cities who can rightaway send a team in the league are Jamshedpur (Tatas), New Delhi, any town from Kerala, Kolhapur, Guwahati.They have functioning clubs there.

Let's see what happens in July end ...

footydip

A club from chennai/ kochi is my first choice , then Hyderabad. A team from Punjab is a good option. No more from Maharashtra. Pune FC should shift base to somewhere else in Maharashtra. May be Nagpur, and rename accordingly.

Deb_Ban

... and Bharat FC can fold. But in reality, we may see the nth club from Pune.

DX

Not being Biased but highly doubt a i-league team from Chennai. Especially when you have Chennaiyin FC. People are yet to get a grip of football here but still have enough interest to pack the stadium to a good extent. You would need the market to mature to ensure you can have 2 clubs playing from the same city.

Hell most people dont even know i-league here. ISL is the only word in general here.

Although a team from North Chennai (Much more maturity in Football and have a rich football culture than the more developed South chennai) cannot hurt. They had strong teams in 80's & early 90's such as ICF.

deepakc

I see a lot of wishes.... (my wish add a team from Kerala/Hyderabad/Punjab...JCT?) in ileague 1st division. Get the ileague 2nd division  (16 teams)into properly functioning league so that the smaller clubs can mature and get teams from nagpur/guwhahti/Sikkim/Jamshedpur/Nagpur/Jammu/Delhi/Mysuru/Coimbatore (I don't think Chennai is ready for ileague)/Indore (not too sure)/Siliguri/Bhubeneshwar /Another Kerala club from a diff city/Kohima/Another Mizo club/Another club from South or Central India, not sure from where. There I have given how the ileague can be sustainable even with the ISL beast. 30 round of ileague 2 can easily happen from Jan-May as there need not be breaks for International friendlies. We can even revive the Fed cups and pre season tournaments from Oct-Dec so that the smaller clubs can have a decent pre-season and there is an incentive for them to comply with AFC criteria (with a fairly decent league spread over 6 months) and these would be the biggest crowd pullers in their respective cities.The clubs should defintely make sure the matches are held after 17:30 (unlike the afternoon starts we had this year 1730 and 1930 are good start timings).

Deb_Ban

What about CCFC? And the rumours of Air Asia to start a club? Surely, there are some support?

DX

Air Asia rumours are nothing and were never to be taken seriously mate.
CCFC made some noices last season that they want to go the BFC way but seemed to cool down, Reality is they just got promoted from Second div to 1st div (Chennai Football League) this season so dont think they will want to do it atleast this season.

deepakc

Synopsis ileague 1st division will have 14 teams (matches only to be held after 1800 please, 1600 in April May starts are deliberately sabotaging the league) with matches to be held on weekends and the respective clubs having the right to sell telecast rights for match repeats for live matches by official sponsors and live matches for matches not being telecast by main sponsors. League from Jan-June. A new CEO and a new marketing team (with representatives of participating clubs).

Ileague 2 division 16 teams . league from Jan-June. With a separate CEO and marketing team (preferably with smaller euro leagues/MLS operations/South African PLS operations experience, not necessarily their CEO's)

deepakc

just one query is this a serious effort or just noise by AIFF so that they are seen doing something for ileague.

Deb_Ban

@deepakc, I think your second guess is correct.

If AIFF were serious about selling spots for league roster, then there should have been minimum efforts (to sell cities) on their part. Instead of just giving a tender notice, they could have pre-select the cities (easy: on population scale) on priority basis, really market the cities, sell the league to the broadcasters first, more importantly, have something for the bidders (some scope of revenue generation like sharing the telecast revenues, sponsorship money and so on).

ISL did all these and look where they are.