2014–15 Bharat FC season

Bharat FC
2014–15 season
ManagerStuart Watkiss
StadiumShree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex

The 2014–15 season will be Bharat FC's first season in the I-League and first season in existence.

Background

On 25 August 2014 it was announced that Kalyani Group had won the bidding rights to a new I-League team and that they would base the team in Pune, Maharashtra.[1] On 4 November 2014 it was announced that former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Stuart Watkiss would be the first head coach of the team's history.[2] Then, six days later, on 10 November, it was announced that the team had signed their first player in New Zealand international Kris Bright.[3] On 15 November, Stanley Rozario was appointed as the assistant coach.[4] On 23 November, the team was officially unveiled as Bharat FC.[5]

Pre-season

The club started the season with two friendlies against Bombay Engineer Group, which they won 3–0 and the second one 5–0, courtesy two goals from Steven Dias and a goal each from Subhash Singh, Surojit Bose and Jayashelan Prasad.[6][7] In the last friendly before the season, Bharat FC played against Air India and managed a 2–2 draw with a goal each from Kris Bright and Gunashekar Vignesh.[8]

Matches

January 2015 Bharat FC 3–0 India BEG Pune, Maharashtra
Report
12 January 2015 Bharat FC 5–0 India BEG Pune, Maharashtra
Dias (2 goals)
Singh
Bose
Prasad		 Report
16 January 2015 Bharat FC 2–2 India Air India Pune, Maharashtra
15:30 IST Bright 36'
Vignesh 52'		 Neil Gaikwad 26'
Vishnu T 53'		 Stadium: Bharati Vidyapeeth Ground

I-League

Table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
7 Salgaocar 20 7 3 10 25 27 −2 24[a]
8 Sporting Goa 20 5 8 7 22 27 −5 23[b]
9 Shillong Lajong 20 6 5 9 34 29 +5 23[b]
10 Dempo (R) 20 3 10 7 15 26 −11 19 Relegation to I-League 2nd Division
11 Bharat 20 4 6 10 13 28 −15 18 [c]
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: IndiaFooty.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) play-off match.
(R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Mumbal ahead on head-to-head goal difference; Mumbai–Salgaocar 3–0, Salgaocar–Mumbai 3–1
  2. ^ a b Sporting Goa ahead on head-to-head record; Sporting Goa–Shillong Lajong 1–1, Shillong Lajong–Sporting Goa 1–2
  3. ^ Bharat FC were not relegated as they had relegation immunity for two years.[9]

First-team squad

As of 5 January 2015[10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK India IND Arindam Bhattacharya
— GK India IND Harshad Meher
— GK India IND Shahinlal Meloly
— DF England ENG Bobby Hassell
— DF India IND Bikramjeet Singh
— DF India IND Dharmaraj Ravanan
— DF India IND Gouramangi Singh
— DF India IND Mehrajuddin Wadoo
— DF India IND Nallappan Mohanraj
— DF India IND Naorem James Singh
— DF India IND Sabas Saleel
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF India IND Adil Khan
— MF India IND Dipendu Dowry
— MF India IND Gunashekar Vignesh
— MF India IND Jayashelan Prasad
— MF India IND Lester Fernandez
— MF India IND Simranjit Singh
— FW New Zealand NZL Kris Bright
— FW India IND Manjit Singh
— FW India IND Rajinder Kumar
— FW India IND Subhash Singh
— FW India IND Surojit Bose

Technical Staff

Position Name
Head coach England Stuart Watkiss
Assistant coach India Stanley Rozario
Fitness coach England Lindsay Davis[11]
Physiotherapist England Ian Farmery[12]

References

  1. ^ Mazumdar, Rakhi. "Kalyani Group bags bid to launch team in I-league". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. ^ "I-League: Kalyani Group appoints Stuart Watkiss as head coach". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  3. ^ Mitra, Atanu. "Kalyani Group rope in Kris Bright". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Stanly Rozario to assist Watkiss at Kalyani Group's football club". Goal.com. 15 November 2014.
  5. ^ "Kalyani Group names I-League team as 'Bharat FC'". 23 November 2014.
  6. ^ "Bharat FC tackle Air India in final preseason friendly". bharatfc.com. 16 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Bharat FC vs BEG - 5-0 - all goals". YouTube.
  8. ^ "Bharat FC close preseason friendlies with 2-2 draw". 16 January 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  9. ^ "East Bengal - Bharat FC Preview: Lions' pride travel in search of first win of the season". 15 February 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  10. ^ "SQUAD". Bharat FC. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  11. ^ Hero I-League [@ILeagueOfficial] (15 December 2014). "JUST IN: Englishman Lindsay Davis has been roped in as the fitness and conditioning coach of @BharatFC. #ILeague http://t.co/IUNDgyorUN" (Tweet). Retrieved 31 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  12. ^ Bharat FC [@BharatFC] (17 December 2014). "Ian Farmery joins #BharatFC as the first team's physiotherapist. Ian joins us from Barnsley FC. http://t.co/6mDqtVKaNG" (Tweet). Retrieved 31 December 2020 – via Twitter.