Atlético de Kolkata

Atlético de Kolkata
অ্যাটলেটিকো ডি কলকাতা
Full name Atlético de Kolkata
Nickname(s) Bengal Tigers
Short name ATK
Founded 7 May 2014 (2014-05-07)[1]
Ground Salt Lake Stadium,
Kolkata, West Bengal
Ground Capacity 68,000[2]
Owners Kolkata Games and Sports Pvt. Ltd.
Head Coach José Francisco Molina
League Indian Super League
2015 Semi-Finals
Website Club home page

Atlético de Kolkata (commonly abbreviated as ATK), is an Indian Super League football franchise based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was established on 7 May 2014 as the first ever Indian Super League team. The team is owned by Kolkata Games and Sports Pvt. Ltd. which consists of Former Indian cricketer and former Indian cricket captain and current President of the Cricket Association of Bengal Sourav Ganguly, Spanish La Liga club Atlético Madrid, alongside businessmen Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka and Utsav Parekh. The team's name and colours are derived from their Spanish partner.

Managed by Spaniard José Francisco Molina, the team plays their home matches at the 68,000-capacity Salt Lake Stadium. The marquee player for the 2015 season was Portugal international forward Hélder Postiga, while Spanish midfielder Borja Fernández served as the captain of the team.

Under coach Antonio López Habas, Atlético were the hosts and winners of the first match in the Indian Super League. They eventually won the inaugural season, defeating Kerala Blasters 1–0 in the final.

History

Foundation

We don’t want to compete. We just want to play. We want to bring football to Kolkata. Kolkata is the place for football besides Kerala and Goa. We want cricket to be as popular as it is but at the same time we want to develop football as well. I don’t think two popular things can’t go together. The standard of football has to be good and I am sure popularity will follow.

“
”

 — Co-owner Sourav Ganguly at the launch of the team, May 2014[3]

In March 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.[4] On 13 April 2014, it was announced that Sourav Ganguly, Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka, Utsav Parekh, and Spanish La Liga side Atletico Madrid had won the bid for the Kolkata franchise.[5] It turned out to be the most expensive franchise, being purchased for 18 crore (around US$3 million).[5] On 7 May 2014, the team was officially launched as Atlético de Kolkata.[1]

On 7 July, the team's jersey and logo were unveiled by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Nabanna building, temporary headquarters of the state's secretariat.[6] The logo features a hybrid Bengal tiger–phoenix, with the latter element being symbolic of perpetuity, due to the footballing heritage in Kolkata.[7] Five stars above the crest symbolise the five owners of the club.[7] The shield is striped with tigers' stripes.[7]

Inaugural season

Luis García was signed as the club's marquee player for the inaugural season in 2014

The club signed their first ever player on 4 July 2014 with the acquisition of former Real Madrid midfielder Borja Fernández.[8] The team then went on to sign two more Spaniards: their first head coach, Antonio López Habas, and marquee player, former UEFA Champions League winner Luis García, on 8 July 2014.[9]

The first Indian signing by the club took place in round one of the 2014 ISL Inaugural Domestic Draft in which Atlético de Kolkata selected Cavin Lobo, midfielder for the city's I-League team East Bengal FC, with their pick. They were the biggest spenders in the draft with an expenditure of 3.91 crore, their biggest signing being Sanju Pradhan for 70 lakh.[10] In the International Draft, four of Atlético de Kolkata's allotted seven picks were Spaniards, including defender Josemi, a UEFA Champions League winner with Liverpool in 2005.[11] On 6 September, the team bolstered their midfield with the acquisition of Mamunul Islam, captain of the Bangladesh national team, who stated that the move would help relations between East Bengal (Bangladesh) and West Bengal.[12]

The club played their first ever match in their history on 12 October 2014 at home against Mumbai City FC in the opening Indian Super League match.[13] Fikru Teferra scored the first goal in team and league history in the 27th minute as Atlético de Kolkata went on to win 3–0.[13]

By finishing third in the league, the club qualified for the end-of-season play-offs, where they advanced via a penalty shootout past FC Goa in the semi-finals after a goalless draw.[14] At the final against the Kerala Blasters at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, Atlético won 1–0 with an added-time goal by Mohammed Rafique.[15] At the end of season awards, García was named the Most Exciting Player.[16]

2015 season

Hélder Postiga was the club's marquee player in the 2015 season

On 5 June 2015, the team acquired Canadian international forward Iain Hume, whose five goals had helped Kerala to the final of the previous season.[17] In the second season's domestic draft, Atlético de Kolkata had the first pick, choosing Pune F.C. goalkeeper Amrinder Singh for a fee of 4.5 lakhs; their most expensive purchase was that of defender Augustin Fernandes for 26 lakhs.[18] On 29 July, with García released due to his injury record, the team brought in Portugal international forward Hélder Postiga as their new marquee player; aged 32, he became the youngest such player in the league.[19] García's role as captain was taken on by his compatriot Borja.[20]

Postiga scored twice in Atlético's first game of the season, a 3–2 win at Chennaiyin FC, but was substituted later in the match due to injury, and missed the rest of the campaign.[21] Pelé, regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, watched the 2–1 win over Kerala at the Salt Lake Stadium on 13 October, Atlético's first home game of the season.[22] Hume scored two hat-tricks in November, in 4–1 wins against Mumbai City,[23] and FC Pune City.[24] The latter result made the team the first to qualify for the play-offs,[25] where they lost 4–2 on aggregate to Chennaiyin.[26]

2016 season

In March 2016, it was reported that López Habas would leave the club due to concerns over his ₹2.35 crore ($350,000) annual salary.[27] On 25 April, he left for Pune.[28] On 3 May, he was replaced by another Spaniard, former Villarreal manager José Francisco Molina.[29]

Stadium

Main article: Salt Lake Stadium
A grandstand at a sports stadium.
The Salt Lake Stadium, the club's home ground

The 68,000-capacity (after renovation in 2014 prior to start of ISL[2]) Salt Lake Stadium is the home ground of Atlético de Kolkata. The multi-purpose stadium, located in the Bidhannagar, in the outskirts of Kolkata, is the second-largest stadium in the world.[30] The record attendance at the stadium, and record attendance in Indian football history, was 131,000 which was set in 1997 during a match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan in the Kolkata derby.[31]

On 21 June 2014, it was announced that the Salt Lake Stadium would undergo a renovation in preparation for the 2014 season.[32] According to co-owner Sourav Ganguly, the stadium is set to feature four more entry/exit gates, corporate boxes, and will have renovations done to the VIP enclosures and the dressing rooms.[32] Atlético Madrid meanwhile said they would help install 25,000 bucket seats to the stadium.[32]

Support

Atlético de Kolkata, and the ISL in general, were initially announced with a mixed reception among football fans in Kolkata. Some locals feared that it could overshadow the development of players at the city's two long-established I-League clubs, while others saw the new franchise as a way to unite both sets of I-League supporters, who would be drawn together further by the involvement of Ganguly, who is idolised across the city.[33]

Ahead of the second season, the franchise accredited the ATK Fans Fraternity (ATKFF), whose ₹800 membership includes a home season ticket and an official jersey. The fraternity offered 4,000 memberships in an exclusive part of the stadium. Firstpost journalist Pulasta Dhar described it as a "brilliant" deal which could be replicated in order to help all ISL clubs fill their stadia.[34]

Atlético Madrid have also engaged with the ATK support: in September 2015, their striker Fernando Torres sent a video message to the fans in India.[35]

Ownership

The Kolkata Games and Sports Pvt. Ltd. is a consortium established to oversee the administration and operations of Atlético Kolkata of the Indian Super League. The consortium is made up of former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, businessmen Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka, and Utsav Parekh, as well as Atlético Madrid of La Liga in Spain.[3]

The club's initial sponsors were Indian telecommunications corporation Aircel, while its partners were Kolkata-based underwear brand Lux Cozi and insurance firm Apollo Munich.[36] In October 2015, Kolkata-based Birla Tyres agreed a deal to be the principal sponsors for the club's second and third seasons.[37]

Players and staff

Current squad

The following squad was registered at the club at the conclusion of the 2015 season.

As of 16 December 2015.[38]

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

No. Position Player
3 India DF Nallappan Mohanraj
4 Spain DF Tiri
11 Cape Verde MF Valdo
12 India DF Denzil Franco
14 India FW Nadong Bhutia
15 India MF Clifford Miranda
No. Position Player
16 India MF Jewel Raja
19 India DF Syed Rahim Nabi
22 South Africa MF Sameehg Doutie

Current technical staff

May 2016.[38]
Position
Head coach Spain José Francisco Molina
Assistant Coach India Bastob Roy
Goalkeeper Coach South Africa Deshi Bhaktawer

Team records

Overall records

As of 16 December 2015

League

Season ISL League Stage ISL Result Top Goalscorer
P W D L GF GA Pts Pos Player Goals
2014 14 4 7 3 16 13 19 3rd Champions Ethiopia Fikru Teferra 5
2015 14 7 2 5 26 17 23 2nd Semi-Finals Canada Iain Hume 11

Head coach record

As of 16 December 2015
NameNationalityFromToPWDLGFGAWin%
Antonio López Habas  Spain August 2014 April 2016 33 13 11 9 45 34 39.39

Honours

Champions: 2014[15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "About the club". Atlético de Kolkata. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Transformed and shrunk Saltlake Stadium ready for ISL". Times of India. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Kolkata ISL franchise christened Atletico de Kolkata". The Hindu. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Indian Super League sees interest from 30 franchise bidders". Business Standard. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  5. 1 2 Basu, Saumyajit. "Stars embrace soccer through Indian Super League". Times of India. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "Atletico de Kolkata's team jersey and logo unveiled". SIFY. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Kakkar, Rashi (11 October 2014). "Atletico de Kolkata acknowledges Kolkata's football past while leaping into the future". First Post. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "Borja Fernández se va a la Superliga india" [Borja Fernández goes to the Indian Superleague] (in Spanish). La Voz de Galicia. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Atletico De Kolkata signs Luis Garcia for Indian Super League". Economic Times. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Ghoshal, Amoy. "ISL domestic players draft analysis: Atletico de Kolkata". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Ghoshal, Amoy (21 August 2014). "ISL international draft: Atletico de Kolkata gets former UEFA Champions League winner Josemi". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "Atletico de Kolkata sign up Bangla captain Mamunul". The Times of India. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  13. 1 2 Bhattacharya, Nilesh. "ISL: Atletico de Kolkata rise to the occasion to decimate scrappy Mumbai City FC 3–0". Times of India. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "ISL: Atletico de Kolkata beat FC Goa to reach final". The Times of India. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  15. 1 2 Bali, Rahul (20 December 2014). "Kerala Blasters FC 0–1 Atletico de Kolkata: Rafique wins the ISL for Ganguly’s outfit". Goal.com. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "ISL 2014: Full list of award winners". OneIndia. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  17. ↑ "Atletico de Kolkata sign Canadian forward Iain Hume". The Times of India. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  18. ↑ "ISL 2015 Domestic Players Draft: As it happened". SportsKeeda. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  19. ↑ Bhattacharya, Nilesh (30 July 2015). "In big coup, Atletico de Kolkata rope in Portugal World Cupper Helder Postiga". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  20. ↑ "Rival managers hopeful of positive results". Indian Super League. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  21. ↑ Nandwani, Abhishek (3 October 2015). "ISL 2: Helder Postiga shines on debut as Atletico de Kolkata win opener". IBN. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  22. ↑ Agarwal, Dipesh (13 October 2015). "ISL 2015: Atletico de Kolkata see off Kerala Blasters to secure 2–1 win". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  23. ↑ "Atletico Kolkata thrash Mumbai City thanks to Iain Hume hat trick..". ESPN. 1 November 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  24. ↑ Agarwal, Dipesh (27 November 2015). "ISL 2015: Iain Hume hat-trick helps Atletico de Kolkata qualify for playoffs after beating Pune City 4–1". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  25. ↑ "Atlético beat Pune to become first team to reach semis". Indian Super League. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  26. ↑ Bali, Rahul (16 December 2015). "Indian Super League: Atletico de Kolkata 2–1 Chennaiyin FC: Edel brilliance sees Machans progress to the final". Goal.com. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  27. ↑ Sarkar, Dhirman (5 March 2016). "Why are Atletico de Kolkata looking for a new coach?". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  28. ↑ Nickels, Jepher Christopher (25 April 2016). "Indian Super League: FC Pune City name Antonio Lopez Habas as head coach". India Today. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  29. ↑ Sen, Rohan (3 May 2016). "ISL: Ex-Villarreal boss Jose Molina roped in as Atletico de Kolkata coach". India Today. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  30. ↑ "Top Ten Biggest Stadiums in India". Walk Through India. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  31. ↑ Dubey, Sarthak. "Mohun Bagan Vs. East Bengal – The Deadly Derby Awaits – Please Fasten Your Seat Belts". Goal.com. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  32. 1 2 3 "After Ganguly push, Salt Lake Stadium set for major facelift". IndianExpress. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  33. ↑ Dhar, Pulasta (12 October 2014). "Kolkata's changing football dynamic: Divided by East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, united by ISL". First Post. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  34. ↑ Dhar, Pulasta (27 August 2015). "Atletico de Kolkata's brilliant fan membership deal is something other ISL clubs should replicate". First Post. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  35. ↑ Bilgi, Sumedh (11 September 2015). "Video: Torres calls Atletico de Kolkata fans for support". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  36. ↑ Singh, Sukhvinder (7 November 2014). "ISL team balance sheet: In-depth look at revenue generation factors (Part 1)". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  37. ↑ "Birla Tyres becomes principal sponsor of Atletico de Kolkata". Business Insider. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  38. 1 2 "Squad". Indian Super League.

External links

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