Chennaiyin FC

Chennaiyin
Full name Chennaiyin Football Club
Nickname(s) Marina Machans
Founded 2014 (2014)
Ground Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai
Ground Capacity 45,000
Owner Abhishek Bachchan
Vita Dani
M S Dhoni
Manager Marco Materazzi
League Indian Super League
2015 Regular season: 3rd
Finals: Champions
Website Club home page

Chennaiyin FC is an Indian Super League football franchise based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu which began to play in October 2014 during the inaugural season of the Indian Super League. They are the current reigning champions of the Indian Super League.

The franchise is owned by Vita Dani, Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan and Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni.[1] Its manager is Italian World Cup-winning defender Marco Materazzi, and its marquee player is former Brazilian international midfielder Elano Blumer. The team's name Chennaiyin FC means Chennai's football club in Tamil where the 'yin' suffix is similar to Apostrophe s in English.[2] The team's logo is the Dhrishti Bommai is a representation of chasing negativity and preserving positivity in the Tamil culture.[3]

History

When the Indian Super League was founded in 2014, the city of Chennai was one of the nine proposed cities up for franchise bidding.[4] However, on 11 April 2014 it was reported that Chennai's main bidder, a consortium led by Sunil Gavaskar would drop out due to commitments with the Board of Control for Cricket in India.[5] Then, in August 2014, with two months before the 2014 ISL season, the Bangalore owners Sun Group dropped out due to disputes with the organizers.[6] Initially reports came out that the ISL organizers were looking for bidders for new owners for the Bangalore franchise before it was revealed that Ronnie Screwvala and actor Abhishek Bachchan would together bid for a Chennai team instead of a Bangalore franchise.[7] Then, on 14 August 2014, it was reported that ISL officials were inspecting the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai for the proposed team.[8]

Finally, the team was bid for by actor Abhishek Bachchan & Vita Dani, belonging to the Asian Paints family, who eventually became the co-owners of the team. On 12 September 2014, Italian World Cup winner Marco Materazzi was hired as player-manager.[9] Then, on 6th October 2014, the Indian cricket captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the joint co-owner of the club alongwith Vita Dani & Abhishek Bachchan. The club officially launched their jersey in the presence of co-owners Abhishek Bachchan and Vita Dani at a press conference on 9 October 2014. They also announced that Ozone Group, a prominent real estate developer, would be their principal sponsor for the season.[10]

Stadium

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
The Marina Arena
Address India
Location Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Owner Government of Tamil Nadu
Capacity 38,000
Tenants
Chennaiyin FC
Tamil Nadu football team

Chennayin FC play their home matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadiumin Chennai nicknamed the Marina Arena. It is a multipurpose stadium and has a capacity of 38,000.[11] It hosts football, and athletic competitions. The stadium is located at Sydenhams Road, Park Town behind the Chennai Central suburban Railway station and Ripon Building. The stadium is named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister and earlier hosted cricket Test Matches between 1956 and 1965.[12]

Seasons

2014 season

On 15 October 2014, Chennaiyin won their first Indian Super League fixture with a 2–1 victory at FC Goa. The goals were scored by Balwant Singh, who became the first Indian player to score in the competition, and the former Brazil international Elano, who was the first marquee player to score.[13] On 28 November 2014, the club brought Alessandro Nesta, who won the World Cup for Italy alongside Materazzi, out of retirement.[14] The team finished its 14-game regular season in first place in the league.

In the semi finals, the team lost the first leg 3-0 to Kerala Blasters. In the second leg on 16 December 2014 they managed to overturn the deficit by leading 3-0 in regular time. However in extra time a 117th-minute goal by Stephen Pearson sent Kerala through to the finals.

2015 season

For the second season of Indian Super League, they managed to retain six players namely, Balwant Singh, Jayesh Rane, Dhanachandra Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Harmanjot Khabra and Abhishek Das.[15] They also signed Godwin Franco and Mehrajuddin Wadoo. They were last in November, but made a comeback with six consecutive victories. They won the second season of the ISL in a thrilling finale that ended 2-3 against FC Goa.

Players

Current squad

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

No. Position Player
1 India GK Karanjit Singh
3 India MF Dhanpal Ganesh
6 Italy MF Manuele Blasi
8 India MF Godwin Franco
11 India MF Thoi Singh
12 India FW Jeje Lalpekhlua
13 India GK Nidhin Lal
15 India DF Abhishek Das (on loan from East Bengal)
No. Position Player
17 India FW Balwant Singh
18 India MF Harmanjot Khabra (on loan from East Bengal)
21 India DF Lalhmangaihsanga (on loan from Royal Wahingdoh)
22 India MF Zakeer Mundampara
24 Armenia GK Apoula Edel
25 India DF Dhanachandra Singh (on loan from Mohun Bagan)
26 India DF Mehrajuddin Wadoo
27 Brazil DF Mailson Alves
28 India GK Pawan Kumar (on loan from Bengaluru)
31 Italy DF Alessandro Potenza

Technical staff

Current technical staff

As of 27 June 2015
Position Name
Head Coach & Manager Italy Marco Materazzi
Assistant coach India Syed Sabir Pasha
Goalkeeping coach Italy Francesco Franzese

Records

Team records

As of 21 December 2015
Season Indian Super League Final Position Top Scorer
P W D L GF GA Pts Position Player Goals
2014 14 6 5 3 24 20 23 1st Semi-finals Brazil Elano Blumer 8
2015 14 7 1 6 25 15 22 3rd Champions Colombia Stiven Mendoza 13

In ISL 2014, Elano Blumer was the league's top scorer & won the Golden Boot with 8 goals. In ISL 2015, Stiven Mendoza won the Golden Boot with 13 goals & was also crowned the Hero of the League to go with his 3 assists.

Head coach record

As of 27 June 2015
NameNationalityFromToPWDLGFGAWin%
Marco Materazzi  Italy 15 October 2014 Present 32 15 7 10 55 37 46.88

Kit manufacturers and Shirt sponsors

Period Kit manufacturers Shirt Sponsor
2014-2016 TYKA Sports Ozone Group

References

  1. ↑ "Dhoni becomes ISL team Chennaiyin FC co-owner". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Chennayin logo revealed". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Sudarshan, N. (5 October 2014). "Chennaiyin Football gets Italian seasoning". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Business giants join forces to launch Indian Super League". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  5. ↑ "Chennai unlikely to have an ISL team". Times of India. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  6. ↑ Mergulhao, Marcus. "Now, Sun Group opts out of Indian Super League". Times of India. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Suchindran, Aravind. "Screwvala, Abhishek may bid for Chennai franchise". Times of India. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  8. ↑ Mergulhao, Marcus. "ISL: Draft for overseas players on August 21". Times of India. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  9. ↑ Suchindran, Aravind (12 September 2014). "Marco Materazzi to manage Chennai Titans". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "Official Jersey released". Times Of India. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "Nehru Stadium: Test Matches". ESPN Cricinfo. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  13. ↑ Raj, Rohan (15 October 2014). "ISL: Record-breaking Chennaiyin FC romp to 2-1 win over FC Goa". India Today. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  14. ↑ Davies, Jack (28 November 2014). "Alessandro Nesta comes out of retirement to join Indian Super League side Chennaiyin". Goal.com. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "Retain Players of Chenniyin FC in ISL 2". Footballlens. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
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