NorthEast United FC

NorthEast United

Full name	NorthEast United Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Highlanders
Founded	15 August 2014
Ground	Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati
Capacity	35,000
Owner	John Abraham
Head coach	Vacant
League	Indian Super League
2015	5th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian Super League football franchise based in Guwahati, Assam.^[1] The club claims to represent the 8 states of India known as North East India: Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Mizoram. The team is owned and operated by Bollywood actor John Abraham.^[1] Its manager is Venezuelan César Farías and its marquee player is former Portugal international winger Simão Sabrosa.

History

Joan Capdevila, seen here lifting the FIFA World Cup Trophy in 2010, was signed as the club's first marquee player

In early 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.^[2] On 13 April 2014, it was announced that Bollywood actor John Abraham and Shillong Lajong Football Club had won the bidding for the franchise.^[1]

On 16 July 2014, the club signed Joan Capdevila, a European Championship and World Cup winning defender with Spain, as its marquee player. He said: "India is a huge country and it should be a privilege for me to be a small part in popularising this global game here and working with the young talented footballers of North East India".^[3]

On 19 August the club hired its first manager, New Zealander Ricki Herbert, who had represented and managed his nation at World Cups.^[4]

On 13 October 2014, the team won their first ISL match at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Spaniard Koke scoring the only goal of the game to defeat the Kerala Blasters.^[5] The team did not make the end-of-season play-offs, finishing in last place among the eight teams.

For their second season, NorthEast United signed former Portugal international Simão Sabrosa as their new marquee signing.^[6] On 1 July 2015 the team announced their manager for the 2015 season, former Venezuela national coach, César Farías. The team lost all three of their opening matches with Simão absent through injury, but then earned a 2–0 home win over Chennaiyin FC in which the marquee player won and dispatched an added-time penalty kick to open the scoring.^[7]

Crest

The crest of Northeast United is featured with 8 stars at the top representing each state of North-east India. The crest is designed with red, black and white applications, with the club name written in bold letters between the main crest and the stars.

Stadium

North East United FC play their home matches at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati. To meet FIFA regulations, it was renovated and its capacity was increased from 12,000 to 35,000.

Ownership

NEUFC is owned by John Abraham, who is an Indian Bollywood actor, producer and former model.^[8] It is the only ISL club that is not owned by any company or corporation.

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 GK Gennaro Bracigliano 2 DF Aiborlang Khongjee (on loan from Shillong Lajong) 3 DF Zohmingliana Ralte (on loan from Pune) 4 MF Marlangki Suting (on loan from Royal Wahingdoh) 5 DF Cédric Hengbart 6 DF Yumnam Raju (on loan from Pune) 7 MF Sanju Pradhan 8 MF Bruno 9 FW Holicharan Narzary (on loan from Dempo) 13 GK Rehenesh TP 14 FW Francis Dadzie

No. Position Player 16 DF Reagan Singh (on loan from Royal Wahingdoh) 17 MF Seityasen Singh (on loan from Royal Wahingdoh) 18 DF Robin Gurung (on loan from Shillong Lajong) 19 MF Boithang Haokip (on loan from Shillong Lajong) 21 MF Alen Deory 22 MF Simão Sabrosa 24 MF Siam Hanghal (on loan from Bengaluru FC) 25 GK Lalthuammawia Ralte (on loan from Bengaluru FC) 26 DF André Bikey 27 FW Diomansy Kamara 31 FW Victor Mendy

Current technical staff

Position	Name
Manager	César Farías
Assistant Manager	Guillermo Sánchez
Assistant Coach	Santosh Kashyap
Goalkeeping Coach	Gennaro Bracigliano
Technical Director	Simon Festinesi Bruno Satin
Team Manager	Rahul Sharma
Head Physiotherapist	Tanveer Siddiqui
Physiotherapist	Utsav Shah
Logistics and Kit Manager	Manish Kochar
Media Manager	Abhik Chatterjee
Performance Analyst	Nachiket Patil
Masseuer	Kamal Chandra Das

Head coach record

Name	Nationality	From	To	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Win%
Ricki Herbert	New Zealand	13 October 2014	20 December 2014	14	3	6	5	11	13	21.43
César Farías	Venezuela	30 June 2015	1 December 2015	14	6	2	6	18	23	42.86

Sponsors

Period	Kit Manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2014	Adidas	HTC
2015	Performax A Reliance Retail (Trends) Brand

References

1. Basu, Saumyajit. "Stars embrace football through Indian Super League". Times of India. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
2. "Indian Super League sees interest from 30 franchise bidders". Business Standard. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
3. Bali, Rahul (16 July 2014). "Capdevila: 'It’s a privilege to popularise football in India'". Goal.com. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
4. "Herbert 'looking forward' to Indian Super League". 3news. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
5. Ganguily, Abhishek (13 October 2014). "ISL: NorthEast United ride high on Koke, beat Kerala Blasters 1-0". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
6. "Former Portugal winger Simao Sabrosa joins Indian Super League". ESPN FC. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
7. "Indian Super League: NorthEast United 2-0 Chennaiyin FC: Simao & Velez earn first points for NorthEast". Goal.com. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
8. "John Abraham enters Bollywood with Jism". Times of India. 10 January 2003. Retrieved 3 September 2010.

External links

• Official website