# 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division

The 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division was the tenth season of the I-League 2nd Division, the second-tier Indian league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2008. The season began on 21 January 2017 and featured 12 teams which was divided into three groups of four teams each. NEROCA won the title and secured the promotion to I-League. 12 teams participated in the league.

## Teams
### Stadiums and locations

    Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Delhi United | New Delhi, Delhi | Ambedkar Stadium | 20,000 |
| Fateh Hyderabad | Hyderabad, Telangana | Gachibowli Athletic Stadium | 30,000 |
| Hindustan | New Delhi, Delhi | Thyagaraj Sports Complex | 5,000 |
| Kenkre | Mumbai, Maharastra | Cooperage Ground | 5,000 |
| Lonestar Kashmir | Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir | Polo Ground | 10,000 |
| Mohammedan | Kolkata, West Bengal | Mohammedan Sporting Ground | 15,000 |
| NEROCA | Imphal, Manipur | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium | 30,000 |
| Ozone | Bangalore, Karnataka | Bangalore Football Stadium | 8,400 |
| Pride Sports | Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh | Dr. Rajendra Prasad Football Stadium | 10,000 |
| Real Kashmir | Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir | Bakshi Stadium | 30,000 |
| Southern Samity | Kolkata, West Bengal | Barasat Stadium | 22,000 |
| Sudeva Moonlight | New Delhi, Delhi | Ambedkar Stadium | 20,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Delhi United | Clebson Duarte Da Silva | Nivia | Aakash Healthcare |
| Fateh Hyderabad | ES Shyam | T10 Sports | None |
| Hindustan | Abhijoy basu | Cosco | Hero |
| Kenkre | Ekendra Singh | Cosco | Customers |
| Lonestar Kashmir | Fahd Khan | None | Lonestar |
| Mohammedan | Ranjan Chowdhury | Kaizen Sports | None |
| NEROCA | Gift Raikhan | None | Classic group of hotels |
| Ozone | Bert Zuurman | None | Ozone Group |
| Pride Sports | Paulo Pedro | None | None |
| Real Kashmir | David Robertson | None | Mentor |
| Southern Samity | Amit Sen | None | None |
| Sudeva Moonlight | Carlton Chapman | None | United Nations |

### Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to three per team. A team could use two foreign players on the field each game.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Released |
| Delhi United | Stephen Harry | Chibueze Jonathon | Hamidullah Nesar Ahmed | Mohammed Adeola Hassan |
| Fateh Hyderabad | Adam Mitter | Luis Carlos Santos | Saihou Jagne | Bruno Bryan |
| Hindustan | Adehin Nelson | — | — | — |
| Kenkre | Yao Kouassi Bernard | Boubacar Keita | Korhena A Boakai | Spenser Johnson |
| Lonestar Kashmir | Lancine Toure | Alexandre Tabillon | — |
| Mohammedan | Leonce Dodoz | Lancine Toure | Alexandre Tabillon | — |
| NEROCA | Varney Kallon | Emmanuel Chinedu | Felix Chidi Odili | — |
| Ozone | Cornell Glen | Chika Wali | Roby Norales | — |
| Pride Sports | — | — | — | — |
| Real Kashmir | Lamine Tamba | Lago Bei | — | — |
| Southern Samity | Ogba Kalu Nnanna | Agwu Richard | Odafa Okolie | Daniel Bedemi |
| Sudeva Moonlight | Peterson Joseph | Jason Starr | — | — |

## Preliminary round

* Tiebreakers
* The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied in the order given to determine the rankings:
* Greater number of points obtained in the matches between the Teams concerned
* Goal difference resulting from the matches between the Teams concerned
* Greater number of goals scored in the matches between the Teams concerned
* Goal difference in all the matches
* Greater number of goals scored in all the matches
* Drawing of lots

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Lonestar Kashmir | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 10 | Qualification to Final Round |
| 2 | Delhi United | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 9 | Qualification to Final Round |
| 3 | Real Kashmir | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 9 | |
| 4 | Sudeva Moonlight | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 5 | |

#### Fixtures and results
### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | NEROCA | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 13 | Qualification to Final Round |
| 2 | Southern Samity | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 12 | Qualification to Final Round |
| 3 | Mohammedan | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 10 | |
| 4 | Hindustan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 15 | −12 | 0 | |

#### Fixtures and results
### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Fateh Hyderabad | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 12 | Qualification to Final Round |
| 2 | Kenkre | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 11 | Qualification to Final Round |
| 3 | Ozone | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 10 | |
| 4 | Pride Sports | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 16 | −14 | 0 | |
* ↑ Pride Sports boycotted the match against Fateh Hyderabad, hence Fateh Hyderabad were awarded 0–3 win

#### Fixtures and results
## Final round

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | NEROCA (C) | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 4 | +19 | 26 | Promotion to the I-League |
| 2 | Southern Samity | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 15 | +1 | 17 | |
| 3 | Delhi United | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 16 | −4 | 12 | |
| 4 | Fateh Hyderabad | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 11 | |
| 5 | Lonestar Kashmir | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 13 | −5 | 6 | |
| 6 | Kenkre | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 20 | −9 | 6 | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

Updated: 28 May 2017
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Odafa Okolie | Southern Samity | 9 |
| 1 | Felix Chidi Odili | NEROCA | 9 |
| 3 | Stephan Harry | Delhi United | 8 |
| 4 | Anto Xavier | Ozone | 7 |
| 5 | Subhash Singh | NEROCA | 6 |
| 6 | Yao Kouassi Bernard | Kenkre | 5 |
| 6 | Aakif Javaid | Lonestar Kashmir | 5 |
| 8 | Vanlal Biaa | Mohammedan | 4 |
| 8 | Lago Dogbo Bei | Real Kashmir | 4 |
| 8 | Ashim Biswas | Southern Samity | 4 |
| 8 | Pritam Singh | NEROCA | 4 |
| 8 | Saihou Jagne | Fateh Hyderabad | 4 |
| 13 | Prem Kumar | Real Kashmir | 3 |
| 13 | Ogba Kalu Nnanna | Southern Samity | 3 |
| 13 | Thangjam Singh | NEROCA | 3 |
| 13 | Mashangva Zenith | Delhi United | 3 |
| 13 | Basanta Singh | Southern Samity | 3 |
| 13 | Sampath Kuttymani | Kenkre | 3 |
| 13 | Yogesh Kadam | Kenkre | 3 |