# 2017–18 I-League

The 2017–18 I-League was the 11th season of the I-League. Aizawl were the defending champions. NEROCA entered as the promoted team from the 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division. The season began on 25 November 2017. Minerva Punjab won their first I-League title.

## Teams

All India Football Federation invited bids for new teams on 21 July 2017 from Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Ranchi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bhopal, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Malappuram and Trivandrum, among others. On 20 September, after second round of bidding invitation, the Bid Evaluation Committee decided to award Sree Gokulam Group the right to field their team in the Hero I-League 2017–18 season onward from Kozhikode, Kerala. Bengaluru FC successfully bid for a place in 2017–18 Indian Super League season and thus was not a part of I-League. NEROCA F.C. were promoted for winning 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division. After successful hosting of FIFA U-17 World Cup, AIFF revived Indian Arrows project to field the colts in I-League.

### Stadiums and locations

    Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Aizawl | Aizawl, Mizoram | Rajiv Gandhi Stadium | 20,000 |
| Chennai City | Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore | 30,000 |
| Churchill Brothers | Salcete, Goa | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 6,000 |
| East Bengal | Kolkata, West Bengal | Salt Lake Stadium Barasat Stadium | 66,000 |
| East Bengal | Kolkata, West Bengal | Salt Lake Stadium Barasat Stadium | 22,000 |
| Indian Arrows | Delhi, New Delhi Bambolim, Goa | Ambedkar Stadium GMC Bambolim Athletic Stadium | 35,000 |
| Indian Arrows | Delhi, New Delhi Bambolim, Goa | Ambedkar Stadium GMC Bambolim Athletic Stadium | 6,500 |
| Gokulam Kerala | Kozhikode, Kerala | EMS Stadium | 54,000 |
| Minerva Punjab | Ludhiana, Punjab | Guru Nanak Stadium | 15,000 |
| Mohun Bagan | Kolkata, West Bengal | Salt Lake Stadium Barasat Stadium Mohun Bagan Ground | 66,687 |
| Mohun Bagan | Kolkata, West Bengal | Salt Lake Stadium Barasat Stadium Mohun Bagan Ground | 22,000 |
| Mohun Bagan | Kolkata, West Bengal | Salt Lake Stadium Barasat Stadium Mohun Bagan Ground | 22,000 |
| NEROCA | Imphal, Manipur | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium | 30,000 |
| Shillong Lajong | Shillong, Meghalaya | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | 30,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Head coach | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Aizawl | Santosh Kashyap | Vamos | NE Consultancy Services |
| Chennai City | V Soundararajan | Counter Sports | None |
| Churchill Brothers | Joseph Afusi | Faisports | Churchill Group |
| East Bengal | Khalid Jamil | PERF | Kingfisher |
| Gokulam Kerala | Bino George | Kaizen sports | Aachi Group |
| Indian Arrows | Luís Norton de Matos | Nike | None |
| Minerva Punjab | Khogen Singh | Astro | Apollo Tyres |
| Mohun Bagan | Sankarlal Chakraborty | Shiv Naresh | Nilkamal |
| NEROCA | Gift Raikhan | Vector X | Classic Group of Hotels |
| Shillong Lajong | Alison Kharsyntiew | Nivia Sports | None |

### Foreign players

On 2 August 2017, it was announced by the All India Football Federation that the number of foreigners for each I-League club would go up to six, with two of the six having to be born in Asia or registered with the AFC.
Indian Arrows cannot sign any foreign players as they are the AIFF developmental team.
| Club | Foreigner 1 | Foreigner 2 | Foreigner 3 | Foreigner 4 | AFC Foreigner 1 | AFC Foreigner 2 |
| Aizawl | Léonce Dodoz | Alfred Jaryan | Kareem Omolaja | Andrei Ionescu | Masih Saighani | Yugo Kobayashi |
| Chennai City | Jean-Michel Joachim | Aleksandar Rakić | Uroš Poljanec | | Venyamin Shumeyko | Kim Dong-hyeon |
| Churchill Brothers | Dawda Ceesay | Francis Onyeama | Monday Osagie | Willis Plaza | Bektur Talgat Uulu | Hussein Eldor |
| East Bengal | Eduardo Ferreira | Ansumana Kromah | Dudu Omagbemi | | Katsumi Yusa | Mahmoud Amnah |
| Gokulam Kerala | Daniel Addo | Emmanuel Chigozie | Henry Kisekka | Musa Mudde | Mahmood Al-Ajmi | Gulom Urunov |
| Minerva Punjab | William Opoku | Bazie Armand | Guy Eric Dano | Kassim Aidara | Chencho Gyeltshen | Kiran Chemjong |
| Mohun Bagan | Aser Pierrick Dipanda | Akram Moghrabi | Bimal Gharti Magar | Kingsley Obumneme | Cameron Watson | Yuta Kinowaki |
| NEROCA | Nedo Turković | Fabien Vorbe | Varney Kallon | Felix Chidi Odili | Nick Ward | Aryn Williams |
| Shillong Lajong | Lawrence Doe | Abdoulaye Koffi | Daniel Odafin | Saihou Jagne | Oh Joo-ho | |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Minerva Punjab (C) | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 24 | 16 | +8 | 35 | Qualification to 2019 AFC Champions League qualifier |
| 2 | NEROCA | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 13 | +7 | 32 | |
| 3 | Mohun Bagan | 18 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 28 | 14 | +14 | 31 | |
| 4 | East Bengal | 18 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 32 | 19 | +13 | 31 | |
| 5 | Aizawl | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 18 | +3 | 24 | |
| 6 | Shillong Lajong | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 17 | 25 | −8 | 22 | |
| 7 | Gokulam Kerala | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 17 | 23 | −6 | 21 | |
| 8 | Chennai City | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 24 | −9 | 19 | |
| 9 | Churchill Brothers | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 17 | 28 | −11 | 17 | |
| 10 | Indian Arrows | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 13 | 24 | −11 | 15 | |
* ↑ Churchill Brothers were relegated, but reinstated after the appeal.
* ↑ Indian Arrows were exempted from relegation, as they are an AIFF developmental team.

### Results table

| Home \ Away | AIZ | CHE | CB | KEB | IA | GK | MP | MB | NFC | SHI |
| Aizawl | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Chennai City | 1–1 | — | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Churchill Brothers | 1–0 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| East Bengal | 2–2 | 7–1 | 3–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 5–1 |
| Indian Arrows | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 |
| Gokulam Kerala | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 |
| Minerva Punjab | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Mohun Bagan | 2–0 | 1–2 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| NEROCA | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | — | 0–2 |
| Shillong Lajong | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | — |

## Season statistics
### Scoring

    As of 8 March 2018

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
| Dudu Omagbemi$^4$ | East Bengal | Chennai City | 7–0 | 24 February 2018 | |
$^4$ Player scored 4 goals.

### Clean sheets

    As of 8 March 2018
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Shilton Paul | Mohun Bagan | 8 |
| 2 | Avilash Paul | Aizawl | 6 |
| 3 | Phurba Lachenpa | Shillong Lajong | 5 |
| 3 | Uroš Poljanec | Chennai City | 5 |
| 3 | Bishorjit Singh | NEROCA | 5 |
| 6 | Lalit Thapa | NEROCA | 4 |
| 6 | Rakshit Dagar | Minerva Punjab | 4 |
| 8 | Luis Barreto | East Bengal | 3 |
| 8 | James Kithan | Churchill Brothers | 3 |
| 8 | Kiran Chemjong | Minerva Punjab | 3 |
| 11 | Dheeraj Singh | Indian Arrows | 2 |
| 11 | Prabhsukhan Singh Gill | Indian Arrows | 2 |
| 11 | Nidhin Lal | Shillong Lajong | 2 |
| 11 | Ubaid C K | East Bengal | 2 |
| 11 | Bilal Husain Khan | Gokulam Kerala | 2 |

## Attendance
### Average home attendances

    As of 8 March 2018
| Team | GP | Cumulative | High | Low | Mean |
| NEROCA | 9 | 192,438 | 35,285 | 11,020 | 21,382 |
| East Bengal | 9 | 156,295 | 52,951 | 8,692 | 17,366 |
| Mohun Bagan | 9 | 142,421 | 64,360 | 4,360 | 15,825 |
| Gokulam Kerala | 9 | 73,177 | 25,841 | 621 | 8,131 |
| Chennai City | 9 | 73,739 | 14,751 | 3,082 | 8,194 |
| Minerva Punjab | 9 | 51,627 | 8,243 | 3,845 | 5,736 |
| Shillong Lajong | 9 | 49,086 | 7,880 | 3,000 | 5,454 |
| Aizawl | 9 | 38,297 | 7,280 | 2,800 | 4,256 |
| Indian Arrows | 9 | 29,300 | 5,563 | 218 | 3,256 |
| Churchill Brothers | 9 | 26,285 | 3,437 | 2,400 | 2,921 |
| Total | 90 | 832,665 | 64,360 | 218 | 10,280 |

### Highest attendances

| Rank | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Date | Stadium |
| 1 | Mohun Bagan | 1–0 | East Bengal | 64,360 | 3 December 2017 (2017-12-03) | Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan |
| 2 | East Bengal | 0–2 | Mohun Bagan | 52,951 | 21 January 2018 (2018-01-21) | Salt Lake Stadium |
| 3 | NEROCA | 2–1 | Indian Arrows | 35,285 | 5 January 2018 (2018-01-05) | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium |
| 4 | NEROCA | 1–1 | East Bengal | 28,243 | 30 December 2017 (2017-12-30) | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium |
| 5 | NEROCA | 2–1 | Chennai City | 27,633 | 15 December 2017 (2017-12-15) | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium |
| 6 | East Bengal | 1–1 | NEROCA | 26,900 | 8 March 2018 (2018-03-08) | Salt Lake Stadium |
| 7 | Gokulam Kerala | 1–1 | Chennai City | 25,841 | 4 December 2017 (2017-12-04) | EMS Stadium |
| 8 | NEROCA | 0–0 | Aizawl | 20,345 | 10 February 2018 (2018-02-10) | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium |
| 9 | Mohun Bagan | 1–2 | Chennai City | 18,316 | 2 January 2018 (2018-01-02) | Mohun Bagan Ground |
| 10 | NEROCA | 1–0 | Gokulam Kerala | 17,300 | 4 February 2018 (2018-02-04) | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium |

## Awards
### Hero of the Match

| Match | Hero of the Match | Hero of the Match | Match | Hero of the Match | Hero of the Match | Match | Hero of the Match | Hero of the Match |
| Match | Player | Club | Match | Player | Club | Match | Player | Club |
| 1 | Sony Norde | Mohun Bagan | 31 | Mahmoud Amnah | East Bengal | 61 | Akram Moghrabi | Mohun Bagan |
| 2 | Alen Deory | Shillong Lajong | 32 | Murilo de Almeida | Chennai City | 62 | Varney Kallon | NEROCA |
| 3 | Katsumi Yusa | East Bengal | 33 | Subhash Singh | NEROCA | 63 | Prabhsukhan Singh Gill | Indian Arrows |
| 4 | Aniket Jadhav | Indian Arrows | 34 | Uroš Poljanec | Chennai City | 64 | Monday Osagie | Churchill Brothers |
| 5 | Chencho Gyeltshen | Minerva Punjab | 35 | Bali Gagandeep | Minerva Punjab | 65 | Bali Gagandeep | Minerva Punjab |
| 6 | Hardy Nongbri | Shillong Lajong | 36 | Aser Pierrick Dipanda | Mohun Bagan | 66 | Jean-Michel Joachim | Chennai City |
| 7 | Kingsley Obumneme | Mohun Bagan | 37 | Abdoulaye Koffi | Shillong Lajong | 67 | Lalram Hmunmawia | Aizawl |
| 8 | Nikhil Bernard | Gokulam Kerala | 38 | Mechac Koffi | Churchill Brothers | 68 | Anwar Ali | Indian Arrows |
| 9 | William Opoku | Minerva Punjab | 39 | Michael Soosairaj | Chennai City | 69 | Venyamin Shumeyko | Chennai City |
| 10 | Felix Chidi Odili | NEROCA | 40 | Chencho Gyeltshen | Minerva Punjab | 70 | Aser Pierrick Dipanda | Mohun Bagan |
| 11 | Laldanmawia Ralte | East Bengal | 41 | Abhijit Sarkar | Indian Arrows | 71 | Mahmoud Amnah | East Bengal |
| 12 | Aser Pierrick Dipanda | Mohun Bagan | 42 | David Lalrinmuana | Aizawl | 72 | Varney Kallon | NEROCA |
| 13 | Kassim Aidara | Minerva Punjab | 43 | Rakshit Dagar | Minerva Punjab | 73 | Edmund Lalrindika | Indian Arrows |
| 14 | Masih Saighani | Aizawl | 44 | Ogba Kalu Nnanna | Churchill Brothers | 74 | Bilal Husain Khan | Gokulam Kerala |
| 15 | Sheikh Faiaz | Mohun Bagan | 45 | Avilash Paul | Aizawl | 75 | Michael Soosairaj | Chennai City |
| 16 | Lalit Thapa | NEROCA | 46 | Varney Kallon | NEROCA | 76 | Subhash Singh | NEROCA |
| 17 | James Kithan | Churchill Brothers | 47 | Monday Osagie | Churchill Brothers | 77 | Saihou Jagne | Shillong Lajong |
| 18 | Redeem Tlang | Shillong Lajong | 48 | Felix Chidi Odili | NEROCA | 78 | Henry Kisekka | Gokulam Kerala |
| 19 | Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem | Indian Arrows | 49 | Santu Singh | Gokulam Kerala | 79 | Lalkhawpuimawia | Aizawl |
| 20 | Rana Gharami | Mohun Bagan | 50 | Aser Pierrick Dipanda | Mohun Bagan | 80 | Dudu Omagbemi | East Bengal |
| 21 | Jean-Michel Joachim | Chennai City | 51 | Prabhsukhan Singh Gill | Indian Arrows | 81 | Arjun Jayaraj | Gokulam Kerala |
| 22 | Daniel Addo | Gokulam Kerala | 52 | Abdoulaye Koffi | Shillong Lajong | 82 | Guy Eric Dano | Minerva Punjab |
| 23 | Uroš Poljanec | Chennai City | 53 | Leonce Dodoz Zikahi | Aizawl | 83 | Aser Pierrick Dipanda | Mohun Bagan |
| 24 | Phurba Lachenpa | Shillong Lajong | 54 | Chencho Gyeltshen | Minerva Punjab | 84 | Leonce Dodoz Zikahi | Aizawl |
| 25 | Jitendra Singh | Indian Arrows | 55 | Prabhsukhan Singh Gill | Indian Arrows | 85 | Michael Soosairaj | Chennai City |
| 26 | Leonce Dodoz Zikahi | Aizawl | 56 | Mahmood Al-Ajmi | Gokulam Kerala | 86 | Nikhil Kadam | Mohun Bagan |
| 27 | Mohammed Rafique | East Bengal | 57 | Kiran Chemjong | Minerva Punjab | 87 | Nidhin Lal | Shillong Lajong |
| 28 | Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem | Indian Arrows | 58 | Felix Chidi Odili | NEROCA | 88 | Nikhil Bernard | Gokulam Kerala |
| 29 | Eduardo Ferreira | East Bengal | 59 | Wayne Vaz | Churchill Brothers | 89 | Ricardo Cardozo | Churchill Brothers |
| 30 | Andrei Ionescu | Aizawl | 60 | Michael Soosairaj | Chennai City | 90 | Lalit Thapa | NEROCA |

### Season awards

Hero I-League 2017–18 awards were announced on March 22.
| Award | Recipient |
| Best Goalkeeper | Shilton Paul (Mohun Bagan) |
| Jarnail Singh Award for Best Defender | Varney Kallon (NEROCA) |
| Best Midfielder | Michael Soosairaj (Chennai City FC) |
| Best Forward | Chencho Gyeltshen (Minerva Punjab) |
| Highest Scorer | Aser Pierrick Dipanda (Mohun Bagan) |
| Best Emerging Player (U-22) | Samuel Lalmuanpuia (Shillong Lajong) |
| Syed Abdul Rahim Award for Best Coach | Gift Raikhan (NEROCA) |
| Best Organizers | NEROCA |
| Fairplay award | NEROCA |