# 2011–12 I-League

The 2011–12 I-League was the fifth season of the I-League. The season began in October 2011 and ended in May 2012. Salgaocar are the defending champions, having won their maiden title in the previous season.
The current edition has a total of 14 teams contesting for the honors. These include the top twelve teams from the 2010–11 season along with the two promoted sides, Shillong Lajong and Sporting Clube de Goa, who had been the winner and the runner-up in the 2011 I-League 2nd Division respectively.

## Teams

According to the AIFF's rules, the two bottom-most teams from the 2010–11 season-ending points table were supposed to be relegated to the second tier, but in actuality, only ONGC FC were relegated after their second to last place finish, while the team finishing the last, JCT FC decided to disband their senior football team at the close of the session.
Shillong Lajong FC and Sporting Clube de Goa, the Champions & Runner-up respectively, of the 2011 I-League 2nd Division, were promoted to the I-League after being relegated only the previous year.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Air India | Mumbai | Cooperage Ground | 12,000 |
| Chirag United Kerala | Kozhikode | Kaloor International Stadium | 60,000 |
| Churchill Brothers | Salcette | Fatorda Stadium | 27,300 |
| Dempo | Panjim | Fatorda Stadium | 27,300 |
| East Bengal | Kolkata | Salt Lake Stadium | 120,000 |
| HAL | Bangalore | Bangalore Football Stadium | 15,000 |
| Mohun Bagan | Kolkata | Salt Lake Stadium | 120,000 |
| Mumbai | Mumbai | Cooperage Ground | 12,000 |
| Pailan Arrows | Kolkata | Salt Lake Stadium | 120,000 |
| Prayag United | Kolkata | Salt Lake Stadium | 120,000 |
| Pune | Pune | Balewadi Sports Complex | 20,000 |
| Salgaocar | Vasco | Fatorda Stadium | 27,300 |
| Shillong Lajong | Shillong | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | 25,000 |
| Sporting Goa | Panjim | Fatorda Stadium | 27,300 |

### Managerial changes

In chronological order from the bottom
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Mohun Bagan | Subhash Bhowmick | Caretaker | 1 June 2011 | Pre-season | Steve Darby | 19 July 2011 |
| Churchill Brothers | Drago Mamic | Caretaker | 1 June 2011 | Pre-season | Manuel Gomes | 9 June 2011 |
| Pailan Arrows | Des Bulpin | Sacked | 13 August 2011 | Pre-season | Sukhwinder Singh | 13 August 2011 |
| Chirag United Kerala | P. K. Unnikrishnan | Sacked | 1 October 2011 | Pre-season | Pakir Ali | 2 October 2011 |
| Mohun Bagan | Steve Darby | Resigned | 15 October 2011 | Pre-Season | Prasanta Banerjee | 18 October 2011 |
| Pailan Arrows | Sukhwinder Singh | Resigned | 7 February 2012 | 13th | Sujit Chakravarty | 8 February 2012 |
| Churchill Brothers | Manuel Gomes | Sacked | 14 February 2012 | 5th | Carlos Roberto Pereira | 15 February 2012 |
| Chirag United Kerala | Pakir Ali | Sacked | 18 February 2012 | 12th | Biswajit Bhattacharya | 18 February 2012 |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Asian Player |
| Air India | Henry Ezeh | Lamine Tamba | | Takayuki Omi |
| Chirag United Kerala | Isaac Boakye | Charles Dzisah | David Sunday | None |
| Churchill Brothers | Roberto Mendes Silva | Henry Antchouet | David Opara | Antun Kovacic |
| Dempo | Ranty Martins | Koko Sakibo | Densill Theobald | Yusuke Kato |
| East Bengal | Edmilson | Uga Samuel Okpara | Penn Orji | Tolgay Özbey |
| HAL | Joseph Femi Adeola | | | Rohit Chand |
| Mohun Bagan | Jose Ramirez Barreto | Hudson Lima Silva | Odafa Onyeka Okolie | None |
| Mumbai | Kingsley Chioma | Gbeneme Friday | Ebi Sukore | Zohib Islam Amiri |
| Pailan Arrows | Pailan Arrows don't use foreigners as they are an Indian Developmental Side | Pailan Arrows don't use foreigners as they are an Indian Developmental Side | Pailan Arrows don't use foreigners as they are an Indian Developmental Side | Pailan Arrows don't use foreigners as they are an Indian Developmental Side |
| Prayag United | Josimar | Yusif Yakubu | Bello Razaq | Kayne Vincent |
| Pune | Keita Mandjou | Pierre Djidjia Douhou | Chika Wali | Arata Izumi |
| Salgaocar | Luciano Sabrosa | Maxime Belouet | Chidi Edeh | Ryuji Sueoka |
| Shillong Lajong | James Gbilee | Johnny Menyongar | Christopher Chizoba | Matthew Mayora |
| Sporting Goa | Boubacar Keita | Ogba Kalu Nnanna | James Moga | Park Jae-Hyun |

### Ownership changes

| Club | New owner | Previous owner | Date |
| Pailan Arrows | Pailan Group | All India Football Federation | 31 July 2011 |
| Prayag United | Prayag Group | RP-Chirag | 3 August 2011 |
| Chirag United Kerala | Chirag Computers | Viva Kerala Group | 7 August 2011 |
| Shillong Lajong | Anglian Holdings (20% stake)$^1$ | Anglian Holdings (20% stake)$^1$ | 29 February 2012 |
* $^1$: Anglian Holdings only brought 20% in Shillong Lajong. The rest of the club is still owned by Shillong Lajong plc.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dempo (C) | 26 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 59 | 21 | +38 | 57 | |
| 2 | East Bengal | 26 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 46 | 22 | +24 | 51 | 2013 AFC Cup Group stage |
| 3 | Churchill Brothers | 26 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 47 | 28 | +19 | 48 | 2013 AFC Cup Group stage |
| 4 | Mohun Bagan | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 51 | 32 | +19 | 47 | |
| 5 | Pune | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 46 | |
| 6 | Salgaocar | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 32 | 19 | +13 | 44 | |
| 7 | Prayag United | 26 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 41 | 32 | +9 | 42 | |
| 8 | Sporting Goa | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 53 | 43 | +10 | 40 | |
| 9 | Air India | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 32 | |
| 10 | Shillong Lajong | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 24 | 44 | −20 | 28 | |
| 11 | Mumbai | 26 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 31 | 52 | −21 | 24 | |
| 12 | Chirag United Kerala (R) | 26 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 28 | 50 | −22 | 20 | Relegation to 2013 I-League 2nd Division |
| 13 | Pailan Arrows | 26 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 40 | −23 | 16 | |
| 14 | HAL (R) | 26 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 68 | −49 | 8 | Relegation to 2013 I-League 2nd Division |
* ↑ East Bengal, the winner of the 2012 Indian Federation Cup, qualified for the 2013 AFC Cup.
* ↑ Dempo refused to enter the 2013 AFC Cup, so they were replaced by Churchill Brothers.
* ↑ Pailan Arrows were not relegated in the season as they were a developmental team.

## Season charity

IMG Reliance and the I-League have joined hands with the polio eradication campaign India Unite to End Polio Now. IUEPN is an initiative of Aidmatrix Foundation, supported by UNICEF, and a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), World Health Organization (WHO), National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP), Rotary International and US Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Ranti Martins | Dempo | 32 |
| 2 | Odafa Onyeka Okolie | Mohun Bagan | 26 |
| 3 | Tolgay Özbey | East Bengal | 18 |
| 3 | Henry Antchouet | Churchill Brothers | 18 |
| 5 | James Moga | Sporting Goa | 16 |
| 5 | Mandjou Keita | Pune | 16 |
| 7 | Yusif Yakubu | Prayag United | 12 |
| 8 | Josimar | Prayag United | 11 |
| 8 | Ogba Kalu | Sporting Goa | 11 |
| 10 | Gbeneme Friday | Mumbai | 10 |
| 10 | David Sunday | Chirag United Kerala | 10 |

### Top Indian scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Chinadorai Sabeeth | Pailan Arrows | 9 |
| 1 | Manandeep Singh | Air India | 9 |
| 3 | Abdul Hamza | HAL | 8 |
| 3 | C.K. Vineeth | Chirag United Kerala | 8 |
| 5 | Sandesh Gadkari | Air India | 7 |
| 5 | Subhash Singh | Pune | 7 |
| 7 | Dawson Fernandes | Sporting Goa | 6 |
| 7 | Clifford Miranda | Dempo | 6 |
| 7 | Lalrindika Ralte | Churchill Brothers | 6 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Odafa Onyeka Okolie | Mohun Bagan | Pailan Arrows | 3–1 | 23 October 2011 |
| James Moga | Sporting Clube de Goa | Salgaocar | 4–2 | 5 November 2011 |
| Josimar | Prayag United | Pune | 5–1 | 5 November 2011 |
| Tolgay Özbey | East Bengal | HAL | 8–1 | 23 November 2011 |
| Henry Antchouet | Churchill Brothers | Shillong Lajong | 6–0 | 17 December 2011 |
| David Opara | Churchill Brothers | Sporting Clube de Goa | 5–0 | 28 December 2011 |
| Odafa Onyeka Okolie | Mohun Bagan | Churchill Brothers | 3–2 | 15 January 2012 |
| David Opara | Churchill Brothers | Chirag United Kerala | 4–0 | 4 April 2012 |
| Rohit Chand | HAL | Pune | 4–6 | 10 April 2012 |
| Gbeneme Friday | Mumbai | HAL | 5–1 | 14 April 2012 |
| David Sunday | Chirag United Kerala | East Bengal | 3–4 | 16 April 2012 |
| Chinadorai Sabeeth | Pailan Arrows | Chirag United Kerala | 3–0 | 25 April 2012 |

### Scoring

* First goal of the season: C.K. Vineeth for Chirag United Club Kerala against HAL (22 October 2011)
* Fastest goal of the season: 3 minutes – Anthony Pereira for Dempo against Shillong Lajong (23 November 2011)
* Widest winning margin: 7 goals
** HAL 1-8 East Bengal (23 November 2011)
* Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 10 goals
** Pune 6-4 HAL (10 April 2012)
* Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 4 goals
** Pune 6-4 HAL (10 April 2012)
* Most goals scored in a match by a single player: 4 goals
** Tolgay Özbey for East Bengal against HAL (23 November 2011)
** Gbeneme Friday for Mumbai against HAL (14 April 2012)

## End-of-season awards

* Fan's Player of the Year — Francis Fernandes
* FPAI Young Player of the Year — Manandeep Singh
* FPAI Foreign Player of the Year — Ranti Martins
* FPAI Indian Player of the Year — Syed Rahim Nabi
* FPAI Coach of the Year — Trevor Morgan

## FPAI Team of the Year

Formation: 4-4-2
| Position | Name | Club |
| GK | Karanjit Singh | Salgaocar |
| RB | Deepak Kumar Mondal | Prayag United |
| CB | Mahesh Gawli | Dempo |
| CB | Uga Okpara | East Bengal |
| LB | Syed Rahim Nabi | Mohun Bagan |
| RM | Rocus Lamare | Salgaocar |
| CM | Pierre Djidjia Douhou | Pune |
| CM | Beto | Churchill Brothers |
| LM | Penn Orji | East Bengal |
| ST | Odafa Onyeka Okolie | Mohun Bagan |
| ST | Ranti Martins | Dempo |
| Coach | Trevor Morgan | East Bengal |