# 2018–19 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League

The 2018–19 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League (Nepali: शहीद स्मारक ए डिभिजन लीग २०७५) season, also known as Pulsar Martyr's Memorial A-Division League for sponsorship reasons, was the 42nd edition of the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League since its establishment in 1954-55. A total of 16 teams competed in the league. The season began on 29 September 2018 and concluded on 8 January 2019. It was the first top-division league held in the country since the 2015 National League due to aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake. On 16 September 2018, it was decided that there will be no relegation, however the two bottom-placed teams would have two and one points deducted, respectively, in the following season.
Manang Marshyangdi Club, the defending champions, successfully defended their title on 28 December with two games to spare.

## Teams

A total of 14 teams, all based in the Kathmandu Valley, contested the league. Four teams from other parts of Nepal -- Jhapa XI, Morang XI, Lumbini F.C. and Far Western F.C. -- were initially supposed to participate in the league announced for 2017. The teams had previously participated in the 2015 National League.
Six teams, that did not participate in the 2015 league, made their comebacks in the league after participating in the 2013-14 season. They were Friends Club, Himalayan Sherpa Club, Jawalakhel Youth Club, Machhindra Football Club, Sankata BSC and Saraswoti Youth Club.
As there was no season in the previous year, teams from two editions of the Martyr's Memorial B-Division League were promoted into this season.

### Team changes

| Promoted from 2014 B-Division League | Promoted from 2016 B-Division League | Relegated to 2016 B-Division League |
| Brigade Boys Club | Chyasal Youth Club New Road Team | Ranipokhari Corner Team Boys Union Club |

### Location

| Team | Location | Previous Season |
| Himalayan Sherpa Club | Kathmandu | 7th |
| Machhindra Football Club | Kathmandu | 2nd |
| Manang Marshyangdi Club | Kathmandu | 1st |
| Nepal APF Club | Kathmandu | 6th |
| Nepal Army Club | Kathmandu | 10th |
| Nepal Police Club | Kathmandu | 4th |
| New Road Team | Kathmandu | 2nd (2016 B-Division) |
| Sankata BSC | Kathmandu | 5th |
| Saraswati Youth Club | Kathmandu | 9th |
| Brigade Boys Club | Lalitpur | 1st (2014 B-Division) |
| Chyasal Youth Club | Lalitpur | 1st (2016 B-Division) |
| Friends Club | Lalitpur | 8th |
| Jawalakhel Youth Club | Lalitpur | 11th |
| Three Star Club | Lalitpur | 3rd |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Head Coach | Captain | Kit Sponsor |
| Brigade Boys Club | Ujjen Shrestha | Dilen Loktam | |
| Chyasal Youth Club | Raju Kaji Shakya | Devendra Tamang | Valley Construction |
| Friends Club | Ramesh Maharjan | Dhiraj Shrestha | Nepal Investment Bank Limited, Panchakanya Group |
| Himalayan Sherpa Club | Subas Limbu | Man Bahadur Tamang | Harvest Moon |
| Jawalakhel Youth Club | Raj Kumar KC | Ajay Thapa | Grand Master XXX Rum |
| Machhindra Football Club | Nishan Shrestha (caretaker) | Uttam Gurung | |
| Manang Marshyangdi Club | Fuja Tope and Suman Shrestha | Biraj Maharjan | Signature |
| Nepal APF Club | Rajendra Tamang | Nabin Lama | Agni Mahindra |
| Nepal Army Club | Nabin Neupane | Bharat Khawas | Bajaj Pulsar |
| Nepal Police Club | Ananta Raj Thapa | Bhola Nath Silwal | |
| New Road Team | Maheshwor Mulmi | Prabin Kumar Sainju | |
| Sankata BSC | Salyan Khadgi | Ravi Silwal | CMG Club |
| Saraswati Youth Club | Pradip Nepal | Raj Kumar Ghising | |
| Three Star Club | Meghraj KC | Bikram Lama | Ruslan Vodka |

### Head coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| Machhindra Football Club | Dhaneshwor Prajapati | Mutual consent | 1 December 2018 | 11th | Nishan Shrestha (caretaker) | 1 December 2018 |

### Foreign players

On 16 May 2018, the All Nepal Football Association announced that the number of foreigners for each club would be four. One of those had to be from one of the countries of the SAARC Region.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | SAARC Player |
| Brigade Boys Club | Kazeem Adegoke Busari | Tajudeen Adukune Busari | Abdu Kareem Nsiah | |
| Chyasal Youth Club | Sergio Fils Chico | Florent Koara | | |
| Friends Club | Fofana Brahiman | Bobby Ogolla Odongo | | Mohammed Nurul Karim |
| Himalayan Sherpa Club | Dady Junior Wamba | Patrick Private Goha | Ulrich Siewe | |
| Jawalakhel Youth Club | Olalaken Afeez Lawal | Fofana Fode | Adama Doumbia | |
| Machhindra Football Club | Vassodia Diamande | Alaba Ademolo Aderibigbe | Saheed Obenga Anifowose | |
| Manang Marshyangdi Club | Afeez Oladipo | Oluwaunmi Somide Adelaja | Victor Kamhuka | Muhammed Asif |
| Nepal APF Club | | | | |
| Nepal Army Club | | | | |
| Nepal Police Club | | | | |
| New Road Team | Christian Basile Kameni | Moshood Opeyemi Agboola | Kouassi Jean Didier | |
| Sankata BSC | Norbert Cedric Aba | Maxwell Ellon | Ernest Tampi | |
| Saraswati Youth Club | Olusola Khederi Ibrahim | Victor Amobi | Francis Okechukwu | |
| Three Star Club | Ajayi Martins Kayode | Peter Segun | Messoumbe Abang Albert | |

## Venues

The league was played centrally in three venues in two cities in the Kathmandu Valley. Nepal's main football stadium, Dasharath Rangasala was unavailable, as it was not yet reconstructed following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.
| Lalitpur | Kathmandu |
| ANFA Complex | Halchowk Stadium |
| Capacity: 4,000 | Capacity: 3,500 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Manang Marshyangdi Club (C) | 13 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 7 | +16 | 36 | Qualification for 2019 AFC Cup group stage |
| 2 | Sankata BSC | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 28 | |
| 3 | Three Star Club | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 26 | |
| 4 | Nepal Army Club | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 25 | |
| 5 | APF Club | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 14 | +6 | 23 | |
| 6 | Nepal Police Club | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 19 | |
| 7 | Himalayan Sherpa Club | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 17 | |
| 8 | Chyasal Youth Club | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 15 | +2 | 16 | |
| 9 | Saraswoti Youth Club | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 20 | −8 | 14 | |
| 10 | Jawalakhel Youth Club | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 13 | |
| 11 | Friends Club | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 25 | −12 | 12 | |
| 12 | Brigade Boys Club | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 21 | −9 | 10 | |
| 13 | Machhindra FC | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 24 | −13 | 7 | |
| 14 | New Road Team | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 26 | −14 | 7 | |

## Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| Manang Marshyangdi Club | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sankata BSC | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Three Star Club | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Nepal Army Club | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| APF Club | 7 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Nepal Police Club | 3 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Himalayan Sherpa Club | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Chyasal Youth Club | 8 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Saraswoti Youth Club | 13 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Jawalakhel Youth Club | 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Friends Club | 11 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 |
| Brigade Boys Club | 14 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 12 |
| Machhindra FC | 10 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 |
| New Road Team | 6 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
* Leader and qualification to AFC Cup

## Season statistics

    As of 8 January 2019

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Afeez Oladipo | Manang Marshyangdi Club | 7 |
| 1 | Bharat Khawas | Nepal Army Club | 7 |
| 1 | Ranjit Dhimal | Three Star Club | 7 |
| 2 | Yubraj Khadka | APF Club | 6 |
| 2 | Biswash Shrestha | Himalayan Sherpa Club | 6 |
| 2 | Ranjan Bista | Three Star Club | 6 |
| 3 | Anjan Bista | Manang Marshyangdi Club | 5 |
| 3 | Amit Tamang | Sankata BSC | 5 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Bikesh Kuthu | Nepal Army Club | 7 |
| 2 | Bishal Shrestha | Manang Marshyangdi Club | 6 |
| 2 | Alan Neupane | Three Star Club | 6 |
| 3 | Raja Babu Thapa | Sankata BSC | 5 |
| 4 | Kishor Giri | Himalayan Sherpa Club | 4 |
| 4 | Shatrughan Chaudhary | Nepal Police Club | 4 |
| 5 | Sagar Raya | Brigade Boys Club | 3 |
| 5 | Dinesh Thapa Magar | Chyasal Youth Club | 3 |
| 5 | Dev Limbu | Friends Club | 3 |
| 5 | Takendra Thapa | Jawalakhel Youth Club | 3 |
| 5 | Deep Karki | Machhindra FC | 3 |
| 5 | Pradeep Bhandari | Saraswoti Youth Club | 3 |
| 6 | Raju Yogi | APF Club | 2 |
| 7 | Amrit Kumar Chaudhary | APF Club | 1 |
| 7 | Arpan Karki | Nepal Police Club | 1 |
| 7 | Sojit Gurung | New Road Team | 1 |

### Discipline
#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 5
** Adama Doumbia (Jawalakhel Youth Club)
** Afeez Oladipo (Manang Marshyangdi Club)
* Most red cards: 1
** Ashish Gurung (Himalayan Sherpa Club)
** Bishwash Shrestha (Himalayan Sherpa Club)
** Bishwash Udas (APF Club)
** Francis Okechukwu (Saraswoti Youth Club)
** Gaurab Budhathoki (Chyasal Youth Club)
** Kuldip Karki (Jawalakhel Youth Club)
** Maxwell Ellon (Sankata BSC)
** Muhammed Asif (Manang Marshyangdi Club)
** Santosh Sahukhala (Chyasal Youth Club)
** Susan Lama (Saraswoti Youth Club)

#### Team

* Most yellow cards: 21
** Jawalakhel Youth Club
** Sankata BSC
* Most red cards: 2
** Chyasal Youth Club
** Himalayan Sherpa Club
** Saraswati Youth Club

## Awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Best Coach | Suman Shrestha | Manang Marshyangdi Club |
| Best Goalkeeper | Bishal Shrestha | Manang Marshyangdi Club |
| Best Defender | Ranjit Dhimal | Three Star Club |
| Best Midfielder | Heman Gurung | Manang Marshyangdi Club |
| Best Forward | Bharat Khawas | Nepal Army Club |
| Emerging Player | Bikash Khawas | Nepal Army Club |

## Broadcast rights

All matches were streamed live on MyCujoo.