| Season | 2015–16 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 9 January 2016 – 24 April 2016 |
| Champions | Bengaluru 2nd I-League title 2ndIndian title |
| AFC Champions League | Bengaluru |
| AFC Cup | Mohun Bagan |
| Matches played | 72 |
| Goals scored | 186 (2.58 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Ranti Martins (12 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Mohun Bagan 5–0Bengaluru (23 April 2016) |
| Biggest away win | Salgaocar 0–3Sporting Goa (23 April 2016) |
| Highest scoring | Sporting Goa 5–2Shillong Lajong (10 April 2016) |
| Longest winning run | 3 games Bengaluru East Bengal |
| Longest unbeaten run | 11 games Mohun Bagan |
| Longest winless run | 10 games Mumbai |
| Longest losing run | 4 games Salgaocar |
| Highest attendance | 62,342 Mohun Bagan 1–1East Bengal (23 January 2016)[1] |
2016–17 → | |
The2015–16 I-League was the ninth season of theI-League, the Indian professionalfootball league, since its establishment in 2007. The season commenced on 9 January 2016, after theIndian Super League finished, and concluded on 24 April 2016.[2]
Bengaluru won their second I-League title after winning their first title in2013–14. The defending championsMohun Bagan finished second.Aizawl andDSK Shivajians entered the league for the first time in their history, Aizawl through promotion from theI-League 2nd Division and DSK Shivajians through a direct-entry spot.
After the2014–15 I-League season, three-timeI-League champions,Dempo, were relegated to theI-League 2nd Division.[3]Mizo club,Aizawl, were promoted from the 2nd Division earlier in May following a 4–2 victory overChanmari.[4]DSK Shivajians were announced as the direct-entry club for this season on 12 November 2015.[5]
In August 2015, it was first reported thatPune clubs,Pune, andBharat, the direct-entry side from the previous season, would be withdrawing from the I-League due to the lack of a "long-term vision" for the league.[6] Then, towards the end of October, it was announced that both Pune and Bharat FC had failed to compile to the AFC-licensing criteria needed to participate in the I-League.[7] On 21 November 2015, it was confirmed thatRoyal Wahingdoh, another debutant club from the previous season, were withdrawing from the league.[8]
| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Aizawl | Rajiv Gandhi Stadium | 20,000 |
| Bengaluru | Sree Kanteerava Stadium | 24,000 |
| DSK Shivajians | Balewadi Sports Complex | 22,000 |
| East Bengal | Salt Lake Stadium | 68,000 |
| Kanchenjunga Stadium | 35,000 | |
| Mohun Bagan | Salt Lake Stadium | 68,000 |
| Barasat Stadium | 22,000 | |
| Mumbai | Cooperage Ground | 5,000 |
| Salgaocar | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 12,000 |
| Shillong Lajong | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | 30,000 |
| Sporting Goa | Fatorda Stadium | 19,500 |
| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit Sponsor | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aizawl |  Jahar Das | David Lalrinmuana | Vamos | North East Consultancy Services |
| Bengaluru |  Ashley Westwood | Sunil Chhetri | Puma | JSW |
| DSK Shivajians | Derrick Pereira |  Aser Pierrick Dipanda | Nivia | DSK Group |
| East Bengal | Trevor Morgan | Gurwinder Singh | Shiv Naresh | Kingfisher |
| Mohun Bagan | Sanjoy Sen | Shilton Paul | Shiv Naresh | None |
| Mumbai | Khalid Jamil |  Taisuke Matsugae | Nivia | Playwin |
| Salgaocar | Santosh Kashyap | Karanjit Singh | Shiv Naresh | Salgaocar |
| Shillong Lajong | Thangboi Singto | Aibor Khongjee | Adidas | Gionee |
| Sporting Goa | Mateus Costa |  Odafa Onyeka Okolie | None | Models |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Bengal |  Eelco Schattorie | Mutual consent | 19 June 2015 | Pre-season | Biswajit Bhattacharya | 19 June 2015[9] |
| Salgaocar | Derrick Pereira | 26 June 2015 |  Malky Thomson | 26 June 2015[10] | ||
| Aizawl | Hmingthana Zadeng | 20 August 2015 |  Manuel Retamero Fraile | 20 August 2015 | ||
| DSK Shivajians | New club | Derrick Pereira | 20 August 2015 | |||
| Salgaocar | Malky Thomson | Mutual consent | 29 January 2016[11] | 9th | Santosh Kashyap | 29 January 2016[12] |
| Aizawl | Manuel Retamero Fraile | Sacked | 7 February 2016[13] | 7th | Jahar Das | 7 February 2016[13] |
| East Bengal | Biswajit Bhattacharya | Resigned | 11 April 2016[14] | 3rd | Trevor Morgan | 13 April 2016[15] |
Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to Five per team. A team could use Four foreign players on the field each game.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Asian Player |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aizawl |  Alfred Jaryan | Emmanuel Chigozie | Joel Sunday | Yuta Kinowaki |
| Bengaluru | John Johnson |  Michael Collins |  Curtis Osano |  Kim Song-Yong |
| DSK Shivajians | Aser Pierrick Dipanda |  Douhou Pierre | Juan Quero |  Zohib Islam Amiri |
| East Bengal |  Bernard Mendy | Ranti Martins | Bello Razaq |  Do Dong-hyun |
| Mohun Bagan |  Luciano Sabrosa |  Sony Norde |  Cornell Glenn | Katsumi Yusa |
| Mumbai | Ryuki Kozawa | Eric Brown | Son Min-chol | Taisuke Matsugae |
| Salgaocar | Éder Monteiro Fernandes | Darryl Duffy | Martin Scott | Calvin Mbarga |
| Shillong Lajong | Fábio Pena | Uilliams | Penn Orji | Yusuke Yamagata |
| Sporting Goa | Loveday Enyinnaya | Odafa Onyeka Okolie | Densil Theobald |  Mahmoud Amnah |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bengaluru(C) | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 17 | +7 | 32 | Qualification toChampions League qualifying play-off |
| 2 | Mohun Bagan | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 32 | 16 | +16 | 30 | Qualification toAFC Cup qualifying play-off[a] |
| 3 | East Bengal | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 18 | +4 | 25 | |
| 4 | Sporting Goa | 16 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 22 | Withdrew[b] |
| 5 | Mumbai | 16 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 20 | 19 | +1 | 19 | |
| 6 | Shillong Lajong | 16 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 23 | −9 | 18 | |
| 7 | Salgaocar[c] | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 27 | −8 | 16 | Withdrew[b] |
| 8 | Aizawl[d] | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 21 | −6 | 16 | |
| 9 | DSK Shivajians[e] | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 25 | −9 | 15 |
| Home \ Away | AFC | BFC | DSK | KEB | MB | MUM | LAJ | SFC | SCG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aizawl | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Bengaluru | 1–0 | — | 4–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| DSK Shivajians | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 3–1 |
| East Bengal | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Mohun Bagan | 3–1 | 5–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 |
| Mumbai | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Shillong Lajong | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Salgaocar | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–3 |
| Sporting Goa | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 5–2 | 1–1 | — |
Top scorers[edit]
| Top Indian scorers[edit]
|
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranti Martins | East Bengal | Shillong Lajong | 4–0 | 9 February 2016 | [20] |
| Darryl Duffy | Salgaocar | DSK Shivajians | 3–2 | 14 February 2016 | [21] |
| Ranti Martins | East Bengal | Aizawl | 3–2 | 12 March 2016 | [22] |
All India Football Federation awarded the following awards for the I-League season.[23]