Bharat FC
2014–15 season
ManagerStuart Watkiss
StadiumShree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex

The 2014–15 season will be Bharat FC's first season in the I-League and first season in existence.

Background

On 25 August 2014 it was announced that Kalyani Group had won the bidding rights to a new I-League team and that they would base the team in Pune, Maharashtra.[1] On 4 November 2014 it was announced that former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Stuart Watkiss would be the first head coach of the team's history.[2] Then, six days later, on 10 November, it was announced that the team had signed their first player in New Zealand international Kris Bright.[3] On 15 November, Stanley Rozario was appointed as the assistant coach.[4] On 23 November, the team was officially unveiled as Bharat FC.[5]

Pre-season

The club started the season with two friendlies against Bombay Engineer Group, which they won 3–0 and the second one 5–0, courtesy two goals from Steven Dias and a goal each from Subhash Singh, Surojit Bose and Jayashelan Prasad.[6][7] In the last friendly before the season, Bharat FC played against Air India and managed a 2–2 draw with a goal each from Kris Bright and Gunashekar Vignesh.[8]

Matches

12 January 2015 Bharat FC 5–0 India BEG Pune, Maharashtra
Dias (2 goals)
Singh
Bose
Prasad		 Report
16 January 2015 Bharat FC 2–2 India Air India Pune, Maharashtra
15:30 IST Bright 36'
Vignesh 52'		 Neil Gaikwad 26'
Vishnu T 53'		 Stadium: Bharati Vidyapeeth Ground

I-League

Table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
7 Salgaocar 20 7 3 10 25 27 −2 24[lower-alpha 1]
8 Sporting Goa 20 5 8 7 22 27 −5 23[lower-alpha 2]
9 Shillong Lajong 20 6 5 9 34 29 +5 23[lower-alpha 2]
10 Dempo (R) 20 3 10 7 15 26 −11 19 Relegation to I-League 2nd Division
11 Bharat FC 20 4 6 10 13 28 −15 18 [lower-alpha 3]
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: IndiaFooty.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) play-off match.
(R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ↑ Mumbal ahead on head-to-head goal difference; Mumbai–Salgaocar 3–0, Salgaocar–Mumbai 3–1
  2. 1 2 Sporting Goa ahead on head-to-head record; Sporting Goa–Shillong Lajong 1–1, Shillong Lajong–Sporting Goa 1–2
  3. ↑ Bharat FC were not relegated as they had relegation immunity for two years.[9]

First-team squad

As of 5 January 2015[10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK India IND Arindam Bhattacharya
— GK India IND Harshad Meher
— GK India IND Shahinlal Meloly
— DF England ENG Bobby Hassell
— DF India IND Bikramjeet Singh
— DF India IND Dharmaraj Ravanan
— DF India IND Gouramangi Singh
— DF India IND Mehrajuddin Wadoo
— DF India IND Nallappan Mohanraj
— DF India IND Naorem James Singh
— DF India IND Sabas Saleel
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF India IND Adil Khan
— MF India IND Dipendu Dowry
— MF India IND Gunashekar Vignesh
— MF India IND Jayashelan Prasad
— MF India IND Lester Fernandez
— MF India IND Simranjit Singh
— FW New Zealand NZL Kris Bright
— FW India IND Manjit Singh
— FW India IND Rajinder Kumar
— FW India IND Subhash Singh
— FW India IND Surojit Bose

Technical Staff

Position Name
Head coach England Stuart Watkiss
Assistant coach India Stanley Rozario
Fitness coach England Lindsay Davis[11]
Physiotherapist England Ian Farmery[12]

References

  1. ↑ Mazumdar, Rakhi. "Kalyani Group bags bid to launch team in I-league". Economic Times. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "I-League: Kalyani Group appoints Stuart Watkiss as head coach". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Mitra, Atanu. "Kalyani Group rope in Kris Bright". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Stanly Rozario to assist Watkiss at Kalyani Group's football club". Goal.com. 15 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Kalyani Group names I-League team as 'Bharat FC'". 23 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Bharat FC tackle Air India in final preseason friendly". bharatfc.com. 16 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Bharat FC vs BEG - 5-0 - all goals". YouTube.
  8. ↑ "Bharat FC close preseason friendlies with 2-2 draw". 16 January 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "East Bengal - Bharat FC Preview: Lions' pride travel in search of first win of the season". 15 February 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  10. ↑ "SQUAD". Bharat FC. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  11. ↑ Hero I-League [@ILeagueOfficial] (15 December 2014). "JUST IN: Englishman Lindsay Davis has been roped in as the fitness and conditioning coach of @BharatFC. #ILeague http://t.co/IUNDgyorUN" (Tweet). Retrieved 31 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ Bharat FC [@BharatFC] (17 December 2014). "Ian Farmery joins #BharatFC as the first team's physiotherapist. Ian joins us from Barnsley FC. http://t.co/6mDqtVKaNG" (Tweet). Retrieved 31 December 2020 – via Twitter.
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