Top 5 ISL Teams:
The Indian Super League (ISL) is the highest level of the Indian football league system. The league currently comprises 12 clubs under the All India Football Federation (AIFF) guidance. The competition was founded on 21 October 2013 and officially started with only eight teams. The competition currently runs from September to March and follows a double round-robin format, with each club playing the others twice, with one home and away game each, at the end of which six teams play knockout matches leading to the final and the winner is declared champions but the team with the most points is declared the premier and given the winner’s shield, the league also only follows the promotion and relegation processes and clubs qualify for the Asian continental club competitions but the season premiers can qualify directly for the subsequent season’s AFC Cup.
Best 5 Indian Super League Football Clubs:
1. ATK
ATK Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was owned by Kolkata Games and Sports Pvt. Ltd which included Indian Cricketing Star Sourav Ganguly, the team played in Salt Lake Stadium which has a seating capacity of 85,000. The club has won three titles and is considered the most successful team in ISL. They also had the former Real Madrid midfielder Borja Fernández and Champions League winner Luis Garcia in their squad for the inaugural season.
Antonio López Habas was the first and the most successful coach of the team winning one league title and a win rate of 40 percent. Jayesh Rane, the Indian international has the most amount of appearances playing for 52 matches and Iain Hume is the all-time top scorer of the team with 18 goals. On 16 January 2020, RPSG Group along with former cricketer Sourav Ganguly and Utsav Parekh bought an 80% stake in Mohun Bagan Football Club. ATK was dissolved on 1 July 2020 and merged with the Mohun Bagan and the team was renamed ATK Mohun Bagan FC.
2. Mumbai City
Mumbai City is owned by City Football Group and famous Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor. It has two home stadiums; Mumbai Football Arena which has a seating capacity of 6,500 and DY Patil Stadium (used for AFC matches) has a seating capacity of 55,000. They are the first club to win both the League Winners Shield and the ISL title during the 2020–21 season. The club won a total of three trophies which consisted of one champions title and two premiership shields. They were also runners-up in the Durand Cup (2022) and are the team to win the ISL league winners shield twice.
In the first season, the club signed France and Chelsea legend Nicolas Anelka. The team also had Sunil Chettri, the Indian football captain, who scored seven goals for them in the 2015 season. Sergio Lobera is the most successful manager of the team with two trophies and with sixty percent win rate. Bipin Singh has the highest number of appearances with 113 matches and shares the all-time top scorer of the club with Jorge Pereyra Díaz, both scoring 22 goals each. On 28 November 2019, City Football Group(they also own Manchester City), acquired a major stake in Mumbai City FC.Des Buckingham is the current manager of the team and it currently stands in the fourth position of the league table.
3. Chennaiyin Football Club
Chennaiyin Football Club is owned jointly by MS Dhoni and Abhishek Bachchan. It is home to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium which has a seating capacity of 40,000. The club has won two championships in the Indian Super League. Jeje is the all-time top scorer of the club with 25 goals.
The Italian World Cup winner Marco Materazzi was also hired by the team as a player-manager for the inaugural season. He also led the team to their first title in 2016. Anirudh Thapa has the highest appearances playing for 102 matches They ranked 248 in the AFC club rankings. it also has investments in an esports team. Owen Coyle is the current manager of the team. It currently stands 7th in the league table.
4. Bengaluru Football Club
Bengaluru FC is home to the Shree Kanteevera Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 25,810. The club is owned by JSW Sports with Sajjan Jindal as chairman. The club played in the I-League for several seasons, until 2018 when they were finally included in the top-tier league ISL, they ended up winning the championship in their debut season. The team also has won two- League titles and one Durand Cup. They are 119 in the AFC club rankings.
Albert Roca is considered the most successful manager of the club as he led the team to their first and only ISL championship. The indian national captain Sunil Chhetri plays for the side and holds both the highest appearances for the club playing for 259 matches and all the top goal scorer of the club with 108 goals. The club is currently managed by Simon Grayson and stands in eighth position in the league table.
5. Hyderabad Football Club
Hyderabad FC was founded on 27th August 2019 and is owned by three individuals namely Vijay Madduri Varun Tripuraneni, and Rana Daggubati, and affiliated with Borussia Dortmund and Marbella FC. The club also has investments in Esports. It is home to the G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium which has a seating capacity of 17,500. Phil Brown was the first manager of the team.
The club won its first championship in 2021-22 and was runners-up in the premiership in the same year and again in 2022-23. Mohammed Yasir has the highest number of appearances playing for 74 matches and Bartholomew Owogbalor Ogbeche is the all-time top scorer of the club with 26 goals. Thangboi Singto is the current manager of the team and currently stands in the eleventh position in the league table.
The Indian football scene is developing every single day and will eventually get better in a few years. There is a lot of room for improvement but in recent years the authorities have made great improvements to the ISL and with this pace, in a few years ISL will get global recognition.
