Bharat FC

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Template:Infobox football club

Bharat FC (also known as Kalyani Bharat FC), was an Indian professional football team based in Pune, Maharashtra that competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system.[1][2] The team was founded on 26 August 2014 by Kalyani Group as a direct-entry team into the I-League, making them the second direct-entry side in league history after Bengaluru FC.[3] The name of the team, as well as their home stadium, the Balewadi Sports Complex, were officially announced on 23 November 2014.[4] But after a disappointing season in I-league the club withdrew from 2015 to 2016 season of the tournament.[5]

History

In 2013, in a bid to increase the popularity of the I-League – India's top football league – the All India Football Federation approved the addition of teams into the league via bidding for a direct-entry slot.[6] The first two teams to be allowed into the I-League via direct-entry were Bengaluru FC and Mumbai Tigers but only Bengaluru FC played in the 2013–14 season.[7] Despite the failure of Mumbai Tigers, Bengaluru FC proved to be an amazing success for the I-League as the Bangalore club managed to bring in full-houses to all their matches as well as even win the league in their very first season.[8] This thus made the AIFF announce that they would be accepting bids for new direct-entry teams for the 2014–15 season.[9] On 26 August 2014, after the AIFF reviewed the bidders, they announced that Kalyani Group had won the right to start a direct-entry club for the 2014–15 season.[3]

After winning the bid for the team, in November 2014, Kalyani Group signed their first ever head coach for the football team in former Wolverhampton Wanderers player Stuart Watkiss.[10] They also appointed Stanley Rozario as assistant coach.[11][12] Kalyani Group then signed their first ever player on 10 November 2014 when New Zealand international Kris Bright signed for the club,[13] who also represented New Zealand at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[14] After making their first signings, the Kalyani Group officially announced the name of the club on 23 November 2014 as Bharat FC.[4]

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.[15][16] 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.[17]

2014–15 I-League

The 2014–15 I-League was their first and only top flight season, they ever competed. For their maiden season, The Lions signed experienced foreigners like Englishman Bobby Hassell, New Zealander Kris Bright. They rope in Beninese Romuald Boco as Marquee player, who earned 50 caps for his country.[18][19] Palestinian Omar Jarun was also signed in March 2015 for an 18-month deal completing the club's Asian player quota.[20][21][22][23]

In their first ever league match, the debutants held Dempo SC to a goalless draw.[24] Later they defeated giants Mohun Bagan AC by 1–0.[25] On 27 January 2015, Bright scored the first goal for his club, netting a 14th-minute goal against Royal Wahingdoh but they lost the game by 1–2.[26] Kris Bright emerged as the top goalscorer for Bharat with 6 goals in the league.

Bharat FC has competed in 20 matches in the league season and managed to win only 3 matches alongside 10 draws and 7 defeats. Thus the club finished at the bottom of the league table with 18 points, behind Dempo SC.[27] But they were not relegated as they had relegation immunity for two years.[28][29]

Colours and kits

During the club's first ever kit launch event on 2 January 2015, it was announced that the club's colours would be based on the team's motto, "Together, Forever and Triumphant", which are blue, red, and white.[30] The home kit was coloured in dark blue which stands for the "Peoples Football" while the away kit is predominantly red.[30] The club's third kit was coloured completely white with the colours blue and red running horizontally across the shirt. The red denotes "passion and vitality" while blue stands for "truth and loyalty".[30]

Ownership

Bharat FC was formed through an initiative by Kalyani Group, a privately held industrial group, headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, India, that is focused in four primary sectors, viz. Engineering Steel, Automotive & Non-Automotive Components, Renewable Energy & Infrastructure and Specialty Chemicals.[31] Amit Kalyani was the club's first and only managing director.[32]

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2015 Nivia[33] Kalyani Group[33]

Stadium

Template:Main

File:Balewadi Athletics Stadiums Interior.jpg
Shiv Chatrapati Sports Complex on a matchday

When Bharat FC's name was announced, the Balewadi Sports Complex was also announced as the first ever stadium to be used by the club.[4] The stadium has a capacity of 12,000.[34] The team has stated their intention to eventually construct their own football stadium with Manjri being the initial looked at location for the stadium.[33]

During the 2015 season, the team had their training group located in Manjri.[33]

Dysfunction

The team was officially launched in November 2014,[35] but despite investing heavily, Bharat FC just managed to gain only 18 points from 20 games in the 2014–15 I-League season, finishing at the bottom. The return on investment being abysmal, the club didn’t see I-League as an economically viable investment anymore. With minimal activity ahead of their second season and several staff, including CEO Suvrat Thatte, resigning, the Pune-based club only played one season in the I-League.[36][37]

Team records

Overall records

Template:Updated

Season I-League Federation Cup Durand Cup AFC Top Scorer
Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Player Goals
2014–15 20 4 6 10 13 28 18 11th — — — Kris Bright 6

Head Coach's Record

Template:Updated

Name Nationality From To P W D L GF GA Win%
Stuart Watkiss[38] Template:ENG 4 November 2014 1 June 2015

Template:WDL

Technical staffs

Template:Updated

Position Name
Head Coach Template:Flagicon Stuart Watkiss
Assistant Coach Template:Flagicon Stanley Rozario
Fitness coach Template:Flagicon Lindsay Davis[39]
Physiotherapist Template:Flagicon Ian Farmery[40]

Notable former players

For current and former notable Bharat FC players with a Wikipedia article see Bharat FC players

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kalyani Bharat Football Club: profile and statistics worldfootball.net. Retrieved 26 March 2021
  2. ↑ Rozario to assist Watkiss at Kalyani Group's Football Club – Times of India. The Times of India. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Kalyani Group Bid
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Kalyani Group names I-League team as 'Bharat FC'. Zee News. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  5. ↑ I-League: Pune FC, Bharat FC have a week's time to appeal for exemption from club licensing criterion. goal.com. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  6. ↑ AIFF clears two new teams for I-League. Times of India. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Mumbai Tigers pull out of I-League. Zee News. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Bengaluru FC’ S Success Story Opens The Door For More Franchisee Clubs in I-League. The Hard Tackle. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  9. ↑ AIFF to invite bids for new I-League teams. The Shillong Times. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  10. ↑ I-League: Kalyani Group appoints Stuart Watkiss as head coach. IBN Live. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  11. ↑ Bharat FC Launched – Shillong Lajong FC | Official Website. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  12. ↑ Stanly Rozario becomes Kalyani Group-owned Team's Asst Coach | Hero I-League. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  13. ↑ Kalyani Group rope in Kris Bright. Goal.com. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  14. ↑ SQUAD. Bharat FC.
  15. ↑ Bharat FC tackle Air India in final preseason friendly. bharatfc.com(16 Jan 2015). Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Bharat FC vs BEG - 5-0 - all goals. YouTube.
  17. ↑ Bharat FC close preseason friendlies with 2-2 draw(16 January 2015). Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  18. ↑ Boco joins Bharat FC as marquee player. The Hindu. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  19. ↑ Bharat FC acquires Boco of Benin Business Standard. Retrieved 26 March 2021
  20. ↑ Palestine international Omar Jarun becomes Bharat FC's fourth foreign player(13 March 2015). Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  21. ↑ Bharat FC sign Palestine international Omar Jarun, Shah, Harsh(13 March 2015). Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  22. ↑ Template:Cite tweet
  23. ↑ Mumbai v Bharat Live Commentary & Result, 30/05/15, I-League | Goal.com. www.goal.com.
  24. ↑ The Lions' debut ends in a stalemate. Goal. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  25. ↑ Bharat FC shock Mohun Bagan AC in the I-League india.com. Retrieved 8 May 2021
  26. ↑ Kashyap's side continue their perfect run. Goal. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  27. ↑ 2014-15 I-League fixtures and points table indiafooty.com. Retrieved 26 March 2021
  28. ↑ East Bengal - Bharat FC Preview: Lions' pride travel in search of first win of the season. Goal.com. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  29. ↑ A look back into the dysfunctional clubs in the past decade of Indian football. The Bridge. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 New I-League side Bharat FC launches official kits. Times of India. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  31. ↑ Kalyani Group to set up Missile MRO in Hyderabad, Kumar, V. Rishi. @businessline. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  32. ↑ New I-League side Bharat FC launches official kits. Times of India. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 High hopes for Bharat FC. The Hindu. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  34. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ISL Stadium 2014
  35. ↑ Kalyani Group names I-League team as 'Bharat FC'. Zee News. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  36. ↑ A look back into the dysfunctional clubs in the past decade of Indian football. The Bridge. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  37. ↑ Pune FC and Bharat FC closing down is the beginning of the end of I-League. First Post. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  38. ↑ Bharat 2014–15: Fixtures & Results. Bharat F.C..
  39. ↑ Template:Cite tweet
  40. ↑ Template:Cite tweet

Template:Bharat FC Template:I-League Template:Football in India

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