There is no denying the fact that Indian Super League has injected a new life into the Indian football scene. Whether you’re a passionate football fanatic or an average sports fan, you’d agree that ISL movement has revolutionized the sport in India.
When did Indian Super League start?
The Indian Super League (ISL) started on 12 October 2014. Year after year, ISL has grown by leaps and bounds. In October 2019, it was officially recognized by FIFA and the AFC as the country’s main football league.
Among its stakeholders are esteemed organizations like Reliance, Star India, and the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The league’s 13 teams are based in cities like Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Jamshedpur.
How ISL has changed Football in India?
India’s top football competition, in ISL, is a big part of making Indian football better and exciting! With ISL came grassroots programs to find and develop young talent. Then, there is a focus on the refurbishing of stadiums, facilities, and sports infrastructure. This presents a huge opportunity for the next generation of football stars in India! And, then there is a dream to make Indian Super League as competitive as the world’s top leagues.
ISL Winners since 2014
| Season | Champions | Cup Winners |
| 2014 | Atlético de Kolkata | |
| 2015 | Chennaiyin | |
| 2016 | Atlético de Kolkata | |
| 2017–18 | Chennaiyin | |
| 2018–19 | Bengaluru | |
| 2019–20 | Goa | ATK |
| 2020–21 | Mumbai City | Mumbai City |
| 2021–22 | Jamshedpur | Hyderabad |
| 2022–23 | Mumbai City | ATK Mohun Bagan |
| 2023–24 | Mohun Bagan SG | Mumbai City |
| 2024–25 | – | – |
Which is the most successful team in ISL?
The most successful team in the Indian Super League (ISL) is Mumbai City FC, with a total of 4 titles. They have won the League Shield twice in the seasons 2020-21 and 2022-23, along with 2 Cup victories in 2021 and 2024.
Other notable successful teams include ATK, which has won 3 titles but with no League Shield, and Mohun Bagan, which claimed its first League Shield in the 2023-24 season, and one Cup title in 2023. Teams like Chennaiyin and Goa also have a strong history, with Chennaiyin winning the Cup twice and Goa winning the League Shield once in 2019-20.
Related The Journey of an Indian Footballer: From Grassroots to ISL
Owners of Indian Super League Teams
| Team | Owner(s) |
| Mumbai City FC | City Football Group, Ranbir Kapoor, Bimal Parekh, Etihad Group |
| NorthEast United FC | John Abraham, Shillong F.C, Aizawl F.C |
| Kerala Blasters FC | Blasters Sports Ventures Pvt Ltd (Chiranjeevi, Nimmagadda Prasad, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Allu Aravind) |
| Odisha FC | GMS Inc, Kalinga Sports Pvt Ltd, Utkal Group |
| Goa FC | Jaydev Mody, Akshay Tandon, Virat Kohli, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Ashish Kapadia |
| Chennaiyin FC | Chennaiyin FC Pvt Ltd (Vishwanathan and friends) |
| Bengaluru FC | JSW Group |
| Jamshedpur FC | Tata Group |
| SC East Bengal | Shree Cement, East Bengal F.C Pvt Ltd |
| Punjab FC | N/A |
| Hyderabad FC | Vijay Madduri, Varun Tripuraneni, Rana Daggubati, Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| ATK Mohun Bagan | RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, Sourav Ganguly, Utsav Parekh, Mohun Bagan |
| Mohammedan SC | Bunkerhill Private Limited (30.5%), Shrachi Sports (30.5%), Mohammedan SC Pvt Ltd (39%) |
ISL Golden Boot Winners
| Player | Team | Season | Matches Played | Goals | Time Played |
| Diego Mauricio | Odisha | 2022-23 | 21 | 12 | 1536 Mins |
| Bartholomew Ogbeche | Hyderabad | 2021-22 | 19 | 18 | 1616 Mins |
| Igor Angulo | Goa | 2020-21 | 21 | 14 | 1645 Mins |
| Nerijus Valskis | Chennaiyin FC | 2019-20 | 20 | 15 | 1620 Mins |
| Coro | Goa | 2018-19 | 20 | 16 | 1784 Mins |
| Coro | Goa | 2017-18 | 20 | 18 | 1730 Mins |
| Marcelo Pereira | Odisha | 2016 | 15 | 10 | 1274 Mins |
| John Stiven Mendoza Valencia | Chennaiyin FC | 2015 | 16 | 13 | 1206 Mins |
| Elano Blumer | Chennaiyin FC | 2014 | 11 | 8 | 826 Mins |
Indian Super League Golden Glove Winners
| Player | Team | Season | Matches Played | Saves | Saves per Game (M/G) | Time Played |
| Vishal Kaith | ATK Mohun Bagan | 2022-23 | 24 | 67 | 115.53 | 2195 Mins |
| Prabhsukhan Gill | Kerala Blasters | 2021-22 | 19 | 42 | 81.70 | 1634 Mins |
| Arindam Bhattacharja | ATK Mohun Bagan | 2020-21 | 23 | 59 | 108.95 | 2070 Mins |
| Gurpreet Singh Sandhu | Bengaluru | 2019-20 | 19 | 49 | 122.14 | 1710 Mins |
| Gurpreet Singh Sandhu | Bengaluru | 2018-19 | 20 | 61 | 96.32 | 1830 Mins |
| Subrata Paul | Jamshedpur FC | 2017-18 | 18 | 47 | 102.47 | 1537 Mins |
| Amrinder Singh | Mumbai City | 2016 | 6 | 8 | 180.00 | 540 Mins |
| Apoula Edel | Chennaiyin FC | 2015 | 13 | 37 | 90.00 | 1170 Mins |
| Jan Seda | Chennaiyin FC | 2014 | 14 | 42 | 143.33 | 1290 Mins |
Related The Role of Football Academies in India’s Talent Pipeline
Most Appearances in Indian Super League
| Player | Matches Played | Years | |
| 1 | Pritam Kotal (India) | 167 | 2014– |
| 1 | Amrinder Singh (India) | 167 | 2015– |
| 3 | Lenny Rodrigues (India) | 163 | 2014– |
| 4 | Sunil Chhetri (India) | 160 | 2014– |
| 5 | Mandar Rao Dessai (India) | 156 | 2014– |
| 6 | Rahul Bheke (India) | 155 | 2014– |
| 7 | Lallianzuala Chhangte (India) | 148 | 2015– |
| 8 | Subhasish Bose (India) | 147 | 2017– |
| 9 | Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (India) | 143 | 2017– |
| 10 | Jerry Lalrinzuala (India) | 141 | 2015– |
Top 10 Goalscorers in Indian Super League
(As on 12 November 2024)
| Player | Goals | Apps | Goal Ratio | Years | |
| 1 | Sunil Chhetri (India) | 64 | 154 | 0.42 | 2015– |
| 2 | Bartholomew Ogbeche (Nigeria) | 63 | 98 | 0.64 | 2018–2023 |
| 3 | Roy Krishna (Fiji) | 57 | 112 | 0.51 | 2019– |
| 4 | Coro (Spain) | 48 | 57 | 0.84 | 2017–2020 |
| 5 | Diego Maurício (Brazil) | 41 | 76 | 0.54 | 2020– |
| 6 | Cleiton Silva (Brazil) | 36 | 84 | 0.43 | 2020– |
| 7 | Lallianzuala Chhangte (India) | 35 | 129 | 0.27 | 2016– |
| 8 | Hugo Boumous (France) | 30 | 108 | 0.28 | 2018– |
| 9 | Iain Hume (Canada) | 29 | 69 | 0.42 | 2014–2019 |
| 10 | Jorge Pereyra Díaz (Argentina) | 29 | 62 | 0.47 | 2021– |
Most Hattricks by Players in Indian Super League
(As on 12 November 2024)
| Player | Hat-tricks | |
| 1 | Bartholomew Ogbeche | 4 |
| 2 | Iain Hume | 3 |
| 3 | Stiven Mendoza | 2 |
| 3 | Dudu Omagbemi | 2 |
| 3 | Coro | 2 |
| 3 | Marcelinho | 2 |
| 3 | Sunil Chhetri | 2 |
| 3 | Modou Sougou | 2 |
ISL Coach of All ISL Teams
| Head Coach | Club |
| Panagiotis Dilberis (Greece) | Punjab |
| Oscar Bruzon (Spain) | East Bengal |
| Sergio Lobera (Spain) | Odisha |
| Juan Pedro Benali (Spain) | NorthEast United |
| Manolo Márquez (Spain) | Goa |
| Thangboi Singto (India) | Hyderabad |
| Owen Coyle (Scotland) | Chennaiyin |
| Petr Kratky (Czech Republic) | Mumbai City |
| Gerard Zaragoza (Spain) | Bengaluru |
| Khalid Jamil (India) | Jamshedpur |
| José Francisco Molina (Spain) | Mohun Bagan |
Home Stadium of All Indian Super League Teams
| Club | Home Stadium | Capacity |
| Bengaluru | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore | 25,800 |
| Chennaiyin | Marina Arena, Chennai | 30,000 |
| East Bengal | Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata | 85,000 |
| Mohun Bagan | Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata | 85,000 |
| Goa | The Fatorda, Margao | 30,000 |
| Hyderabad | G.M.C.B Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad | 30,000 |
| Jamshedpur | JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur | 24,424 |
| Kerala Blasters | Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi | 41,000 |
| Mohammedan | Kishore Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata | 12,000 |
| Mumbai City | Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai | 6,600 |
| NorthEast United | Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati | 25,000 |
| Odisha | Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar | 12,000 |
| Punjab | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi | 60,000 |
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More ISL Stats
(As on 12 November 2024)
| Category | Record | Team/Season |
| Most Wins in Total | 92 | Mumbai City |
| Most Wins in a Season | 15 | Mohun Bagan SG (2023–24) |
| Most Home Wins in a Season | 8 | Mohun Bagan SG (2020–21), Odisha (2023–24) |
| Most Away Wins in a Season | 9 | Mohun Bagan SG (2023–24) |
| Fewest Wins in a Season | 1 | East Bengal (2021–22), NorthEast United (2022–23), Hyderabad (2023–24) |
| Fewest Home Wins in a Season | 0 | Chennaiyin (2020–21), East Bengal (2021–22), Hyderabad (2023–24) |
| Fewest Away Wins in a Season | 0 | Mumbai City (2014), Pune City (2015), NorthEast United (2021–22, 2022–23), Bengaluru (2023–24) |
| Most Consecutive Wins | 11 | Mumbai City (12 Nov 2022 – 27 Jan 2023) |
| Most Consecutive Matches Without a Win | 20 | Hyderabad (9 Mar 2023 – 4 Mar 2024) |
| Most Defeats in Total | 83 | NorthEast United |
| Most Defeats in a Season | 16 | NorthEast United (2022–23), Hyderabad (2023–24) |
| Most Home Defeats in a Season | 9 | Hyderabad (2023–24) |
| Most Away Defeats in a Season | 8 | Hyderabad (2019–20), NorthEast United (2022–23), Bengaluru (2023–24) |
| Fewest Defeats in a Season | 2 | ATK (2016), Mumbai City (2022–23, 2023–24) |
| Fewest Home Defeats in a Season | 0 | Odisha (2016), Bengaluru (2018–19), Odisha (2023–24) |
| Fewest Away Defeats in a Season | 1 | ATK (2016), Mumbai City (2016, 2022–23, 2023–24), Pune City (2017–18), Goa (2020–21, 2023–24), Hyderabad (2020–21, 2021–22), NorthEast United (2020–21), Mohun Bagan SG (2021–22, 2023–24) |
| Most Consecutive Matches Undefeated | 18 | Mumbai City (9 Oct 2022 – 11 Feb 2023) |
| Most Consecutive Defeats | 10 | NorthEast United (8 Oct – 17 Dec 2022) |
| Most Goals Scored in a Season | 54 | Mumbai City (2022–23) |
| Fewest Goals Scored in a Season | 10 | Hyderabad (2023–24) |
| Most Goals Conceded in a Season | 51 | NorthEast United (2022–23) |
| Fewest Goals Conceded in a Season | 11 | Mumbai City (2016) |
| Best Goal Difference in a Season | 33 | Mumbai City (2022–23) |
| Worst Goal Difference in a Season | 35 | NorthEast United (2022–23) |
| Most Goals Scored at Home in a Season | 25 | Goa (2018–19) |
| Fewest Goals Scored at Home in a Season | 4 | Hyderabad (2023–24) |
| Most Goals Conceded at Home in a Season | 28 | NorthEast United (2022–23) |
| Fewest Goals Conceded at Home in a Season | 2 | Kerala Blasters (2014) |
| Most Goals Scored Away in a Season | 30 | Mumbai City (2022–23) |
| Fewest Goals Scored Away in a Season | 3 | Mumbai City (2014) |
| Most Goals Conceded Away in a Season | 27 | NorthEast United (2022–23) |
| Fewest Goals Conceded Away in a Season | 5 | Mumbai City (2016) |
| Most Consecutive Matches Without Scoring | 7 | Chennaiyin (15 Feb – 10 Nov 2019) |
| Most Goals Scored in Total | 338 | Goa |
| Most Goals Conceded in Total | 292 | Odisha |
How much do Indian Super League players earn?
The salary cap for each ISL team is Rs 18 crore and each team builds its squad within this salary cap. The top ISL players earn in crores, others in Lakhs.
However, to provide more flexibility, the league has also introduced a new rule: two players, whether domestic or international, can now be signed by a club outside of this salary cap. These new guidelines allow clubs to spend more freely on international players, without having to worry about how their salaries will impact the overall salary cap.
What is Indian Super League Winner Prize Money?
Indian Super League winner receives ₹6 crore in prize money. The runners-up receive ₹3 crore while semi-finalists get awarded ₹1.5 crore. Among the individual awards of 10 lakhs each are the Best Pitch Award, Best Grassroots Award, and Best Elite Youth Program for ground crew and teams.
How to Watch Indian Premier League Live?
Fans in India can catch ISL live telecast on Sports18 3 and Sports18 HD 1 TV channels. Indian Super League 2024-25 can also be live-streamed on JioCinema.
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