The Indian Super League was officially launched on 21st October 2013 by IMG–Reliance, Star Sports, and the All India Football Federation (AIFF), with the goal of growing the sport of football in India and creating more awareness in the country. The league began in October 2014 with eight teams participating. Today we will look into the list of Indian Super League team owners as of 2021 season.
Also read: Top 5 signings of ISL 2020-21
The following is the list of current Indian Super League team owners:
ATK Mohun Bagan
ATK Mohun Bagan FC is a professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. This club was formed as part of a merger between the football section of multi-sport club Mohun Bagan and three times ISL winners ATK. They began to play from the 2020-21 season.
ATK Mohan Bagan owners:
Sourav Ganguly
Sanjiv Goenka
Utsav Parekh
Mohun Bagan Football Club (India) Pvt Ltd
Notable players who have played for ATK Mohun Bagan:
Helder Postiga, Borja Fernandez, Javi Lara, Iain Hume, Robbie Keane, Roy Krishna, Luis Garcia
Bengaluru FC
Formed in 2013 with a mission to contribute in putting India on the footballing world map, Bengaluru Football Club is owned by the JSW Group and plays its home games out of the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. After a successful debut season in which the team claimed a historic championship, the club moved out of the Bangalore Football Stadium to play at the 24,000 capacity Kanteerava Stadium, finishing runners up in the League and winning the Federation Cup in only its second season.
Bengaluru FC owner: JSW Group
Notable players who have played for Bengaluru FC:
John Johnson, Erik Paartalu, Dimas Delgado, Edu Garcia, Miku
Chennaiyin FC
This Chennai based Hero Indian Super League franchise playing in the competition since its inception in 2014. They have a passionate set of owners at the helm who come with a single-minded vision of making Chennaiyin FC the best and the most successful football club in India. Keeping with this endeavour, they have two Hero ISL titles to our name winning them in the 2015 and 2017-18 editions.
Chennaiyin FC owners:
Abhishek Bachchan
MS Dhoni
Vita Dani
Madras Consortium
Notable players who have played for Chennaiyin FC –
Elano Blumer, John Arne Riise, Bernard Mendy, Stiven Mendoza, Raphael Augusto
SC East Bengal
Sporting Club East Bengal is based in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in the Indian Super League, as well as the Calcutta Premier Division A, the top tier state football league of West Bengal. Formed in 1920, it was mainly supported by the people who were separated in the partition of 1947. The club became a symbol of hope and identity for them. It has a long-standing rivalry with a cross-town team ATK Mohan Bagan wherein they compete in the Kolkata derby. It is considered one of Asia’s biggest football rivalry!
SC East Bengal owners:
Shree Cement
East Bengal F.C (India) Pvt. ltd
Top/Notable players who have played for East Bengal –
Bernard Mendy, Dudu, Borja Gómez, Víctor Pérez, Danny Fox
FC Goa
FC Goa is an Indian professional football franchise based in Goa that competes in the Indian Super League. The club was launched on 26th August 2014 and is owned by Goan Football Club Pvt. Ltd. which consists of Mr. Jaydev Mody, Mr. Akshay Tandon and Indian Cricket team captain, Mr. Virat Kohli.
FC Goa grabbed its first piece of silverware in 2019 as well, winning the Hero Super Cup tournament and have eyes on winning the Hero Indian Super League next.
FC Goa owners:
Jaydev Mody
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala
Ashish Kapadia
Akshay Tandon
Virat Kohli
India Dempo Sporting Club (India) Pvt Ltd
Top/Notable players who have played for FC Goa –
Robert Pires, Andre Santos, Lucio, Reinaldo, Coro, Manu Lanzarote
Hyderabad FC
Hyderabad FC, an Indian professional football club representing the city in the Hero Indian Super League. It came into the spotlight on 27 August 2019, when Mr. Varun Tripuraneni and Mr. Vijay Madduri acquired the franchise.
Having made their debut in the 2019-20 edition of the Indian Super League, Hyderabad FC, the region’s first-ever top-flight club has now kicked off a new era.
Hyderabad FC owners:
Vijay Madhuri
Varun Tripuraneni
Rana Daggubati
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Notable players who have played for Hyderabad FC
Marko Stankovic, Marcelinho, Aridane Santana, Joao Victor, Bobo
Jamshedpur FC
The club was established on 12 June 2017, when Tata Steel won the bidding rights for one of the two expansion slots in the Indian Super League. Jamshedpur FC is the first club in the Indian Super League to have its own stadium and facilities. The club plays there home games at the JRD Tata Sports Complex.
Jamshedpur FC Owner: Tata Group
Notable players who have played for Jamshedpur FC
Tim Cahill, Andre Bikey, Memo, Mario Arqués, Nerijus Valskis
Kerala Blasters FC
The Blasters are one of the most widely supported clubs in Asia and has one of the largest social media following among the football clubs from the continent. The club is also known for its fan base, including the supporters’ group Manjappada, which has gained a reputation for being one of the most vocal and passionate fan clubs in India.
Kerala Blasters FC owners:
Blasters Sports Ventures Pvt Ltd
Chiranjeevi
Nimmagadda Prasad
Akkineni Nagarjuna
Allu Aravind
Notable players who have played for Kerala Blasters FC
David James, Carlos Marchena, Aaron Hughes, Iain Hume, Wes Brown, Dimitar Berbatov
Mumbai City FC
The club was founded on 30 August 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Super League.
Former England international Peter Reid managed the club during the first season with Freddie Ljungberg being the marquee player.
Mumbai City FC owners:
City Football Group
Ranbir Kapoor
Bimal Parekh
Etihad Group
Notable players who have played for Mumbai City FC
Diego Forlan, Freddie Ljungberg, Nicolas Anelka, Selim Benachour, Paulo Machado
NorthEast United FC
.The club represents the 8 states of India known as North East India which consist Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Mizoram
NorthEast United FC owners:
John Abraham
Shillong F.C
Aizwal F.C
Notable players who have played for Northeast United FC
Didier Zokora, Asamoah Gyan, Bartholomew Ogbeche, Joan Capdevila, Simao Sabrosa
Odisha FC
Odisha FC is the club that represents the beautiful state of Odisha. Formed in 2019, the club is driven to develop the next wave of football stars from Odisha. They have partnered with the Aspire Academy in order to develop our most talented youth to reach their utmost potential.
Odisha FC owners:
GMS Inc
Kalinga Sports (India) Pvt. Ltd
Utkal Group
Top players who have played for Odisha FC –
Alessandro Del Piero, Roberto Carlos, Kalu Uche, John Arne Riise, Florent Malouda, Steven Taylor
Market Valuation of ISL Clubs:
- Kerala Blasters FC – 466.59M
- ATK Mohun Bagan – 437.43M
- Mumbai City FC – 422.85M
- Bengaluru FC – 397.85M
- SC East Bengal – 397.85M
- Odisha FC – 389.52M
- FC Goa – 354.11M
- Jamshedpur FC – 349.94M
- Chennaiyin FC – 347.86M
- Hyderabad FC – 341.61M
- Northeast United FC – 322.87M
AIFF roadmap for Hero ISL
According to the latest roadmap, the Hero ISL is to be recognised as the top league in India starting from the 2019-2020 season. As per the AFC statement, the Hero ISL champions would also be entitled to a play-off place in the AFC Champions League and the Hero I-League champions would take a place in the AFC Cup in ‘a package that takes into consideration the recommendations of FIFA/AFC report of 2017.
Starting with the 2022-23 season, the winner of the Hero I-League will stand a chance to be promoted to the Hero ISL with no participation fee, basis fulfilling sporting merit and the national club licensing criteria to be set out by the AIFF. There will be no relegation in the Hero ISL at this time.
In its recommendation for 2024-25, it is agreed to fully implement promotion and relegation into the top league, and the abolition of two parallel leagues.
Speaking about the new roadmap, AFC General Secretary Dato’ Windsor John said, “Everyone has to put the good of Indian football at the forefront and take the best decisions to develop Indian club football. The AFC will be very much involved to ensure the growth of the game to the next level with the pathway to a single league. Every point of this package – and it is a package – has been thought-out extremely carefully and it is aimed simply at providing the best chance to develop Indian club football. We have informed AIFF that 10-12 teams are not enough for the top league – it must be bigger.”
“Everyone has contributed to the development of the Indian club game – Hero ISL, Hero I-League clubs, the AIFF and the AFC – and I am sure that if this roadmap is considered further then Indian football will see the benefits for the game. We are now all working together to deliver the best future.”