The 2007–08 I-League kicked off on 24 November 2007 at the Fatorda Stadium, Margao, Goa. The first match of the season was played between the two Goan clubs Dempo and Salgaocar.
The top team in the I-League qualified for the qualifying phase of the 2009 AFC Champions League, while the bottom two teams were relegated to I-League 2nd Division in the next season.
Introduction After the 2006–07 NFL season, it was announced that it would be rebranded as the I-League for the 2007–08 season. The league's first season consisted of eight teams from the previous NFL campaign and two teams from the 2nd Division to form a 10 team league. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the title sponsors of the previous NFL, were named as the title sponsors of the I-League before the league kicked off in November 2007. The league also announced a change in their foreign-player restrictions with the new rule being that all the clubs could sign four foreigners – three non-Asian and one which must be Asian. The league also announced that, for the first season, matches will be broadcast on Zee Sports.
Over view The league was contested by 10 teams, Viva Kerala and Salgaocar SC were promoted from NFL - 2. Dempo winning the championship. This victory marked their first ileague and third national league title. Churchill Brothers FC secured the second position, while JCT came third. Viva Kerala and Salgaocar SC were relegated to I-league 2.
Teams
Club Manager Location Stadia Air India Bimal Ghosh Mumbai Cooperage Ground Churchill Brothers Karim Bencherifa Goa Jawaharlal Nehru - Fatorda Stadium Dempo Armando Colaco Goa Jawaharlal Nehru - Fatorda Stadium East Bengal Manoranjan Bhattacharjee Kolkata Salt Lake Stadium JCT Sukhwinder Singh New Delhi & Ludhiana Ambedkar Stadium & Guru Gobind Singh Stadium Mahindra United Derrick Pereira Mumbai Cooperage Ground Mohun Bagan Carlos Roberto Pereira Da Silva Kolkata Salt Lake Stadium Salgaocar Savio Medeira Goa Jawaharlal Nehru - Fatorda Stadium Sporting Goa Clifford Chukwuma Goa Jawaharlal Nehru - Fatorda Stadium Viva Kerala A.M.Sreedharan Kozhikode Kozhikode EMS Corporation Stadium
Standings
League table
Results
Top goalscorers
Last updated: 23 February 2008 Ref:
RankNameTeamGoals1 Odafe Onyeka OkolieChurchill Brothers222 Eduardo da Silva EscobarJCT143 Mboyo IyomiChurchill Brothers12 Ranty Martins SoleyeDempo5 Baichung BhutiaMohun Bagan106 Edmilson Marques PardalEast Bengal8 Chidi EdehDempo8 Felix ChimaokwuSalgaocar7 Sunil ChhetriJCT10 Junior ObagbemiroSporting Goa6 Andrews Pomeyie MensahMahindra United12 Wisdom AbbeyViva Kerala5 Jose Ramirez BarretoMohun Bagan Yusif YakubuMahindra United Roberto Mendes SilvaDempo16 Bashiree Mohammed AbbasAir India4
References
External links