Mumbai City FC is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. They compete in the Indian Super League, the top tier of the Indian football league system. Founded on 30 August 2014, Mumbai City is one of the most successful clubs in Indian Super League history, jointly holding the record with Mohun Bagan Super Giant for the most major ISL honours, having won two ISL League Winners Shields and two ISL Cups. The club became the first in ISL history to win both the League Winners Shield and the ISL Cup in the same season, achieving the feat in the 2020–21 season campaign.
History In early 2014, it was announced that the All India Football Federation, the national federation for Football in India, and IMG-Reliance would be accepting bids for ownership of eight of nine selected cities for the upcoming Indian Super League, an eight-team franchise league modeled along the lines of the Indian Premier League, the country's professional cricket league.
First season (2014) under Peter Reid
On 15 September 2014, the club signed Nicolas Anelka, a former French international who had been a free agent since his departure from West Bromwich Albion earlier in the year. Three days later, former Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg was signed as the team's first marquee player, returning from two years of retirement. Englishman Peter Reid was appointed as the team's first ever head coach.
Mumbai were the visitors in the first ever ISL match on 12 October 2014, at Atlético de Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium. Without Anelka and Ljungberg, the side lost 3–0. On 18 October 2014, the club registered their first-ever ISL victory, defeating FC Pune City 5–0 at the DY Patil Stadium. In this match, Brazilian forward André Moritz registered the first ever hat-trick of the ISL. The team finished seventh out of eight in the table, and did not qualify for the playoffs.
Second season (2015) under Nicolas Anelka
In July 2015, Nicolas Anelka became player-manager, replacing Peter Reid. Frantz Bertin was appointed captain at the beginning of the season. The club then roped in then-India captain Sunil Chhetri for a domestic record-breaking deal of ₹1.2 crore, alongside signing the 2015 I-League Player of the Year Sony Norde of Haiti. Sunil Chhetri was the top scorer for the team, scoring seven goals including a hat-trick against NorthEast United FC. Mumbai only won four matches and lost six to finish in sixth position in the league table. Due to such results, Anelka opted not to renew his contract and left his position at the end of the season.
Alexandre Guimarães era (2016–2018)
After the first two seasons, Mumbai City's management made big changes by appointing Alexandre Guimarães, a former Costa Rica international, as the head coach for the 2016 ISL season. The club moved into their new home stadium, the Mumbai Football Arena, at Andheri. The club also signed 2010 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball winner Diego Forlán on a three-month deal, with the option to extend for another year as a marquee player for the season.
The arrival of the Uruguayan changed the dynamics of the struggling Mumbai team to title contenders. Forlán scored the first hat-trick of the Hero ISL 2016 season as The Islanders beat Kerala Blasters 5–0 at Mumbai Football Arena on 19 November 2016. It was also the first hat-trick of any marquee player in the history of the ISL. The team conceded the fewest goals (8) of all teams in the league, whilst Lucian Goian finished with the most tackles (67). Alexandre's team kept eight clean sheets in the group stage, making it a record across all three tournament editions. As a result, Mumbai City finished the 14 rounds at the top of the table, with six wins, five draws, and three losses. However, the club lost to ATK in the two-legged semi-finals.
In 2017, the ISL announced another auction in order to make way for new entrants Jamshedpur FC & Bengaluru FC, which led other clubs to start the squad rebuilding process once again. While Mumbai City missed their star performers, including the club's all-time top goalscorer Sunil Chhetri, the club managed to retain Alexandre Guimarães after he guided the club to their first-ever playoffs in three seasons. The club also managed to retain captain & goalkeeper Amrinder Singh for 12 million INR after he was awarded the best goalkeeper in the previous season, while keeping a record number of clean sheets for the club. They also retained the services of midfielder Sehnaj Singh who was instrumental in the club's success in the previous season. In the foreign department, they retained the defensive duo of Goian and Gerson Vieira, alongside Brazilian midfielder Léo Costa. They also retained Rakesh Oram, a player under the U-21 player quota.
However, the club's new signings did not perform at their best, as they finished the season in 7th position, failing to qualify for the playoffs, with the coach being criticized for overly defensive tactics. After the ISL season had concluded, Mumbai City FC also took part in the inaugural edition of the Super Cup. They kicked off proceedings smoothly by defeating Indian Arrows by a scoreline reading 2–1 in the qualifier round. However, they were defeated by East Bengal FC in the Round of 16. On 14 August 2018, The club stated that they and Alexandre Guimarães had parted company by mutual consent. This ended the Guimarães Era, with the Brazilian-born Costa Rican manager being with the Islanders since 2016.
Jorge Costa era (2018–2020) After the announcement that Mumbai City FC had parted ways with Guimarães, the Islanders announced they had appointed former Portugal international Jorge Costa as the club's new head coach. The club also signed Indian Internationals Alen Deory and Subhasish Bose along with foreign players such as Modou Sougou, Rafael Bastos, Arnold Issoko and Paulo Machado.
The team started the season with a 2–0 loss at home to Jamshedpur FC, followed by a 1–1 draw to Kerala Blasters. The team then recorded a 2–0 win against FC Pune City, then lost 5–0 to rivals FC Goa. After that run of results, Jorge Costa made tactical changes, which led to the club's best unbeaten run in history at the time (9 games unbeaten). The team ended December with a 6–1 win against Kerala Blasters, with Modou Sougou scoring 4 of the team's six goals in the match, which was a record-breaking tally as Sougou became the first player in the league to score four goals in a single match. It was Mumbai's best-ever victory against any club. They also managed to break league leaders Bengaluru FC's unbeaten run at Mumbai Football Arena in January 2019.
The club managed to secure a play-off finish with a 3–1 victory against ATK on 22 February 2019 with a game in hand, thanks to Modou Sougou's second hat-trick in the league. The 3rd-place finish saw them face off against FC Goa, which resulted in a 5–1 defeat at home despite Mumbai opening the scoring. They managed to bounce back and beat Goa 1-0 in the away fixture, but it wasn't enough to overturn the deficit. Even though Mumbai lost in the Play-offs, Arnold Issoko won the DHL Winning Pass of the League Award for getting the most assists in the league (8), and Modou Sougou became the joint-second top scorer with 12 goals. Fan favorite Amrinder Singh ended the league with the most saves and joint-highest number of clean sheets (6). On 19 March 2019, the club confirmed that Jorge Costa had extended his stay for one year.
The next task for Jorge Costa and his side was the 2019 Super Cup, with the Islanders drawn to play Chennaiyin FC in the Round of 16. They were eliminated with a 2–0 defeat.
2019–20 season After announcing the departure of club captain Lucian Goian, Mumbai brought in Mato Grgic, Sèrge Kevyn, Amine Chermiti, Diego Carlos, and Mohamed Larbi, with the first game of the 2019–20 season resulting in a 1–0 win over Kerala Blasters. On 28 November 2019, City Football Group, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi United Group, acquired a major stake in Mumbai City FC. This was the first time European club had acquired a majority stake in an Indian club. There were ups and downs for Jorge Costa's team, but injuries to the mainstays of the team hampered Mumbai City FC's good run. In the end, they fell short of the final playoff spot by just three points by losing to Chennaiyin FC.
The Islanders had a record 12 different playing scoring the team's 25 goals. They also became the first team to do a league double over Bengaluru FC in ISL history. After finishing fifth, and with the City Football Group ownership coming into full effect, Jorge Costa's reign at the club ended.
Acquisition by CFG and success under Sergio Lobera (2020–2021)
Under the new ownership, the club signed former FC Goa coach Sergio Lobera. The club signed Hugo Boumous after paying a release clause of ₹1.6 crores, a record fee in Indian football. Along with Boumous, they signed some core players from Goa, including Fall, Jahouh, Mandar, and Jackichand. During the first phase of the league, Mumbai City got 25 points which included eight wins, one draw, and one loss. A win against Mohun Bagan in the final match of the league stage made them the winners of the League Shield, thus qualifying for the 2022 AFC Champions League group stage. By doing so, they became the second Indian club after FC Goa to play in the Champions League.
The Islanders had earlier sealed their playoff berth with a 3–3 draw against FC Goa. Their first semifinal leg against FC Goa at Fatorda ended in a 2–2 draw. The second leg ended in a goalless draw. In the shootout, they beat FC Goa 6–5, where Rowllin Borges scored the decisive penalty. In their final against ATK Mohun Bagan at the Fatorda Stadium, they won the game 2–1, with Bipin Singh scoring the decisive goal in the 90th minute. Thus, Mumbai City became the first club to win the League Winners' Shield and the ISL Trophy in the same season.
Des Buckingham era (2021–2023)
2021–22 season On 8 October 2021, Mumbai City appointed English Des Buckingham as head coach on a two-year contract. The club began its 2021–22 season campaign with a 3–0 win on 22 November against FC Goa. At the end of the season, Mumbai City finished in fifth place, meaning they failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Ahead of the continental campaign, the club went to Abu Dhabi and defeated Emirati giants Al Ain 2–1 in a friendly match. Under Buckingham, Mumbai City became the first Indian club to win a match in the AFC Champions League, as they defeated Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya of Iraq by 2–1.
2022–23 season On 4 January 2023, Mumbai City extended Buckingham's contract for 2 years. The club made a historic run at 2022–23 Indian Super League by becoming League winners for the second time. They broke records with the most points (46), most wins (14), least defeats (2), most goals scored (54), goal difference (+33), and longest unbeaten streak (18 matches). However, they were beaten in the last two league games, followed by a third defeat to Bengaluru in the 1st leg of the semifinals. Although they defeated them in the 2nd leg with a scoreline of 1–2 in regulation time, they lost on penalties.
2023–24 season The club began the 23–24 season with the 2023 Durand Cup, where Mumbai were drawn in a group with Jamshedpur FC, Mohammedan SC, and the Indian Navy football team. Mumbai went on to win all three games, but ended up losing in the quarter-final to Mohun Bagan SG on 28 August. Mumbai's next match came in the 2023–24 AFC Champions League against F.C. Nassaji Mazandaran on 18 September 2023, where Mumbai were defeated 2–0. Mumbai played their first ISL match on 24 September away against NorthEast, winning 2–1 with Jorge Pereyra Díaz securing the win.