The 2019–20 Hyderabad FC season was the first ever competitive season in the club's history and the inaugural season in the Indian Super League.
Background The Hyderabad FC replaced the FC Pune City in 2019 and will debut in the 2019–20 Indian Super League. FC Pune City was dissolved after the 2018–19 season due to prolonged financial and technical troubles. The franchise was taken over by Vijay Madduri, a Hyderabad-based entrepreneur, and Varun Tripuraneni, the former CEO of the Kerala Blasters. The owners decided to move the franchise to their home city of Hyderabad. The club was announced on 27 August 2019. The Hyderabad FC will be the first club from Hyderabad to feature in the Indian Super League.
The club officially unveiled their logo on 21 September and the home jersey for their maiden season on 29 September. The Hyderabad FC will play their home matches at G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium which has a capacity of 30,000.
Kits
Management team Role Name Head Coach Xavier Gurri Lopez Assistant Coach Mehrajuddin Wadoo Head Performance Analyst Joy Gabriel
Players No. Name Nationality Position Date of birth Signed Year Previous club Goalkeepers 1 Kamaljit Singh GK 2019 Pune City 33 Laxmikant Kattimani GK 2019 FC Goa 40 Kunzang Bhutia GK 2020 Churchill Brothers Defenders 3 Sahil Panwar DF 2019 Pune City 4 Rafa DF 2019 Rayo Majadahonda 5 Adil Khan DF 2019 Pune City 6 Matthew Kilgallon DF 2019 Hamilton Academical 13 Gurtej Singh DF 2019 Pune City 25 Dimple Bhagat DF 2019 Gokulam Kerala 36 Souvik Chakrabarti DF 2020 Mumbai City 44 Ashish Rai DF 2019 Pune City Midfielders 8 Sahil Tavora MF 2019 Mumbai City 11 Abhishek Halder MF 2019 Pune City 12 Deependra Negi MF 2019 Kerala Blasters 14 Néstor Gordillo MF 2019 Chennai City 15 Marko Stanković MF 2019 Pune City 16 Shankar Sampingiraj MF 2019 Pune City 19 Rohit Kumar MF 2019 Pune City 20 Ajay Chhetri MF 2020 Bengaluru 22 Ghani Ahmmed Nigam MF 2019 Gokulam Kerala 26 Hitesh Sharma MF 2020 ATK 27 Nikhil Poojari MF 2019 Pune City 32 Mohammad Yasir MF 2019 Pune City Forwards 7 Giles Barnes FW 2019 Colorado Rapids 9 Bobô FW 2019 Alanyaspor 10 Marcelinho (C) FW 2019 Pune City 28 Liston Colaco FW 2020 Goa
New contracts No. Position Player Date Until Source 5 DF Adil Khan 23 January 2020 31 May 2023 11 DF Abhishek Halder 28 January 2020 31 May 2022 32 MF Mohammad Yasir 17 February 2020 31 May 2023 44 DF Ashish Rai 17 February 2020 31 May 2023 27 MF Nikhil Poojari 20 April 2020 31 May 2023 25 DF Dimple Bhagat 2 May 2020 31 May 2022 33 GK Laxmikant Kattimani 30 May 2020 31 May 2021
Transfers In No. Pos. Player From Date Until Fee Source Winter 28 FW Liston Colaco Goa 14 January 2020 31 May 2022 Free transfer 40 GK Kunzang Bhutia Churchill Brothers 14 January 2020 Free transfer 36 DF Souvik Chakrabarti Mumbai City 28 January 2020 31 May 2023 Free transfer 26 MF Hitesh Sharma ATK 31 January 2020 31 May 2021 Free transfer
Loan in No. Pos. Player From Date Until Fee Source Winter 20 MF Ajay Chhetri Bengaluru 7 January 2020 31 May 2020 Undisclosed
Loan out No. Pos. Player To Date Until Fee Source Winter 34 DF Tarif Akhand Chennai City 5 January 2020 31 May 2020 Undisclosed DF Abhash Thapa East Bengal 8 January 2020 31 May 2020 Undisclosed 21 GK Anuj Kumar Indian Arrows 14 January 2020 31 May 2020 Undisclosed 17 MF Laldanmawia Ralte Real Kashmir 31 January 2020 31 May 2020 Undisclosed 23 FW Robin Singh Real Kashmir 31 January 2020 31 May 2020 Undisclosed DF Keenan Almeida Mumbai City 31 January 2020 31 May 2020 Undisclosed
Pre-season and friendlies The Hyderabad FC played a pre-season friendly against an I-League club Real Kashmir FC on 4 October 2019. They drew the match 1–1 with Laldanmawia Ralte scoring the solitary goal for the Hyderabad. The hat-trick from Robin Singh in their next friendly guided the Hyderabad to a 4–2 win over the Velsao with Rafa scoring the fourth goal. The Hyderabad ended their pre-season tour on a winning note as Robin's brace and goal apiece from Marcelinho and Abhishek Halder helped them defeat the Minerva Punjab 4–0 in their last friendly match on 18 October.
Competitions Indian Super League
Phil Brown was appointed as the head coach of the Hyderabad FC who previously managed FC Pune City. He hired Neil McDonald and Mehrajuddin Wadoo as his assistant coaches and Aidan Davison as the goalkeeping coach.
The Hyderabad FC announced their squad on 8 October for their first competitive season. Despite being named in the squad, Néstor Gordillo will not be available until late December owing to the ban handed to him by All India Football Federation (AIFF).
The Hyderabad FC made their debut in the Indian Super League against the ATK in an away match at Kolkata on 25 October. The Hyderabad registered their heaviest defeat of the debut season in their first ever competitive match with a 5–0 loss against the ATK.
On 2 November, the Hyderabad came from behind to register a 2–1 win against the Kerala Blasters. This was their first ever competitive win in their third match of this season.
On 11 January, after loss against the Chennaiyin and after losing nine out of twelve league games, manager Phil Brown was sacked by Hyderabad. The current assistant coach, Wadoo, took charge as interim head coach. Former Bengaluru coach Albert Roca was appointed Hyderabad new head coach on two season deal starting from 2020 to 2021 season while taking up the advisory role to the new coaching staff for the remainder of the season. On 23 January, Roca appointed Xavier Gurri Lopez as the interim coach until the end of the season.
On 20 February, the Hyderabad finished the league stage with a 5–1 win against the NorthEast United which also snapped their 14-match win-less streak and recorded their first away win in any competition. They ended their campaign with a last place finish as they registered two wins and four draws in 18 matches in their debut season and were eventually not qualified for the playoff stage.
League table
Results by matchday
Fixtures League stage
Player statistics Appearances and goals No. Pos. Player ISL Apps Goals1GK Kamaljit Singh1203DF Sahil Panwar9 (3)04DF Rafa605DF Adil Khan1406DF Matthew Kilgallon1717FW Giles Barnes5 (7)08MF Sahil Tavora1 (1)09FW Bobô13510FW Marcelinho17711MF Abhishek Halder3 (5)012MF Deependra Negi0013DF Gurtej Singh11 (2)014MF Néstor Gordillo7 (2)115MF Marko Stanković13 (2)216MF Shankar Sampingiraj3 (2)019MF Rohit Kumar8 (1)120MF Ajay Chhetri0 (2)022MF Ghani Ahmmed Nigam1 (4)025DF Dimple Bhagat1 (1)026MF Hitesh Sharma0027MF Nikhil Poojari18028FW Liston Colaco2 (2)232MF Mohammad Yasir10 (5)133GK Laxmikant Kattimani6036DF Souvik Chakrabarti2 (1)040GK Kunzang Bhutia0044DF Ashish Rai11 (3)0 Players have left the club17MF Laldanmawia Ralte3 (2)021GK Anuj Kumar0023FW Robin Singh5 (4)134DF Tarif Akhand0 (1)0DF Keenan Almeida00DF Abhash Thapa00
Top scorers Rank No. Pos Player ISL110FW Marcelinho729FW Bobô5 315MF Marko Stanković 228FW Liston Colaco 56DF Matthew Kilgallon 114MF Néstor Gordillo19MF Rohit Kumar23FW Robin Singh32MF Mohammad YasirOwn goals 0Total21
Top assists Rank No. Pos Player ISL110FW Marcelinho2211MF Abhishek Halder113MF Gurtej Singh14MF Néstor Gordillo15MF Marko Stanković19MF Rohit Kumar44DF Ashish RaiTotal8
Clean sheets Rank No. Pos Player ISLTotal 0
Discipline No. Pos Player ISL 1GK Kamaljit Singh2003DF Sahil Panwar3015DF Adil Khan2006DF Matthew Kilgallon3007FW Giles Barnes2009FW Bobô10010FW Marcelinho60011MF Abhishek Halder40013DF Gurtej Singh40015MF Marko Stanković50016MF Shankar Sampingiraj10023FW Robin Singh30025DF Dimple Bhagat01027MF Nikhil Poojari20032MF Mohammad Yasir20036DF Souvik Chakrabarti10044DF Ashish Rai100TOTALS4211
Summary Competition P W D L GF GA CS Indian Super League182412213904211
Awards No. Pos. Player Award Source 10 FW Marcelinho ISL Fans' Goal of the Week (Week 3)
References