The 2023–24 I-League 3 was the 1st season of the I-League 3, and the national fourth tier of the Indian football league system. The top three clubs qualified for 2023–24 I-League 2.
Over view The AIFF was launched National Football Division -3 for the first time in the 2006-2007 season. The NFL3 was folded after first season. After 17 years, the AIFF reintroduced this league as I-League 3. The inaugural season 25 clubs were participated in 5 group of 5 team in each group. 5 group champions were promoted to final round. 3 top teams from the final round were promoted to Ileague-2. Sporting Goa, Dempo Sc, Sporting Club Bengaluru were promoted to 2023-24 I-League 2. Bottom 2 teams from final round Kerala United and KLASA were reinstated 2024-25 I-League 3 group stage.
Clubs
On 22 August 2023, 15 clubs were nominated for the I-League 3rd Division by nine state FAs (Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Bengaluru, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Mumbai). Nominations from 10 other states (Manipur, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Kerala, Pondicherry, Sikkim, Assam, Odisha, Telangana, and West Bengal) were assessed after due diligence.
+No.ClubCityStateLeaguePosition1RKMNarayanpurChhattisgarh2023 Chhattisgarh State Men's Football League Championship1st2New FriendsBade Bacheli2nd3VatikaNew DelhiDelhi2022–23 Delhi Premier League1st4Garhwal3rd5DempoPanajiGoa2022–23 Goa Professional League1st6Sporting Goa2nd7BarodaVadodaraGujarat2022–23 Gujarat SFA Club Championship1st8ARAAhemedabad2nd9Sporting BengaluruBengaluruKarnataka2022–23 Bangalore Super Division1st10Kickstart3rd11Lake CityBhopalMadhya Pradesh2022–23 Madhya Pradesh Premier League1st12InternationalPhagwaraPunjab2022 Punjab State Super Football League3rd13Doaba UnitedJalandhar4th14Jaipur EliteJaipurRajasthan2022 R-League A Division1st15MillatMumbaiMaharashtra2022–23 MFA Elite Division3rd16BhawaniporeKolkataWest Bengal2022 Calcutta Premier Division2nd17Diamond HarbourDiamond Harbour2022 Calcutta First Division3rd18Kerala UnitedMalappuramKerala2022–23 Kerala Premier LeagueChampions19Rangdajied UnitedShillongMeghalaya2022-23 Meghalaya State League1st20KLASABishnupurManipur2022 Manipur State LeagueChampions21KIYCImphalSemifinalist22United Chirang DuarChirangAssam2023 ATPA Shield Champions23Sports OdishaCuttackOdisha2023 FAO Super CupChampions24Abbas UnionHyderabadTelanganaRahim League “A” Division -25Jeppiaar Institute of TechnologyPondicherryPondicherryPondicherry Men's League Championship -
Venues Group City Stadium Capacity A Bhopal Jagran Lakecity University Stadium 1,800 B Vadodra VMC Sports Complex 3,500 C Panjim Dempo Academy Ground 500 D Bangalore Bangalore Football Stadium 8,400 HAL Sports Club Ground 2,000 E Narainpur Ramakrishna Mission Sports Complex 1,000Playoffs Vasco Tilak Maidan 5,000 Nagoa Nagoa Ground 1,000
Changes from last season Until the previous season, the AIFF allowed only state champions to feature in the qualifiers, but with the removal of the ISL reserve teams and the creation of the I-League 3 from where teams would move to I-League 2 in the same season, state FAs were allowed to nominate a second team.
Group stage 25 teams are divided into five groups of five each. Each team will play the teams in the same group in single-legged fixtures.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Play-offs
Broadcast Matches are broadcast by AIFF, SportsKPI and SportsCast India on their official YouTube channels.
Statistics 30 December 2023
Top scorers Bold indicates the player is currently active in the tournament.
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Arif ShaikhSporting Bengaluru52 Khanngam HoramKickstart4 Bijoy ghoshKIYC Lloyd CardozoSporting Goa514 Players3
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Bhaskar JalmiSporting Goa62 Wellyster MendesDempo43 Golmei RongmeiKLASA3 Susnata MalikDiamond Harbour5 Dylan D'SilvaDempo2 Banshanskhem KharsyntiewRangdajied United Kabir ToufikKickstart
Discipline Player Most yellow cards: 4 Dhiraj Chouhan Most red cards: 1 6 players
Club Most yellow cards: 18 Sporting Bengaluru Most red cards: 2 Kerala United
Attendances Group Stage Match No.Group AMatch No.Group BMatch No.Group CFixtureAttendanceFixtureAttendanceFixtureAttendance1Lake City-Sporting Goa2001Baroda-KLASA3501Dempo-JIT1002ARA-International502United Chirang Duar-Jaipur Elite1752Rangdajied United-Millat1003New Friends-ARA203Sports Odisha-United Chirang Duar753Kickstart-Rangdajied United1004International-Sporting Goa204Jaipur Elite-KLASA3754Millat-JIT505International-Lake City105Jaipur Elite-Baroda2505Millat-Dempo1006New Friends-Sporting Goa106Sports Odisha-KLASA1806Kickstart-JIT507Sporting Goa-ARA107KLASA-United Chirang Duar2807JIT-Rangdajied United508Lake City-New Friends108Baroda-Sports Odisha3158Dempo-Kickstart1009New Friends-International109Sports Odisha-Jaipur Elite459Kickstart-Millat5010ARA -Lake City2010United Chirang Duar-Baroda6510Rangdajied United-Dempo100Group A Total360Group B Total2,110Group C Total800Match No.Group DMatch No.Group EFixtureAttendanceFixtureAttendance1Diamond Harbour-Vatika1201RKM-Garhwal3,1002Sporting Bengaluru-Abbas Union1802KIYC-Kerala United1,6003Doaba United-Diamond Harbour753Garhwal-KIYC8004Vatika-Abbas Union2504RKM-Bhawanipore2,1005Doaba United-Abbas Union2505Kerala United-RKM1,1006Vatika-Sporting Bengaluru506Bhawanipore-Garhwal8007Abbas Union-Diamond Harbour757Bhawanipore-KIYC4008Sporting Bengaluru-Doaba United508Kerala United-Garhwal5009Doaba United-Vatika609Bhawanipore-Kerala United80010Diamond Harbour-Sporting Bengaluru15010KIYC-RKM1,100Group D Total1,260Group E Total12,300
Playoffs Match No.PlayoffsFixtureAttendance1Sporting Goa-Sporting Bengaluru502Kerala United-KLASA1503Dempo-Kerala United1504KLASA-Sporting Bengaluru2505KLASA-Sporting Goa1006Dempo-Sporting Bengaluru2507Sporting Bengaluru-Kerala United508Sporting Goa-Dempo2509Dempo-KLASA25010Kerala United-Sporting Goa250 Total1,750
Source: I-League
See also Men 2023–24 Indian Super League (Tier I) 2023–24 I-League (Tier II) 2023–24 I-League 2 (Tier III) 2023–24 Indian State Leagues (Tier V) 2023 Durand Cup 2024 Super Cup 2024 Reliance Foundation Development League Women 2023–24 Indian Women's League 2023–24 Indian Women's League 2
References