Wikipedia

Indian Arrows

Indian Arrows (formerly known as Pailan Arrows) was an Indian developmental football team that competed in the I-League.[2][3] The club was formed by the All India Football Federation in 2010, with a main goal of nurturing young Indian football talents.[4]

Indian Arrows
Full nameIndian Arrows football team[1]
Founded2010; 14 years ago (2010) (as AIFF XI)
Dissolved2021; 3 years ago (2021)
GroundKalinga Stadium
Capacity15,000
OwnerAll India Football Federation
LeagueI-League
2021–22I-League, 10th of 13

After disbanding in 2013, the project was revived as Indian Arrows in 2017. In September 2022, the technical committee of the All India Football Federation decided to discontinue the participation of the Indian Arrows in the I-League because of the difficulty in fulfilling the AFC licensing criteria. Instead, the funding was decided to invest in the youth competitions such as Reliance Foundation Development League.[5]

History

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AIFF XI (2010–2011)

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The AIFF XI was formed under the recommendation of then India head coach Bob Houghton and All India Football Federation president Praful Patel after Bob noticed that almost all the India U19 and India U23 players were on the bench during the I-League season and were never getting any game time.[6] The club was originally slated to join the I-League 2nd Division but after the disbanding of Mahindra United the AIFF allowed AIFF XI into the I-League automatically.[7] The club participated in their first competition in 2010 which was the Federation Cup and played their first ever professional match on 21 September against JCT FC, in which AIFF XI won 1–0 with Malsawmfela scoring the first goal in the team's history.[8] The team finished third in the group in the end, missing out on going to the next round by four points.[9] The club then participated in their first I-League match on 3 December 2010 against Chirag United in which the club lost 1–2 and with Lalrindika Ralte scoring the first goal for the club in the league.[10] The club then earned their first points on 8 December 2010 against ONGC F.C. after drawing 1–1.[11] On 11 January 2011 it was announced that AIFF XI would change their name to Indian Arrows which would take effect on 1 February 2011.[12] Arrows finished the 2010–11 I-League season in 9th place.

Pailan Arrows (2011–2013)

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2011–12 season

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In the summer of 2011 they changed the name to Pailan Arrows,[13] after the All India Football Federation reached an agreement with Pailan Group to sponsor the team.[14] With the deal, Pailan Arrows were relocated to Kolkata and the Salt Lake Stadium. On 13 August, head coach Desmond Bulpin was sacked due to his "style of football", while Sukhwinder Singh was signed to take over.[15] They also lost many of the stars of the previous season, Lalrindika Ralte, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Manandeep Singh and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. They again participated in the 2011 Indian Federation Cup, winning two matches and losing one, ending knocked out in the group stage.[16] Pailan Arrows then began the next campaign against Mohun Bagan at the Salt Lake Stadium on 23 October 2011. They lost 1–3 after Lalrozama Fanai gave them the early lead.[17] On 7 February 2012 Sukhwinder Singh resigned as coach of Pailan Arrows for personal reasons. Pailan had not won a single match in the I-League and had only managed eight draws in 17 matches.[18] Assistant coach Sujit Chakravarty took over the team for the remainder of the season.[18] Towards the end of the season Pailan managed to win two matches, one against Chirag United Club Kerala and another against HAL to finish the season in 13th place.[19][20]

2012–13 season

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The All India Football Federation signed Australian Arthur Papas as the new head coach of the India U23 and Pailan Arrows on 24 May 2012.[21] Papas came after coaching his former club Oakleigh Cannons FC to the 2011 Victorian Premier League runners-up title.[21]

Disbanding

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On 29 August 2013, it was announced that Pailan Arrows had been disbanded by the All India Football Federation as Pailan Group could not financially support the team.[22]

Revival as Indian Arrows (2017–2022)

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After successful hosting of 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, AIFF revived the project as Indian Arrows with the aim of giving regular game time to U–17 world cup players as a team, and fielded the team in 2017–18 I-League.[23] They were immune from relegation. Despite being praised for their competitive showings in 2017–18 I-League season, they finished bottom of the league with 15 points from 18 games.[24] In the 2018–19 I League, with six wins and three drews, the Arrows finished eighth in the table among 11 teams. They qualified for the 2019 Super Cup by defeating Kerala Blasters 2–0.[25] Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the 2019–20 season was cancelled after 16 matches and the Arrows were placed at the bottom.[26] In the 2021–21 I League season, they were placed tenth in the league.

Disbanding

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In September 2022, the AIFF executive committee accepted the recommendation of its new technical committee, to discontinue Indian Arrows because of the difficulty in fulfilling the AFC Licensing criteria.[27][28] They also announced that the finances used for the Indian Arrows will be invested in creating a new Elite Youth League in the country.[29]

Crest and colours

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The club's colours were blue and white, just like the India national football team. During the first season Pailan Arrows started with a dark blue kit[30] but eventually during the 2010–11 season the club started using a normal blue kit with black shorts.[31] For the 2011–12 season Pailan used a dark blue jersey[32] and a white kit with black or red socks.[33]

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

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Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2010—2011 Nike None
2011—2013 POTO Potato Flakes
2017—2018 None
2018—2022 Six5Six Hero[34]

In October 2018, Government of Odisha signed Rs.50 million sponsorship deal with AIFF for the Arrows. The sponsorship deal will also cover India's under-15 football team. As part of the deal, the state government will host the Arrows and under-15 national team at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.[35] The deal also covers the two teams’ stay in Bhubaneswar, providing them with the ground facility as well as boarding/lodging during the I-league and off-season.[36]

Stadium

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For the 2010–11 I-League season the club played at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon, Haryana when they were originally due to play at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi but due to the pitch condition the club was moved to Gurgaon.[37] After relocating to Kolkata the club started to play at the Salt Lake Stadium which is also home to East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Prayag United.[38] In 2017–18, the team played in Goa and Delhi. In 2018–19, they used the Barabati Stadium and Kalinga Stadium. Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha were the last home base of the Indian Arrows before getting disbanded in September 2022.[35]

Notable former players

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For all former or notable Indian Arrows players with a Wikipedia article, see: Indian Arrows players.

Final staff

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Position Name
Head coach   Shanmugam Venkatesh
Team manager   Shalak Patade
Assistant coach   Mahesh Gawli
Goalkeeping coach   Abhijeet Mondal
Team analyst   Prashanth Murthy
Physiotherapist   Neeraj Churi

Team records

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Overview

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Season Division Teams Position Attendance Super Cup Durand Cup IFAShield
2010–11 I-League 14 8 — Group stage DNP DNP
2011–12 14 13 — Group stage DNP DNP
2012–13 14 12 — Group stage Group stage DNP
2017–18 10 10 — Qualification round DNP DNP
2018–19 11 8 — Round of 16 DNP DNP
2019–20 11 11 — DNP DNP DNP
2020–21 11 11 — DNP DNP GS
2021–22 13 10 — DNP DNP GS

Overall records

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Season Division Continental Top scorer
Division P W D L GF GA P W D L GF GA Player Goals
2010–11 I-League 26 7 8 11 31 49 Not qualified   Jeje Lalpekhlua 13
2011–12 26 2 10 14 17 40 Not qualified   Chinadorai Sabeeth 9
2012–13 26 6 5 15 45 40 Not qualified   Halicharan Narzary

  Milan Singh

5
2017–18 18 4 3 11 13 24 Not qualified   Abhijit Sarkar 4
2018–19 20 6 3 11 19 28 Not qualified   Rohit Danu 4
2019–20 16 2 3 11 7 20 Not qualified   Vikram Pratap Singh 4
2020–21 10 1 1 8 6 31 Not qualified   Harsh Patre 3
2021–22 2 1 1 0 2 1 Not qualified   Parthib Gogoi 1

Head coaching history

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This is a full list of Indian Arrows's coaches and their records, from 2010 until they were disbanded in 2022.

Only competitive matches are counted. Wins, losses and draws are results at the final whistle; the results of penalty shoot-outs are not counted.

Name Nationality From To P W D L GF GA Win%
Des Bulpin   Scotland August 2010 August 2011 26 7 8 11 31 49 026.92
Sukhwinder Singh   India 15 August 2011 7 February 2012 17 0 8 9 8 28 000.00
Sujit Chakravarty   India 8 February 2012 7 May 2012 9 2 2 5 9 12 022.22
Arthur Papas   Australia 22 May 2012 28 May 2013 27 6 6 15 27 47 022.22
Sanjoy Sen   India 20 July 2013 29 August 2013 0 0 0 0 0 0 !—
Luís Norton de Matos   Portugal 17 August 2017 18 July 2018 19 4 3 12 14 26 021.05
Floyd Pinto   India 25 July 2018 29 November 2019 22 7 3 12 21 31 031.82
Shanmugam Venkatesh   India 29 November 2019 April 2022 31 5 5 21 18 58 016.13

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Mukherjee, Soham (1 February 2019). "I-League 2018-19: Katsumi Yusa's brace helps NEROCA do the double over Indian Arrows". www.goal.com. Goal. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Young Indian Goalkeepers Look to Make a Mark in SAFF U20 Championship". www.news18.com. Bhubaneswar, Odisha: CNN News18. 20 July 2022. Archived from the original on 24 July 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Hero I-League 2021–2022 TABLE". footballdatabase.com. FootballDatabase. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  4. ^ Sharma, Siddharth. "Vital steps to improve the Indian U23 football team". Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  5. ^ "IM Vijayan chairs Technical Committee meeting in Kolkata". www.the-aiff.com/. Kolkata, West Bengal: AIFF. 18 September 2022.
  6. ^ Bali, Rahul. "Why Pailan Arrows isn't India's best bet for talent but the rest of the clubs are". goal.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  7. ^ "I-League to start in November with 14 teams". Tha Indian. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Federation Cup results". Sam80dev3. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  9. ^ Sengupta, Rahul. "Federation Cup: Group C Match Day Three – JCT Hold Dempo, ONGC Bow Out With A Win". goal.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  10. ^ "Chirag United 2–1 AIFF XI". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  11. ^ "AIFF XI open account in I-League". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  12. ^ "AIFF XI rechristened as Indian Arrows". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 4 March 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  13. ^ Williams, Joe (25 September 2017). "The Goa and Maha Derby: A thing past in I-League". khelnow.com. Khel Now News. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  14. ^ "I-League: Kolkata Based Pailan Group Are The New Sponsors Of Indian Arrows". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  15. ^ "Football coach Desmond Bulpin sacked by AIFF". Zee News. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  16. ^ "Salgaocar beat Pailan Arrows to enter Federation Cup semis". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  17. ^ lahiri, Debjit. "I-League: Pailan Arrows 1–3 Mohun Bagan AC – Odafa Okolie Hat-trick Powers A Second Half Bagan Rally". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  18. ^ a b Bali, Rahul. "I-League: Sukhwinder Singh resigns from Pailan Arrows". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  19. ^ Noronha, Anselm. "Chirag United Kerala 0–3 Pailan Arrows: CS Sabeeth's hat-trick sinks his former side into second division". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  20. ^ Noronha, Anselm. "HAL Bangalore 1–2 Pailan Arrows: Allwyn scores late in his side's second successive win". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  21. ^ a b "Arthur Papas to coach India U-23 football national team". DNA India. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  22. ^ Bali, Rahul. "AIFF decide to shut down Pailan Arrows". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  23. ^ "I-League: Arrows project to be reinstated this season | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  24. ^ "How I-League clubs with an all-Indian squad have fared in the past! | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  25. ^ "Kerala Blasters v Indian Arrows Match Report, 15/03/19, AIFF Super Cup | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  26. ^ "Remaining I-League matches cancelled in view of COVID-19 lockdown | Football News - Times of India". The Times of India. PTI. 18 April 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  27. ^ Mergulhao, Marcus (27 September 2022). "AIFF set to ban foreign players from lower leagues". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Panaji, Goa. TNN. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  28. ^ Mukherjee, Sayan (27 September 2022). "Six foreigners recommended for matchday squads as I-League returns on Oct 29". www.news9live.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  29. ^ "No Longer Part of I-League, Indian Arrows Players to Not Play Football Till January". News18. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  30. ^ http://www.the-aiff.com/siteadmin/uploads/1285427823ONGC-&-India-XI-match-in-Ludhiana-2.jpg Pailan vs. ONGC 2010
  31. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PahsMF7fw5I Archived 24 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Pailan vs Pune as Indian Arrows
  32. ^ http://footballkerala.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Pailan-Arrows-striker-CS-Sabeeth-dribbles-past-a-horde-of-Chirag-Kerala-defenders-500x275.jpg Archived 13 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine Pailan vs Chirag United 2011–12
  33. ^ http://www.chrispd.de/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111022-2-650x291.jpg Archived 13 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine Pailan in the white kit 2011–12
  34. ^ Zaidi, Waseem (21 January 2022). "I-LEAGUE: Introducing shirt sponsors of every I-league club for 2021-22 season". www.khelnow.com. Khel Now. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  35. ^ a b "Odisha AIFF sign MoU for football development, state becomes home of Indian Arrows". Outlook India. Archived from the original on 13 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  36. ^ "Odisha Government to sponsor I-league team Indian Arrows". Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  37. ^ "Wedding reception at Ambedkar stadium spoils turf, forces AIFF XI to shift base to Gurgaon". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 13 January 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  38. ^ "Pailan Arrows muff chances, settle for a draw". The All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
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