Minerva Academy Football and Cricket Club
| Full name | Minerva Academy Football & Cricket Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Warriors | ||
| Short name | MAFC & MACC | ||
| Founded | 2005 | ||
| Owner | Minerva Academy | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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Minerva Academy Football & Cricket Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mohali, Punjab. The club used to compete in the I-League, untill RoundGlass Sports did the complete take over in April 2020. Minerva, since inception in 2013 as a club, have won the I-League title once, the Punjab State Super Football League title twice, and were also the runners-up of the I-League 2nd Division. Minerva was crowned champions of I-League in 2017–18.
The club is owned by Minerva Academy and derives its name from it. The club has a rich history in youth development as the club won all the national level league titles across all age groups (U-13, U-15 & U-18). The Club has won 6 National titles in every youth age group category (U13 Sub Junior league, U15 Junior League and U18 Elite League) and produced over 75 players for different age grouped National Teams since its inception. In doing so they won the U15 Hero Junior League title for a record four times.
History[edit]
As Minerva Punjab F. C.[edit]
The team was established in 2005 as Minerva Academy and has a football and cricket club. The team took part in its first major tournament at the national level i.e. I-League 2nd Division and ended up being the runners up. They lost to five-time I-League champions Dempo SC in the Final. They were promoted to I-League after an impressive stint at the 2nd Division. They finished their first-ever I-League season at the second last position. They also played the 2016 Durand Cup. They came last in the group stage and hence couldn't qualify for the semi-finals.
Next season, surprising everyone, they won the I-League title, which was their first league win ever in the top division. They became the first ones from North India to win the league since 1996. This title made the team qualify for their first-ever Asian stint. The club qualified for Group Stage of the 2019 AFC Cup along with Indian Super League side Chennaiyin and the Preliminary Round 2. However, they lost to the Iranian side Saipa in the preliminary round of the 2019 AFC Champions League and therefore couldn't make it to the play-offs. But, in their AFC Cup stint, they impressed with their unbeaten run of five games until the last group fixture, which they lost against Abahani Limited Dhaka.
In the 2018-19 I-League, the club managed to win four of their twenty fixtures and finished ninth in the league table and had an incredible run of five matches unbeaten streak in the continental stage.
As Punjab F. C.[edit]
On 30 October 2019, the announcement was made that after a partnership agreement with Round Glass Sports Private Ltd. the club has been renamed as Punjab Football Club and all their age group and senior teams would be named the same.
As Minerva Academy Football & Cricket Club[edit]
In April 2020, Round Glass did the complete takeover and the club renamed as Minerva Academy Football & Cricket Club. Club owner Mr. Ranjit Bajaj after the complete take over said he will now involved with more youth development and grassroots programs and prepare a certain batch of kids for the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
Fans[edit]
A club recognized fan club by the name The Warriors has been in support since 2018. The Guru Nanak Stadium has seen an average attendance of 12,000.
Stadium[edit]
The team used to play at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana, Punjab, which has a capacity of 15,000 spectators. The club shifted the base to other locations for their Asian stint. During the 2019 AFC Cup group stage, Minerva played two of its home games at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, and one of the three home games at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
Current squad[edit]
- As of Now[1]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Records[edit]
Seasons[edit]
- As of Now[2]
| Season | Div. | Tms. | Pos. | Attendance/G | Federation Cup/Super Cup | Durand Cup | AFC Champions League | AFC Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| As Minerva Punjab F.C. | ||||||||
| 2015–16 | IL2D | 10 | 2 | – | DNP | |||
| 2016–17 | IL | 10 | 9 | 2,757 | DNP | Group Stage | DNP | |
| 2017–18 | IL | 10 | 1 | 5,736 | Round of 16 | DNP | Preliminary Round 2 | Group Stage |
| 2018–19 | IL | 11 | 9 | 5,624 | DNP | |||
| As Punjab F.C. | ||||||||
| 2019–20 | IL | 11 | 3rd | - | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
- Key
- Tms. = Number of teams
- Pos. = Position in league
- Attendance/G = Average league attendance
Seasons by season[edit]
| Year | I-League | Federation Cup |
AFC Champions League | Top Scorer(s) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Div | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Pos. | Player(s) | Goals | |||||
| As Minerva Punjab F.C. | |||||||||||||||
| 2015–16 | IL2 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 14 | 37 | 2nd | DNP | DNP |  Kareem Omolaja
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4 | ||
| 2016–17 | IL | 18 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 17 | 33 | 13 | 9th | Loveday Enyinnaya; Kareem Omolaja
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3 | ||||
| 2017–18 | IL | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 24 | 16 | 35 | 1st |  Chencho Gyeltshen
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7 | ||||
| 2018–19 | IL | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 19 | 18 | 9th |  Lancine Touré Philip Njoku  William Opoku
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2 | ||||
| As Punjab F.C. | |||||||||||||||
| 2019–20 | IL | 16 | 05 | 08 | 03 | 23 | 21 | 23 | 3rd | TBD | TBD |  Aser Pierrick Dipanda
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13 | ||
- DNP − Did not play
Head coach's record[edit]
| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surinder Singh |  India
|
2015 | 2017 | 36 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 47 | 47 | 36.11 |
| Khogen Singh | India
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2017 | 2018 | 19 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 24 | 16 | 57.89 |
| Paul Munster |  Northern Ireland
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2018 | 2019 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 18.75 |
| Sachin Badadhe | India
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2019 | 2019 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 50.00 |
| Yan Law | India
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2019 | - | 16 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 23 | 21 | 31.25 |
Team management[edit]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head Coach | Yan Law
|
| Physiotherapist | Guru Karthik
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Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors[edit]
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 2015—2017 | T10 Sports | None |
| 2017—2019 | Astro | Apollo Tyres |
| 2019—present | Spartan |
Honours & Titles[edit]
Domestic[edit]
Champions (1): 2017–18
Runner-up (1): 2015–16
- Champions (2): 2018, 2019
Continental record[edit]
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | AFC Champions League | Preliminary Round 2 |  Saipa F.C.
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0–4 |
References[edit]
- ↑ "Squad". Hero I-League. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ↑ {{cite web | title = Seasons | url = https://www.goal.com/en-in/team/punjab/fixtures-results/8uacz8yrceknwsreon4rb5i8o | publisher= Goal.com |
External links[edit]
| National Football League |
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| I-League |
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Minerva Academy Football and Cricket Club[edit]
Minerva Academy Football and Cricket Club[edit]
Minerva Academy Football and Cricket Club[edit]
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