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Indian association football club From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hindustan Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in New Delhi.[1][2] Affiliated with Football Delhi (FD), the club last participated in Delhi Premier League.[3][4][5]
| |||
| Full name | Hindustan Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Hindustan | ||
| Short name | HFC | ||
| Founded | 1948 | ||
| Ground | Various | ||
| Head coach | Abhijoy Basu | ||
| League | Delhi Premier League | ||
| 2021–22 | Delhi Premier League, runners-up | ||
| Website | hindustanfc | ||
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| |||
Founded in 1948, Hindustan predominantly participated in I-League 2nd Division,[6][7][8] which was then second tier of Indian football league system.[9][10] They use Ambedkar Stadium as home ground, in addition to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for selected matches.
Hindustan FC was founded in 1948 in New Delhi.[11][12][13] Thus it, owned and run by Bengalis, became one of the oldest football clubs in the capital city of India.[14] The club has been affiliated with Delhi Soccer Association (DSA),[15] which is now known as Football Delhi,[16] and participate in the DSA Senior Division league (now named Delhi Premier League).[17] They for the first time lifted the regional league title in 2001–02 season,[18] while club's goalkeeper Salim Ansari was presented the player of the year award.[19]
In November 2002, Hindustan participated in the inaugural edition of Delhi Lt. Governor's Cup and reached to the semi-finals.[20] The club later competed in the National Football League Second Division continuously in 2004–05, 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, but were not granted the permission of joining the newly formed I-League II (then second-tier) for not fulfilling the AFC club licensing criteria.[21] In 2007, Hindustan FC roped in their first foreign coach, Bernard Operanozie from Nigeria.[22] Hindustan clinched their second DSA Senior Division title in 2009 season as co-winners with Indian National FC.[23]
Hindustan Football Academy was started by the former club chairman D. K. Bose,[24] and they roped in Spanish professional coach Óscar Bruzón on board for a period of two years to train Delhi's budding footballers in the age group of under-12 and under-16.[25] Hindustan FC, founded just after the independence of India, have been the flag bearers from the capital in the second tier of Indian football, having participated for a record 14 times.[26] They also participated in the 2014 I-League 2nd Division and moved to the final round of I-League Qualifiers,[27][28] finishing on fifth position[29][30] with four points in eight matches.[31][32]
Though their biggest achievement is finishing as the runners-up in the 2017–18 I-League 2nd Division,[33] under the coaching of Vikrant Sharma.[34][35][36][37] In the 2018–19 I-League 2nd Division,[38] Hindustan finished at the bottom of the Group A and bowed out of the tournament.[39][40] The club has participated in the 2021 FD Senior Division,[41][42][43] and finished as runners-up.
Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi is used as the clubs' home ground for most of their DSA Senior Division League matches.[44][45][46] It has also hosted I-League 2nd Division matches.[47][48][49] The stadium has a capacity of 35,000 spectators. Hindustan also use Thyagaraj Sports Complex ground.[50]
The club formerly used Government of India press grounds for matches of DSA B-Division League.[14]
Hindustan FC have nurtured rivalries with other Delhi based clubs, predominantly with Garhwal,[51] Simla Youngs,[52] Indian Air Force,[53][54] New Delhi Heroes and Sudeva Moonlight (now 'Sudeva Delhi'). Besides the state league, they faced some more rivals in the prestigious Durand Cup,[55][56] the oldest existing club football tournament in Asia and third oldest in the world.[57][58]
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 1996—1998 | Phoenix Shoes[59] | |
| 1998—2000 | LML[60] | |
| 2000—2003 | Electrolux[19] | |
| 2003—2005 | Coca-Cola India[14] | |
| 2005—2006 | ||
| 2006—2008 | Group 4 Securicor[61] | |
| 2008—2010 | ONGC[62] | |
| 2010—2012 | SAIL[62] | |
| 2012—2014 | Lotto[63] | Solutrean[64] |
| 2014—2020 | Cosco[65] | Hero MotoCorp[66] |
On 29 November 2012, Hindustan FC launched its women's team with the unveiling of team jersey. At a press conference, Hindustan president Sushil Pandit said that the decision to launch the team was in line with the club philosophy to support women's football.[67]
Delhi Soccer Association is looking to start its women's league and Hindustan FC would not want to be left behind.
— Sushil Pandit, President of Hindustan FC, after launching their women's team ahead of the Delhi Women's League in 2012.[68]
The women's team competes in the Delhi Women's Football League, organised by Football Delhi.[69][70] Its U17 women's team has been participating in the Khelo India Women's League since 2019.[71]
Hindustan FC ran U-13, U-15 and U-17 level teams and academies, which were based at the Thygaraja Stadium.[63] In 2013, the club launched its U19 team to participate in the Elite League (India).[72] The U19 team was from Delhi zone and first participated in the 2014–15 I-League U19 season (group D – rest of India), and reached the final round.[73][74][75]
The club also established an academy, named Hindustan Football Academy.[62] They also organize an youth football tournament yearly in Delhi, known as Hind Kishore School Tournament.[62]
For current and former notable Hindustan FC players with a Wikipedia article, see: Hindustan FC players.
 |
| Name | Nationality | Years | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernard Operanozie |  Nigeria | 2007–2008 | [83] |
| Monoranjan Bhattacharya |  India | 2008–2009 | [84] |
| Tope Ayodeji Fuja | Nigeria | 2011–2012 | [85][86] |
| Michiteru Mita |  Japan | 2012–2014 | [87] |
| Abhijoy basu | India | 2014–2017 | [88][89] |
| Bernard Operanozie | Nigeria | 2017 | [90] |
| Vikrant Sharma | India | 2017–2018 | [91] |
| Sena Sena | India | 2018–present | [92] |
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