2023 Reliance Foundation Development League

Reliance Foundation Development League

Season	2023
Dates	27 February – 14 May
Champions	Bengaluru FC (2nd title)
Next Gen Cup	Bengaluru FC Sudeva Delhi ATK Mohun Bagan RFYC
Matches played	42
Goals scored	148 (3.52 per match)
Best Player	Thoi Singh (Bengaluru)
Top goalscorer	Taison Singh (ATK Mohun Bagan) (5 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Sachin Jha (Sudeva Delhi)
← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 Reliance Foundation Development League was the second season of the Reliance Foundation Development League, developmental football league organised by the Reliance Foundation and the AIFF. ^[1] The season features 59 teams divided into nine regions, each playing around 10 matches during the regional qualifiers held across multiple regions from 27 February to 23 April. ^{[2] [3]} 4 teams qualified for the Next Gen Cup to be held in Mumbai. ^[4]

Bengaluru FC successfully defended their title against Sudeva Delhi FC in the final. Both teams, including ATK Mohun Bagan FC and RFYC, qualified for the Next Gen Cup. ^[5]

Background

Reliance Foundation Youth Sports announced the second season of the RFDL to be started from 27 February with regional qualifiers in Kerala.

Format

The teams would predominantly feature U-21 players, with few overage players allowed as well. ^[6] Participants in the league must have been born on or after January 1, 2002. ^[7] Each team will play at least 10 matches in the regional qualifiers. ^[8] A total of 250+ matches will be played in entire league. 20 teams will qualify for the National group stage from the regional qualifiers. The top-four teams will play the National Championship Stage and the 2023 Next Gen Cup. ^[9]

Teams

Teams are divided into 9 zones for the regional qualifiers, each containing 4–8 teams.

State/Region	Venue	Clubs
Assam-Meghalaya	Meghalaya Football Ground, Shillong	Malki SC
		Mawlai SC
		NorthEast United FC
		Rangdajied United FC
		Ryntih FC
		Shillong Lajong FC
East	Barrackpore Stadium, Barrackpore Kalyani Stadium, Kalyani Naihati Stadium, Naihati	ATK Mohun Bagan
		East Bengal FC
		Jamshedpur FC
		Mohammedan SC
		New Alipore Suruchi Sangha
		Odisha FC
		United SC
Goa	Monte de Guirim Ground, Guirim SESA Football Ground, Sirsaim Dempo Academy Ground, Ella	Churchill Brothers FC Goa
		Dempo SC
		FC Goa
		Salgaocar FC
		SESA FA
		Velsao SCC
Kerala	Maharajas College Stadium, Ernakulam Panampilly Ground, Kochi	FC Areekode
		Gokulam Kerala FC
		FC Kerala
		Kerala Blasters FC
		Kovalam FC
		LIFFA
		Muthoot FA
		Parappur FC
Manipur	Loitang Football Arena, Imphal Artificial Turf Ground, Lamlong Thongkhong SAI Ground, Takyel	Classic FA
		Football 4 Change Academy
		North Eastern Sporting Union
		Pehlum Lamhil Lawm
		Poloi FC
		SAI-RC
		Social Development Club
		Wangoi FA
Mizoram	Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Aizawl AR Lammual, Aizawl	1st Bn MAP Football Academy
		Chanmari FC
		Chanmari West FC
		Chawnpui FC
		Ramthar Veng FC
		SYS Football Club
Mumbai	Neville D'Souza Football Turf, Bandra	India Rush Soccer Club
		Iron Born FC
		Kenkre FC
		Mumbai City FC
		PIFA Sports FC
		Reliance Foundation Young Champs
North	21 Raj Niwas, Civil Lines, Delhi	Garhwal FC
		Rajasthan United FC
		RoundGlass Punjab FC
		Sudeva Delhi FC
South	Bangalore Football Stadium, Bengaluru	Bengaluru FC
		FC Bengaluru United
		Chennaiyin FC
		Kickstart FC
		FC Mangalore
		Mohammden Sporting FC
		Roots FC
		Sreenidi Deccan

Regional stage

Assam-Meghalaya region

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Shillong Lajong	10	7	3	0	32	6	+26	24	Advance to National group stage
2	NorthEast United	10	7	3	0	25	5	+20	24
3	Rangdajied United	10	5	3	2	17	5	+12	18
4	Ryntih FC	10	2	2	6	12	19	−7	8
5	Malki SC	10	2	0	8	12	37	−25	6
6	Mawlai SC	10	1	1	8	6	32	−26	4

Source: RFYS

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Alfred Lalroutsang	NorthEast United	12
2	Samchaphrang Lato	Shillong Lajong	6
	Freddy Jyrwa	Malki SC
4	Mebannangkiew Thabah	Shillong Lajong	4
	Parthib Gogoi	NorthEast United

East region

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	East Bengal	10	7	2	1	18	8	+10	23	Advance to National group stage
2	ATK Mohun Bagan	10	6	3	1	19	7	+12	21
3	Mohammedan	10	3	1	6	11	20	−9	10
4	United SC	6	3	1	2	7	6	+1	10
5	Jamshedpur	6	2	1	3	10	11	−1	7
6	Odisha	6	2	0	4	9	8	+1	6
7	NA Suruchi Sangha	6	0	0	6	5	19	−14	0

Source: RFYS

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	William Lalgoulien	Mohammedan	6
	Suhail Bhat	ATK Mohun Bagan
3	Ningomba Engson Singh	ATK Mohun Bagan	5
4	Muhammed Roshal PP	East Bengal	4
	Surajit Ghosh	United SC

Goa region

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	FC Goa	10	8	2	0	19	3	+16	26	Advance to National group stage
2	Velsao S&CC	10	5	2	3	9	13	−4	17
3	Dempo SC	10	4	3	3	16	11	+5	15
4	SESA FA	10	3	3	4	8	10	−2	12
5	Salgaocar FC	10	2	2	6	11	14	−3	8
6	Churchill Brothers	10	1	2	7	8	20	−12	5

Source: RFYS

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Saish Gaunkar	FC Goa	4
2	Necio Maristo Fernandes	Dempo SC	3
	Laximanrao Rane	Dempo SC
	Shrine Clemente	Churchill Brothers
	Laitonjam Lemba Singh	FC Goa

Kerala region

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Muthoot FA	10	8	1	1	23	6	+17	25	Advance to National group stage
2	LiFFA	10	7	1	2	18	7	+11	22
3	Kerala Blasters	10	6	2	2	25	12	+13	20
4	Kovalam FC	10	3	0	7	9	22	−13	9
5	Parappur FC	7	2	2	3	12	6	+6	8
6	Gokulam Kerala	7	2	2	3	12	13	−1	8
7	FC Areekode	7	1	0	6	4	18	−14	3
8	FC Kerala	7	1	0	6	5	24	−19	3

Source: RFYS

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Salahudheen Adnan K	Muthoot FA	7
2	Muhammad Ajsal	Kerala Blasters	6
3	Saivin Ericson E	LiFFA	5
4	Vineeth A	LiFFA	4
	Naresh Bhagyanathan	Muthoot FA

Manipur region

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Classic FA	10	7	2	1	31	3	+28	23	Advance to National group stage
2	SAI-RC	10	5	3	2	17	15	+2	18
3	North Eastern Sporting Union	10	6	0	4	30	13	+17	18
4	Wangoi FA	10	4	0	6	17	34	−17	12
5	Football 4 Change Academy	7	3	3	1	14	7	+7	12
6	Poloi FC	7	1	2	4	10	14	−4	5
7	Pehlum Lamhil Lawm	7	1	1	5	13	22	−9	4
8	Social Development Club	7	1	1	5	4	28	−24	4

Source: RFYS

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Kharibam Meitei	SAI-RC	10
	Serto Worneilen Kom	Classic FA
3	Thokchom Singh	North Eastern Sporting Union	8
4	Sonjalen Haokip	Pehlum Lamhil Lawm	6
	Abujam Singh	North Eastern Sporting Union

Mizoram region

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chawnpui FC	10	6	2	2	34	13	+21	20	Advance to National group stage
2	Chanmari FC	10	6	2	2	33	15	+18	20
3	Ramthar Veng	10	6	1	3	19	15	+4	19
4	SYS FC	10	3	5	2	22	15	+7	14
5	1st Bn MAP FA	10	1	3	6	8	29	−21	6
6	Chanmari West	10	1	1	8	14	43	−29	4

Source: RFYS

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Suanngaihmuana	Chawnpui FC	10
2	PC Lalruatsanga	Ramthar Veng	9
3	Laltlanzova	Chanmari FC	7
	Lalthangliana	Chanmari FC
5	Ephraim Lalremtluanga	Chawnpui FC	6

Mumbai region

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	RFYC	10	10	0	0	33	3	+30	30	Advance to National group stage
2	Mumbai City	10	6	1	3	19	16	+3	19
3	Iron Born FC	10	4	1	5	14	13	+1	13
4	India Rush Soccer Club	10	4	0	6	13	16	−3	12
5	PIFA Sports	10	2	2	6	8	22	−14	8
6	Kenkre FC	10	1	2	7	11	28	−17	5

Source: RFYS

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Vian Vinay Murgod	RFYC	7
2	Ayush Chhikara	Mumbai City	5
3	Dipu Neupane	India Rush SC	4
	Alex Konthoujam	RFYC
	Mohammed Khatib	Iron Born FC

North region

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sudeva Delhi	10	6	2	2	19	9	+10	20	Advance to National group stage
2	Garhwal FC	10	5	2	3	17	8	+9	17
3	RoundGlass Punjab	9	3	2	4	10	9	+1	11
4	Rajasthan United	9	1	2	6	6	26	−20	5

Source: RFYS

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Shubho Paul	Sudeva Delhi	5
2	Ashangbam Aphaoba Singh	RoundGlass Punjab	4
3	Sunil Soren	Garhwal FC	2
	Iashanbok Buhphang	Garhwal FC

South region

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bengaluru	10	6	3	1	25	9	+16	21	Advance to National group stage
2	Sreenidi Deccan	10	6	1	3	17	10	+7	19
3	Chennaiyin	10	5	3	2	18	6	+12	18
4	Kickstart FC	10	5	2	3	24	11	+13	17
5	FC Mangalore	7	3	1	3	9	11	−2	10
6	Roots FC	7	2	2	3	8	8	0	8
7	Mohammden Sporting	7	1	0	6	8	35	−27	3
8	FC Bengaluru United	7	0	0	7	2	21	−19	0

Source: RFYS

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Finto	Kickstart FC	8
2	Senthamil S	Chennaiyin	6
	Satendra Singh Yadav	Bengaluru
4	Udit G	Kickstart FC	4
	Jonathan Ian Franco	Roots FC

Ranking Of Third-Placed Teams

Due to fewer number of teams in North Region, Third placed Team is not taken into account from North Region.

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Kerala	Kerala Blasters	10	6	2	2	25	12	+13	20	Advance to National group stage
2	Mizoram	Ramthar Veng	10	6	1	3	19	15	+4	19
3	Manipur	North Eastern Sporting Union	10	6	0	4	30	13	+17	18
4	South	Chennaiyin	10	5	3	2	18	6	+12	18
5	Assam-Meghalaya	Rangdajied United	10	5	3	2	17	5	+12	18
6	Goa	Dempo SC	10	4	3	3	16	11	+5	15
7	Mumbai	Iron Born FC	10	4	1	5	14	13	+1	13
8	East	Mohammedan	10	3	1	6	11	20	−9	10

First match(es) will be played in March 2023. Source: RFYS

National group stage

Top 20 teams will qualify from the regional qualifiers to the National group stage. National group stage is divided into 4 groups of 5 teams, with winners advancing to the National Championship stage.

Qualification

No.	Club	Qualified as
1	Shillong Lajong	Assam-Meghalaya region champions
2	NorthEast United	Assam-Meghalaya region runners-up
3	East Bengal	East region champions
4	ATK Mohun Bagan	East region runners-up
5	FC Goa	Goa region champions
6	Velsao S&CC	Goa region runners-up
7	Muthoot FA	Kerala region champions
8	LiFFA	Kerala region runners-up
9	Classic FA	Manipur region champions
10	SAI-RC	Manipur region runners-up
11	Chawnpui FC	Mizoram region champions
12	Chanmari FC	Mizoram region runners-up
13	RFYC	Mumbai region champions
14	Mumbai City	Mumbai region runners-up
15	Sudeva Delhi	North region champions
16	Garhwal FC	North region runners-up
17	Bengaluru	South region champions
18	Sreenidi Deccan	South region runners-up
19	Kerala Blasters	Best 3rd-placed team
20	Ramthar Veng FC	Second-best 3rd-placed team

Delhi group

All matches to be played at 21 Raj Niwas, Civil Lines, Delhi.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SUD	MFA	CHW	GAR	CHA
1	Sudeva Delhi	4	3	1	0	11	4	+7	10	Advance to Next Gen Cup & National championship stage		—	1–0	4–2	2–2	—
2	Muthoot FA	4	2	1	1	7	4	+3	7			—	—	—	—	3–0
3	Chawnpui FC	4	1	1	2	6	7	−1	4			—	1–1	—	2–0	—
4	Garhwal FC	4	1	1	2	6	7	−1	4			—	2–3	—	—	2–0
5	Chanmari FC	4	1	0	3	2	10	−8	3			0–4	—	2–1	—	—

Source: RFYS

Imphal group

All matches to be played at SAI Complex, Imphal. With the last round being cancelled, ATK Mohun Bagan advanced to the National championship stage.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AMB	CFA	NEU	SAI	SHL
1	ATK Mohun Bagan	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8	9	Advance to Next Gen Cup & National championship stage		—	—	—	3–0	4–0
2	Classic FA	3	1	2	0	7	3	+4	5			—	—	2–2	1–1	—
3	NorthEast United	4	1	2	1	6	6	0	5			1–2	—	—	2–1	—
4	SAI-RC	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4	1			—	—	—	—	—
5	Shillong Lajong	3	0	1	2	1	9	−8	1			—	0–4	1–1	—	—

Source: RFYS

Mumbai group

All matches to be played at Reliance Corporate Park Football Ground, Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RYC	EAB	MCI	RVE	VEL
1	RFYC	4	3	1	0	13	5	+8	10	Advance to Next Gen Cup & National Championship stage		—	—	0–0	—	—
2	East Bengal	4	3	0	1	14	6	+8	9			2–3	—	2–0	—	7–2
3	Mumbai City	4	2	1	1	7	5	+2	7			—	—	—	—	—
4	Ramthar Veng	4	1	0	3	4	7	−3	3			1–2	1–3	0–2	—	2–0
5	Velsao S&CC	4	0	0	4	7	22	−15	0			2–8	—	3–5	—	—

Source: RFYS

Bengaluru group

All matches to be played at Bangalore Football Stadium, Bengaluru.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BEN	GOA	KEB	SDE	LIF
1	Bengaluru	4	3	1	0	9	3	+6	10	Advance to Next Gen Cup & National championship stage		—	—	—	2–0	2–1
2	FC Goa	4	3	0	1	6	4	+2	9			1–4	—	—	3–0	—
3	Kerala Blasters	4	2	1	1	9	5	+4	7			1–1	0–1	—	—	—
4	Sreenidi Deccan	4	1	0	3	7	8	−1	3			—	—	2–3	—	5–0
5	LiFFA	4	0	0	4	2	13	−11	0			—	0–1	1–5	—	—

Source: RFYS

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Loitongbam Taison Singh	ATK Mohun Bagan	5
	Muhammad Ajsal	Kerala Blasters
3	Chirag Bhujel	RFYC	4
	Himanshu Jangra	East Bengal
	Meuton Fernandes	Velsao S&CC
	Serto Kom	Classic FA

National championship stage

Top 4 teams will qualify from the National group stage to the National championship knockout stage, with winners being crowned champions.

Qualification

No.	Club	Qualified as
1	Sudeva Delhi	Delhi group champions
2	ATK Mohun Bagan	Imphal group champions
3	RFYC	Mumbai group champions
4	Bengaluru	Bengaluru group champions

Bracket

	Semifinals					Final
	1	ATK Mohun Bagan	1 (6)
	2	Bengaluru	1 (7)
						2	Bengaluru	2 (4)
						4	Sudeva Delhi	2 (3)
	3	RFYC	0
	4	Sudeva Delhi	1			Third place
						1	ATK Mohun Bagan	5
						3	RFYC	1

Semi-finals

11 May 2023 (2023-05-11)

19.00 IST

SF1

ATK Mohun Bagan	1–1	Bengaluru
R. Basfore  5' Engson  69'87'	Report	H. Thoi Singh 61'
Penalties
Suryavanshi Nassiri Bhat Engson Rana R. Basfore T. Tongsin	6–7	C. Fernandes Akashdeep Harpreet Harmanpreet H. Thoi Singh Lyngdoh Ketkar

Reliance Corporate Park, Mumbai, Maharashtra

Attendance: 200

Referee: K Ramdasan

---

11 May 2023 (2023-05-11)

21.00 IST

SF2

RFYC	0–1	Sudeva Delhi
A. Kamath  65'	Report	C. Jackson  51'  85' S. Lotjem 66' K. Panicker  74' P. Tushir  90+9'

Reliance Corporate Park, Mumbai, Maharashtra

Attendance: 10

Referee: Mrutyunjay L Amatya

Third place

14 May 2023 (2023-05-14)

08:00 IST

ATK Mohun Bagan	5–1	RFYC
Nassiri 18' Giri 58' U. Hansda 68' D. Biswas 89' Amandeep 90+2'	Report	S. Mohammed K 26' 65'

Reliance Corporate Park, Mumbai, Maharashtra

Attendance: 10

Referee: Akashkumar Kamleshkumar Mehta

Final

14 May 2023 (2023-05-14)

19:00 IST

Bengaluru	2–2	Sudeva Delhi
H. Thoi Singh 23' (p) S. Singh Yadav 67'	Report	S. Lotjem 17' D. Gurung 49'
Penalties
C. Fernandes S. Singh Yadav Harpreet Harmanpreet H. Thoi Singh	4–3	Paul S. Lotjem Bhardwaj K. Panicker R. Chhetri

Reliance Corporate Park, Mumbai, Maharashtra

Attendance: 50

Referee: Surojit Das

See also

• 2022–23 U-17 Youth Cup

References

1. "Seven Hero ISL clubs to join RFYC in inaugural Reliance Foundation Development League from April 15". 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
2. "All you need to know about the RF Development League 2022". 8 April 2022. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
3. "Seven Hero ISL clubs to join RFYC in inaugural Reliance Foundation Development League from April 15". Indian Super League. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
4. Modak, Sourav (12 May 2022). "Bengaluru FC hold Kerala Blasters to emerge inaugural RFDL champions". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
5. "Bengaluru FC crowned RFDL Champion after a thrilling title defence against Sudeva Delhi FC". indiansuperleague.com. 14 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
6. Marcus Mergulhao (30 June 2021). "ISL proposes new league for reserve, U-21 players | Goa News - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
7. Tarafdar, Veronica (30 March 2023). "In the last matchday of the I-League season, teams compete for improved Super Cup qualifying ranking". footballexpress.in. Football Express India. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
8. "Seven Hero ISL clubs to join RFYC in inaugural Reliance Foundation Development League from April 15". 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
9. "Seven Hero ISL clubs to join RFYC in inaugural Reliance Foundation Development League from April 15". 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.