Bengal Premier League Soccer

Bengal Premier League Soccer
Founded	2011
Folded	2013
Country	India
Number of teams	6

Last updated August 26, 2024

Premier League Soccer (PLS) was an Indian football league competition established on 1 January 2012, which was to take place in the state of West Bengal. The league was expected to begin its first season on 25 February 2012, with the aim to increase interest in football in West Bengal. It was modelled on the lines of the United States' Major League Soccer and the Indian Premier League.^[1]^[2]

Structure

The league was organised by Celebrity Management Group, who had signed a 30-year deal with Indian Football Association, the apex body of football in West Bengal. There would have been six teams in the inaugural 2012 season; they were to have been owned by franchises, who would have to bid for the team for 10 years and pay a yearly franchisee fee. They were to be based in Kolkata, and five regional centres: Howrah, Barasat, Durgapur and Siliguri.^[3]^[2] Each team was to play every other team twice (once at home and once away). Three points were to have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. At the end of the season a table of the final League standings was to have been determined, based on the following criteria in this order: points obtained, goal difference, and goals scored. After the regular season the teams would have played in a play-off style tournament in which there would have been semi-finals and a final. The tournament would have been played across seven weeks, from 24 March to 6 May 2012.^[4]

Media coverage

As of February 2012^[update], there had been no television deal for the 2012 PLS season announced.^[4]

Clubs and stadiums 2012

A list of clubs for the 2012 season was to have been decided after an auction on 10 to 12 February 2011.^[4]

Team	Price	Owner	Icon players	Overseas players	Asian origin players	Coach
Barasat Euro Musketeers	Rs 25.15 crore	Uro Infra Reality India	Hernán Crespo $840,000	Christian Lara $200,000; Joaquin Botero $180,000	Park Byoung-Gyu $90,000	Teitur Thordarson $210,000
Bengal Tuskers	Rs 18 crore	Aajay Consultants	Fabio Cannavaro $830,000	Santino Quaranta $180,000; Limberg Gutierrez $180,000;	Hwang Gyu-Hwan $90,000	Marco Etcheverry $200,000
Kolkata Camelians	Rs 11.5 crore	Camelia Group	Robbie Fowler	Robert Egbeta $350,000; Daniel Varela $120,000	Park Ji-Seung $140,000	Peter Reid $200,000
Manchester Howrah	Rs 9 crore	Syncsys Infotech	Robert Pires $715,000	Jose Gabriel Rios $180,000, Diego Madrigal $120,000	Byun Yoon-Chul $115,000	Fernando Couto $240,000
Durgapur Vox Champions	Rs 7.6 crore	Tulip Infonet	Jay Jay Okocha $550,000	José Carlos Castillo $80,000; Alonso Solís $200,000	Kim Bong-Kyeom $150,000	Samson Siasia $210,000
Haldia Heroes	base tag of Rs 70 lakh	Grey Mind Communications	Juan Pablo Sorín	-	-	John Barnes

Postponement and cancellation

In the last week of February, 2012, Utpal Ganguli, the secretary of the Indian Football Association, announced that the league had been postponed. He did not reveal the new dates or the causes of postponement. It is believed that financial hurdles and lack of venues were the major reasons.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[2]

In January 2013, the Indian Football Association announced that it had withdrawn support for the venture, citing financial problems, the lack of suitable venues, and the unavailability of overseas players in the period the competition was to have been played.^[8]

Related Research Articles

Bhaichung Bhutia, also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often nicknamed the Sikkimese Sniper because of his shooting skills in football. Three-time Indian Player of the Year I. M. Vijayan described Bhutia as "God's gift to Indian football".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teitur Thordarson</span> Icelandic footballer and coach

Teitur Thordarson is an Icelandic football coach. He is the older brother of Ólafur Þórðarson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunil Chhetri</span> Indian footballer (born 1984)

Sunil Chhetri is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club Bengaluru. He is known for his link-up play, goal scoring abilities, and leadership. He is the fourth-highest international goalscorer, and is also the most-capped player and the all-time top goalscorer of the India national team. He is widely regarded as the greatest Indian football player of all time.

The I-League is the men's second-tier of the Indian football league system. Currently contested by 12 clubs, It operates as a system of promotion and relegation with the Indian Super League (ISL) and the I-League 2.

Ranti Martins Soleye is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Martins regarded as one of the best foreign players to play in the India. He is the record goal scorer in National Football League and I-League history with 214 goals, and set the record for most goals scored in an Indian top tier season by scoring 32 goals in the 2011–12 I-League season for Dempo. He scored a total 22 goals for Indian clubs at the continental tournament AFC Cup.

United Sports Club is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was founded as Eveready Association in 1927. Affiliated with the Indian Football Association (IFA), the club competes in Calcutta Premier Division A, the highest division of Asia's oldest league CFL and also in the I-League 2, the third division of the Indian football league system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka Premier League</span> Professional Cricket League

The Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) was a Twenty20 cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was intended to be the premier Twenty20 league in the country, held by Sri Lanka Cricket, when it replaced the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 competition.

The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league based in the United States. The league was named for, but had no connection to, the original North American Soccer League. The later NASL was founded in 2009, and began play in 2011 with eight teams.

The 2012–13 I-League was the sixth season of the I-League, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 6 October 2012 and finished on 12 May 2013 with Churchill Brothers crowned champions in matchday 25.

Raman Vijayan is a football coach, former Indian football player, founder of Noble Football Academy And RamanVijayan Soccer School. Who currently assistant coach of Indian Super League club Chennaiyin FC.

The 2012 Nagaland Premier League was the inaugural season of the Nagaland Premier League, a state league in the Indian state of Nagaland. The league kicked off on 10 March 2012.

Mumbai Tigers Football Club was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The club were formed in May 2012 as Dodsal Football Club with the aim of becoming the biggest football club in India and one of the biggest in Asia. They have completed in the I-League 2nd Division alongside Mumbai Football League.

Women's football in India is growing in popularity under All India Football Federation, despite the earlier long-term governing body's inability to provide sufficient funds for the game.

The 2013–14 I-League was the seventh season of the I-League, the top-tier Indian professional league for football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 21 September 2013, and ended on 28 April 2014.

Bengaluru Football Club ( ) is an Indian professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 20 July 2013, and began its first competitive season in the I-League on 22 September the same year. Since its inception, the club has won two I-League titles including one in its debut season, two Federation Cup titles, one Indian Super League title, and a Super Cup championship making it fourth-most successful club in Indian football.

The Indian Super League (ISL) is the men's highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the league currently comprises 13 clubs across India.

Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kerala, India, located about 7 km from Manjeri and 12 km from Malappuram. The stadium has a capacity of 30,000 spectators. Opened in 2013, it is part of the Malappuram District Sports Complex & Football Academy, under the management of Malappuram District Sports Council.

Football Sports Development Limited is an Indian company established to operate the Indian Super League, the top tier football league in India. The company is run as a subsidiary of Reliance. FSDL serves as the commercial partners of All India Football Federation.

The Indian Women's League is the women's top tier professional football league in India. Founded in 2016, currently a total of 7 teams from across the country participate in the league.

References

↑ "Move aside cricket, here comes India's Premier League Soccer". firstpost.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
1 2 3 "Robbie Fowler's Indian payday under threat as Premier League Soccer hits problems". The Daily Telegraph . Telegraph Media Group. 22 February 2012. Archived from the original on 5 July 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
↑ "IFA announces launch of Premier League Soccer". The Times of India . 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013.
1 2 3 "Stars lined up for Indian soccer league - The Times of India". The Times Of India. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
↑ "India's new star-studded league postponed". dawnnewspaper. 23 February 2012. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
↑ "Lack of venues sees start of India's Premier League Soccer postponed". Guardian newspaper. London. 22 February 2012. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
↑ "Premier League Soccer postponed". ESPN STAR SPORTS. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
↑ "India's ambitious Premier League Soccer plan finally axed". goal.com. Perform Group. 30 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2013.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Firstpost-1] "Move aside cricket, here comes India's Premier League Soccer". firstpost.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.

[The_Daily_Telegraph_-_22_February_2012_-_Robbie_Fowler's_Indian_payday_under_threat_as_Premier_League_Soccer_hits_problems-2] 1 2 3 "Robbie Fowler's Indian payday under threat as Premier League Soccer hits problems". The Daily Telegraph . Telegraph Media Group. 22 February 2012. Archived from the original on 5 July 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2013.

[Times_of_India-3] "IFA announces launch of Premier League Soccer". The Times of India . 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013.

[toi-4] 1 2 3 "Stars lined up for Indian soccer league - The Times of India". The Times Of India. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.

[5] "India's new star-studded league postponed". dawnnewspaper. 23 February 2012. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.

[Lack_of_venues_sees_start_of_India's_Premier_League_Soccer_postponed-6] "Lack of venues sees start of India's Premier League Soccer postponed". Guardian newspaper. London. 22 February 2012. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.

[7] "Premier League Soccer postponed". ESPN STAR SPORTS. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.

[goal.com_-_30_January_2013_-_India's_ambitious_Premier_League_Soccer_plan_finally_axed-8] "India's ambitious Premier League Soccer plan finally axed". goal.com. Perform Group. 30 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]