![]() | |||
Full name | North Eastern Re-Organising Cultural Association Football Club [1] | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | Orange Brigade | ||
Founded | 1965 | ||
Ground | Khuman Lampak Main Stadium | ||
Capacity | 35,285 | ||
Owner | North Eastern Re-Organising Cultural Association (NEROCA) | ||
Chairman | Arunkumar Thangjam | ||
Head coach | Gyan Moyon | ||
League | I-League 2 Manipur State League | ||
2023–24 | I-League, 12th of 13 (relegated) | ||
Website | nerocafc | ||
NEROCA Football Club (known fully as North Eastern Re-Organising Cultural Association Football Club) is an Indian professional football club based in Imphal, Manipur, that currently competes in the I-League 2. It previously competed in the I-League, the second tier of the Indian football league system. [2] [3] [4] Founded in 1965, and nicknamed "Orange Brigade", [5] the club made their I-League 2nd Division debut in the 2015–16 season. [6] Winning the 2016–17 league, they secured promotion to the I-League. [7]
NEROCA is the only club from Northeast India to reach the final of the coveted Durand Cup. The club also competes in the Manipur State League. [8] [9] [10] [11]
North Eastern Re-Organising Cultural Association [12] (NEROCA) [13] was established in 1965 [14] [15] with the hope of improving quality in the field of cultural activities and sports in the Indian state of Manipur. It was registered under the Manipur State co-operative Society Registration Act bearing registration No. 1016 of 1972. NEROCA is a registered football club of Imphal East District Football Association, and affiliated with All Manipur Football Association (AMFA). [16] NEROCA has participated in the Manipur State League (MSL), [17] [18] since its inception and finished second-placed in the MSL 2007. [19] The club is also a regular participant of Sir Churachand Singh Memorial Football Tournament. [20]
In the 9th season of Manipur State League (2014), NEROCA won championship trophy. [21] The club as per norms of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), changed the nomenclature from "NEROCA" to "NEROCA Football Club Imphal", [22] aiming to join I-League 2nd Division. [23] [24] NEROCA then went on to compete in the 2015–16 [25] [26] and 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division seasons. [27] [28] They emerged as champions of the 2016–17 season with 26 points in 10 matches from the final round, and qualified for the 2017–18 season of the I-League. [29] They also clinched the title of Manipur State League in 2016. [30]
The biggest achievement of NEROCA is emerging as the runners-up in the 2017–18 I-League. [31] Under the coaching of Gift Raikhan, [32] they finished campaign with 32 points from 18 matches. [33] In that season, NEROCA brought Vector X as their official shirt sponsor. [34] In the 2020–21 I-League, NEROCA finished bottom of the Relegation Stage and got formally relegated, but were reinstated by AIFF after viewing the situation of COVID-19 pandemic. [35] [36]
On 4 July 2021, NEROCA signed Khogen Singh as their head coach for the 2021–22 I-League season, [37] and began the league journey with a 3–2 win against Sreenidi Deccan on 27 December 2021. [38] They achieved seventh position in league table. [39] They later participated in 2022 Durand Cup. [40] In 2022–23 I-League, NEROCA they finished on tenth position, and later, failed to qualify for the 2023 Indian Super Cup. [41] In October, the club roped in Malaysian manager Jacob Joseph as head coach for 2023–24 league season. [42] In April 2024, NEROCA along with TRAU, refused to travel to Mizoram to play Aizawl in their away matches and the games were cancelled by the AIFF; Both the teams from Manipur were relegated to I-League 2. [43] [44] [45]
In the official club crest, there is map of Manipur in background and an anchor of sailing boat in foreground. [46]
The official colours of NEROCA are orange and green. [47]
Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
---|---|---|
2015—2016 | Glory Sports [48] | Classic Group of Hotels [49] |
2016—2017 | Bee Athletic [48] | |
2017—2018 | Vector X [34] | |
2018—2019 | Sqad Gear [48] | |
2019–2020 | Vicky Transform [50] | Living 3D [48] |
2020–2021 | Ambition Sportswear [51] | GMT [52] |
2021–2022 | Nivia Sports [53] | Vintel Infracom Pvt. Ltd. [54] |
2022–2023 | Ambition Sportswear [55] | GOELD Frozen Foods [56] |
2023–2024 | King [57] | |
2024-present | Vamos | M/s. Kim & Sons |
Khuman Lampak Main Stadium in Imphal, Manipur, is used as the home ground of NEROCA Football Club for all their home matches in both the domestic and regional leagues. [58] [59] [60] Opened in 1999, the stadium is owned by All Manipur Football Association and has a capacity of 35,285 spectators. Their first home match in the I-League was played on 15 December 2017 against Chennai City FC. [61]
NEROCA had the 2nd highest average attendance for the 2018–19 I League season. In the 2017–18 season, NEROCA had the highest attendance in the I-League, with the record attendance of 35,285 at the Khuman Lampak Stadium. [62]
NEROCA have participated in the Imphal Derby with city rival TRAU. [63] [64] [65] The two clubs are the only two from Imphal to have played professional league football. [66] The Imphal Derby gained fame in 2022 during the 131st edition of Durand Cup when competitive football returned to the city after COVID-19 pandemic in India. [67] [68] The Government of Manipur declared a half-holiday for all governmental and educational institutions in build-up to the match on 18 August, [69] where NEROCA defeated TRAU by 3–1 in Group-C opener. [70]
In the Northeast Derby (I-League), they have a rivalry with Mizoram-based club Aizawl. [71] [72]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Role | Name | Refs. |
---|---|---|
Head coach | ![]() | [73] |
Assistant coach | ![]() | |
Secretary | ![]() | |
Goalkeeping coach | ![]() | |
Team manager | ![]() | |
Physio | ![]() | |
Kit manager | ![]() | |
Season | Div. | Tms. | Pos. | Average attendance | Federation Cup / Super Cup | Durand Cup | AFC CL | AFC Cup |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015–16 | I-League 2 | 10 | 3 | – | DNP | DNP | – | – |
2016–17 | I-League 2 | 12 | 1 | 8,438 | DNP | Runners-up | – | – |
2017–18 | I-League | 10 | 2 | 21,382 | Quarter-finals | DNP | DNP | DNP |
2018–19 | I-League | 11 | 6 | 19,139 | Round of 16 | DNP | DNP | DNP |
2019–20 | I-League | 11 | 9 | 13,202 | – | DNP | DNP | DNP |
2020–21 | I-League | 11 | 11 | – | – | DNP | DNP | DNP |
2021-22 | I-League | 13 | 7 | – | – | DNP | DNP | DNP |
2022-23 | I-League | 12 | 10 | 3,400 | Second Qualifying Round | Group Stage | DNP | DNP |
2023-24 | I-League | 13 | 12 | 362 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
2024-25 | I-League 2 | 9 | DNP | – | – |
updated on 28 May 2017
Season | Domestic | Asia | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
2015–16 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 16 | Not qualified | |||||
2016–17 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 28 | 7 | ||||||
2017–18 | 1 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 13 | ||||||
2018–19 | 1 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 27 | 26 | ||||||
2019–20 | 1 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 27 | 35 | ||||||
2020-21 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 22 | ||||||
2021-22 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 21 | 30 | ||||||
2022-23 | 1 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 22 | 26 | ||||||
2023-24 | 1 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 26 | 61 | ||||||
2024-25 | 2 |
Season | Player | Goals |
---|---|---|
2015–16 | ![]() | 3 |
2016–17 | ![]() | 9 |
2017–18 | ![]() | 7 |
2018–19 | ![]() | 8 |
2019–20 | ![]() | 9 |
2020–21 | ![]() | 4 |
2021–22 | ![]() | 10 |
2022–23 | ![]() | 9 |
2023–24 | ![]() | 5 |
2024–25 |
North America
Africa
Europe
|
Information correct after match played on 7 March 2022. Only competitive matches are counted.
Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Win% | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gift Raikhan | ![]() | 1 July 2015 | 30 April 2018 | 44 | 26 | 10 | 8 | 61 | 31 | 59.09 | [116] |
![]() | 7 June 2018 | 11 March 2019 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 27 | 26 | 35.00 | [117] | |
![]() | 12 March 2019 | 8 May 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | [118] | |
![]() | 4 September 2019 | 31 May 2021 | 31 | 7 | 6 | 18 | 41 | 57 | 22.58 | [119] | |
![]() | 5 July 2021 | 6 October 2023 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 66.67 | [120] | |
![]() | 7 October 2023 | 14 January 2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | [42] | |
Gyan Moyon | ![]() | 14 January 2024 | till date | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | [121] |
NEROCA operates futsal departments and is affiliated to the Futsal Association of India (FAI). The club clinched AMFA (All Manipur Football Association) Futsal Cup in 2005, defeating SSU in final. [142] The club is currently competing in Col. Arunkumar Memorial Inter-club Futsal Tournament, achieved third place in the 2023 edition. [143] [144]
Cited sources
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)Bibliography
Further reading