Yendrembam Denechandra Meitei

Denechandra Meitei

Personal information
Full name	Yendrembam Denechandra Meitei
Date of birth	(1994-03-28) 28 March 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth	Manipur, India
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Left back
Youth career
2008–2009	Mohun Bagan
2009	Sambhalpur Academy
2011–2013	Pune
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2014	Pune	1	(0)
2016–2017	Ozone	1	(0)
2017	Sagolband United
2017–2018	Churchill Brothers	15	(0)
2018–2019	NEROCA	4	(0)
2019–2020	TRAU	12	(0)
2020–2023	Kerala Blasters	9	(0)
2022–2023	→ Odisha (loan)	14	(0)
2023-	Punjab	0	(0)
International career
	India U23
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:34, 4 March 2023 (UTC)

Yendrembam Denechandra Meitei (born 28 March 1994) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender for the Indian Super League club Punjab.

Club career

Early career

Born in Manipur, Meitei started playing football from the age of 10 years. ^[1] He initially trained at a local stadium to improve his technical ability. ^[1] He eventually managed to make it into his district team and then the Manipur football team in the youth nationals. ^[1] Then in 2008 he was signed by Mohun Bagan A.C. to join their academy. ^[1] After a one-year stay at the academy, Meitei joined the Sambhalpur Academy in Orissa. ^[1] However, due to problems with both academies in terms of how they taught academics, Meitei dropped out of both. ^[1] He then went back to Manipur to play for a local club. ^[1]

Then, after going back to Manipur, James Singh of Mumbai F.C. recommended Meitei to trial at Pune F.C. for a spot in the Pune F.C. Academy. ^[1] Meitei trialed for the spot in the academy and passed. ^[1] While with the Pune F.C. Academy Meitei had won the I-League U19 twice. ^[1]

Pune Football Club

On 10 October 2013, Meitei made his professional debut for Pune F.C. in the I-League against Mohun Bagan A.C. at the Balewadi Sports Complex in which he came on in the 89th minute for Pierre Douhou as Pune won the match 2–0. ^[2]

Kerala Blasters

On 5 August 2020, it was announced that Meitei would join Kerala Blasters from TRAU FC. ^[3] He made his first appearance for the club on 29 November 2021, against Chennaiyin FC. ^[4] On 6 May 2021, Metei signed a new three-year contract with Kerala Blasters, keeping him at the club until 2024. ^[5]

Meitei was included in the Kerala Blasters squad for the 2021 Durand Cup, ^[6] and played his first match against arch-rivals Bengaluru FC on 15 September, where he received a red card and the match ended in a 2–0 defeat for the Blasters. ^[7] He played his first match of the 2021–22 Indian Super League season as a substitute for Nishu Kumar against Bengaluru itself in the 88th minute of the, which they lost 0–1. ^[8]

Odisha FC (loan)

On 6 July 2022, Odisha FC announced the signing of Meitei on a season long loan deal from the Blasters. ^[9]

International career

Meitei has represented India at the under-23 level in which he played for them in a tournament held at Bangladesh. ^[1]

Career statistics

Club

As of 29 April 2023

^[10]

Club	Season	League			Cup		AFC		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Pune	2013–14	I-League	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
Ozone	2016–17	I-League 2nd Division	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
Churchill Brothers	2017–18	I-League	15	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	—		17	0
NEROCA	2018–19		4	0	0	0	—		4	0
TRAU	2019–20		12	0	0	0	—		12	0
Kerala Blasters	2020–21	Indian Super League	6	0	0	0	—		6	0
	2021–22		3	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	—		4	0
	Kerala Blasters total		9	0	1	0	0	0	10	0
Odisha (loan)	2022–23	Indian Super League	14	0	4 [lower-alpha 2] [lower-alpha 1]	0	1 [lower-alpha 3]	0	19	0
Punjab	2023–24		0	0	0	0	—		0	0
Career total			56	0	7	0	1	0	64	0

1. Appearance(s) in Super Cup
2. Appearance(s) in Durand Cup
3. Appearance(s) in play-offs for AFC Cup

Honours

Club

Kerala Blasters FC

• Indian Super League runner up: 2021–22. ^[11]

References

1. "14. Y. Denechandra Meitei". Pune Football Club. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
2. "Pune vs Mohun Bagan 2 - 0". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
3. "Denechandra Meitei joins Kerala Blasters". ANI News. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
4. "ISL 2020-21 highlights, Chennaiyin FC vs Kerala Blasters FC: Albino penalty save helps KBFC earn point vs CFC". Sportstar. 29 November 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
5. "Denechandra Meitei extends contract with KBFC till 2024". Kerala Blasters FC. 6 May 2021. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
6. "Durand Cup 2021: Kerala Blasters FC announces squad". Sportstar. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
7. "Durand Cup: Bengaluru FC beat eight-men Kerala Blasters 2-0". The New Indian Express. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
8. "ISL 2021-22 Highlights, Kerala Blasters vs Bengaluru FC: KBFC 0-1 BFC". News18. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
9. Modak, Sourav (6 July 2022). "ISL: Odisha FC sign Denechandra Meitei on loan from Kerala Blasters | Football News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
10. Yendrembam Denechandra Meitei at Soccerway
11. "ISL final: Hyderabad give Kerala the blues". The Indian Express. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.

External links

• Yendrembam Denechandra Meitei at Soccerway