Indian Super League 2020-21: A look at the all-time records
The 2020-21 edition of the Indian Super League is the seventh season of India's premier football tournament. ATK were the defending champions, but have been merged with Indian giants Mohun Bagan, to be named ATK Mohun Bagan. Arch-rivals East Bengal, too, feature this term.
India's premier football tournament, Indian Super League (ISL), is all set to kick-off its seventh season from Friday. ATK, who were the defending champions, have been merged with Indian giants Mohun Bagan, as ATK Mohun Bagan begin the proceedings against Kerala Blasters.
With challenging situations surrounding the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, the matches would be played behind closed doors this season. Nonetheless, Indian football fans are as hyped as ever, as they look forward to another thrilling season, while we present the all-time records the tournament has produced to date.
Most successful club: As for the most successful club of the tournament, it happens to be ATK, having won three titles to date (2014, 2016 and 2019-20). Interestingly, ATK had never finished as the runners-up.
Highest attendance: Although we would hurt the sentiments of the fans this season by mentioning this, especially with the matches being held behind closed doors, it is still a noteworthy one. It was in 2016 when Kerala's home match against Atlético de Kolkata, which had ended in a 2-2 draw, saw a record attendance of 80,294, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi.
Most goals: Spanish football legend Coro holds the record of having scored the most goals in the tournament to date. He has a total of 48 goals in 57 games, including four penalties. However, it could be broken by Sunil Chhetri this season, who has 39 to this name so far. Coro is also the highest goal-scorer in a season (18 in 2017-18), playing for FC Goa.
Most appearances: It is a unique feat to play the most games, as it denotes one's level of consistency. India's Mandar Rao Dessai holds the record for being the most capped player, with 97 appearances, as he currently represents Mumbai City FC.
Most wins: Winning is undoubtedly a thing every team plays for. On the same note, Goa holds the record of having registered the most number of wins in the tournament so far (51), while Bengaluru FC have scripted the most wins in a season (13 in 2017-18), besides holding the record of the longest winning streak, of six matches, in 2018-19.
Biggest win: Scoring more goals and winning by a considerable margin is sure to enthral the fans. In the same light, Goa once again hold the record of the biggest win, defeating Mumbai 7-0 in 2015, while it was also the most significant home win by a team. As for the biggest away success, it was once again Goa, hammering Jamshedpur FC 5-0, earlier this year.
Other records
Oldest player: David James (44 years and 141 days)
Youngest player: Alfred Lalroutsang (16 years and 239 days)
Played for most ISL clubs: Subhasish Roy Chowdhury (6)
Most goals by an Indian: Chettri (39)
Oldest goal-scorer: Tim Cahill (39 years and 6 days)
Youngest goal-scorer: Komal Thatal (18 years and 43 days)
Most hat-tricks: Iain Hume (3)
Most titles as coach: Antonio Lopez Habas (2)
Most wins as coach: Habas (30)
Most clubs managed: Steve Coppell (3)