Punjab FC

RoundGlass Punjab
	File:RoundGlass Punjab FC logo.svg
Full name	RoundGlass Punjab Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Warriors
Short name	RPFC
Founded	2005; 19 years ago as Minerva Academy F.C.
Ground	Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana
Capacity	30,000
Owner	RoundGlass Sports
Manager	Curtis Fleming
League	I-league
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

RoundGlass Punjab Football Club (formerly known as Minerva Punjab FC) is an Indian professional football club based in Mohali, Punjab. The club competes in the I-League, one of the two coexisting premier football leagues in Indian football system. Minerva Punjab FC, since inception in 2013 have won the I-League title once, the Punjab State Super Football League title twice, and were also the runners-up of the I-League 2nd Division. They were the champions of I-League in the 2017–18 season.

The club is owned by a Mohali-based firm RoundGlass Sports. Earlier, RoundGlass had a collaboration with Mr.Ranjit Bajaj which was recently broken. RoundGlass has now taken full charge of the club. Punjab plays their I-League home matches at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana. On October 30, 2019, the club was renamed as Punjab Football Club and 2019–20 I-League was their first season as Punjab F.C.^[2]

History

As Minerva Punjab FC

The team was established in 2005 as Minerva Academy and has a football and cricket club. Initially, the team took part in its first major tournament at the national level i.e. I-League 2nd Division and were the runners up for the season. They lost to five-time I-League champions Dempo SC in the Final. They were promoted to I-League after an impressive stint at the 2nd Division. They finished their first-ever I-League season at the second last position. They also played the 2016 Durand Cup. They came last in the group stage and hence couldn't qualify for the semi-finals.

Next season, surprising everyone, they won the I-League title, which was their first league win ever in the top division. They became the first ones from North India to win the league since 1996. This title made the team qualify for their first-ever Asian stint. The club qualified for Group Stage of the 2019 AFC Cup along with Indian Super League side Chennaiyin and the Preliminary Round 2. However, they lost to the Iranian side Saipa in the preliminary round of the 2019 AFC Champions League and therefore couldn't make it to the play-offs. But, in their AFC Cup stint, they impressed with their unbeaten run of five games until the last group fixture, which they lost against Abahani Limited Dhaka. Minerva were also placed in the Round of 16 bracket of the 2018 Indian Super Cup in which they lost to Jamshedpur 4–5 on penalties.

In the 2018-19 I-League, the club managed to win four of their twenty fixtures and finished ninth in the league table. They were placed in the 2019 Indian Super Cup qualifying round but they refused to play in the tournament protesting against the uncertainty of I-League clubs' future in Indian football. Thereafter, they were also not invited to play the 2019 Durand Cup, which was disappointing for the Punjabi side.

As Punjab FC

On 30 October 2019, the announcement was made that after a partnership agreement with RoundGlass Sports Private Ltd. the club has been renamed as Punjab Football Club.^[3]^[4]

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2015—2017	T10 Sports	None
2017—2019	Astro	Apollo Tyres
2019—2020	Spartan	Apollo Tyres
2020–Present	T10 Sports	RoundGlass

Stadium

The team plays at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana, Punjab, which has a capacity of 15,000 spectators. The club shifted the base to other locations for their Asian stint. During the 2019 AFC Cup group stage, Minerva played two of its home games at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, and one of the three home games at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

Support and rivalry

Supporters

A club recognised fan club by the name The Warriors has been in support since 2018. The Guru Nanak Stadium has seen an average attendance of 12,000.

Current squad

As of 1 December 2019^[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	IND	Bhaskar Roy
4	DF	BRA	Danilo Quipapá
5	DF	IND	Anwar Ali
6	MF	IND	Souvik Das
7	FW	BHU	Chencho Gyeltshen
8	MF	IND	Maheson Singh Tongbram
9	FW	IND	Bali Gagandeep
10	MF	ESP	Joseba Beitia
13	DF	IND	Bikash Yumnam
15	FW	IND	Sanju Pradhan (Captain)
16	GK	NEP	Kiran Kumar Limbu
18	FW	IND	Beikhokhei Beingaichho


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	DF	IND	Yumnam Raju
22	GK	IND	Nidhin Lal
25	DF	IND	Devansh Dabas
26	DF	IND	Imanuel Lalthazuala
38	DF	IND	Lalrinchhana Tochhawng
—	DF	IND	Akashdeep Singh
—	DF	IND	Akhil Verma
—	MF	IND	Amandeep Singh
—	FW	IND	Luntinmang Haokip
—	MF	IND	Cavin Lobo {{Fs player\|other=\|no=\|nat=IND\|pos=DF\|name=[[Ruivah Hormipam]}}

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW	ENG	Jay Hart (at Punjab FC Reserves)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player

Records

Seasons

Season	Div.	Tms.	Pos.	Attendance/G	Federation Cup/Super Cup	Durand Cup	AFC Champions League	AFC Cup
As Minerva Punjab F.C.
2015–16	IL2D	10	2	–	DNP
2016–17	IL	10	9	2,757	DNP	Group Stage	DNP
2017–18	IL	10	1	5,736	Round of 16	DNP	Preliminary Round 2	Group Stage
2018–19	IL	11	9	5,624	DNP
As Punjab F.C.
2019–20	IL	11	3	3,945	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
As RoundGlass Punjab F.C.
2020–21	IL	11	–	–	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Key

Tms. = Number of teams
Pos. = Position in league
Attendance/G = Average league attendance

Seasons by season

As of 2 November 2017

Year	I-League									Federation Cup	AFC Champions League	Top Scorer(s)
Year	Div	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Pos.	Federation Cup	AFC Champions League	Player(s)	Goals
As Minerva Punjab F.C.
2015–16	IL2	18	11	4	3	30	14	37	2nd	DNP	DNP	Kareem Omolaja	4
2016–17	IL	18	2	7	9	17	33	13	9th			Loveday Enyinnaya; Kareem Omolaja	3
2017–18	IL	18	11	2	5	24	16	35	1st			Chencho Gyeltshen	7
2018–19	IL	20	4	6	10	10	19	18	9th			Lancine Touré Philip Njoku William Opoku	2
As Punjab F.C.
2019–20	IL	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

DNP − Did not play

Head coach's record

updated as of now

Name	Nationality	From	To	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Win%
Surinder Singh	India	2015	2017	36	13	11	12	47	47	036.11
Khogen Singh	India	2017	2018	19	11	2	6	24	16	057.89
Paul Munster	Northern Ireland	2018	2019	16	3	5	8	8	15	018.75
Sachin Badadhe	India	2019	2019	2	1	0	1	1	4	050.00
Yan Law	India	2019	2020	5	2	2	1	8	8	040.00
Curtis Fleming	Ireland	2020	-	0	0	0	0	0	0	!—

Team management

As of 15 June 2020.

Position	Name
Technical Director	Nikolaos Topoliatis^[6]
Head Coach	Curtis Fleming^[7]
Assistant Coach	Floyd Pinto
Physiotherapist	Avinash jaiswal

Reserves and Youth

Honours & Titles

Domestic

I-League

Champions (1): 2017–18

I-League 2nd Division

Runner-up (1): 2015–16

Punjab State Super Football League

Champions (2): 2018, 2019

Continental record

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2019	AFC Champions League	Preliminary round 2	Saipa	4–0
2019	AFC Cup	Group E	Chennaiyin	1–1	0–0	3rd
			Abahani Limited Dhaka	0–1	2–2
			Manang Marshyangdi Club	2–2	1–1

References

^ "Something never done before in I-League! Ranjit Bajaj sets history with sale of Punjab FC". Retrieved 7 April 2020.
^ "Something never done before in I-League! Ranjit Bajaj sets history with sale of Punjab FC | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
^ "Minerva Punjab renamed as Punjab Football Club". Sportstar. The Hindu. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
^ "I-League Club Minerva Punjab FC Renamed as Punjab Football Club". News18. PTI. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
^ "Squad". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
^ "Punjab FC rope in Nikolaos Topoliatis as new technical director | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
^ "Former Middlesbrough manager Curtis Fleming set to take charge at Punjab FC | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 15 June 2020.

[1] "Something never done before in I-League! Ranjit Bajaj sets history with sale of Punjab FC". Retrieved 7 April 2020.

[2] "Something never done before in I-League! Ranjit Bajaj sets history with sale of Punjab FC | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 7 April 2020.

[3] "Minerva Punjab renamed as Punjab Football Club". Sportstar. The Hindu. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.

[4] "I-League Club Minerva Punjab FC Renamed as Punjab Football Club". News18. PTI. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.

[5] "Squad". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 December 2017.

[6] "Punjab FC rope in Nikolaos Topoliatis as new technical director | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 23 September 2020.

[7] "Former Middlesbrough manager Curtis Fleming set to take charge at Punjab FC | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 15 June 2020.

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