The 2018–19 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League (Nepali: शहीद स्मारक ए डिभिजन लीग २०७५) season, also known as Pulsar Martyr's Memorial A-Division League for sponsorship reasons, was the 42nd edition of the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League since its establishment in 1954/55. A total of 16 teams competed in the league. The season began on 29 September 2018 and concluded on 8 January 2019.[2][3] It was the first top division league held since the 2015 National League due to aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.[4] On 16 September 2018, it was decided that there will be no relegation, however the two bottom placed teams would have two and one points deducted respectively in the following season.[5]
| Season | 2018–19 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 29 September 2018 – 8 January 2019 |
| Champions | Manang Marshyangdi Club |
| 2019 AFC Cup | Manang Marshyangdi Club |
| Matches played | 91 |
| Goals scored | 226 (2.48 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Afeez Oladipo Bharat Khawas Ranjit Dhimal (7 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Nepal Police Club 5–0 Friends Club (14 December 2018) |
| Highest scoring | New Road Team 5–5 Machhindra FC (31 December 2018) |
| Longest winning run | 12 matches Manang Marshyangdi Club |
| Longest unbeaten run | 12 matches Manang Marshyangdi Club |
| Longest winless run | 9 matches Machhindra Football Club New Road Team |
| Longest losing run | 8 matches New Road Team |
2019-20 →
All statistics correct as of 8 January 2019. | |
Manang Marshyangdi Club were the defending champions and successfully defended their title on 28 December with two games to spare.[6]
Teams edit
A total of 14 teams, all based in the Kathmandu Valley, contested the league.[2] Four teams from other parts of Nepal; Jhapa XI, Morang XI, Lumbini F.C. and Far Western F.C., were initially supposed to participate in the league announced initially for 2017.[7] The teams had previously participated in the 2015 National League.[4]
On the other side, six teams, that did not participate in the 2015 league, made their comebacks in the league after participating in the 2013-14 season: Friends Club, Himalayan Sherpa Club, Jawalakhel Youth Club, Machhindra Football Club, Sankata BSC and Saraswoti Youth Club.[4]
As there was no season in the previous year, teams from two editions of the Martyr's Memorial B-Division League were promoted into this season.[citation needed]
Team changes edit
| Promoted from | Promoted from | Relegated to |
|---|---|---|
| Brigade Boys Club | Chyasal Youth Club New Road Team |
Ranipokhari Corner Team Boys Union Club |
Location edit
| Team | Location | Previous Season[a] |
|---|---|---|
| Himalayan Sherpa Club | Kathmandu | 7th |
| Machhindra Football Club | 2nd | |
| Manang Marshyangdi Club | 1st | |
| Nepal APF Club | 6th | |
| Nepal Army Club | 10th | |
| Nepal Police Club | 4th | |
| New Road Team | 2nd (2016 B-Division) | |
| Sankata BSC | 5th | |
| Saraswati Youth Club | 9th | |
| Brigade Boys Club | Lalitpur | 1st (2014 B-Division) |
| Chyasal Youth Club | 1st (2016 B-Division) | |
| Friends Club | 8th | |
| Jawalakhel Youth Club | 11th | |
| Three Star Club | 3rd |
Personnel and kits edit
| Team | Head Coach | Captain | Kit Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brigade Boys Club |  Ujjen Shrestha[8]
|
Dilen Loktam
|
|
| Chyasal Youth Club | Raju Kaji Shakya[9]
|
Devendra Tamang
|
Valley Construction |
| Friends Club | Ramesh Maharjan
|
Dhiraj Shrestha
|
Nepal Investment Bank Limited, Panchakanya Group[10] |
| Himalayan Sherpa Club | Subas Limbu
|
Man Bahadur Tamang
|
Harvest Moon |
| Jawalakhel Youth Club | Raj Kumar KC[11]
|
Ajay Thapa
|
Grand Master XXX Rum |
| Machhindra Football Club | Nishan Shrestha (caretaker)
|
Uttam Gurung
|
|
| Manang Marshyangdi Club |  Fuja Tope[12] and Suman Shrestha[13]
|
Biraj Maharjan
|
Signature[14] |
| Nepal APF Club | Rajendra Tamang[15]
|
Nabin Lama
|
Agni Mahindra[16] |
| Nepal Army Club | Nabin Neupane
|
Bharat Khawas
|
Bajaj Pulsar[17] |
| Nepal Police Club | Ananta Raj Thapa
|
Bhola Nath Silwal
|
|
| New Road Team | Maheshwor Mulmi[18]
|
Prabin Kumar Sainju
|
|
| Sankata BSC | Salyan Khadgi
|
Ravi Silwal
|
CMG Club[19] |
| Saraswati Youth Club | Pradip Nepal
|
Raj Kumar Ghising
|
|
| Three Star Club | Meghraj KC
|
Bikram Lama
|
Ruslan Vodka[20] |
Head coaching changes edit
| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machhindra Football Club | Dhaneshwor Prajapati
|
Mutual consent | 1 December 2018 | 11th | Nishan Shrestha (caretaker)
|
1 December 2018 |
Foreign players edit
On 16 May 2018, the All Nepal Football Association announced that the number of foreigners for each club would be four.[3] One of those had to be from one of the countries of the SAARC Region.[21]
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | SAARC Player |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brigade Boys Club | Kazeem Adegoke Busari[22]
|
Tajudeen Adukune Busari[22]
|
Abdu Kareem Nsiah[22]
|
|
| Chyasal Youth Club |  Sergio Fils Chico[23]
|
 Florent Koara[24]
|
||
| Friends Club | Fofana Brahiman
|
 Bobby Ogolla Odongo
|
 Mohammed Nurul Karim[25]
| |
| Himalayan Sherpa Club | Dady Junior Wamba
|
Patrick Private Goha
|
Ulrich Siewe
|
|
| Jawalakhel Youth Club | Olalaken Afeez Lawal
|
 Fofana Fode
|
 Adama Doumbia
|
|
| Machhindra Football Club | Vassodia Diamande
|
Alaba Ademolo Aderibigbe
|
Saheed Obenga Anifowose
|
|
| Manang Marshyangdi Club | Afeez Oladipo[26]
|
Oluwaunmi Somide Adelaja[27]
|
 Victor Kamhuka
|
 Muhammed Asif[28]
|
| Nepal APF Club | ||||
| Nepal Army Club | ||||
| Nepal Police Club | ||||
| New Road Team | Christian Basile Kameni
|
Moshood Opeyemi Agboola
|
Kouassi Jean Didier
|
|
| Sankata BSC | Norbert Cedric Aba[29]
|
Maxwell Ellon
|
Ernest Tampi
|
|
| Saraswati Youth Club | Olusola Khederi Ibrahim
|
Victor Amobi
|
Francis Okechukwu
|
|
| Three Star Club | Ajayi Martins Kayode[30]
|
Peter Segun[30]
|
Messoumbe Abang Albert
|
Venues edit
The league was played centrally in three venues in two cities in the Kathmandu Valley. Nepal's main football stadium, Dasharath Rangasala was unavailable, as it was not yet reconstructed following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.
| Lalitpur | Kathmandu |
|---|---|
| ANFA Complex[31] | Halchowk Stadium[31] |
| Capacity: 4,000 | Capacity: 3,500 |
.JPG)
|
League table edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manang Marshyangdi Club (C) | 13 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 7 | +16 | 36 | Qualification for 2019 AFC Cup group stage |
| 2 | Sankata BSC | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 28 | |
| 3 | Three Star Club | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 26 | |
| 4 | Nepal Army Club | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 25 | |
| 5 | APF Club | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 14 | +6 | 23 | |
| 6 | Nepal Police Club | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 19 | |
| 7 | Himalayan Sherpa Club | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 17 | |
| 8 | Chyasal Youth Club | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 15 | +2 | 16 | |
| 9 | Saraswoti Youth Club | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 20 | −8 | 14 | |
| 10 | Jawalakhel Youth Club | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 13 | |
| 11 | Friends Club | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 25 | −12 | 12 | |
| 12 | Brigade Boys Club | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 21 | −9 | 10 | |
| 13 | Machhindra FC | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 24 | −13 | 7 | |
| 14 | New Road Team | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 26 | −14 | 7 |
Positions by round edit
| Leader and qualification to AFC Cup |
Source: ANFA
Season statistics edit
- As of 8 January 2019[32]
Top scorers edit
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Afeez Oladipo
|
Manang Marshyangdi Club | 7 |
| Bharat Khawas
|
Nepal Army Club | ||
| Ranjit Dhimal
|
Three Star Club | ||
| 2 | Yubraj Khadka
|
APF Club | 6 |
| Biswash Shrestha
|
Himalayan Sherpa Club | ||
| Ranjan Bista
|
Three Star Club | ||
| 3 | Anjan Bista
|
Manang Marshyangdi Club | 5 |
| Amit Tamang
|
Sankata BSC |
Clean sheets edit
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bikesh Kuthu
|
Nepal Army Club | 7 |
| 2 | Bishal Shrestha
|
Manang Marshyangdi Club | 6 |
| Alan Neupane
|
Three Star Club | ||
| 3 | Raja Babu Thapa
|
Sankata BSC | 5 |
| 4 | Kishor Giri
|
Himalayan Sherpa Club | 4 |
| Shatrughan Chaudhary
|
Nepal Police Club | ||
| 5 | Sagar Raya
|
Brigade Boys Club | 3 |
| Dinesh Thapa Magar
|
Chyasal Youth Club | ||
| Dev Limbu
|
Friends Club | ||
| Takendra Thapa
|
Jawalakhel Youth Club | ||
| Deep Karki
|
Machhindra FC | ||
| Pradeep Bhandari
|
Saraswoti Youth Club | ||
| 6 | Raju Yogi
|
APF Club | 2 |
| 7 | Amrit Kumar Chaudhary
|
APF Club | 1 |
| Arpan Karki
|
Nepal Police Club | ||
| Sojit Gurung
|
New Road Team |
Discipline edit
Player edit
- Most yellow cards: 5
Adama Doumbia (Jawalakhel Youth Club)
Afeez Oladipo (Manang Marshyangdi Club)
- Most red cards: 1
Ashish Gurung (Himalayan Sherpa Club)- Bishwash Shrestha (Himalayan Sherpa Club)
- Bishwash Udas (APF Club)
- Francis Okechukwu (Saraswoti Youth Club)
- Gaurab Budhathoki (Chyasal Youth Club)
- Kuldip Karki (Jawalakhel Youth Club)
Maxwell Ellon (Sankata BSC)
Muhammed Asif (Manang Marshyangdi Club)- Santosh Sahukhala (Chyasal Youth Club)
- Susan Lama (Saraswoti Youth Club)
Team edit
- Most yellow cards: 21
- Most red cards: 2
Awards edit
| Award | Winner[33] | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Best Coach | Suman Shrestha
|
Manang Marshyangdi Club |
| Best Goalkeeper | Bishal Shrestha
|
Manang Marshyangdi Club |
| Best Defender | Ranjit Dhimal
|
Three Star Club |
| Best Midfielder | Heman Gurung
|
Manang Marshyangdi Club |
| Best Forward | Bharat Khawas
|
Nepal Army Club |
| Emerging Player | Bikash Khawas[34]
|
Nepal Army Club |
Broadcast rights edit
Notes edit
- ^ unless denoted otherwise, this refers to the 2013-14 season
References edit
- ^ "16 teams in 'A' Division League". The Kathmandu Post. Archived from the original on 2017-10-14. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
- ^ a b "ANFA Announces Date For Martyr's Memorial A Division League". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-15. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
- ^ a b Longtail-e-media. "News-ANFA". the-anfa.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
- ^ a b c "League to resume in September". The Kathmandu Post. 17 May 2018. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "Martyr's Memorial A Division League Winners To Get Rs 50 Lakh !". 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
- ^ "'A' Division League: MMC secure record eighth title". The Kathmandu Post. 28 December 2018. Archived from the original on 12 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ "16 teams in 'A' Division League". Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
- ^ "BBC coach Ujjen Shrestha: Target Is To Finish Top Eight". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-28. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
- ^ "शाक्य च्यासलको मुख्य प्रशिक्षकमा अनुबन्धित | Hamro Khelkud". www.hamrokhelkud.com. Archived from the original on 2018-11-08. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
- ^ "Friends Club Signs Sponsorship Deal With Nepal Investment Bank Limited". GoalNepal. Archived from the original on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
- ^ "JYC Assistant Coach Naresh Thapa: Target Is To Finish Top Six". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
- ^ "MMC Believes On Fuja Tope For Martyr's Memorial A Division League". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
- ^ "MMC Coach Fuja Tope: ANFA Is Working Hard To Put Every Leg In Right Hole (Interview)". GoalNepal. Archived from the original on 2018-12-29. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
- ^ "MMC Finalizes Squad For A Division League; Signs Jersey Sponsor With Signature". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
- ^ "After Taking Helm Of APF, Coach Rajendra Tamang Says,". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
- ^ Republica. "APF, Mahindra renew five-year deal". My Republica. Archived from the original on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
- ^ Republica. "Army inks sponsorship deal with Pulsar". My Republica. Archived from the original on 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
- ^ "New Road Team Signs Nishan Limbu, Goalie Sojit Gurung". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ "Main Sponsor CMG Club Hands Over Sporting Gears To Sankata Club". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
- ^ "Three Star ink Rs 6.6m sponsorship deal". kathmandupost.ekantipur.com. Archived from the original on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
- ^ "ANFA Applies SAARC Quota For Martyr's Memorial A Division League". GoalNepal.com. 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
- ^ a b c "ब्रिगेड ब्वाइजले तीन विदेशी खेलाडी क्लबमा भित्र्यायो". Online Khabar. Archived from the original on 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
- ^ "Chyasal Youth Club Signs Chico For A Division League". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-10-17. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
- ^ "Pulsar A Division League: Chyasal Youth Club Snaps Florent Koara". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 2018-11-19. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
- ^ "Friends Club Signs Bangladeshi Goalkeeper Under SAARC Quota". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
- ^ "Afeez Oladipo Is Back To Manang Marshyangdi Club". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
- ^ "MMC Finalizes Squad For A Division League; Signs Jersey Sponsor With Signature". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
- ^ "Manang Marshyangdi Club Signs Muhammed Asif From Calcutta Customs". GoalNepal.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
- ^ "This Cameroonian wanted to play football in the big leagues of Europe. Then he landed in Nepal". The Kathmandu Post. 29 December 2018. Archived from the original on 12 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ a b "Ruslan Three Star Club Announces Squad For Martry's Memorial A Div League". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ^ a b "Martyr's Memorial A Division League To Be Played In Two Venues". goalnepal.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
- ^ "Player Stats Pulsar Martyr's Memorial 'A' Division League 2018". Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "Bharat Khawas Adjudged The Best Forward; Suman Shrestha Receives Award Of Best Coach". GoalNepal. Archived from the original on 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
- ^ "Bikash Khawas Receives An Award Of Emerging Player". GoalNepal. Archived from the original on 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
- ^ "Nepalese A League returns after 3-year hiatus, live on mycujoo". Inside World Football. 28 September 2018. Archived from the original on 20 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
External links edit
- Nepal 2018/19: A Division League on RSSSF