Red Bull A Division League 2070 BS summary

2014-03-01
Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) clinched seventh league title of Red Bull A Division League on Saturday after 8 years. MMC ended the league with a losing note but they were already secured the first spot with on match in hand. The winner MMC received Rs 75 Lakhs and also get chance to represent Nepal in AFC President’s Cup qualifiers. Meanwhile the surprise packages of A Division, Machhindra Football Club (MFC) secured the second spot and received Rs 45 Lakhs. Defending champions Three Star Club, Nepal Police Club, Sankata Club and Armed Police Force received Rs 25 lakhs, Rs 15 Lakhs, Rs 7 Lakhs and Rs 5 Lakhs respectively.

SN	Name of Club	Cash Prize	Position
1	Manang Marshagdi Club	Rs 75 Lakhs	Winner
2	Machhindra FC Club	Rs 45 Lakhs	Runner Up
3	Three Star Club	Rs 25 Lakhs	Third Position
4	Nepal Police Club	Rs 15 Lakhs	Fourth Position
5	CMG Sankata Club	Rs 7 Lakhs	Fifth Position
6	Armed Police Force	Rs 5 Lakhs	Sixth Position

Similarly, All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) also selected the best individual players and they received Alba YBR 110 Yamaha Bike. The award was dominated by the runner up team, Machhindra FC they bagged three awards among five.

List of individual best players who recieved Yamaha Alba YBR Bike

SN	Name of Player	Club	Position
1	Karna Limbu	Machhindra FC	Best Forward
2	Sushil KC	Machhindra FC	Best Midfielder
3	Hem Gurung	Machhindra FC	Best Defender
4	Bishal Shrestha	Manang Marshyagdi Club	Best Goalkeeper
5	Hari Om Shrestha	Manang Marshyagdi Club	Best Coach

Though ANFA have successfully completed domestic league it does not seem fruitful for Nepali Football. Flop national stars, dominance of foreign players, refereeing controversy, relegation of Ranipokhari Corner Team (RCT), the oldest football club, lack of new talents were the major highlights of the league. Except some national players, most failed to perform as the expectations, defending champions Three Star Club had 11 national players but none of them showed their level in the league. Surprisingly, the foreigners, mostly African players played a vital role in the league. Even a league champions were more depended on them rather than Anil Gurung and Sagar Thapa. African players were instrumental in teams’ to battle to avoid relegation and to battle to clinch the title.  Altogether 30 foreign players played from nine teams and they scored 49 goals out of 221 total goals in the league. National players should ashamed of their performance and should learn from Africans. Anil Gurung, Santosh Shahukhala, Jumanu Rai and Bharat Khawas should learn from African forward Dodoz, Yona Elias and Olawale likewise, Sagar Thapa, Sujal Shrestha, Nirajan Khadka and Jagjeet Shrestha should learn from African defender and midfielder Mbile Stephen, Saheed and Jacob. RCT was the only non- departmental team without foreign players. The biggest upset of the league was the failure of teams to produce new talents. Karna Limbu and Sushil KC were an exception. They played a heroic role in this league both were yet to be capped in national team.

Interesting fact of A Division League 2070 BS

a) Oldest football club of Nepal, RCT was relegated to B Division League

b) Nepal’s dependence upon foreign players for good results

c) Nepali footballers are not playing up to their caliber

d) Sankata African recruit Olwale was the first player to score hat-trick in league

e) Machhindra FC was the only team to win all matches in Super Six League

f) MMC defender Nabin Neupane received Red Card against Three Star in the first league of the tournament and was slapped one year ban

g) Machhindra FC Swedish coach Johan Kalin was the only foreign coach in the league

h) Nepal Police Club newly recruit forward Yugal Kishwor Rai played only 2 matches 

i) RCT started the league with 3 points penalty

League Table of Red Bull A Division League 2070 BS ( 2013/14 AD) 

SN	Team	Match Play	Win	Draw	Loss	Points
1	Manang Marshyagdi Club	17	11	2	4	35
2	Machhindra FC	17	10	4	3	34
3	Three Star Club	17	9	5	3	32
4	Nepal Police Club	17	7	5	5	26
5	Sankata Club	17	6	6	5	24
6	Armed Police Force	17	6	4	7	22
7	Himalyan Sherpa Club	12	4	4	4	16
8	Friends Club	12	4	3	5	15
9	Saraswoti Youth Club	12	4	3	5	15
10	Nepal Army Club	12	2	7	3	13
11	Jawalakhel Youth Club	12	4	1	7	13
12	Ranipokhari Corner Team	12	2	1	9	4
13	Boys Union Club	12	1	1	10	4

              Note: top six teams participated in Super Six League and bottom two teams were relegated

List of highest goal scorer in Red Bull A Division League 2070 BS ( 2013/14 AD) 

SN	Name of Players	Number of Goals	Name of Club
1	Karna Limbu	11	Machhindra FC
2	Santosh Shahukhala	9	Three Star Club
3	Yona Elias	9	Manang Marshyagdi Club
4	Bhola Nath Silwal	7	Nepal Police Club
5	Deepak Rai	7	Manang Marshyagdi Club
6	Anil Gurung	7	Manang Marshyagdi Club
7	Segun Akinade	6	Himalayan Sherpa Club
8	Bharat Shah	6	Nepal Police Club
9	Olawale	6	Sankata Club
10	Pius	6	Saraswoti Youth Club
11	Jumanu Rai	5	Nepal Police Club
12	Rajendra Rawal	5	Armed Police Force
13	Ganesh Lawati	5	Armed Police Force
14	Dodoz	5	Three Star Club