Pune FC: Difference between revisions

Pune FC

Logo
Full name	Pune Football Club
Nickname(s)	Red Lizards
Founded	August 2007
Ground	Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex
Capacity	20,000
Owner	Ashok Piramal Group
Chairman	Dr B. Ashok Kumar
Manager	Derrick Pereira
League	I-League
2010-11	I-League, 5th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Pune Football Club is an Indian football club based in Pune. The club was established in 2007, and gained promotion to the I-League in the 2009-10 season.^[1] Pune FC are also known as one of the first football clubs to not follow the Institutional Football format that was seen more in I-League. They have also created the "Maha Derby" which takes place between Pune FC and Mumbai FC. In the last two years though Pune FC fans have started to consider Kingfisher East Bengal FC as their main rivals.

Pune FC is the one of the youngest clubs in the I-League, having been established in August, 2007 by the Ashok Piramal Group. As their name suggests, they are based in Pune, Maharashtra, and play their home games at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex. The club was formed with the intention of putting the city of Pune on India’s footballing map.

There first season in the I-League was called a major success as Pune FC finished in 3rd place in the 2009-10 I-League season. But the 2010-11 I-League season was not as good as Pune FC dropped down the table to 5th place after starting the season with one win out of eleven games which saw Pune FC in the relegation zone, but a good luck of form and the return of the India national football team goalkeeper and Pune FC captain Subrata Pal saw Pune FC climb back up the table and finish respectably.

The Logo of the club is a shield with a Ghorpad (Monitor Lizard) engulfing a football. During the Battle of Sinhagad, Chhatrapati Shivaji's general, Tanaji Malusare, used Yeshwanti (Shivaji's pet ghorpad) to scale the steep walls of Sinhagad Fort. Similarly, the ghorpad on the logo is meant to serve as an inspiration to the club, to overcome all obstacles and be successful in India and Asia. The colours used in the logo are red and gold. The red symbolises aggression, danger and passion and the gold symbolises success and victory.

Pune FC uses the small yet spectacular Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex as its venue for I-League matches.^[2] All the I-League matches are scheduled at 7:00 PM under floodlights. The club has built its own training pitches on the outskirts of Pune at an area called Mamurdi, near where the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway ends.

Pune FC are well supported by passionate and often very loud fans who come in numbers for every Pune FC game. In due course of time the slogan "Who are we... PFC!" has become a hit. Lots of kids turn out for a match which is a positive sign for football development in Pune.

Pune FC is one of the new generation of Indian Football clubs which are being promoted by different corporate groups. The Ashok Piramal Group, which has diverse business interests, established Pune FC in August 2007.^[1] The club was named after the city of its origin in keeping with the tradition of many international football clubs which are highly successful in drawing the crowds.

• 2007-present: Ashok Piramal Group

• 2007–present: Peninsula Land Ltd

• 2007-present: Mazamba

• 2007–present: Golds Gym

• 2007–present: Radio City

• 2007-present: Sakaal

• 2007–present: Herbalife

• 2007–Present: Polar

PFC TV is an online tv channel created by Pune FC that allows fans to watch Pune FC match highlights, news shows, player interviews, and more. PFC TV can be watched on punefc.com or on there youtube account PFCTVonline. Pune FC are known to be the first Indian football team in India to do this.

As of 18 June 2011 [1]

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 Subrata Pal 2 DF  IND Othallo Tabia 3 DF  IND Caitano Costa 4 DF  IND Selwyn Fernandes 6 MF  IND Shanmugam Venkatesh 7 MF  IND Krishnan Nair Ajayan 8 MF  JPN Arata Izumi 9 FW  BRA Edmar Figueira 10 FW  GUI Mandjou Keita 12 MF  IND Velington Rocha 13 GK  IND Balaji Narasimhan 14 MF  IND Gunashekar Vignesh 15 DF  IND Gurjinder Kumar

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 DF  IND Sunil Kumar 17 DF  IND Kamaljeet Kumar 18 MF  IND Asim Hassan 19 MF  IND Raviraj Kurne 20 MF  IND Paresh Shivalkar 21 DF  SEN Lamine Tamba 22 MF  IND Lester Fernandez 23 FW  IND Sandesh Gadkari 25 MF  IND Jayaseelan Prasad 27 DF  IND Rollingson Hungyo 28 FW  IND Reisangpemmi Kasomwoshi 29 FW  IND Singam Subhash Singh 31 GK  IND Soram Poirei Angamba - DF  IND Baldeep Singh Junior - DF  IND Anas Edathodika

Pune Football Club is set to launch the Peninsula Pune Football Club Academy (PPFCA) on July 18 2011. [2]

On the Pune FC website it said that In doing so [opening the academy] Pune FC will incorporate and sync the dire need of aspiring footballers go through a systemized youth development program, which eventually will lead to produce talent for both - the Indian market and Pune FC themselves. [3]

The Academy will be headed by PFC Head of Youth Development, Ranjan Choudhary, and will comprise of 30 footballers who will form make the first batch of the academy.

They also said that the two-year residential program shall have the academy players based at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Hotel, Balewadi and will travel to the Pune FC training ground based at Mamurdi to train. [4]

Speaking about the academy, Pune FC Head of Operations Chirag Tanna, said, “PFC is confident of a full placement of the young footballers in the Division I and Division II of the I–League, given the 80 percent placement they have had for the previous batch of the U–19 talents in 2010-2011.” [5]

As of 18 June 2011.

Team Management Table

Name	Position
Derrick Pereira	Head Coach
Mahesh Lotlikar	Assistant Coach
Ranjan Chowdhary	Head of Youth Development
Norbert Gonsalves	Head Coach, Youths

Team managers of Pune FC and their statistics in all tournaments

Name	Nationality	From	To	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Win%	Honours
Stewart Hall	England	September 2007	February 2008	2	1	0	1	1	1	050.00
Bernard McNally	England	February 8th 2008	May 8th 2008	14	6	0	8	24	14	042.86
Stewart Hall	England	July 8th 2008	May 9th 2009	17	13	2	2	34	3	076.47
Derrick Pereira	India	June 9th 2009	present	52	19	21	12	70	50	036.54

• Official Pune FC Website

Template:I League 2007-08 teamlist