Sreenidi Deccan FC

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Sreenidi Deccan Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Hyderabad, Telangana.[2][3][4] It was established on 1 January 2015 as a football academy in Hyderabad, and later was launched from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh in 2021.[5] The club is currently competing in the I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system.[6][7][8]

Sreenidi Deccan
Full nameSreenidi Deccan Football Club[1]
Nickname(s)The Deccan Warriors
Short nameSDFC
Founded1 January 2015; 9 years ago (2015-01-01) (as Sreenidhi FC)
GroundDeccan Arena
Capacity1,500
OwnerSreenidhi Group
Head coachMehrajuddin Wadoo
LeagueI-League
2023–24I-League, 2nd of 13
WebsiteClub website
Current season

On 5 June 2020, All India Football Federation (AIFF) issued an invitation to accept bids for new clubs to join the I-League[9] and on 12 August, Sreenidi Deccan FC was granted playing rights directly in 2021–22 I-League.[10][11][12]

History

Formation and journey

Sreenidi football academy was founded in January 2015 in Aziznagar. It received the first accreditation from the AIFF in June 2019 and in its initial years the club played in the football leagues for the age groups of U13, U15 & U18.[13][14]

On 5 June 2020, the AIFF issued an invitation to accept bids for new clubs to join the league,[15] and on 12 August Sreenidi Deccan were granted playing rights directly in 2021–22 I-League.[16][17] Sreenidi Deccan Football Club was formally launched on 7 July 2021 in Visakhapatnam by state sports minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao.[18] In 2021, they participated in the IFA Shield and reached the final, losing to Real Kashmir by 2–1 and finished as runners-up.[19][20]

The club began its league campaign on 27 December against NEROCA with a 3–2 defeat.[21] In the next game, they defeated TRAU by 3–1 with a brace from Colombian striker David Castañeda, and later lost 3–1 to Mohammedan.[22] After finishing fourth in group stage with six wins in twelve matches, they moved to the championship stage. At the end, the club finished their maiden league campaign in third place with 32 points in 18 matches, and won the last match against Churchill Brothers on 14 May.[23][24] Later in November, the club participated in Baji Rout Cup in Odisha and reached semi-finals.[25]

In August 2022, Portuguese manager Carlos Vaz Pinto was appointed head coach.[26][27] The club retained their key players including Colombian striker David Castañeda Muñoz.[28] In 2022–23 I-League season, Sreenidi Deccan achieved second position.[29][30][31] After winning qualifying matches, they entered into the 2023 Indian Super Cup,[32][33] and began their journey with a 1–1 draw with Bengaluru.[34][35][36] The club later thrashed Kerala Blasters by 2–0.[37][38] In the last group stage match against RoundGlass Punjab, Sreenidi lost 1–0 and failed to progress to the semi-finals.[39][40]

Sreenidi Deccan players celebrating their home match win in I-League in 2024

On 29 October 2023, Sreenidi Deccan entered into a strategic partnership with Portuguese giant S.L. Benfica; primary focuses brought on strength and conditioning, nutrition and psychology, alongside youth developments in coming years.[41] On that day, the club began their 2023–24 league season with style, thrashing NEROCA 4–0.[42] They ended their league campaign as runners-up, narrowly missing the opportunity to secure promotion to the Indian Super League.[43]

Stadium

Sreenidi Deccan uses Deccan Arena as their home ground, which is located in Sreenidi Football Villa, Aziznagar, Hyderabad, and was inaugurated in November 2022.[44]

The club when entered into I-League, proposed to use the DYSSR Stadium in Visakhapatnam for home matches, a multi-purpose stadium having capacity of 27,500.[45] Due to COVID-19 pandemic in India, all league games were played in few centralized venues in West Bengal, and the club never used DYSSR Stadium.[46]

Crest, colours & kits

Sreenidi Deccan players in kit (in orange and green), in action against Shillong Lajong, in 2023–24 I-League season.

The primary club colours are orange and green. The primary colours, along with the secondary white colour can be seen on the crest[47] as well as the jerseys. Club's kits were launched by the Visakhapatnam Port Trust chairman K Ramamohana Rao.[45]

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

PeriodKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
2020–2023Nivia[48]Sreenidhi Group[49]
2023–presentVallion Sports[50]

Players

First-team squad

As of 31 January 2024

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

No.Pos. NationPlayer
21FW  INDLalromawia
22DF  BRAEli Sabiá
23GK  INDJaspreet Singh
24DF  INDArijit Bagui
25DF  INDSubhankar Adhikari
26DF  INDSunil Bathala
27DF  INDAbhishek Ambekar
32GK  INDAlbino Gomes
33DF  INDJagdeep Singh
41GK  INDAryan Niraj Lamba
42MF  INDR Lawmnasangzuala
48MF  INDR Lalbiakliana
55DF  INDGurmukh Singh
77MF  NGARilwan Hassan
MF  INDBrandon Vanlalremdika

Personnel

Current technical staff

As of 13 June 2023
RoleNameRefs.
Head coach Mehrajuddin Wadoo
Assistant coach Birendra Thapa
Goalkeeping coach Rafael Gracio
Conditioning coach Jorge Ovando Toledo
Team manager Subhabrata Dey
Performance analyst Alemso Tawsik
Physiotherapist Prabhakaran Nataraj

Management

PositionNameRefs.
Chairman Dr. K. T. Mahhe[51]
Executive director Abhijit Rao Katikaneni[52]
Technical director Fabio Nunes Ferreira[53]

Records and statistics

Season by season

As of 16 April 2023
SeasonLeagueFinalsSuper CupOther competitionsTop scorer(s)
DivisionPldWDLGFGAPtsPosDurand CupPlayer(s)Goals
2021–22I-League189542719323rd David Castañeda10
2022–232213364429422ndGS David Castañeda17

Managers and statistics

As of 16 April 2023

Only competitive matches are taken into account.

NameNationalityFromToPWDLGFGAWin%
Fernando Varela  Spain9 June 202131 May 2022189542719050.00
Carlos Vaz Pinto  Portugal3 August 2022Till date2615475133057.69

Notable players

The following foreign players of Sreenidi Deccan have been capped at senior/youth international level. Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.[54]

Affiliated clubs

The following club is affiliated with Sreenidi Deccan FC:

Honours

League

Cup

Other department

Sreenidi Deccan youth and academy

Sreenidi Deccan have their youth men's football section that participates in various nationwide tournaments. Club's leading football academy is based in Hyderabad.[45] Their U17 team took part in the inaugural 2022–23 U-17 Youth Cup in January 2023.[67][68] Reserve team of the club also took part in prestigious Stafford Challenge Cup in Bangalore.[69][70] Club's U21 team participated in the "south zone" qualifiers of 2023 Reliance Foundation Development League.[71] In December 2023, club's academy gained an 'elite category' accreditation by the All India Football Federation.[72]

Club's academy and international football school are based in Deccan Arena in Hyderabad, and grassroots development programme is headed by Portuguese manager Fabio Ferreira.[73]

Honours

  • TFA C-Division Championship
    • Champions (1): 2022[74]
  • Apollo Tyres Hotfut Youth League (U-14)
    • Champions (1): 2022[75]

See also

Footnotes

References

Cited sources

Further reading