Founded: 20th July 2013
Owners: JSW Group
Stadium: Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru
Titles: 1
About
Following their huge success in the I-League, Bengaluru FC decided to venture into their Indian Super League in the 2017-18 season. Despite being new to the ISL atmosphere, the Southern giants managed to grab the runners-up spot in their maiden season in the league, which was a hint of things to come.
The determination and passion of owner Parth Jindal has been immense in taking the Souther Giants to newer heights since their inception. BFC won their first Indian Super League title in the 2018-19 season under the tutelage of Carles Cuadrat and have since managed to break into the elite system with ease while the others have struggled significantly.
The rapid rise of Bengaluru has also witnessed the arrival of some famous names at the club with the likes of Alberto Roca who later went on to join the Spanish giants FC Barcelona.
Bengaluru FC: Results in Indian Super League
| Year | Result |
| 2017-18 | Runners up |
| 2018-19 | Champions |
| 2019-20 | Semifinals |
| 2020-21 | 7th |
Bengaluru proved their title credentials in the second year itself as they lifted the ISL defeating FC Goa in the final. They managed a semifinal appearance in the following year but had to finish in a disappointing 7th place in the last season.
They defeated FC Goa in the 2018-19 season with Rahul Bheke scoring the solitary goal in the extra time. Barring the last season where they failed to finish in the playoffs, Bengaluru FC have managed a playoffs finish in every season since they debuted in the Indian Super League.
They fell short in their first season when they couldn’t manage to hold Chennaiyin FC from cruising away to the title in their home stadium. Sunil Chhetri and Miku scored as Bengaluru finished as the runners up in their first stint in the cash-rich league.
Bengaluru FC: Top Scorers in ISL
| Year | Player | Appearances | Goals |
| 2017-18 | Miku | 20 | 15 |
| 2018-19 | Sunil Chhetri | 19 | 9 |
| 2019-20 | Sunil Chhetri | 17 | 9 |
| 2020-21 | Sunil Chhetri | 20 | 8 |
Sunil Chhetri has been a revelation since he joined Bengaluru FC. He needs no introduction to the Indian football fans and his consistency and hard work have been the key to his success. Despite the football club not doing well last season Chhetri still managed to net 8 goals last season which speak volumes about his talent.
Sunil has been a pioneer in Indian football. He is currently the second highest scorer in International football after Cristiano Ronaldo and his work rate for the club has been monumental. The Indian skipper has inspired millions of people to take up football as a profession and will continue to entertain people as long as he can.
Miku has been a rage since his arrival to Indian football. In 39 matches he scored 25 goals for Bengaluru in two seasons.
Bengaluru FC: ISL 2021-22 Fixtures
| Date | Day | Fixture | Venue | Time (IST) |
| November 20, 2021 | Saturday | BFC vs NorthEast United FC | Athletic Stadium, Bambolim | 7:30 PM IST |
| November 24, 2021 | Wednesday | Odisha FC vs BFC | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| November 28, 2021 | Sunday | BFC vs Kerala Blasters | Athletic Stadium, Bambolim | 7:30 PM IST |
| December 4, 2021 | Saturday | BFC vs Mumbai City FC | Athletic Stadium, Bambolim | 9:30 PM IST |
| December 8, 2021 | Wednesday | Hyderabad FC vs BFC | Athletic Stadium, Bambolim | 7:30 PM IST |
| December 11, 2021 | Saturday | FC Goa vs BFC | Athletic Stadium, Bambolim | 9:30 PM IST |
| December 16, 2021 | Thursday | BFC vs ATK Mohun Bagan | Athletic Stadium, Bambolim | 7:30 PM IST |
| December 20, 2021 | Monday | Jamshedpur FC vs BFC | Athletic Stadium, Bambolim | 7:30 PM IST |
| December 30, 2021 | Thursday | Chennaiyin FC vs BFC | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 4, 2022 | Tuesday | BFC vs SC East Bengal | Athletic Stadium, Bambolim | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 10, 2022 | Monday | Mumbai City FC vs BFC | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 15, 2022 | Saturday | ATK Mohun Bagan vs BFC | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 23, 2022 | Sunday | BFC vs FC Goa | Bambolim Athletic Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 26, 2022 | Wednesday | BFC vs Chennaiyin FC | Bambolim Athletic Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 30, 2022 | Sunday | Kerala Blasters vs BFC | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| February 5, 2022 | Saturday | BFC vs Jamshedpur FC | Bambolim Athletic Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| February 9, 2022 | Wednesday | NorthEast United FC vs BFC | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| February 17, 2022 | Thursday | BFC vs Odisha FC | Bambolim Athletic Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| February 23, 2022 | Wednesday | SC East Bengal vs BFC | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| March 1, 2022 | Tuesday | BFC vs Hyderabad FC | Bambolim Athletic Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
Bengaluru FC: Squad for ISL 2021-22
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Lara Sharma, Sharon Padattil
Defenders: Ajith Kamaraj, Alan Costa, Biswa Darjee, Ashique Kuruniyan, Namgyal Bhutia, Parag Shrivas, Pratik Chowdhary, Roshan Naorem, Sarthak Golui, Wungngayam Muirang, Yrondu Musavu-King
Midfielders: Ajay Chhetri, Bruno Silva, Damaitphang Lyngdoh, Danish Farooq, Iman Basafa, Jayesh Rane, Rohit Kumar, Suresh Wangjam
Forwards: Akashdeep Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh, Edmund Lalrindika, Cleiton Silva, Bidyashagar Khangembam, Harmanpreet Singh, Leon Augustine, Prince Ibara, Siva Narayanan
Bengaluru saw the arrival of a number of players with the likes of Bruno Ramires, Iman Basafa, Prince Ibara and Bidyashagar Singh to their side in the summer transfer market. Sunil Chhetri has been with the club since day one and last year only extended his stay at the club by two more years.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Udanta Singh and Sunil Chhetri have been the longest servants of the club and irrespective of the results they are likely to stay at the club for a few more years.
BFC: Interesting ISL stats
Bengaluru achieved the most points in a season when they claimed 40 points after the league stage in the 2017-18 season. They also have had the record most number of wins in a single ISL season, when they notched up 13 wins.
Carles Cuadrat currently holds the longest winning run for a team when he led Bengaluru to six consecutive wins in the 2017-18 season.
BFC: Rivalries
Being one of the famous clubs in the southern region Bengaluru’s main rival is Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League. The rivalries between Kerala Blasters’ fan club Manjappada and Bengaluru fan club West Block Blues are pretty common in social media these days and it reaches a new peak on matchdays.
Another Southern biggie Chennayin FC are also regarded as one of the closest rivals to Bengaluru FC. Both the teams played the final in the 2017-18 season when Chennayin got the better of Bengaluru in a closely contested affair.
Bengaluru FC vs Kerala Blasters Head to Head
| Matches Played | Won | Lost | Tied |
| 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
Bengaluru FC vs Chennaiyin FC Head to Head
| Matches Played | Won | Lost | Tied |
| 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
Road Ahead for BFC
The emergence of youngsters like Suresh Wangjam and Udanta Singh has been very effective when it comes to the betterment of Indian football. Suresh came through the ranks of Indian Arrows and joined the club on a free transfer in 2019. Since then he has been a regular affair in the Bengaluru midfield.
Udanta joined Bengaluru back in 2014 and has been an integral part of the Bengaluru attacking unit. His menacing runs through the right flank has often terrorised the opponent defence and he played a key role in Bengaluru’s ISL triumph.
How Bengaluru FC have shaped themselves following their introduction to Indian football is beyond imagination. In the middle of the pandemic, it sometimes becomes very difficult to run a football club especially if the club is heavily backed out by supporters both on and off the field.
Owner Parth Jindal reiterated the need to cut costs as their inability to generate more revenue has been damaging their spirits since the start of this bio-bubble conundrum. A number of clubs had already felt the burden of this huge financial mess and the Bengaluru football club also could follow suit soon if the situations still persist.
Their off-field problems might have reflected on their on-field results as they have not been doing well in this ongoing season with just 3 wins and it remains to be seen how they approach their upcoming matches.
