Chennaiyin FC: The Marina Machans

Founded: 28th August 2014

Owners: Vita Dani, Abhishek Bachchan, MS Dhoni

Stadium: Marina Arena, Chennai

Titles: 2

About

Chennaiyin FC became one of the first teams to confirm their participation in the Indian Super League from the very first edition. Backed by the vociferous Chennai support the club has gifted very exciting football over the years.

Abhishek Bachchan and Vita Dani are the owners of the club from its inception and later MS Dhoni joined the bandwagon as he also became one of the co-owners of the club. Besides Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin has remained one of the most popular football clubs in Southern India.

They also have done justice to their pride with two ISL titles to their name but they haven’t been consistent in the last couple of seasons.

Despite the pandemic looming large they have managed to cope with all the shortcomings and have been fielding a strong squad in each of the past few seasons.

Chennaiyin FC: Results in Indian Super League

YearResult
2014-15Semifinals
2015-16Champions
2016-177th
2017-18Champions
2018-1910th
2019-20Runners-up
2020-218th

Chennaiyin managed to reach the playoffs four times and they lifted the ISL title on two occasions so far. They are the most successful South Indian team in the Indian Super League and have been pretty consistent in the ISL. They finished runners up in the 2019-20 season having been beaten by ATK in the final. They failed to qualify for the playoffs last season and finished in 8th place.

Chennaiyin FC: Top Scorers in ISL

YearPlayerAppearanceGoals
2013-14Elano118
2014-15Stiven Mendoza1611
2015-16Dudu135
2017-18Jeje Lalpekhlua209
2018-19Thoi Singh164
2019-20Nerijus Valskis2015
2020-21Isma 164

Stiven Mendoza was one of the most prolific scorers the Indian Super League has ever seen. The striker lit up the ISL with his goals scoring antics as he netted 11 times in 16 matches back in the 2014-15 season.

Nerijus Valskis who recently rejoined Chennaiyin was at his best in the 2019-20 season when he scored 15 goals in 20 matches.

Chennaiyin FC: ISL 2021-22 Fixtures

DateDayFixtureVenueTime (IST)
November 23, 2021TuesdayHyderabad FC vs CFCAthletic Stadium, Bambolim7:30 PM IST
November 29, 2021MondayNorthEast United vs CFCPJN Stadium, Fatorda7:30 PM IST
December 3, 2021FridayCFC vs SC East BengalTilak Maidan Stadium7:30 PM IST
December 11, 2021SaturdayATK Mohun Bagan vs CFC PJN Stadium, Fatorda7:30 PM IST
December 15, 2021WednesdayMumbai City FC vs CFCPJN Stadium, Fatorda7:30 PM IST
December 18, 2021SaturdayCFC vs Odisha FCTilak Maidan Stadium7:30 PM IST
December 22, 2021WednesdayCFC vs Kerala BlastersTilak Maidan Stadium7:30 PM IST
December 30, 2021ThursdayCFC vs Bengaluru FC Tilak Maidan Stadium7:30 PM IST
January 2, 2022 SundayJamshedpur FC vs CFCAthletic Stadium, Bambolim9:30 PM IST
January 8, 2022  SaturdayFC Goa vs CFCAthletic Stadium, Bambolim9:30 PM IST
January 13, 2022ThursdayCFC vs Hyderabad FCJawaharlal Nehru Stadium7:30 PM IST
January 22, 2022SaturdayCFC vs NorthEast United FC Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium7:30 PM IST
January 26, 2022WednesdayBengaluru FC vs CFCBambolim Athletic Stadium7:30 PM IST
February 2, 2022WednesdaySC East Bengal vs CFCTilak Maidan Stadium7:30 PM IST
February 6, 2022SundayCFC vs Mumbai City FCJawaharlal Nehru Stadium7:30 PM IST
February 10, 2022ThursdayCFC vs FC GoaTilak Maidan Stadium7:30 PM IST
February 15, 2022TuesdayKerala Blasters vs CFCTilak Maidan Stadium7:30 PM IST
February 21, 2022MondayCFC vs ATK Mohun BaganTilak Maidan Stadium7:30 PM IST
February 26, 2022SaturdayOdisha FC vs CFCTilak Maidan Stadium7:30 PM IST
March 3, 2022ThursdayCFC vs Jamshedpur FC Tilak Maidan Stadium7:30 PM IST

Chennaiyin FC: Squad for ISL 2021-22

Goalkeepers: Debjit Majumder, Devansh Dabas, Samik Mitra, Vishal Kaith

Defenders: Aqib Nawab, Balaji Ganesan, Deepak Devrani, Davinder Singh, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Reagan Singh, Mohd Sajid Dhot, Narayan Das, Salam Ranjan Singh, Slavko Damjanovic

Midfielders: Anirudh Thapa, Ariel Borysiuk, Edwin Vanspaul, Germanpreet Singh, Johnson Mathews, Ninthoinganba, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Mirlan Murzaev, Subhadip Majhi, Suhail Pasha, Vladimir Koman

Forwards: Jobby Justin, Lukasz Gikiewicz, Mohamed Liyaakath, Nerijus Valskis, Rahim Ali

Chennaiyin FC made some changes to their Indian contingent as they brought in the likes of Narayan Das, Debjit Majumder and Jobby Justin. They also roped in their former forward Nerijus Valskis from Jamshedpur in the winter transfer window.

The likes of Anirudh Thapa has been with the club for a prolonged period and his role has been pivotal for the club.

CFC: Interesting ISL stats

Chennaiyin FC had the record of racking up the fewest points (9) in a single season. They manage to grab just two wins in the 2018-19 season. They also lost the most number of matches (13) in that season, which is also a joint record with NorthEast United.

CFC: Rivalries

Chennaiyin FC have their rivalries with South Indian giants Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC. 

Chennaiyin FC renewed their rivalries with Bengaluru FC when they first met in 2017. Chennaiyin ended as the better team as they defeated Bengaluru 2-1 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. They went on to meet further twice with the last being in the ISL final where Chennayin FC had the last laugh as they emerged winner in a fiercely contested battle.

Between Kerala Blasters and Chennaiyin FC , the latter has been the favourite as they have had the upper hand in most of the matches. The rivalry between their supporters have also made the contest more exciting.

Chennaiyin FC vs Kerala Blasters Head-to-Head

Matches PlayedWonLostTied
17647

Chennaiyin FC vs Bengaluru FC Head to head

Matches PlayedWonLostTied
10352

Road Ahead for CFC

Chennaiyin FC have been pretty consistent in the Indian Super League. They had a season to forget when they finished 8th in the league. But they have improved under the guidance of Bozidar Bandovic.

The team underwent a complete revamp as they welcomed a number of new players to their fold. The renewed vigour of Anirudh Thapa has been helping Chennaiyin FC to shift their gear this season he is finally paying dividends this time. The midfielder joined the club back in 2016 after having a number of underwhelming seasons. But he has been handed the captainship this season and has been on a good run as Chennaiyin are currently one of the favourites for the ISL playoffs.