Aizawl FC

Aizawl Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Aizawl, Mizoram. The club competes in I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. Founded in 1984, Aizawl earned entry in I-League in 2015–16 season, after winning the 2015 I-League 2.

Nicknamed "the people's club", it became first club from the Northeast to win a top flight Indian football league. They also participate in Mizoram Premier League. Aizawl also went on to compete in continental stages, while the club appeared in 2017 edition of AFC Cup.

History
Aizawl FC was founded in 1984 in Aizawl, the capital of the Indian state of Mizoram and have since participated in various amateur tournaments. The club is affiliated with Mizoram Football Association (MFA) and is under the ownership of Robert Romawia Royte.

In January 2012, they were officially certified by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to participate in the I-League 2nd Division, then second tier of football league system in the country. This move would begin a new chapter for Aizawl Football Club as they would officially become professional.

In September 2012, they participated in 2012 Indian Federation Cup qualifiers. Finally, the team qualified for I-League 2nd Division after its second attempt. In 2013, Aizawl reached the final of Bordoloi Trophy, but lost 1–0 to Bhawanipore. In 2015, they won the 2015 I-League 2nd Division, defeating Chanmari 4–2 in the final match. Thus they granted permission to participate in India's top-tier football tournament I-League in 2015–16 season, the first team from Mizoram to do so. Later Jahar Das was appointed head coach, and the club achieved runners-up position at the 2015–16 Indian Federation Cup. On 20 December 2016, Khalid Jamil was announced as the head coach of the first team for 2016–17 I-League. On 30 April 2017, Aizawl won the 2016–17 I-League, topping the league table with 37 points from 18 games. Aizawl became the first team from the north-east to win the top flight of Indian football. In the 2017–18 I-League season, Aizawl finished the league on the 5th position, garnering 24 points from 18 games. Aizawl has also participated in the 2018 Indian Super Cup and reached the quarter-finals. In January 2019, Aizawl announced Stanley Rozario as their new head coach, and ended their 2018–19 I-League season on the 7th spot on the table, with 24 points from 20 games. In the next season, Aizawl garnered 16 points from 15 games, with 5 games left in hand. On 18 April 2020, the All India Football Federation, the organising body of the league announced the cancellation of the remaining matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The club [Aizawl FC] always wants to promote the players of the state of Mizoram and players from the academy, which is fantastic and which I also strongly believe in. They are the factory of Mizoram football. I am really blessed to be working with such a bunch of talented youngsters. It is a young squad and for them to be performing under this pressure, at this age, is a great experience that many people do not get. It's not easy for these youngsters to cope with but I think they've been doing a good job and I am really happy to be part of Aizawl FC. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, 2020–21 I-League season's format was shortened. All teams faced each other once in the first leg of the league. The league was then divided into two different groups. According to points table from first leg, top six teams faced each other once again in the Championship stage. The rest of the five teams played against each other in the Relegation stage. Aizawl ended the first phase of the season at the 7th position, with 15 points from 10 games. They couldn't qualify for the Championship stage, and hence were put in the Relegation stage, in which they topped the stage with 24 points from 14 games. For the 2021–22 I-League, Aizawl roped in Yan Law as their new head coach and finished the season on eighth place in league table.

In April 2023, the club earned qualification to 2023 Indian Super Cup after winning play-off matches. Aizawl began group stage campaign on 9 April, against Hyderabad, in which Belarusian Ivan Veras scored a goal in their 2–1 defeat. In 2023–24 I-League, Aizawl earned 25 points in 22 matches without playing the last two home games as NEROCA and TRAU refused to travel to Mizoram to face Aizawl (both the teams from Manipur were relegated to I-League 2).

Crest, colours & kits
While the team colours are red and white, the official crest of Aizawl shows the Christian cross (Latin) atop of the map of Mizoram, which is on a soccer ball in the middle. The club is nicknamed "Red and Whites" because of it's team colours.

Rajiv Gandhi Stadium
Aizawal FC plays its home matches at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, located in Salem Veng, Aizawl. It has artificial turf and has a capacity of 20,000 spectators. It hosted the home games of Aizawl in both the I-League and Mizoram Premier League.

Lammual AstroTurf Stadium
Until 2015, Aizawl FC used Lammual AstroTurf Stadium as their home ground for matches of Mizoram Premier League, which is a single tier stadium and has a seating capacity of 5,000 spectators.

Supporters
The core of Aizawl fans consists of the Red Army. They were among the first who brought the ultras movement in India. Large banners, flags and megaphones are their main characteristics. The Rajiv Gandhi Stadium has seen an average attendance of 20,000.

Northeast India Derby
Aizawl FC has rivalries with its fellow northeastern clubs in the I-League including NEROCA, and TRAU FC. They also share rivalry with Shillong Lajong n domestic league, which is also a part of "Northeast derby".

Mizoram Derby
In the regional championships including Mizoram Premier League and MFA Super Cup, the club also nurture rivalries with local sides Chhinga Veng FC, and Chanmari FC.

Season-by-season

 * Key
 * Attendance = Average league attendance

Individual records

 * highest Indian goalscorer in a single season of I-League: Lalrinzuala Lalbiaknia – 15 goals (2023–24 season).

Past and present internationals
The players below have senior/youth international cap(s) for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed, represented their countries before or after playing for Aizawl FC.

Asia

 * 🇸🇾 Mahmoud Al Amnah (2017)
 * 🇦🇫 Masih Saighani (2017–2018)
 * 🇰🇬 Bektur Talgat Uulu (2018)
 * Tshering Dorji (2018–2019)
 * Abhishek Rijal (2021)
 * 🇹🇯 Bakhtior Kalandarov (2022)

Africa

 * 🇬🇭 Joseph Adjei (2019–2020)
 * 🇲🇱 Abdoulaye Kanouté (2019–2020)
 * 🇲🇱 Amadou Alou Sissoko (2019–2020)
 * 🇺🇬 Richard Kasagga (2019–2021)
 * 🇺🇬 Henry Kisekka (2022–2024)

Europe

 * 🇷🇴 Andrei Ionescu (2017–2018)
 * 🇷🇸 Ivan Marić (2023–)
 * 🇵🇱 Rafał Zaborowski (2023–)

North America

 * Willis Plaza (2021–2022)
 * Robert Primus (2022)

South America

 * Enzo Prono Zelaya (2018)

Other notable players

 * 🇱🇷 Alfred Jaryan (2015–2021) – called up to the national squad of Liberia for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, earned 96 league appearances with Aizawl and was voted best midfielder in India.

League

 * I-League
 * Champions (1): 2016–17
 * I-League 2nd Division
 * Champions (1): 2015
 * Mizoram Premier League
 * Champions (3): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2018–19, 2019–20
 * Runners-up (1): 2017–18

Cup

 * Federation Cup
 * Runners-up (1): 2015–16
 * Bordoloi Trophy
 * Runners-up (1): 2013
 * MFA Super Cup
 * Champions (1): 2016
 * Runners-up (1): 2015
 * Mizoram Independence Day Cup
 * Champions (4): 1982, 1996, 2015, 2016
 * Runners-up (3): 2018, 2022, 2023

Award

 * Indian Super Cup Fair Play Award: 2023

Aizawl youth & academy
U15 youth men's team of Aizawl took part in Nike Premier Cup. Club's U18 team competed, and later moved to final round of 2018–19 Indian Elite League.

Aizawl women
The women's football section of Aizawl FC was instituted for the first time in 2016 and qualified directly in the 2016–17 Indian Women's League main round. They finished fifth in the group stage.