2023–24 Kerala Blasters FC season
10th season in existence of Kerala Blasters FC / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2023–24 season was the tenth season in Kerala Blasters FC's existence, as well as their tenth season in the Indian Super League.[1] It began in August 2023 with the 2023 Durand Cup and ended in April 2024 with the 2023–24 Indian Super League playoffs.
2023–24 season | ||||
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Owner | Magnum Sports Private Limited | |||
Chairman | Nikhil Bhardwaj | |||
Head coach | Ivan Vukomanović | |||
Stadium | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi, Kerala | |||
Indian Super League | 5th Playoffs: Knockout | |||
Indian Super Cup | Group stage | |||
Durand Cup | Group stage | |||
Top goalscorer | League: Dimitrios Diamantakos (13 goals) All: Dimitrios Diamantakos (16 goals) | |||
Highest home attendance | 34,981 Kerala Blasters FC 2–0 Mumbai City FC, 24 December 2023 | |||
Lowest home attendance | 17,650 Kerala Blasters FC 1–3 Punjab FC, 12 February 2024 | |||
Average home league attendance | 27,518.8 | |||
Biggest win | 5–0 (vs Indian Air Force (N), 21 August 2023, 2023 Durand Cup) | |||
Biggest defeat | 1–4 (vs NorthEast United FC (N), 20 January 2024, 2024 Indian Super Cup) | |||
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All statistics correct as of 3 May 2024, 13:52 (UTC). |
Following the 2022–23 season, the Blasters parted ways with their long-time assistant coach Ishfaq Ahmed.[2] It was followed by some numerous contract extensions, starting with Dimitrios Diamantakos, who was the club's top-scorer during the previous season.[3] In May 2023, the Blasters made an early foreign signing in the form of Jaushua Sotirio, who was then ruled-out of the entire season following an ankle injury during the pre-season camp.[4] This season also witnessed the departure of the Blasters' captain Jessel Carneiro after his four years at the club.[5] Just a day following the departure of Carneiro, five more players (including three foreigners), who donned the kit for the Blasters, left the club.[6] During this pre-season, the Blasters midfielder, Vibin Mohanan, was sent to Greece for a month-long training stint with the Super League Greece club OFI Crete FC.[7] Ahead of the season, the Blasters also ended their six-year association with their then-most-capped player at the time, Sahal Abdul Samad, swapping him with Pritam Kotal from Mohun Bagan Super Giant, receiving a reported transfer fee of ₹90 lakhs.[8] The club also made their most expensive signing its history by paying FC Goa a reported fee of ₹1.45 crores for the transfer of Aibanbha Dohling on a three-year contract.[9] As part of a new initiative, the Blasters brought in a 20 year old Justine Emmanuel from Nigeria, who joined the Blasters' pre-season camp on trial.[10] He would then go on to represent the club in the Durand Cup as well as in the league. The Blasters played three friendly matches during their pre-season camp in Kerala, before travelling to United Arab Emirates for playing out three friendly matches against the UAE Pro League sides during their eleven day tour of UAE.[11] Just days before the start of the new competitive season, the Blasters would announce the signing of the Indian international Ishan Pandita.[12]
The Blasters began their season with the 2023 Durand Cup, and was drawn alongside the arch-rivals Bengaluru FC in Group C.[13] They played their first match of the season against Gokulam Kerala FC on 13 August in a 3–4 loss.[14] With their 5–0 win over the Indian Navy FT in the tournament, the Blasters registered the highest win in their history, before getting eliminated from the competition after finishing third in the group with just four points.[15]
Following the Durand Cup exit, the UAE tour, and some foreign reinforcements in the form of Miloš Drinčić, Kwame Peprah, and Daisuke Sakai, the Blasters came in to the new season of the Indian Super League, led by Adrián Luna, in the season opener against the Bengaluru FC on 21 September, which they won 2–1 at home, starting the league season with a win.[16] After handing Jamshedpur FC a defeat in their second match of the season, the Blasters made history by winning the first two games of the league phase for the first time in their history.[17] The injury constraints at the club continued as both Aibanbha Dohling (ruled-out) and Jeakson Singh were sidelined for an extended period of time after sustaining injuries in just the third league match of the season against Mumbai City FC.[18] On 27 October against Odisha FC, the Blasters' manager Ivan Vukomanović returned to the dugout for the first time since the end of his ten-match by the AIFF-DC due to his actions in the previous season's playoffs.[19] The Blasters would go on to win the match with in a two-goal comeback, with the winner being scored by the captain Luna, who subsequently became the joint top-scorer in the club's history, alongside Bartholomew Ogbeche.[20] In November, the Blasters' midfielder Freddy Lallawmawma was met with an unprecedented bike accident, and was sidelined towards the later half of the season.[21] In the 3–3 draw against Chennaiyin FC in November, the Blasters's striker Diamantakos scored a brace and thus became the all-time top scorer for the Blasters with 16 goals across all competitions, surpassing the joint-record set by Ogbeche and Luna.[22] The Blasters suffered another injury set-back during the mid-season, as their captain Luna was ruled-out injured during a training session, till the playoffs in April 2024.[23][24] The returning fixture against Mumbai City at home during the Christmas Eve on 24 December registered the highest match attendance for the Blasters during the season, as 34,981 spectators witnessed a comfortable 2–0 win by the Blasters.[25] The Blasters would meet Mohun Bagan Super Giants just three days following the win against Mumbai City, and a sole goal from Diamantakos ensured the three points for the Blasters, as they defeated Mohun Bagan for the first time in their history.[26] During the winter transfer-window, the Blasters would sign the Lithuania national team captain Fedor Černych as an injury replacement for Adrián Luna for the remainder of the season.[27]
During the international breaks in January 2024, the Blasters took part in the 2024 Indian Super Cup, after being drawn to Group B along with two other ISL clubs.[28] They began their Super Cup campaign on 10 January in a 3–1 over Shillong Lajong FC.[29] However, the Blasters were disqualified from the tournament following the two defeats in the rest of the group stage matches.[30] During the campaign, the Blasters' forward Kwame Peprah was injured and was ruled-out for the rest of the season, adding to the long list of active injuries at the club.[31] As a result, the Blasters recalled Justine Emmanuel from his loan spell in Gokulam Kerala for the second phase of the league.[32]
The Blasters started their second phase of the league with a 2–1 defeat against Odisha,[33] and the Blasters would then go on to lose their next two matches against Punjab FC and Chennaiyin FC in the returning fixtures respectively.[34] The injury problems followed the Blasters in to the second-half of the league season as their first-choice goalkeeper Sachin Suresh was injured during the match against Chennaiyin in February, and was then ruled-out for the remainder of the season.[35] The club only won two league games in 2024, with their first league win of the year coming against FC Goa on 25 February, where they were 0–2 down at half-time, but the Blasters would score four goals in the second-half to register a famous comeback win,[36] as the Blasters won their first competitive game after five consecutive defeats across the Super Cup and the league. The team's drop in form was inevitable, as they went winless yet again for the next five matches until they met Hyderabad FC away from home in their last match of the league, as the Blasters defeated the latter 1–3 to win their last game of 2024.[37] It was during this period that the Blasters were hit with the season-ending injuries of two more players, as both Diamantakos and Justine was injured, and was sidelined following the match against East Bengal in Kochi.[38][39] After finishing the regular season with 33 points at 5th spot in the table, the Blasters qualified for the league playoffs for the third consecutive time, an accomplishment which was unprecedented in the club's history.[40]
The Blasters would meet Odisha at the Kalinga Stadium on 19 April for the knockout play-offs.[41] After a goal-less first-half, the Blasters were put in front by Fedor Černych in the second-half, however, Odisha would score a late equalizer in the last minutes of the game to take the match to the extra-time.[42] The Blasters defense was breached once again as Odisha found their winner in the extra-time to win the match by 2–1 to knock the Blasters out of the tournament[43] A season coupled with injuries was further extended as their goalkeeper, Lara Sharma, who came in to the playing eleven as a result of an injured Sachin Suresh, was also stretched out of the Blasters' last game of the season following an injury.[44] By the end of the football season, the Blasters had over a dozen injuries in their squad throughout the season coupled with a dozen suspensions,[45][46] as the Blasters ended their 2023–24 season without a silverware.[47]
After netting 13 goals for the Blasters throughout the entire league season, Dimitrios Diamantakos won the league's Golden Boot award for topping the goal-scoring chart, and thus became the first Blasters player to win the award.[48]