Another action-packed season of the ISL came to an end with Jamshedpur FC registering their 4th season. The previous season saw the club finish in an unfortunate spot as #8 in the league standings. The fans who were eagerly waiting for ISL 2020/21 were concerned about the season with the global lockdown coming into place due to the worldwide pandemic declaration; any and every activity including sporting leagues came to a complete standstill. As months went by, the impossible was made possible. The world restarted and created a new normal and with this, ISL too appointed the state of Goa as the hosts for the new season.
With the league commencing in November, strict restrictions and regulations were put in place months prior to the kick-off. All the staff and players were put in a stringent bio-bubble atmosphere to keep them safe and healthy throughout the season. Despite the difficulties and challenges faced, the players and the staff made sure that the fans did not miss out on the footballing action, and delivered yet another thrilling season whilst taking all the precautionary measures necessary.
With the new season approaching, Jamshedpur FC made multiple changes and new additions to the club with only one aim in mind - qualify for the playoffs. New talented foreign as well as Indian players were signed by the club with the aim of forming a dominant team as compared to the previous seasons. Jamshedpur not only managed to sign the former Golden Boot winner, Nerijus Valskis, but the coach as well who was responsible for the success of Chennaiyin FC reaching the finals (in ISL 2019/20), Owen Coyle along with his coaching staff. Multiple foreign talents were also signed from other leagues of the world like Stephen Eze, Peter Hartley, Nick Fitzgerald, Alex Lima along with several Indian young talents like Jackichand Singh, TP Rehenesh, William Lalnunfela, Ricky Lallawmawma, and many more. With a renewed squad, the club looked forward to making an impact in the 2020-21 season.
The season did not kick-off the way the team wanted it to be with a close loss in the first fixture against Chennaiyin FC and tough draws in the next 2 games against Odisha FC and Hyderabad FC, respectively. But, despite the outcome of the first 3 games, the team showed fighting spirit and zeal to give their best performance and secure their first win of the season. The hard work finally paid off for Jamshedpur FC as they registered their desired first victory of the season along with crucial 3 points, against the defending champions of ISL 2019/20, ATK Mohun Bagan (then ATK). The team chemistry slowly and steadily started to become stronger. Using the momentum gained from the win against ATK Mohun Bagan, the team went on to deliver more solid performances against SC East Bengal, Mumbai City FC and registered their second victory of the season against NorthEast United FC. Jamshedpur made a stunning impact in the first half of the season as the team also managed to maintain an unbeaten run of 7 games after the loss in the first game; the squad looked compact and stronger than ever. Unfortunately, the unbeaten run was cut down in the next game against FC Goa which was another nail-biting fixture. Jamshedpur almost bagged a victory and the lads could have continued their unbeaten run, but an error in officiating led to a Jamshedpur goal being disallowed in the final moments of the game which turned out to be a big blow to the team’s morale. Later, Goa netted in a late goal from a corner kick which gave them the lead to win the game. The Gaffer expressed his disappointment about how the officiating errors changed the course of the game for them completely.
“When you look back to the FC Goa game, we scored a wonderful goal which was a yard beyond the goal line in the 89th minute and if we had won that game, we would have been 3 points ahead of FC Goa. The decisions taken against Jamshedpur can be described as disheartening. We should have won the match as it clearly was a goal, but it was not given as one which denied us the 2-1 lead. It’s a shame to walk out with such an outcome after everything that the players put into the game.”
Despite the setbacks, the lads came back even stronger in their final game of the year 2020, adding a solid win to their tally against Bengaluru FC, grabbing the winning 3 points and entering the top 4 position right before the New Year’s break.
The team enjoyed a good, well-deserved break before they headed into their first game of 2021 against Kerala Blasters. With the advantage of the long break and restored energy, Jamshedpur FC kicked off the game with the aim to maintain their spot in the top 4 and qualify for the play-offs, but the team was unsuccessful to achieve the desired result. The long break hampered the momentum and Jamshedpur suffered 3 losses in their first 3 games of 2021 at the hands of Kerala Blasters, FC Goa and NorthEast United FC. Due to these losses, the team dropped down in the league standings, however the Gaffer and his squad had every intention to get back to winning ways.
The January transfer window was well utilised by Jamshedpur FC as they brought Len Doungel on loan for the rest of the season while also signing Boris Singh from ATK Mohun Bagan. The club also brought back Farukh Choudhary from Mumbai City FC, thus adding even more pace to the team as the coach’s intention was to increase the speed of their gameplay.
The Men of Steel amped up their defence in the next few games and managed to keep a clean sheet in their next 3 games against Kerala Blasters, Hyderabad FC and Odisha FC. While they bagged a win against Odisha FC which raised the hopes of the team to qualify for the playoffs, they suffered another setback against SC East Bengal. The atmosphere became even more intense as the season entered its final weeks with all the teams competing to qualify for the playoffs.
Regardless of the loss, Jamshedpur came closer to the playoffs qualification after beating Chennaiyin FC which brought them to their final 3 games of the season. It was very important for the team to win the final 3 games as the result would have decided the fate of Jamshedpur’s qualification. In one of the interviews, Owen Coyle reflected on the enormous and overall progress made by the team despite the outcomes.
“We have progressed enormously from last season. Last year, the team finished the season poorly and took 5 points from their last 10 games while this year, we took 12 points from the last 6 games alone. So, when you look at the quality of our game, there is no doubt that we have improved by a large margin. We know how hard we have worked throughout the season and there is definitely improvement which everyone has noticed as well and we will keep growing even further as we move forward.”
The Men of Steel approached the first of the last 3 games with maximum confidence and energy as they needed to bag the winning points from all the remaining games. The team faced ATK Mohun Bagan and put up a strong defensive performance to keep the opposition at bay till the very final moments of the game. Unfortunately, they were denied the win after a late goal from striker, Roy Krishna, who helped ATK Mohun Bagan climb even closer to the #1 spot. Regardless of the result, the lads still gave their 100% and completely dominated the final 2 fixtures against Mumbai City FC and Bengaluru FC.
Jamshedpur FC managed to win the last 2 games of the season with a spectacular performance and immense contribution from the new signings, even though they couldn’t reach the playoffs. Overall, they closed the 2020-21 season of the ISL by positioning themselves at #6 in the league standings. The skipper, Peter Harley, who made his debut in the ISL this season, had many great things to say about the performance and character shown by his teammates.
“We have done well in the season and we gave some fantastic team performances. We got what we deserved. There’s a saying in football - ‘You create your own luck’ and I feel like we did that. We will try to come back even stronger in the next season and give back to the fans for all the love and support they have given us throughout the season.”
The players and the staff at Jamshedpur FC gave their best and left no stone unturned to entertain the Jamshedpur FC fans, delivering action-packed and memorable performances against some of the strongest opponents in the league, which proved their true potential and strength. With the foundation and the team chemistry now established and set, the Men of Steel will certainly look to deliver some intense performance and continue their quest to qualify for the play-offs, wearing the red and blue colour with pride and their spirits and head held high in the next season.
