2018–19 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League

The 2018–19 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League (Nepali: शहीद स्मारक ए डिभिजन लीग २०७५) season, also known as Pulsar Martyr's Memorial A-Division League for sponsorship reasons, was the 42nd edition of the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League. The season began on 29 September 2018 and ended on 8 January 2019.[2][3] It was the first top division league held since the 2015 National League.[4] On 16 September 2018, it was decided that there will be no relegation, however the two bottom placed teams would have two and one points deducted next season.[5]

Martyr's Memorial A-Division League[1]
Season2018–19
Dates29 September 2018 – 8 January 2019
ChampionsManang Marshyangdi Club
2019 AFC CupManang Marshyangdi Club
Matches played91
Goals scored226 (2.48 per match)
Top goalscorerAfeez Olawale Oladipo
Bharat Khawas
Ranjit Dhimal
(7 goals)
Biggest home winNepal Police Club 5–0 Friends Club
(14 December 2018)
Highest scoringNew Road Team 5–5 Machhindra FC
(31 December 2018)
Longest winning run12 matches
Manang Marshyangdi Club
Longest unbeaten run12 matches
Manang Marshyangdi Club
Longest winless run9 matches
Machhindra Football Club
New Road Team
Longest losing run8 matches
New Road Team
2019-20 →
All statistics correct as of 8 January 2019.

Manang Marshyangdi Club were the defending champions and successfully defended their title on 28 December with two games to spare.[6]

Teams

A total of 14 teams, all based in the Kathmandu Valley, contested the league.[2] Four teams from other parts of Nepal; Jhapa XI, Morang XI, Lumbini F.C. and Far Western F.C., were initially supposed to participate in the league announced initially for 2017.[7] The teams had previously participated in the 2015 National League.[4]

On the other side, six teams, that did not participate in the 2015 league, made their comebacks in the league after participating in the 2013-14 season: Friend's Club, Himalayan Sherpa Club, Jawalakhel Youth Club, Machhindra Football Club, Sankata BSC and Saraswati Youth Club.[4]

Team changes
Promoted from

2014 B-Division League

 Promoted from

2016 B-Division League

 Relegated to

2016 B-Division League

Brigade Boys Club Chyasal Youth Club
New Road Team		 Ranipokhari Corner Team
Boys Union Club

Location
Team Location Previous Season[lower-alpha 1]
Himalayan Sherpa Club Kathmandu 7th
Machhindra Football Club 2nd
Manang Marshyangdi Club 1st
Nepal APF Club 6th
Nepal Army Club 10th
Nepal Police Club 4th
New Road Team 2nd (2016 B-Division)
Sankata BSC 5th
Saraswati Youth Club 9th
Brigade Boys Club Lalitpur 1st (2014 B-Division)
Chyasal Youth Club 1st (2016 B-Division)
Friends Club 8th
Jawalakhel Youth Club 11th
Three Star Club 3rd

Personnel and kits
Team Head Coach Captain Kit Sponsor
Brigade Boys Club Ujjen Shrestha[8] Dilen Loktam
Chyasal Youth Club Raju Kaji Shakya[9] Devendra Tamang Valley Construction
Friends Club Ramesh Maharjan Dhiraj Shrestha Nepal Investment Bank Limited, Panchakanya Group[10]
Himalayan Sherpa Club Subas Limbu Man Bahadur Tamang Harvest Moon
Jawalakhel Youth Club Raj Kumar KC[11] Ajay Thapa Grand Master XXX Rum
Machhindra Football Club Nishan Shrestha (caretaker) Uttam Gurung
Manang Marshyangdi Club Fuja Tope[12] &
Suman Shrestha[13]		 Biraj Maharjan Signature[14]
Nepal APF Club Rajendra Tamang[15] Nabin Lama Agni Mahindra[16]
Nepal Army Club Nabin Neupane Bharat Khawas Bajaj Pulsar[17]
Nepal Police Club Ananta Raj Thapa Bhola Nath Silwal
New Road Team Maheshwor Mulmi[18] Prabin Kumar Sainju
Sankata BSC Salyan Khadgi Ravi Silwal CMG Club[19]
Saraswati Youth Club Pradip Nepal Raj Kumar Ghising
Three Star Club Meghraj KC Bikram Lama Ruslan Vodka[20]

Head coaching changes
Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of appointment
Machhindra Football Club Dhaneshwor Prajapati Mutual consent 1 December 2018 11th Nishan Shrestha (caretaker) 1 December 2018

Foreign players

On 16 May 2018, the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) announced that the number of foreigners for each club would be four.[3] One of those had to be from one of the countries of the SAARC Region.[21]

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 SAARC Player
Brigade Boys Club Kazeem Adegoke Busari[22] Tajudeen Adukune Busari[22] Abdu Kareem Nsiah[22]
Chyasal Youth Club Sergio Fils Chico[23] Florent Koara[24]
Friends Club Fofana Brahiman Bobby Ogolla Odongo Mohammed Nurul Karim[25]
Himalayan Sherpa Club Dady Junior Wamba Patrick Private Goha Ulrich Siewe
Jawalakhel Youth Club Olalaken Afeez Lawal Fofana Fode Adama Doumbia
Machhindra Football Club Vassodia Diamande Alaba Ademolo Aderibigbe Saheed Obenga Anifowose
Manang Marshyangdi Club Afeez Olawale Oladipo[26] Oluwaunmi Somide Adelaja[27] Victor Kamhuka Muhammed Asif[28]
Nepal APF Club
Nepal Army Club
Nepal Police Club
New Road Team Christian Basile Kameni Moshood Opeyemi Agboola Kouassi Jean Didier
Sankata BSC Norbert Cedric Aba[29] Maxwell Ellon Ernest Tampi
Saraswati Youth Club Olusola Khederi Ibrahim Victor Amobi Francis Okechukwu
Three Star Club Ajayi Martins Kayode[30] Peter Segun[30] Messoumbe Abang Albert

Venues
Lalitpur Kathmandu
ANFA Complex, Satdobato[31] Halchowk Stadium[31]
Capacity: 4,000 Capacity: 3,500

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Manang Marshyangdi Club (C) 13 12 0 1 23 7 +16 36 Qualification for 2019 AFC Cup group stage
2 Sankata BSC 13 9 1 3 21 15 +6 28
3 Three Star Club 13 8 2 3 22 11 +11 26
4 Nepal Army Club 13 7 4 2 21 8 +13 25
5 APF Club 13 7 2 4 20 14 +6 23
6 Nepal Police Club 13 5 4 4 19 12 +7 19
7 Himalayan Sherpa Club 13 5 2 6 15 15 0 17
8 Chyasal Youth Club 13 4 4 5 17 15 +2 16
9 Saraswoti Youth Club 13 4 2 7 12 20 −8 14
10 Jawalakhel Youth Club 13 3 4 6 10 15 −5 13
11 Friends Club 13 3 3 7 13 25 −12 12
12 Brigade Boys Club 13 2 4 7 12 21 −9 10
13 Machhindra FC 13 1 4 8 11 24 −13 7
14 New Road Team 13 1 4 8 12 26 −14 7
Source: ANFA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
(C) Champion.

Positions by round
Team ╲ Round12345678910111213
Manang Marshyangdi Club1211111111111
Sankata BSC4325433322222
Three Star Club2154322233333
Nepal Army Club5432244444444
APF Club75891188885755
Nepal Police Club3776555556566
Himalayan Sherpa Club9643666768677
Chyasal Youth Club8968877677888
Saraswoti Youth Club1312977999991099
Jawalakhel Youth Club1213131210111110101091010
Friends Club1111141391010111211111211
Brigade Boys Club14141010121212121112131112
Machhindra FC1081111131313131313121313
New Road Team6101214141414141414141414
Leader and qualification to AFC Cup
Source: ANFA

Season statistics
As of 8 January 2019[32]

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Afeez Olawale Oladipo Manang Marshyangdi Club 7
Bharat Khawas Nepal Army Club
Ranjit Dhimal Three Star Club
2 Yubraj Khadka APF Club 6
Biswash Shrestha Himalayan Sherpa Club
Ranjan Bista Three Star Club
3 Anjan Bista Manang Marshyangdi Club 5
Amit Tamang Sankata BSC

Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Bikesh Kuthu Nepal Army Club 7
2 Bishal Shrestha Manang Marshyangdi Club 6
Alan Neupane Three Star Club
3 Raja Babu Thapa Sankata BSC 5
4 Kishor Giri Himalayan Sherpa Club 4
Shatrughan Chaudhary Nepal Police Club
5 Sagar Raya Brigade Boys Club 3
Dinesh Thapa Magar Chyasal Youth Club
Dev Limbu Friends Club
Takendra Thapa Jawalakhel Youth Club
Deep Karki Machhindra FC
Pradeep Bhandari Saraswoti Youth Club
6 Raju Yogi APF Club 2
7 Amrit Kumar Chaudhary APF Club 1
Arpan Karki Nepal Police Club
Sojit Gurung New Road Team

Player
  • Most yellow cards: 5
    • Adama Doumbia (Jawalakhel Youth Club)
    • Afeez Olawale Oladipo (Manang Marshyangdi Club)
  • Most red cards: 1
    • Ashish Gurung (Himalayan Sherpa Club)
    • Bishwash Shrestha (Himalayan Sherpa Club)
    • Bishwash Udas (APF Club)
    • Francis Okechukwu (Saraswoti Youth Club)
    • Gaurab Budhathoki (Chyasal Youth Club)
    • Kuldip Karki (Jawalakhel Youth Club)
    • Maxwell Ellon (Sankata BSC)
    • Muhammed Asif (Manang Marshyangdi Club)
    • Santosh Sahukhala (Chyasal Youth Club)
    • Susan Lama (Saraswoti Youth Club)

Team

Awards
Award Winner[33] Club
Best Coach Suman Shrestha Manang Marshyangdi Club
Best Goalkeeper Bishal Shrestha Manang Marshyangdi Club
Best Defender Ranjit Dhimal Three Star Club
Best Midfielder Heman Gurung Manang Marshyangdi Club
Best Forward Bharat Khawas Nepal Army Club
Emerging Player Bikash Khawas[34] Nepal Army Club

Notes
  1. unless denoted otherwise, this refers to the 2013-14 season

References
  1. "16 teams in 'A' Division League". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  2. "ANFA Announces Date For Martyr's Memorial A Division League". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  3. Longtail-e-media. "News-ANFA". the-anfa.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  4. "League to resume in September". The Kathmandu Post. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  5. "Martyr's Memorial A Division League Winners To Get Rs 50 Lakh !". 16 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  6. "'A' Division League: MMC secure record eighth title". The Kathmandu Post. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  7. "16 teams in 'A' Division League". Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  8. "BBC coach Ujjen Shrestha: Target Is To Finish Top Eight". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  9. "शाक्य च्यासलको मुख्य प्रशिक्षकमा अनुबन्धित | Hamro Khelkud". www.hamrokhelkud.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  10. "Friends Club Signs Sponsorship Deal With Nepal Investment Bank Limited". GoalNepal. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  11. "JYC Assistant Coach Naresh Thapa: Target Is To Finish Top Six". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  12. "MMC Believes On Fuja Tope For Martyr's Memorial A Division League". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  13. "MMC Coach Fuja Tope: ANFA Is Working Hard To Put Every Leg In Right Hole (Interview)". GoalNepal. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  14. "MMC Finalizes Squad For A Division League; Signs Jersey Sponsor With Signature". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  15. "After Taking Helm Of APF, Coach Rajendra Tamang Says,". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  16. Republica. "APF, Mahindra renew five-year deal". My Republica. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  17. Republica. "Army inks sponsorship deal with Pulsar". My Republica. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  18. "New Road Team Signs Nishan Limbu, Goalie Sojit Gurung". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  19. "Main Sponsor CMG Club Hands Over Sporting Gears To Sankata Club". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  20. "Three Star ink Rs 6.6m sponsorship deal". kathmandupost.ekantipur.com. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  21. "ANFA Applies SAARC Quota For Martyr's Memorial A Division League". GoalNepal.com. 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  22. "ब्रिगेड ब्वाइजले तीन विदेशी खेलाडी क्लबमा भित्र्यायो". Online Khabar. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  23. "Chyasal Youth Club Signs Chico For A Division League". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  24. "Pulsar A Division League: Chyasal Youth Club Snaps Florent Koara". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  25. "Friends Club Signs Bangladeshi Goalkeeper Under SAARC Quota". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  26. "Afeez Oladipo Is Back To Manang Marshyangdi Club". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  27. "MMC Finalizes Squad For A Division League; Signs Jersey Sponsor With Signature". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  28. "Manang Marshyangdi Club Signs Muhammed Asif From Calcutta Customs". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  29. "This Cameroonian wanted to play football in the big leagues of Europe. Then he landed in Nepal". The Kathmandu Post. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  30. "Ruslan Three Star Club Announces Squad For Martry's Memorial A Div League". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  31. "Martyr's Memorial A Division League To Be Played In Two Venues". goalnepal.com. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  32. "Player Stats Pulsar Martyr's Memorial 'A' Division League 2018". Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  33. "Bharat Khawas Adjudged The Best Forward; Suman Shrestha Receives Award Of Best Coach". GoalNepal. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  34. "Bikash Khawas Receives An Award Of Emerging Player". GoalNepal. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
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