Kolkata: Jamshedpur FC were in contention for the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) title till the last round. In a season where uncertainty was the only certainty, one that kicked off with resignations from the league’s managing committee, Jamshedpur FC were constant in their endeavour to ensure that football was not interrupted.
They had even signed head coach Owen Coyle on a two-season contract last January after Khalid Jamil left to take charge of the India men’s team in 2025. Understandable therefore that Coyle would be left blindsided by last week’s decision to disband the first team.
“I didn’t see this coming,” Coyle told HT over the phone from his home in Ribble Valley, Lancashire. “But in football, the one thing you never lose is hope,” said the peripatetic coach who has been in charge of teams in the Premier League and in Major League Soccer.
Since the decision to disband – a first in the ISL which began in 2014 – former India captain Sunil Chhetri and current international Sandesh Jhingan have asked The Tata Group, the club’s owners, to reconsider. Rahul Bheke, Nikhil Poojary and Bengaluru FC owner Parth Jindal have said on social media they were disappointed with the club’s decision. Jamshedpur FC’s players have also appealed for a rethink and a protest march was organised by supporters in Jamshedpur on Monday.
“The support Jamshedpur FC received from the football fraternity shows the esteem in which it is held,” said Coyle. “Right now, my thoughts are with everyone at the club and the fans.”
{{/usCountry}}“The support Jamshedpur FC received from the football fraternity shows the esteem in which it is held,” said Coyle. “Right now, my thoughts are with everyone at the club and the fans.”
{{/usCountry}}The club’s decision stems from shareholders believing it is not viable to take part in ISL as it stands, Jamshedpur FC have told AIFF. The club has said it will continue to invest in the grassroots. They are playing in this season’s Durand Cup.
Jamshedpur FC’s infrastructure was one reason why Coyle had joined after taking Chennaiyin FC from the bottom to the final in 2019-20. “Some of the clubs have to rent grounds and are only allotted a certain amount of time,” he had told HT in 2020, referring to Jamshedpur FC having their own training pitch.
In charge for the second time, having won the ISL league shield in 2021-22 which gave Jamshedpur FC the right to represent India in Asia, Coyle, 60, said he was driving to London to “watch a game when Mukul called. I couldn’t take it and was told about it when I called back.”
Mukul is Mukul Choudhari, CEO, Jamshedpur FC, who has nearly two decades’ experience of running top football clubs in India. 2025 was the year of uncertainty in India’s top league. The Supreme Court’s approval of the new constitution of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) came in September. By then, the AIFF’s commercial partners had moved away and soon after, the bid to find a new one drew a blank. As clubs highlighted the uncertainty, Jamshedpur FC and Choudhari backed AIFF’s efforts to start the league.
It began on February 14 with 14 teams in a single-leg league. Jamshedpur FC beat champions East Bengal and were among the five teams who could have won going into the final day on May 21. They finished fifth with six wins, one less than the top three.
“We had plans to continue building this season,” said Coyle. “Focusing on young players who have been at the heart of our project. And players deemed cast-offs.”
If it was Pronay Halder, Ritwik Das, Boris Singh, Komal Thatal and Ishan Pandita – surplus to requirements at other clubs – with Greg Stewart’s playmaking skills that made Coyle’s team the best in India in 2021-22, it was by retaining the core Jamil had built and adding imports such as Mehdi Talal and Messi Bouli that Coyle had kept them in contention till the very end last season.