Dempo S.C.


Dempo Sports Club is an Indian professional football club based in Panjim, Goa. The club is owned and sponsored by the Dempo group of companies. Popularly known as ‘the whites’, the team has been a constant participant in all the national football championship and gained immense popularity in the last four decades of its existence. Dempo SC became the first Indian football club, who reached the Semifinal of the AFC Cup tournament in 2008.
The team has won several accolades and honors. In the 2004–05 season, the club won its maiden National Football League title. They won the league again in the 2006–2007 season and followed it with the three I-League triumphs in 2007–08 in its inaugural version and then in 2009–2010 and again in 2011–12, making them one of the most successful clubs on the national front with 5 National league titles; joint with Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan A.C. as the only teams to have the honour on 5 occasions.

History

Dempo Sports Club began as Bicholim Football Club, which was a top First Division league side in the 1960s. Football lovers in the country remember the Bicholim Football Club as one of the most talented football club in the country. Players including Subhash Sinari, Bernard Olivera, Tolentino Serrao, Bhaskar, Kalidas Gaad, Manohar Pednekar, Bhai Pednekar, Ganpat Gaonkar and Pandurang Gaonkar are still remembered to the Bicholim Football Club on a completely different standard compared to the other sports club existing at that moment.
Bicholim Sports Club was later adopted by Dempo Souza in 1967 and was renamed Dempo Souza Sports Club. Even then the team remained one of the strongest team in the country with players like Eustaquio, Dass, Balaguru, Olavo, Colaco, Inacio, Felix Barreto, Thapa, Ramesh Redkar, Socrates Carvalho, Sadanand Asnodkar and Tulsidas Alornekar. In 1969, the team stood as the first runner up in the Vasco Sports Club in the Senior Division League.
The Dempo Souza Sports Club finally became Dempo Sports Club, after Dempo bought Mr Michael D’’Souza's stake in the Dempo Souza enterprise. However, Dempo Sports Club prospered when Vasantrao Dempo, the chairman of the House of Dempo, extended his benefaction to football team in an extensive manner. Dempo then came at par with the other business houses, like Salgaocar, Agencia Commercial Maritima, Shantilal and Sesa Goa who had their own teams.
Dempo Sports Club started out as Dempo Souza Football Club in 1961 and was taken over when they made the company their own Dempo Corporation around that time. The club was started by Michael deSouza and the logo and colours that the club wears currently was what he had chosen for the team. The club won their first Goan Senior League title in 1972. The club then won their first ever national pan-India tournament in 1975 by winning the Rovers Cup. The club then won the Rovers Cup again in 1978. The club defended their title one year later in 1979. Their first double.
Dempo then entered their "Golden-Age" during the 1980s. Dempo won a host of small cups and they also won the Rovers Cup again in 1986 by beating historic club Mohun Bagan. The club also won the Goan League in 1986 and 1987.
The club then won their first international cup in Malé against New Radiant SC. The club then won the Rovers Cup again by beating Mohun Bagan again and were then one of the original 12 teams in the first National Football League in 1996. The club then got relegated in 1999–2000 but got promoted the very next season and then the club won their first NFL championship in 2004. Dempo also won the last NFL Season. Dempo then won the first I-League season in 2007–08. As a result of this title win, Dempo played in AFC competition in 2008 during the 2008 AFC Cup, Dempo ended as semi-finalist. They again won the league in 2009–10 and 2011–12. After the 2012–13 season, where Dempo finished in 5th place, they parted ways with their most successful coach Armando Colaco, with whom they had won 5 League titles. They appointed Arthur Papas, who had previously been the head coach of the Indian U23 Men's National Team.
Dempo finished their 2013–14 campaign with a 4th-place finish.
In March 2015, after losing their final match to fellow Goan and relegation threatened club Salgaocar 2–0, they got relegated for the first time from I-league.
Before the start of the 2016-17 season, Dempo, along with fellow Goan football clubs, Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube, announced their withdrawal from the I-League.

Crest

The Dempo Sports Club crest is the official logo for Dempo Corporations sports clubs that it owns. The logo includes the words Goa and Dempo Sports Club. The logo also includes a picture of a golden bird in the middle of the crest.

Colours

The official colours of Dempo Sports Club are Blue and White. Ever since their creation Dempo's home colours have always involved blue, mainly with the shirts while the shorts were always either blue or black. The away colours were always all white but then in 2011 when Dempo unveiled their away kit the shirt had black stripes on it. The shorts however remain the same.

Stadium

As of 2011 Dempo SC has been playing its football at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao, Goa. Fatorda Stadium opened in 1989 and Dempo SC has been using it since for all its I-League matches. There have been rumors however that state that Dempo SC could soon very well create its own stadium in Panjim, Goa although not much has been released on the subject.

Ownership and Finances

At the moment Dempo Sports Club's main sponsor and owner is Dempo Mining Corporation Limited. The club has been owned by Dempo since their creation. As part of the sponsorship from Dempo the club also named itself Dempo Sports Club and is classed as an institutional club in that case.
The finances given to the club are very limited which meant that the club was forced to spend less on infrastructure and proven players and spend more on local youth development.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Players

First-team squad

Retired numbers

PositionName
Technical director Anju Turambekar
Head coach Samir Naik
Assistant coach Anthony Pereira
GK coach Camilo Gonsalves
Team manager Shailesh Karkera
Youth technical director Marcelino
Physiotherapist Eusebio Jason Fernandes,
Avinash jaiswal
Kit manager Rajesh Malgi

Managers

The club hired their first professional manager in 2000, Armando Colaco; he remained with the club until the end of season 2012–13. In June 2013, the club signed Greek-Australian manager Arthur Papas who was already working in India as the Indian U23 National Team coach.

Statistics

Only competitive matches are counted. Wins, losses and draws are results at the final whistle; the results of penalty shoot-outs are not counted.
!NameNationalityFromToPWDLGFGAWin%Honours
Armando ColacoIndiaJune 20002013
I-League, Indian Super Cup, Federation Cup, Durand Cup -------
Arthur PapasAustraliaJune 2013March 2015
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Trevor MorganEnglandMarch 2015November 2015
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Mauricio AfonsoIndiaNovember 2015July 2017
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Samir Subash NaikIndiaJuly 2017Present
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Honours

Domestic

Dempo SC has won a lot of awards and prestigious trophies in past few years. It has emerged as the winner of the several national trophies in the last few years. The club has won the prestigious Indian League in 2004, 2005 respectively. It also emerged as a winner in the recently concluded inaugural 2007–08 I-League. They repeated the feat in 2009–10 and again in 2011–12 The club has also been a consistent performer in the other prestigious championships like the Federation Cup., Durand Cup and the IFA Shield. The club has been the winner of the prestigious Durand Cup in 2006 and Federation Cup in 2004. The club had been four-time winner of Rovers Cup and record eleven times winner of the Goa League.