Indian Arrows is an Indian football club located in Vasco da Gama, that competes in the I-League. The club was formed with the main goal of nurturing young Indian football talents. After disbanding in 2013, the project was revived as Indian Arrows in 2017.
History
2010–11 season
Pailan Arrows was founded as the AIFF XI in 2010 under the recommendation of then Indiahead coachBob Houghton and All India Football Federation president Praful Patel after Bob noticed that almost all the India U19 and India U23 players were on the bench during the I-League season and were never getting any game time. The club was originally slated to join the I-League 2nd Division but after the disbanding of Mahindra United the AIFF allowed AIFF XI into the I-League automatically. The club participated in their first competition in 2010 which was the Federation Cup and played their first ever professional match on 21 September 2010 against JCT FC in the Federation Cup, in which AIFF XI won 1–0 with Malsawmfela scoring the first goal in the team's history. The team finished third in the group in the end, missing out on going to the next round by four points. The club then participated in their first I-League match on 3 December 2010 against Chirag United in which the club lost 1–2 and with Lalrindika Ralte scoring the first goal for the club in the league. The club then earned their first points on 8 December 2010 against ONGC F.C. after drawing 1–1. On 11 January2011 it was announced that AIFF XI would change their name to Indian Arrows which would take effect on 1 February 2011. Arrows finished the 2010–11 I-League season in 9th place.
2011–12 season
The summer of 2011 would be a busy one for the club. The club changed their name to Pailan Arrows on 15 June 2011 after the All India Football Federation reached an agreement with Pailan Group to sponsor the team. With the deal Pailan Arrows was also relocated to Kolkata and the Salt Lake Stadium. Then on 13 August 2012 head coach Desmond Bulpin was sacked by the club due to his "style of football" while former India national football team coach Sukhwinder Singh was signed to take over the club. The club also lost many of the stars of the previous season like Lalrindika Ralte, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Manandeep Singh and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. The club again participated in the Federation Cup in 2011 where Pailan won two matches but lost one which meant that they would finish 2nd behind Salgaocar and thus meant Pailan were knocked out in the group stage again. Pailan Arrows then began the 2011–12 I-League campaign against Mohun Bagan at the Salt Lake Stadium on 23 October 2012 in which they lost 1–3 after Lalrozama Fanai gave them the early lead. On 7 February 2012 Sukhwinder Singh resigned as coach of Pailan Arrows due to personal reasons, at this point also Pailan had not won a single match in I-League and had only managed eight draws in 17 matches. Assistant coach Sujit Chakravarty took over the reins as head coach for the remainder of the season. Towards the end of the season Pailan managed to win two matches, one against Chirag United Club Kerala and another against HAL to finished the season in 13th place out of 14 teams but since they are a developmental team, Pailan were not relegated.
2012–13 season
After the disastrous season Pailan endured, the club and All India Football Federation signed Australian Arthur Papas as the new permanent head coach of the India U23 and Pailan Arrows on 24 May 2012. Papas came to the club after coaching his former club, Oakleigh Cannons FC, to the 2011 Victorian Premier League runners-up title.
Disbanding
On 29 August 2013 it was announced that Pailan Arrows had been disbanded by the All India Football Federation as the club sponsors, Pailan Group, could not financially support the team.
Revival
After successful hosting of 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, AIFF revived the project with the aim of giving regular game time to U–17 world cup players as a team, and fielded the team in 2017–18 I-League and renamed the team to Indian Arrows.
Team Records
Below are listed the club's performances in latest 10 seasons.
Record
;Key
Tms. = Number of teams
Pos. = Position in league
Attendance/G = Average league attendance
Colours
The club's colours were blue and white, just like the India national football team. During the first season Pailan Arrows started with a dark blue kit but eventually during the 2010–11 season the club started using a normal blue kit with black shorts. For the 2011–12 season Pailan used a dark blue jersey and a white kit with black or red socks.
Stadium
For the 2010–11 I-League season the club played at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon, Haryana when they were originally due to play at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi but due to the pitch condition the club was moved to Gurgaon. After relocating to Kolkata the club started to play at the Salt Lake Stadium which is also home to East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Prayag United. In 2017–18, the team played in Goa and Delhi. In 2018–19, they used the Barabati Stadium and Kalinga Stadium, before moving to Tilak Maidan.
Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors
In october 2018, Government of Odisha signed Rs. 50 million sponsorship deal with AIFF for the Arrows. The sponsorship deal will also cover India's under-15 football team. As part of the deal, the state government will host the Arrows and under-15 national team at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. The deal also covers the two teams’ stay in Bhubaneswar, providing them with the ground facility as well as boarding/lodging during the I-league and off-season.
Shanmugam Venkatesh