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The Indian Super League (ISL) returns in less than a month, and the fixture list has already drawn excitement and attention to India's premier football league.
ATK Mohun Bagan will kick off the season with a clash against the Kerala Blasters on November 19. Defending champions Mumbai City FC will begin their campaign on November 22 against FC Goa, while two-time winners Chennaiyin FC will face off against Hyderabad FC a day later.
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Over seven incredible seasons of the ISL, there have been four different winners. ATK (now ATK Mohun Bagan) have picked up three titles, while Chennaiyin FC have won the ISL twice. Mumbai City and Bengaluru FC have won one title apiece.
It will be interesting to see if we have a new winner this season, with most of the teams adding new faces and quality to their squads. On that note, here's a look at all the ISL winners over the years before the new season kicks off:
#1 ISL 2014 | Champions: ATK
ATK assembled a well-rounded squad ahead of the 2014 ISL season. The Kolkata-based club roped in some big-name foreign recruits, including ex-Liverpool forward Luis Garcia and Borja Fernandez.
The Indian core of the side was excellent as well with the likes of Subhashish Roy in goal, Baljit Sahni, Cavin Lobo and Sanju Pradhan. ATK began the regular season with a 3-0 victory over Mumbai City, and were unbeaten in their first six games, collecting three wins and as many draws.
However, they added just one more win in their next eight matches, drawing four times and losing thrice. ATK ended the league phase in third place on 19 points, setting up a semi-final clash with FC Goa.
The two-legged tie with the Gaurs ended goalless after 180 minutes, with ATK entering the first-ever ISL final thanks to a 4-2 win on penalties. The Kolkata-based franchise met the Kerala Blasters in the summit clash. A fairly dull game was decided by a 95th winner from Mohammad Rafique, making ATK the winners of the inaugural ISL season.
Fikru Teferra top-scored for ATK with three goals, while Lobo and Sahni finished with two goals apiece.
#2 ISL 2015 | Champions: Chennaiyin FC
Chennaiyin FC followed ATK to become the next ISL winner in 2015. The Marina Machans had built an excellent squad entering the season, with the likes of Elano Blumer, Stiven Mendoza, Mailson Alves and Bernard Mendy in their ranks.
The Indian members of the squad included the likes of Jeje Lalpekhlua, Karanjit Singh and Thoi Singh. Chennaiyin seemed to have all their bases covered, but endured a rocky start to their second ISL campaign.
The franchise collected just three wins from their opening eight matches in the league stage. However, they went on an excellent run to win their final four games, finishing third in the league table with 22 points from 14 matches.
In the semi-finals, Chennaiyin beat holders ATK 4-2 on aggregate in a thrilling contest. The final saw even more drama as the Chennai-based outfit faced FC Goa. Chennaiyin went in front, thanks to Bruno Pelissari, but found themselves behind in the 87th minute after Jofre Mateu scored for the Gaurs.
From there, the Marina Machans staged an extraordinary comeback. They forced an own goal from Goa goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani in the 90th minute before Mendoza pounced to score the winner a minute later.
Mendoza would also end the campaign as the top scorer of the 2015 ISL season, striking 13 times, including two hat-tricks. He was well supported by Lalpekhlua, who netted six times during the season.
#3 ISL 2016 | Champions: ATK
ATK won their second ISL title in the 2016 season. The side retained star forward Iain Hume, who was a game-changer in the 2015 campaign.
ATK enjoyed a reasonably successful run in the league stage, picking up 20 points to finish fourth. They met table-toppers Mumbai City in the semi-finals, where they were the underdogs going into the game.
However, the Kolkata-based franchise stepped up to secure a 3-2 win on aggregate, and progress to the final. In the summit clash, they took on the Kerala Blasters in a repeat of the 2014 title match. Mohammed Rafi opened the scoring for Kerala, before Henrique Sereno levelled the contest for Kolkata.
The match then went to penalties, where ATK held their nerve to secure a 4-3 victory, and clinch their second ISL trophy. Hume top-scored for the side with seven goals.
#4 ISL 2017-18 | Champions: Chennaiyin FC
Chennaiyin FC returned to the summit of the ISL in the 2017-18 season, clinching their second title in four years.
The Chennai squad included the likes of Inigo Calderon, Mailson Alves and Raphael Augusto, who all played starring roles in the team's triumph. Several Indian players, including Anirudh Thapa, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Dhanpal Ganesh and Germanpreet Singh, also played key roles.
Chennaiyin finished second in the extended ISL league stage, which saw newcomers Bengaluru FC secure first place. They then took on FC Goa in the semi-finals, where they secured a 4-1 victory on aggregate to reach the final.
The 2017-18 ISL final was a thriller. Bengaluru went ahead, thanks to Sunil Chhetri, but a brace from Alves put Chennaiyin ahead at the interval. The Chennai outfit came out all guns blazing in the second half to score once more through Augusto. Miku managed a late consolation for Bengaluru, but it was too little too late.
Jeje Lalpekhlua top-scored for Chennaiyin with nine goals during the season, while custodian Karanjit Singh recorded seven shutouts.
#5 ISL 2018-19 | Champions: Bengaluru FC
In just their second season in the ISL, Bengaluru FC became the third team to win India's premier football league. The side boasted multiple incredibly talented players. including Sunil Chhetri, Rahul Bheke, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Miku and Dimas Delgado.
The Blues began their group-stage campaign in tremendous form, going unbeaten in their first 11 games. BFC ended the league phase atop the ISL table, collecting 29 points from 18 matches.
They met Northeast United in the semi-finals, where they suffered a 2-1 defeat in the first leg. However, Bengaluru showed immense character to bounce back and win 3-0 at home to complete a 4-2 aggregate win. In the summit clash, they faced FC Goa, with both sides looking to win their maiden ISL title.
The match remained goalless after 90 minutes, forcing extra-time. Just as the final looked to be heading to penalties, BFC's Rahul Bheke scored with three minutes left on the clock.
That strike was enough to secure the title for BFC in a campaign where Chhetri managed an excellent tally of nine goals. He found able support from Miku and Udanta Singh, who scored five goals apiece, while Gurpreet Singh Sandhu kept seven clean sheets during the season.
#6 ISL 2019-20 | Champions: ATK
After two seasons without victory, ATK came back strong to become the only ISL team to win three titles. The 2019-20 season saw wholesale changes to their squad from their previous title-winning teams.
The likes of Roy Krishna, Edu Garcia and Javi Hernandez made up the foreign presence in the squad. Meanwhile, Balwant Singh, Jayesh Rane and Pritam Kotal headlined an excellent Indian presence.
The Kolkata-based franchise began the season on the wrong foot, losing their opening game to the Kerala Blasters. However, they bounced back comprehensively to finish the league stage in second place with 34 points.
ATK played defending champions Bengaluru FC in the semi-finals, in what was expected to be a tight and tense affair. BFC won the first leg 1-0, but ATK fought back to win the second 3-1 to progress to the final.
In the summit clash, they faced two-time ISL winners Chennaiyin FC. ATK scored in the 10th minute through Hernandez and extended their lead through Garcia early in the second half. Chennaiyin pulled one back through Nerijus Valskis, but Hernandez's second goal in stoppage-time sealed the deal.
In the process, ATK won their record third ISL title, thanks largely to Roy Krishna, who found the back of the net 15 times. Krishna received able support from David Williams and Michael Soosairaj, who scored seven and three goals, respectively. Arindam Bhattacharya kept nine clean sheets during ATK's successful 2019-20 campaign.
#7 ISL 2020-21 | Champions: Mumbai City FC
Mumbai City FC will enter the 2021-22 ISL as the defending champions, having won the competition last season. The Islanders clinched a fabulous victory in the Goa bubble despite not being the most fancied side at the start of the campaign.
MCFC began their campaign with a 1-0 loss against Northeast United. The side then bounced back strongly to go on a 12-match unbeaten run. That helped set up an excellent platform, as Mumbai City completed the league stage at the top of the ISL table with 40 points.
In the semi-finals, the Islanders came up against FC Goa. It was 2-2 on aggregate after a goalless second leg, which meant penalties would be required to decide the winner. MCFC held their own to secure a 6-5 victory from the spot to reach their maiden ISL final.
In the summit clash, Mumbai faced newcomers ATK Mohun Bagan. The Mariners took the lead through David Williams, but an own goal by Jose Arroyo brought MCFC back into the game at the half-hour mark. The game looked set to head into extra-time, but Bipin Singh's strike in the 90th minute gave the Islanders their first-ever ISL title.
Though he did not score in the final, Adam le Fondre top-scored for Mumbai City FC with 11 goals during the season. He received plenty of support from Bipin Singh, who netted six times, and captain Amrinder Singh, who kept ten clean sheets playing in goal.
