2021–22 Indian Women's League season
# 2021–22 Indian Women's League season

The 2021–22 Indian Women's League season (also known as Hero Indian Women's League for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the Indian Women's League, the top division women's professional football league in India. The qualifying round was held from 1–5 April 2022 at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. The final round was scheduled to kick-off from mid-April in Bhubaneswar, Odisha and continue till the last week of May. On 26 May, Gokulam Kerala successfully defended their title with a convincing win against Sethu in a title decider on the last matchday, and became the first club to do it.

## Qualifier

### Teams

| Club | City | State/Region |
| - | - | - |
| ARA | Ahmedabad | Gujarat |
| Golazo | Hamirpur | Himachal Pradesh |
| Guwahati City | Guwahati | Assam |
| Young Welfare | Imphal | Manipur |

### Table

The following four teams from four states played each other once during April in the qualifying round at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | ARA | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 | +24 | 9 | Main round |
| 2 | Young Welfare | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 6 | |
| 3 | Guwahati City | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 14 | −14 | 1 | |
| 4 | Golazo | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 15 | −15 | 1 | |

## Teams

### Stadiums and locations

The matches were played at three venues located in Bhubaneswar, Odisha; Kalinga Stadium, O.S.A.P 7th Battalion Ground and Capital High School Ground.

| Club | City | State/Region |
| - | - | - |
| ARA | Ahmedabad | Gujarat |
| Gokulam Kerala | Kozhikode | Kerala |
| Hans Women | New Delhi | Delhi |
| Indian Arrows | Bhubaneswar | Odisha |
| Kickstart | Bengaluru | Karnataka |
| Mata Rukmani Girls | Bastar | Chhattisgarh |
| Odisha Police | Bhubaneswar | Odisha |
| PIFA Sports (Colaba) | Mumbai | Maharashtra |
| Sethu | Madurai | Tamil Nadu |
| Sirvodem | Navelim | Goa |
| Sports Odisha | Bhubaneswar | Odisha |
| SSB | Siliguri | West Bengal |

### Personnel and sponsorships

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| ARA | Prit Bhatt | Anju | | |
| Gokulam Kerala | Anthony Andrews | Aditi Chauhan | SEGA | Federal Bank |
| Hans Women | Arun Mishra | Jyoti Ann Burrett | | Kica Active |
| Indian Arrows | Suren Kumar Chettri | Martina Thokchom | SIX5SIX | |
| Kickstart | Amrutha Aravind Valliyath | Kshetrimayum Margaret Devi | | Haier |
| Mata Rukmani Girls | Sandeep Singh | Laxmi Mandavi | | Goel TMT |
| Odisha Police | Sradhanjali Samantaray | Sumitra Xalxo | VEGA | Odisha Tourism |
| PIFA Sports (Colaba) | Nirvan Shah | Karen Pais | | Häfele Group |
| Sethu | Crispin Chettri | Sandhiya Ranganathan | SIX5SIX | COSCO |
| Sirvodem | Chitra Gangadharan | Ancella Barretto | | Fabiana's – Sports & Hospitality |
| Sports Odisha | Gitanjali Khuntia | Manisa Panna | VEGA | Odisha Tourism |
| SSB | Juliet Miranda | Dular Marandi | | BS |

### Foreign players

AIFF allowed maximum of two foreign players per team but only one can be part of starting 11. Indian Arrows cannot sign any foreign player as they are part of AIFF's developmental program.

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 |
| - | - | - |
| ARA | — | — |
| Gokulam Kerala | Win Theingi Tun | Elshaddai Acheampong |
| Hans Women | — | — |
| Kickstart | — | — |
| Mata Rukmani Girls | — | — |
| Odisha Police | — | — |
| PIFA Sports (Colaba) | — | — |
| Sethu | Elizabeth Kioko Katungwa | — |
| Sirvodem | Ernestina Tetteh | — |
| Sports Odisha | — | — |
| SSB | — | — |

## Regular season

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Gokulam Kerala | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 4 | +62 | 33 | Champion and qualification for the 2022–23 Indian Women's League season and 2022 AFC Women's Club Championship |
| 2 | Sethu | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 6 | +36 | 30 | Qualification for the 2022–23 Indian Women's League season |
| 3 | Kickstart | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 33 | 8 | +25 | 27 | Qualification for the 2022–23 Indian Women's League season |
| 4 | Sports Odisha | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 34 | 16 | +18 | 20 | Qualification for the 2022–23 Indian Women's League season |
| 5 | Indian Arrows | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 9 | +16 | 19 | |
| 6 | SSB | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 29 | 22 | +7 | 16 | |
| 7 | PIFA Sports (Colaba) | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 25 | −8 | 14 | |
| 8 | ARA | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 26 | −8 | 13 | |
| 9 | Sirvodem | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 36 | −23 | 10 | |
| 10 | Odisha Police | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 38 | −29 | 6 | |
| 11 | Mata Rukmani Girls | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 60 | −53 | 3 | |
| 12 | Hans Women | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 50 | −43 | 3 | |

* 1 2 Head-to-Head points: Mata Rukmani Girls 3, Hans Women 0

### Fixture and results

All matches were played at neutral venues. The "home" and "away" are designated to identify Team 1 and Team 2 respectively.

| Home \ Away | GOK | SET | KIC | SPO | INA | SSB | PIS | ARA | SIR | ODP | MRG | HAW |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Gokulam Kerala | — | – | – | 7–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 6–1 | – | 4–0 | – | 8–0 | – |
| Sethu | 1–3 | — | 2–1 | 4–0 | – | 6–0 | – | 3–0 | – | – | 6–1 | – |
| Kickstart | 0–5 | – | — | 1–0 | – | – | – | 3–0 | – | 2–0 | – | – |
| Sports Odisha | – | – | – | — | 0–0 | – | – | – | 9–1 | 4–1 | – | 6–0 |
| Indian Arrows | – | 0–3 | 0–1 | – | — | – | 1–2 | – | 4–0 | – | 8–0 | 2–0 |
| SSB | – | – | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | – | – | – | 5–2 | 7–1 | 6–2 |
| PIFA Sports | – | 1–4 | 1–3 | 0–3 | – | 1–6 | — | – | 0–0 | 1–0 | – | – |
| ARA | 0–8 | – | – | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 | — | 3–1 | – | – | – |
| Sirvodem | – | 0–5 | 0–7 | – | – | 2–1 | – | – | — | – | 4–1 | – |
| Odisha Police | 0–12 | 0–3 | – | – | 0–4 | – | – | 1–3 | 2–1 | — | – | 2–3 |
| Mata Rukmani Girls | – | – | 0–10 | 0–7 | – | – | 1–3 | 0–4 | – | 0–1 | — | 3–2 |
| Hans Women | 0–9 | 0–5 | 0–4 | – | – | – | 0–6 | 0–3 | 0–4 | – | – | — |

### Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each round mentioned in official fixtures.

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| ARA | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Gokulam Kerala | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hans Women | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Indian Arrows | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Kickstart | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Mata Rukmani Girls | 11 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Odisha Police | 12 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| PIFA Sports (Colaba) | 8 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| Sethu | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Sirvodem | 10 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Sports Odisha | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| SSB | 3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 |

* Championship position

### Results by match

The table lists the results of teams after each match.

| Match | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| ARA | L | L | W | L | W | L | W | D | L | L | W |
| Gokulam Kerala | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W |
| Hans Women | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | W |
| Indian Arrows | W | D | L | W | W | W | L | W | W | L | L |
| Kickstart | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | W | W |
| Mata Rukmani Girls | L | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | L |
| Odisha Police | L | W | L | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | L |
| PIFA Sports (Colaba) | L | W | D | L | L | W | L | D | W | W | L |
| Sethu | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | L |
| Sirvodem | L | L | D | L | L | L | W | W | L | W | L |
| Sports Odisha | W | D | L | W | W | L | W | D | W | L | W |
| SSB | W | L | W | W | L | L | L | D | L | W | W |

## Season statistics

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Elshaddai Acheampong | Gokulam Kerala | 20 |
| 2 | Win Theingi Tun | Gokulam Kerala | 18 |
| 3 | Manisha Kalyan | Gokulam Kerala | 14 |
| 4 | Pyari Xaxa | Sports Odisha | 12 |
| 5 | Apurna Narzary | Indian Arrows | 9 |
| 6 | Naorem Priyangka Devi | Indian Arrows | 9 |
| 7 | Dular Marandi | SSB | 9 |
| 8 | Renu Rani | Sethu FC | 8 |
| Source: The AIFF ||||

### Most clean sheets

Note: Only the top 5 goalkeepers with most clean sheets have been listed below.

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Maibam Linthoingambi Devi | Kickstart | 8 |
| 2 | Aditi Chauhan | Gokulam Kerala | 7 |
| 3 | Devi D | Sethu | 7 |
| 4 | Adrija Sarkhel | Indian Arrows | 6 |
| 5 | Sasmita Parida | Sports Odisha | 4 |

## Awards

### Match awards

Note: Player of the match awarded only for the matches played in the regular season, and not in the qualifier.

| Match | Player of the Match | Player of the Match | Match | Player of the Match | Player of the Match | Match | Player of the Match | Player of the Match |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Match | Player | Club | Match | Player | Club | Match | Player | Club |
| Match 1 | Irom Prameshwori Devi | Kickstart | Match 23 | Dular Marandi | SSB | Match 45 | Naorem Priyangka Devi | Indian Arrows |
| Match 2 | Dular Marandi | SSB | Match 24 | Karishma Shirvoikar | Gokulam Kerala | Match 46 | Manisha Kalyan | Gokulam Kerala |
| Match 3 | Naorem Priyangka Devi | Indian Arrows | Match 25 | Elshaddai Acheampong | Gokulam Kerala | Match 47 | Pyari Xaxa | Sports Odisha |
| Match 4 | Manisha Kalyan | Gokulam Kerala | Match 26 | Apurna Narzary | Indian Arrows | Match 48 | Sanfida Nongrum | Sirvodem |
| Match 5 | Sanju Yadav | Sethu | Match 27 | Subhadra Sahoo | Sports Odisha | Match 49 | Soumya Guguloth | Gokulam Kerala |
| Match 6 | Pyari Xaxa | Sports Odisha | Match 28 | Rajeswari Das | Odisha Police | Match 50 | Santosh | Indian Arrows |
| Match 7 | Nisilia Majaw | PIFA Sports | Match 29 | Manisha | ARA | Match 51 | Anju Tamang | Sethu |
| Match 8 | Sasmita Parida | Sports Odisha | Match 30 | Renu Rani | Sethu | Match 52 | Yangoijam Kiranbala Chanu | Kickstart |
| Match 9 | Manju | SSB | Match 31 | Durga A | Sethu | Match 53 | Supriya Routray | Sports Odisha |
| Match 10 | Asem Roja Devi | Kickstart | Match 32 | Karen Pais | PIFA Sports | Match 54 | Karen Pais | PIFA Sports |
| Match 11 | Jasmani Samad | Odisha Police | Match 33 | Elshaddai Acheampong | Gokulam Kerala | Match 55 | Dular Marandi | SSB |
| Match 12 | Sandhiya Ranganathan | Sethu | Match 34 | Sarojini Tirkey | Odisha Police | Match 56 | Yumlembam Pakpi Devi | Kickstart |
| Match 13 | Loitongbam Ashalata Devi | Gokulam Kerala | Match 35 | Sunita Munda | Indian Arrows | Match 57 | Iawanlang Nongbet | PIFA Sports |
| Match 14 | Afshan Ashiq | Sirvodem | Match 36 | Ngangbam Sweety Devi | Kickstart | Match 58 | Soumya Guguloth | Gokulam Kerala |
| Match 15 | Asem Roja Devi | Kickstart | Match 37 | Kiran | ARA | Match 59 | Devneta Roy | Sethu |
| Match 16 | Naorem Sumila Chanu | SSB | Match 38 | Anju Tamang | Sethu | Match 60 | Jyoti | Sirvodem |
| Match 17 | Kiran | ARA | Match 39 | Pyari Xaxa | Sports Odisha | Match 61 | Jyoti Ann Burrett | Hans Women |
| Match 18 | Sandhiya Ranganathan | Sethu | Match 40 | Asem Roja Devi | Kickstart | Match 62 | Huidrom Ranjita Devi | SSB |
| Match 19 | Apurna Narzary | Indian Arrows | Match 41 | Elshaddai Acheampong | Gokulam Kerala | Match 63 | Kiran | ARA |
| Match 20 | Pyari Xaxa | Sports Odisha | Match 42 | Arpita Yeshwant Pednekar | Sirvodem | Match 64 | Deepa Nayak | Sports Odisha |
| Match 21 | Reet Kashyap | Mata Rukmani Girls | Match 43 | Anju Tamang | Sethu | Match 65 | Kshetrimayum Margaret Devi | Kickstart |
| Match 22 | Elizabeth Kioko Katungwa | Sethu | Match 44 | Manisha | ARA | Match 66 | Grace Dangmei | Gokulam Kerala |
| Source: The AIFF |||||||||

### Season awards

| Award | Winner |
| - | - |
| Hero of the League | Manisha Kalyan (Gokulam Kerala) |
| Top Goalscorer | Elshaddai Acheampong (Gokulam Kerala) |
| Best Goalkeeper | Maibam Linthoingambi Devi (Kickstart) |
| Best Defender | Loitongbam Ashalata Devi (Gokulam Kerala) |
| Emerging Player of the League | Naorem Priyangka Devi (Indian Arrows) |
