Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the top tier of the country’s domestic football, came to an end with the match between this season’s champions Bashundhara Kings and mid table contenders Chittagong Abahoni at Bangabandhu National Stadium on Saturday.
Here, we offer you a flashback of the lastest season of Bangladesh Premier League:
Veni, vidi, vici
The Kings joined the elite competition this season for the first time and clinched the title. On their way to become the newest BPL champions, the Kings accumulated a total of 65 points, winning 20 out of the total 24 matches.
Bashundhara’s maiden BPL title was confirmed after their 1-1 draw with Mohammedan Sporting Club on July 25 when they were two matches away from finishing the season.
Apart from the title winning 1-1 draw with Mohammedan, the Kings played out only one other game goalless draw with Team BJMC before the drew 1-1 in the last match agiainst Chittagong Abahoni. However, their 20-match unbeaten run ended on July 20 as they tasted their first defeat (1-0) at the hands of Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra that day.
During their first BPL journey, the new BPL champions also registered a 14 match record winning streak breaking Dhaka Abahani’s 11 straight wins in 2009-10 season.
Seven months of football passion
A total of 13 teams, including newcomers NoFeL and Bashundhara, took part in the BPL’s latest edition.
The first player registration and transfer window for the BPL 2018-19 took place in July 2018. Later in April this year, the clubs got the second chance to transfer and register players.
The BPL 2018-19 rolled on the ground with the match between Dhaka Abahani and NoFeL Sporting Club at Bangabandhu National Stadium on January 18 this year.
Since then, the league’s first phase continued until the Eid holidays. After the break, the BPL clash resumed with its 17th round on June 15.
There were a number of World Cup-playing top-quality international footballers, promising local youngsters among the players participated in the BPL’s latest edition.
BPL’s tour across the country
One the most important aspects of this season of BPL is the incorporation of six venues in the league pool.
The league matches held at six zonal venues across the country. The venues were Bangabandhu National Stadium (Dhaka), Rafiquddin Bhuiyan Stadium (Mymensingh), Sheikh Moni Stadium (Gopalganj), Sheikh Kamal Stadium (Nilphamari), Shaheed Bhulu Stadium (Noakhali) and Sylhet District Stadium (Sylhet).
Among these venues, the Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh and Sheikh Kamal Stadium in Nilphamari had their debut in BPL this season.
Sheikh Kamal Stadium has been introduced as the home venue of Bashundhara Kings whereas Mymensingh based club Saif Sporting got Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium as their home venue.
The BFF has taken the initiative to take the top tier of nation’s football outside the capital to catch the football craze of the remote areas of the country as well as inspire new generation of grassroots footballers by giving them a chance to enjoy quality football at their doorsteps.
Points table summary
Last season’s title holders Abahani Ltd. Dhaka finished their BPL race staying at the second place on the table with 58 points from 19 wins and 1 draw.
Sheikh Russel KC and Saif Sporting Club can be considered as the upper mid table contenders as they occupied the third and fourth spots of the table.
The table’s fifth, sixth and seventh positions were held by Arambagh Krira Shangha, Sheikh Jamal DC and Muktijoddha Sangshad KC.
Mohammedan SC, once a big name in the country’s football, finished their BPL run staying at the eighth position. Chittagong Abahoni, Rahmatganj MFS, Brothers Union managed to hold the 9th, 10th and 11th positions, respectively.
Relegated teams
Recently emerged NoFeL Sporting Club has been relegated from the league as they could collect only 20 points from five wins and five draws. Their relegation was confirmed after the 2-2 draw with Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club on July 22.
On the other hand, Team BJMC were suffering from defeats since the beginning of the season and confirmed their relegation much earlier. The rock bottom team could manage only 11 points from 2 wins and 5 draws in the seven month long competition.
These two teams will play in the Bangladesh Championship League next season. Their places will be filled by Bangladesh Police Football Club and Uttar Baridhara Club, who finished their BCL 2018-19 season staying atop.
Support football, cheer for football
Bangladesh Football Federation, along with the other stakeholders, is trying its best to glamorize the country’s topmost domestic football event. Therefore, the BFF expect much more support from the country’s football loving people so that the game can get its glory back in the Bengal land.
Statistics:
1. Champion- Bashundhara Kings
2. Runners Up- Abahani Ltd. Dhaka
3. Fair Play Trophy Winner- Sk. Russel KC
4. Total Goal – 429
5. Total Goal Scored by Bangladeshi Players – 158
6. Top 10 Goal Scorers:
SL. Jsy Player Name Teams Total
1 17 Raphael OdoyinOnwrebe Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra Ltd. 22
2 10 Sunday ChizobaNwadialu Abahani Ltd. Dhaka 20
3 9 Mohammad NabibNewazZiban Abahani Ltd. Dhaka 17
4 10 SiyoZunapioJeancy Rahmatgonj MFS 13
5 91 Marcos Vinicius Da Costa Soares Da Silva Bashundhara Kings 14
6 26 Ismail Bangoura NoFel SC 12
7 9 Motin Mia Bashundhara Kings 11
8 26 DenielColindres Solera Bashundhara Kings 11
9 23 Deiner Andres Cordoba Escarpeta Saif Sporting Club Ltd. 11
10 10 BalloFamoussa Muktijoddha SKC 11
• Yellow& Red Card:
SL. Teams Yellow Cards Red Cards
1 Abahani Limited, Dhaka 34 1
2 Lt. Sheikh Jamal DC Ltd. 28 0
3 Chittagong Abahoni Limited 34 0
4 Saif Sporting Club Ltd. 44 4
5 Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited 39 0
6 Sheikh Russel KC Limited 23 1
7 Brothers Union Ltd. 22 1
8 ArambaghKrira Sangha 34 1
9 Team BJMC 49 2
10 Rahamatganj MFS 45 1
11 Bangladesh MuktijoddhaSangshad KC 25 1
12 Bashundhara Kings 27 1
13 NoFeL Sporting Club 49 0
Total 458 13
• Best Coach of the League- Oscar Wilian Bruzon Barreras.
• Best Player of the League- Daniel Colindres, Jsy-26 (Bashundhara Kings).
• Best Goalkeeper of the League- Ashraful Islam Rana, Jsy-1 (Sheikh Russel KC).
• Best Emerging Player of the League- Rabiul Hasan, Jsy-8 (Arambagh KS).
