Mahindra United is a professional football club based in Mumbai, India.Their home ground is the Cooperage Ground.
History
All work and no play can indeed make a company very dull. That’s why a simple club with a few games and basic amenities was set up in 1950. No one ever thought that this would grow into an establishment that ran a professional team and offered high quality facilities, incentives and allowances.
The shift was gradual. In 1956, a group of youngsters enrolled themselves as the Mahindra official team in the Bombay Football League and made valiant efforts to reach the top. To further improve the standards, the company provided a full- size football field for practice and training. At this point, with the football teams representing the company at tournaments in Bombay, the need for a sports club arose. So the Mahindra & Mahindra Allied Company Sports Club came into being in 1962.
Since then the team has gone from strength to strength, getting into Bombay’s senior division Harwood League in 1964 and earned the dashing sobriquet, ‘The Giant Killers’. Football was developing in Maharashtra and in Mahindra too. In 1969, Mr. Harish Mahindra was elected Vice President of Western India Football Association (WIFA). Mahindra & Mahindra Allied Company Sports Club, then known as the Orange Brigade, was the most popular team in Maharashtra after strong teams like TATA’s, Mafatlal’s and Caltex. The late 80’s saw Mahindra emerge as one of the most formidable teams in the country, attracting talented international players like P. M. Shivdas, C. Mustafa, Jerry Bassi, Henry Menezes, Santosh Kashyap and Godfrey Pereira. Top teams like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting went all out to recruit the Mahindra players.
In 2000, the Mahindra Football Team underwent a total revamp and the Orange Brigade turned red. The team was renamed Mahindra United under the leadership of Mr. Alan Durante, Executive Director & President of the Automotive Sector. Committed support from the Chairman, Keshub Mahindra, and Managing Director & Vice Chairman, Anand Mahindra, set the ball rolling. Big names like Raghavan, Derek Desouza, Harish Rao, Karel Stromsik, David Booth and Dhronacharya Awardee, Syed Nayeemuddin, have coached the team and taken it from victory to victory.
There's been no looking back since then. Mahindra United of Mumbai is the only team in Maharashtra to win the Durand Cup twice, which is the second oldest trophy in the world. It is also the first team in Maharashtra to win the Harwood League and the Nadkarni Cup three times in a row. In fact, right now the Indian football team too, is led by the captain of Mahindra United.
Current Squad
As for 24 January 2008
No.
Position
Player
1
GK
Subhashish Roy Chowdhury
2
DF
Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep
4
MF
Krishnan Nair Aajayan
5
DF
Harpreet Singh
6
DF
Manas Das
7
DF
Sushanth Mathew
8
FW
Andrews Pomeyie Mensah
9
FW
Surojit Bose
10
FW
Yakubu Yusif
11
FW
M. Mohammed Rafi
12
MF
Manjit Singh
13
MF
Keegan Pereira
14
DF
Dharmaraj Ravanan
15
FW
Khangemban Thoi Singh
16
DF
Sunil Kumar
No.
Position
Player
17
MF
Sukhwinder Singh
18
DF
N. Kali Alaudeen
19
MF
Izumi Arata
20
MF
Bhola Prasad
21
DF
Goutam Debnath
22
GK
Amit Nand
23
MF
Steven Dias
24
GK
Sandip Nandy
26
DF
Bello Rasaq
27
MF
Noel Fernandes
28
FW
Sushil Kumar Singh
29
MF
Pierre Djidjia Douhou
30
FW
Tarif Ahmed
32
FW
Adnan Rahimtullah
Honours
Indian League: 1
2006
Durand Cup: 3
1998, 2001/02,2008
Federation Cup (India): 2
2003, 2005
IFA Shield: 2
2006, 2008
2007:AFC Cup Quarter-Finals
2006 : AFC Cup
2004 : AFC CUP (Asian Football Confederation) 2004 3rd Place in Group B
2003 : President of Maldives Invitational Soccer Cup
2003 : Super Cup
1971, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1995 :12x Mumbai Elite Division 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
2000, 2001/02 : 3x Nadkarni Cup
2000, 2001, 2002
1980 : Bandodkar Gold Cup
1993 : Rovers Cup
1998 : Chief Ministers Cup
1999 : Mammen Mappillai Cup
Performance in AFC competitions
AFC Cup: 3 appearances
2004: Group Stage
2006: Group Stage
2007: Quarter-Finals
Manager
Mahindra United Under - 19 years
In an attempt to nurture young talent and promote football in Mumbai, Mahindra United fielded an Under-19 years team from 2003. The team performed extremely well in the NFL league for U-19 years and reached the semi-finals, beating teams like Churchill Bros and Salgaocars. This promotion of the U-19 years team has helped the players to develop and display their talent at the top level and has got them instant recognition and offers from some leading clubs in Mumbai.
Mahindra United is right now participating in 1st I league [ under-19 ] held at Jamshedpur-Jharkhand from 7th-19th september 2008.
Mahindra United in Group A along with 1) Mohammedan SC 2) Sesa Football Academy 3) Vasco SC 4) Mahindra United.
Mahindra United Under - 15 years
Spurred by the success of its U-19 years team, Mahindra United fielded an Under-15 years team from 2006. The team played the Manchester United Premier Cup Asian Qualifiers held at Kolkata where top NFL Clubs participated.
