JCT Football Club, founded in 1971, is an Indian professional football club based in Phagwara, Punjab (India). They are sponsored by Jagatjit Cotton and Textile Mills under the leadership of Samir Thapar and have emerged as one of the most successful Indian football clubs in recent years. They play in the national I-League and Punjab State Super League.
JCT FC has long been synonymous with football in Punjab and northern India. Like the other two institutional teams from the state, Border Security Force SC and FC Punjab Police, JCT have played a pivotal role in raising the standard of football in Punjab.
JCT have won many prestigious tournaments and brought laurels to the State of Punjab. They won the inaugural edition of the National Football League in 1996. The success of the outfit can be partly attributed to the fact that their owners, the Thapars, apart from being business moguls, are also keen followers of the game.
History
Jagatjit Cotton and Textile Mills constituted the football club in 1971. However, the club got recognition from 1974 onwards when several players joined the club from the Leader Club of Jalandhar. Included among these players was Inder Singh, who had captained the Indian national team in previous years and won the Arjuna Award in 1969. The Leader Club, started by Lala Dwarka Das Sehgal had played a major role in popularizing football in Northern India in the 1960s and 1970s. Though the Leader Club is no more, JCT Mills have since taken the mantle and become the biggest and most successful football club in this part of India.
JCT Limited has been involved in the Punjab Football Association (PFA) for the last three decades. JCT won the innagural NFL title in the 1996-1997 season. In January 2007, the JCT management decided to change the club name from JCT Mills FC to JCT FC.
In May 2008, JCT announced a partnership with Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Coca Cola Championship in England
Academy
JCT Limited set up the JCT Football Academy at Phagwara in 2000 to train budding players. It funds their studies in colleges, especially at the Guru Nanak College, Phagwara.
Facts
JCT was the first Indian club to hire a foreign coach.
JCT was the first Indian team outside Kolkata to win the IFA Shield.
JCT is a part of the flagship JCT group that was started by the late Karam Chand Thapar.
Performance in AFC Competitions
Asian Club Championship: 1 appearance
1997: Second Round
Current Season
JCT finished 3rd in the 2007-2008 season of the newly formed I-League, the successor to the NFL Premier Division.
Players
Current Roster
No. Position Player
1 GK Karanjit Singh
2 DF Jaspal Singh
3 DF Anwar Ali
4 DF Julius Irabor Akpele
6 MF Baljit Singh Sahni
7 FW Abdul Latif Seriki
8 MF Jaswinder Singh
9 MF Asim Hassan
10 FW Eduardo da Silva Escobar
12 DF Daljit Singh
13 MF Baldeep Singh Sr
14 MF Ram Pal
No. Position Player
16 MF Rakinderjit Singh
18 FW Amrinder Singh
19 Yadvinder Singh Bajwa
20 MF Marcos De Carvalho Pereira
21 GK Mukhwinderjit Singh
22 GK Pawan Kumar
23 DF Harish Sharma
24 DF Gurwinder Singh
25 FW Sakatar Singh
27 MF Baldeep Singh Jr
28 DF Shivraj Singh
Notable former players
Baichung Bhutia
I M Vijayan
Inder Singh
Jarnail Singh
Parminder Singh
Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi
P. Renedy Singh
Sunil Chetri
Team Management
Team Management Table Name Position
Samir Thapar Chairman/President
Parminder Singh Manager
Sukhvinder Singh Coach
Harjinder Singh Assistant Coach
Kuldip Singh Assistant Coach
Dr.Ramesh Arora Doctor
Dr.Gagan Kapoor Physio
Transfers
RetainedKalyan Chaubey, Karanjit Singh, Mukhwinderjit Singh, Harpreet Singh, Taranjit Singh, Narinder Singh, Harish Sharma, Daljit Singh, KV Dhanesh, Jaspal Singh, Shivraj Singh, Sunil Kumar, Ram Pal, P Renedy Singh, Sukhjinder Singh, Baldeep Singh Sr, Bimanyu Bimal Barua, Yadvinder Singh Bajwa, Jaswinder Singh, Parminder Singh, Praveen Kumar, Sunil Chetri, Charanjit Kumar, Sakatar Singh
New
Rakinderjit Singh, Anwar Ali (both Punjab Police), Chidi Edeh (Sporting Clube de Goa), Ramanjeet Singh (Hindustan Club), Mandeep Singh Brar (Indian Nationals FC), Tajinder Singh (Punajb State Electricity Board), Amrinder Singh (Sultan Singh SC, Rajasthan), N Rakesh Singh (Juvenile Association, Manipur), Tajinder Singh (International SC, Punjab), Sunday Ambrose (NIGERIA) 2nd Transfer Period: Adebayo Tokunbo Adewusi (Sporting Clube de Goa), Baldeep Singh Jr (JCT Football Academy)
‘’’on loan:’’’ Gurwinder Singh (JCT Football Academy)
Left
Julius Irabor Akpele (Salgaocar SC), Gyan Moin Thapa (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC), Surjit Singh (Border Security Force), Kuldeep Singh (Rail Coach Factory), Krishna Kumar (Ageya Chalo, Tripura), Marcos Pereira (BRAZIL), Jagjit Singh Randhawa, Sukhwinder Singh, Johnson Segun Banner
Honours
Indian League: 1
1996/97
Durand Cup: 5
1976, 1983, 1987, 1992, 1996
Federation Cup (India): 2
1995, 1996
IFA Shield: 1
1996
9x Punjab Football League
1987, 1990/91, 1991, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
10xGurdarshan Memorial Cup
1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2001, 2002
4x Sait Nagjee Cup
1976, 1979, 1985, 1995
1978 Madura Coats Trophy
1995 Scissors Cup
1997 Rovers Cup
2002 Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Memorial Trophy
2005 Principal Harbhajan Singh Memorial Football Trophy
References
OFFICIAL SITE
Football Clubs – JCT FC
Indian Football – JCT FC
Season ending Transfers 2006 (NFL India)
NFL 2006/2007 League Table
JCT Mills
