ISL 2024-25: Jamshedpur FC Season Review

The Red Miners scripted ISL’s most favourite underdog story ever.

No sane person would have imagined Jamshedpur FC making it to the ISL semifinals after two back-to-back disappointing campaigns. But head coach Khalid Jamil extracted some of the best performances from his Jamshedpur FC players.

Since Jamshedpur’s inception into the ISL, the club have always been labelled as an “average team”. Apart from their unprecedented Shield-winning campaign during the 2021-22 season, they never made it to the ISL playoffs.

Despite the exodus of coaches, the club lacked the stability to retain its core players. Despite having one of the most passionate and loyal fan bases in the country, the Red Miners failed to capitalise on their home support for many years.

However the 2024-25 season, the story was different for coach Jamil and his men. From doing the double over teams like Mumbai City FC and FC Goa to having an impeccable record at home, let us review Jamshedpur FC’s season and try to find out what made it a special underdog story.

Fact Sheet for Jamshedpur FC

• Position at the End of the Season: 5th
• Number of Games Played Total: 27
• Victories: 14
• Draws: 2
• Defeats: 11
• Total Goals Scored (GF): 41
• Total Goals Against (GA): 46
• Overall Points: 38

Top Performers

Javier Hernandez

When Khalid Jamil didn’t hesitate in handing over the captain’s armband to Javier Hernandez, the fans knew that the Spaniard was going to be their undisputed leader. A product of the prestigious Real Madrid Academy, Javi is one of the most decorated foreign players in ISL history.

From winning silverware with ATK, Bengaluru FC and Odisha FC, Javi’s arrival in the Steel City was welcomed with great enthusiasm and spark within the squad. Many football pundits were anxious about Javi’s consistency to retain his form and momentum with growing age, but Javi has aged like a fine wine.

From captaining the side to their second semi-final appearance to scoring 9 goals and 3 assists in 26 matches for Jamshedpur FC, Javi had a special season with the Red Miners.

Albino Gomes

When Jamshedpur FC signed the shot-stopper with a transfer fee, a lot of eyebrows were raised as Gomes was playing his trade in the I-League. But the Goan keeper has proved all his critics wrong and delivered a stellar performance for the Red Miners between the sticks. He became one of the first players in the league to make over 100 saves in a season.

Gomes holds the record for saving the most penalties in ISL history, and this season, he saved four penalties. He stood tall as the Great Wall of Jamshedpur, and if he continues to be a nightmare for opposition strikers, we might soon see Gomes donning the blue jersey for the National team.

Under-performer of the season

Seiminlen Doungel

One of the very few Indians to score a hat-trick in ISL, Doungel was expected to play a major role in filling the void of an Indian striker for Jamshedpur FC and complement either Siverio or Murray. However, he failed to score a single goal for Red Miners this season and made only 2 assists with an average passing accuracy of 56%.

If the 31-year-old had performed well for the club, Khalid could have exercised his option to play two foreign centre backs. The tactical change could have helped Jamshedpur avoid those humiliating defeats against Chennaiyin FC, NorthEast United FC and Mohun Bagan Super Giant.

Top performances

Jamshedpur FC 2-1 Bengaluru FC

Jamshedpur FC 3-1 FC Goa

Mumbai City FC 0-3 Jamshedpur FC

Jamshedpur FC 2-1 Mohun Bagan

ALSO READ: Bengaluru FC unveils 28-man squad for 2025 Super Cup campaign

Managerial Report Card

Khalid Jamil was just 45 minutes away from becoming the first-ever Indian coach to take a side into the ISL Final. However, destiny had different plans and they had to settle for a disappointing semi-final finish.

History will always remember Khalid Jamil for making some of the impossible things happen. Whether it be winning the I-League with Aizawl FC to taking NorthEast United FC into the ISL semifinals, Khalid has achieved great feats in Indian football.

The 2024-25 season helped coach Jamil add yet another feature to his cap. While possessing a squad of good players and young talent, Khalid got the best out of his players. More importantly, coach Jamil added much-needed stability to the squad as they hardly saw any incoming or outgoing during the two transfer windows.

How can Jamshedpur FC improve?

The Red Miners should focus on building a squad according to coach Khalid Jamil’s plans. Retaining key players like Javi, Albino and Eze must be the top priority and also acquiring the services of youngsters like Nikhil Barla and Mobashir Rahman on a multi-year contract will help the club cover all the bases.

They have very few areas of concern, which they can try to fill by bringing in players who can tune in perfectly with coach Jamil’s system and help the Red Miners carry forward his legacy. Khalid still has plenty to play for in the Super Cup as a spot in the Asian club competitions will be at stake for the Red Miners.

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