Founded in 2007, only three managers have mostly dominated the second-tier domestic football league of India
In 2007, the I-League was founded as the successor of the National Football League and back then, it was India’s top-tier domestic football league. However, the Indian Super League (ISL) founded in 2014 quickly rose to fame and at the moment, the ISL is India’s top-tier domestic league.
Nonetheless, the I-League continues to be as competitive and important as it was before the inception of the ISL. Therefore, in the following paragraphs, we have listed the top managers of the league with maximum I-League titles.
Armando Colaco
In I-League’s history, Colaco is the manager with the highest number of titles. In June 2003, Colaco took charge of the Dempo Sports Club and served as their manager until 2013. Dempo won three I-League titles under his watch. Not to forget, he became the first manager to lead an Indian side to the semi-final round of the AFC Cup in 2008.
After leaving Dempo, Colaco joined East Bengal but failed to recreate his magic. In 2015, he was sacked by the Bengal-based club.
Ashley Westwood
A former English player, Ashley Westwood played over 400 games for various English teams, such as Bradford City, Northampton Town football, and Portsmouth, to name a few. At present, Westwood is the head coach of RoundGlass Punjab and is yet to create an impact with the team in the I-League, but a few years ago, Westwood and his football were a piece of art.
The charming English lad was the manager of Bengaluru FC, who led the club to two I-League titles in 2014 and 2016. Later on, Westwood took charge of ATK FC (presently ATK Mohun Bagan) but earned only one point from seven games. In 2021, he accepted the role of head coach at RoundGlass Punjab.
Vincenzo Alberto Annese
A former Italian player, Annese has been a football coach since 2012. Over the years, Annese has managed several clubs such as Bechem United, Al-Khaleel and PSIS Semran. Not to forget, he also managed the national team of Belize. However, Annese never enjoyed massive success in any of the mentioned workplaces.
In 2020, Gokulam FC signed Annese as the head manager, which helped him revive his career because, in the same year, Annese led the team to the I-League title.
