title: Churchill Brothers FC Goa
text: Churchill Brothers Football Club Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually participated in the National Football League, then top tier of Indian football league system.
  
  The club has won the I-League title twice and has secured a position among the top three teams on nine other occasions in the national league. It has also won eight Goa League Champions Cups, three Durand Cups, and a Federation Cup.
  
  Nicknamed the "Red Machines", Churchill Brothers was led for decades by Churchill Alemao, who served as both the president of Goa Football Association and Chief Minister of Goa. His daughter Valanka Alemao is current CEO of the club. Churchill Brothers emerged as fourth ranked Indian team, and 648 universally, in the international rankings of clubs during the first ten years of the 21st century (2001–2010), issued by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics in 2011.
  
  History
  
  1988–2009
  Churchill Brothers FC were founded in 1988 as Varca Club. After one season, they  renamed as Brothers Sporting Club. Later on they were bought out by Churchill Braz Alemao and renamed as Churchill Brothers FC and emerged as runners-up of the National Football League thrice: 1996–97, 1999–2000 and 2001–02. In the 1997–98 Asian Club Championship, Churchill Brothers went on to represent India. But, they had a forgetful debut outing as the Goan outfit was knocked out in the very first round by Vietnamese club Dong Thap with a 2–1 aggregate loss. In 1998, Churchill roped in Bassim Yonan, the first Iraqi player in India.
  
  After the take over by Churchill, the club went on to win the Durand Cup in 2007, and the 2008–09 I-League, Durand Cup in 2009, IFA Shield in the same year. In 2008, Nigerian World Cupper Emeka Ezeugo was appointed club's head coach.  They also emerged as runners-up of the 2007–08 I-League, the inaugural season. Through their I-League win Churchill Brothers FC were able to play in the 2010 Asian Champions League qualifiers which they lost and moved to the 2010 AFC Cup. During the AFC Cup they won two games against Al-Hilal Al-Sahili and finished runners-up in their group, advancing to the next round. Finally, they were defeated 1–2 to Al-Qadsia at the Mohammed Al-Hamad Stadium.
  
  2010–2019
  Churchill Brothers was managed by Singaporean Vincent Subramaniam for the 2010–11 season. The club went the rest of the season with Croatian Drago Mamić, who helped them win the IFA Shield that year.
  
  On 9 June 2011, Churchill Brothers announced they have signed former Portugal national football team assistant coach Manuel Gomes as a permanent coach. His start proved to be successful as the club captured the 2011 Durand Cup for the third team in their history in October 2011, defeating Prayag United 5–4. However, on 15 February 2012, it was announced that Gomes had resigned and that former coach Carlos Roberto Pereira would be brought in on a caretaker basis.
  
  Then on 13 July 2012, it was announced that Mariano Dias had been signed to become their new full-time head coach. After his first season in charge, Dias managed to lead Churchill Brothers to the I-League championship, their second domestic title in the history.
  
  After the end of 2013–14 I-League season, Churchill finished in twelfth position with 25 points in 24 matches and was evicted from I-League for not fulfilling the Asian Football Confederation's club licensing criteria. In that season, they clinched the 2013–14 Indian Federation Cup title.
  
  In November 2017, it was announced that Ukrainian Mykola Shevchenko joined Churchill as their head coach. His first game as a manager occurred on 2 December 2017, when Churchill took on Shillong Lajong, resulting in a 2–0 loss. His stint came to an end as he was sacked from the position. Churchill then roped in Joseph Afusi of Nigeria as technical director, but were relegated at the end of the 2017–18 season, with just 17 points from 18 games. However, their position was reinstated by the AIFF, after a successful appeal by the club.
  
  In August 2018, Romanian manager Petre Gigiu was appointed head coach. His first competitive game was on 28 October 2018 in Churchill's opening match against the reigning champions, Minerva Punjab. The match ended in a 0–0 draw. At the end of the 2018–19 I-League season, they finished on fourth position with 34 points.
  
  2020–present
  In September 2020, Churchill appointed Fernando Santiago Varela as head coach. Under his guidance, Churchill emerged as the runners-up of the 2020–21 I-League with 29 points. Although Churchill managed a win against RoundGlass Punjab in their last match, Gokulam Kerala FC were crowned champions courtesy of a better head-to-head record.
  
  Ahead of the 2021–22 I-League, Churchill roped in their first ever Guinean player Sekou Sylla, and Romanian Petre Gigiu returned to the club as head coach. They finished the season in fourth place. The club later in November, reached final of Baji Rout Cup in Odisha, finished as runners-up after defeat to Rajasthan United. They later took part in 2023 Indian Super Cup in Kerala, in April.
  
  Crest, colours & kits
  
  Crest
  In 2011, a new red and black crest was introduced. The crest of Churchill Brothers was originally green and yellow. The first crest had a football on green grass with yellow rays representing the sun's rays.
  
  Colours
  
  The present colours of Churchill Brothers kit is red for home matches and blue for away matches, but before the brand new crest the home colours were white and the away colours were red.
  
  Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors
  
  Stadiums
  
  Since the I-League began, Churchill Brothers have always played mainly at the Fatorda Stadium in the South Goan city of Margao along with other Goan clubs Dempo, Salgaocar, Sporting Goa and Vasco. They also sometimes use the Tilak Maidan Stadium for both I-League and Goa Professional League matches.
  
  During the 2012–13 season Churchill Brothers temporarily played at the Duler Stadium in Mapusa, Goa, while the Fatorda Stadium was being renovated for the 2013 Lusophony Games and the Tilak Maidan was being renovated up to AFC standards.
  
  During the 2013 AFC Cup, Churchill Brothers used Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune as their home ground. The club later in 2022–23 season, moved to GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim.
  
  Rivalries
  Churchill Brothers has a major rivalry with their fellow Goan side Dempo, popularly known as the "Goan Derby".
  
  They have also rivalries with other two Goan sides, Sporting Clube de Goa and Salgaocar, whom they faced in I-League, and currently in Goa Professional League.
  
  Players
  
  First-team squad
  
  Personnel
  
  Current technical staff
  
  Honours
  
  League
  I-League
  Champions (2): 2008–09, 2012–13
  Runners-up (3): 2007–08, 2009–10, 2020–21
  National Football League
  Runners-up (3): 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2001–02
  Third place (2): 1997–98, 1999–00
  National Football League II
  Runners-up (1): 2005–06
  
  Cup
  Durand Cup
  Champions (3): 2007, 2009, 2011
  Runners-up (2): 2001–02, 2008
  Federation Cup
  Champions (1): 2013–14
  IFA Shield
  Champions (2): 2009, 2011
  Rovers Cup
  Runners-up (3): 1997, 1999, 2000–01
  Goa Governor's Cup
  Champions (3): 2000, 2002, 2003
  Runners-up (2): 1999, 2001
  Goa Police Cup
  Champions (1): 1999
  Runners-up (1): 2018
  Baji Rout Cup
  Runners-up (1): 2022
  
  Regional
  Goa Football League
  Champions (8): 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2008–09, 2019–20
  
  Award
  I-League Fair Play Award: 2016–17
  
  Performance in AFC competitions
  
   Asian Club Championship: 1 appearance
  1997–98: 1st round
   AFC Champions League: 2 appearances
  2002–03: Qualifying round 3
  2010: Qualifying play-off	
  
  AFC Cup: 3 appearances
  2010: Round of 16
  2013: Group stage
  2014: Round of 16
  
  Records
  
  Seasonal records
  
  Key
  Tms. = Number of teams
  Pos. = Position in league
  Attendance/G = Average league attendance
  
  Transfer record
   Highest transfer fee received –  Khalid Aucho:  (in 2019) for move to Egyptian club Misr Lel Makkasa.
  
  Goalscoring record
   Highest goalscorer of the Indian NFL (with Churchill Brothers):  Philip Mensah (1998–99),  Yusif Yakubu (2001–02; 2002–03).
  
  Seasons
  
  Managerial history
  
   Armando Colaco (1994–1999)
   Danny McLennan (1999–2000)
   Gregory Testvin (2000–2001)
   T. K. Chathunni (2001–2002)
   Marcus Pacheco (2002–2004)
   Shabbir Ali (2004–2005)
   György Kottán (2005–2006)
   Karim Bencherifa (2006–2008)
   Emeka Ezeugo (2008)
   Zoran Đorđević (2008–2009)
   Carlos Roberto Pereira (2009–2010)
   Vincent Subramaniam (2010–2011)
   Drago Mamić (2011)
   Sukhwinder Singh (2011)
   Manuel Gomes (2011–2012)
   Carlos Roberto Pereira (2012)
   Mariano Dias (2012–2014)
   Joseph Afusi (2014)
   Alfred Fernandes (2014–2016)
   Joseph Afusi (2016–2017)
   Derrick Pereira (2017)
   Mykola Shevchenko (2017)
   Petre Gigiu (2018–2019)
   Edward Ansah (2019)
   Bernardo Tavares (2019–2020)
   Mateus Costa (2020)
   Fernando Santiago Varela (2020–2021)
   Petre Gigiu (2021–2022)
    Antonio Rueda Fernández (2022)
    Fernando Santiago Varela (2022–2023)
    Mateus Costa (2023)
    Edgardo Malvestiti (2023–present)
  
  Notable players
  
  World Cup players
    Emeka Ezeugo (1997–1998)
    Anthony Wolfe (2014, 2017, 2018–2019)
  
  Foreign internationals
  
  Other notable players
    Odafe Onyeka Okolie (2005–2011; 2014–2016) – club's all-time highest goalscorer, with 128 league goals (top scorer in league's 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10 seasons).
    Sunil Chhetri (2013) – most-capped player and the all-time top goalscorer of India.
    Yusif Yakubu (2001–2005; 2017) – NFL golden boot winner with Churchill in 2001–02, and 2002–03 [From 2001 to 2005, he scored 65 goals in 103 league matches with club] (also won IndianFootball.com 'player of the Year' award with Churchill in 2003).
    David Izazola (2018) – won 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship with Mexico, alongside being bronze medalist at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
  
  Other departments
  
  Women's team
  The club has a women's section, that competes in Goa Women's League, and won the league title in 2022–23 season. They also participate in Indian Women's League. Club's midfielder Cia Ryzella Almeida was honoured with "Women's Player of the Year" award by Goa Football Association (GFA) in June 2023.
  
  Honours
  Goa Women's League
  Champions (1): 2022–23
  
  Youth team
  Churchill Brothers' U17 youth men's team competes in the Hero Youth League. Club's U19 team reached championship round in 2011 season. Their U15 team took part in Nike Premier Cup. Club's U20 team competed in I-League U20.
  
  See also
   List of Churchill Brothers S.C. seasons
   List of Goan State Football Champions
   Indian football clubs in Asian competitions
  
  Footnotes
  
  References
  
  Further reading
  Bibliography
  
  Others
  
  External links
   
   
   Team profile at the-aiff.com (AIFF)
   Team archive at WorldFootball.net
  Team profile at Global Sports Archive
  
   
  Association football clubs established in 1988
  Football clubs in Goa
  1988 establishments in Goa
  
  I-League clubs