The inaugural season of the Hero Indian Super League gathered a lot of excitement from Indian footballing fans. A league that was commercialised and had all the glitz and glamour which the audience was used to seeing in the Indian Premier League, felt like a dream come true for hardcore football fans in the country.

The draft for domestic players took place on 22nd and 23rd July 2014. A total of 84 players were up for grabs. On 21st August 2014, the draft for international players took place in Mumbai. The first season saw a plethora of international star footballers take part in the ISL as coaches and players. Some of the most notable names were Alessandro Del Piero, Robert Pires, Luis Garcia, David Trezeguet, Elano, David James. 

Adding a touch of stardom to the Indian Super League, prominent Indian celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Hrithik Roshan and Ranbir Kapoor had invested their finances and passion in various clubs. 

The first ball of the Indian Super League history was kicked on 12th October 2014, when ATK hosted Mumbai City FC. Since then the league has witnessed some thrilling and nail-biting encounters. The first season came to an end when ATK won the title. In the same season, Brazilian striker Elano Blumer was awarded the golden boot for scoring a total of 8 goals, while Indian goalkeeper Sandip Nandy won the golden glove award. 

The first game between ATK and Mumbai drew a television audience of 75 million. By the end of the first ISL season, an estimated 429 million viewership was reported. These numbers were more than what India drew for the 2014 FIFA World Cup as well as the Premier League. Meanwhile, rural Indian drew 101 million viewers. 

After the first season, the club owners invested some of the revenue to improve the infrastructure of stadiums to continue providing fans with the best experience possible. 

The grassroots program was also announced after the success of the first season. Under this program, all the clubs would create academies to promote football among the youth of their respective cities. The grassroots program will train and make young talented kids ready to play for the senior teams. This system is prevalent at clubs in England, Spain, Germany where the next best potential players for the club could be a product of their academies.

In the first 3 years of the competition, the league was played from October to December. Since 2017 the league is played over 5 months starting from October till March. In the 5 months, these 10 teams would play each other twice, once at home and then an away game. 

A total of 18 matches are played by every club. A win would fetch the team 3 points. If the teams draw a game, they will share 1 point each, and a loss results in no points to the team.  

If a club is on level points with another, the team that has scored more and conceded fewer goals will sit above the other sides in the league table. 

The top 4 teams will play 2 legged qualifiers to reach the finals. In the ISL format, the team that finishes 1st will play the 2 legged fixture against the team that finishes 4th, while the team that finishes 2nd would play the team that finishes 3rd.  

At the end of the 2 legged fixtures, whichever team has more goals on aggregate will progress to the final match. Should the clubs be equal on goals even after the 90 minutes of the 2nd leg, then an extra 30 minutes are played. Even then if the scores are tied, the match will go into penalties. The finals are one-legged fixtures that are played at a neutral venue.

2014 Season: ATK

The finals of the inaugural season were played between Kerala Blasters and ATK. Both the teams had to play thrilling encounters in the qualifying home and away fixtures. Kerala came through to the finals after defeating Chennaiyin FC. 4-3 on aggregate. ATK had played 2 games that ended in 0-0 draws against FC Goa. Eventually, ATK reached the finals after defeating Goa 4-2 on penalties. The final match was played at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. ATK were the winners in the final game vs Kerala Blasters after a narrow 1-0 victory. 

2015 Season: Chennaiyin FC

The winners of the second season of ISL were Chennaiyin FC. They had finished 3rd in the league and had to play the qualifiers against defending champions ATK who finished 2nd that year. The home as well as the away fixtures ended in a 4-2 win for Chennaiyin FC which saw them seal their place in the finals. Following them to the finals were FC Goa, who had defeated Delhi Dynamos in a 3-1 aggregate. 

The final game was played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa. However, FC Goa couldn’t claim their maiden title on their home ground, as Chennaiyin FC. clinched the victory by scoring 2 late goals, one of which was an own goal. Chennaiyin FC won the fixture 3-2 and lifted their first title. 

2016 Season: ATK 

The 2016 season would see winners of the inaugural ISL season ATK, lift the trophy yet again. They had finished in the 4th place and had to play the qualifiers against 1st placed Mumbai City FC. An aggregate of 3-2 ensured ATK a place in the finals yet again. Delhi Dynamos who finished 3rd were facing Kerala Blasters who had finished 2nd, and the two teams had to take the game to penalties. Kerala came out on top with a 3-0 victory and now had to face the former champions in the finals.

The final match was played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi which ended in a 1-1 draw hence forcing it to go right down to the wire. A nervy penalty shootout that ended 4-3 in favour of ATK saw them lift the trophy yet again and this time in front of the disappointed Kerala Blasters home support. 

2017-2018 Season: Chennaiyin FC

From the 2017 season onwards, the games were played over 4 months starting on 17th November 2017 till 17th March 2018. In this Season, I-League giants Bengaluru Football Club made their debut in the ISL. Finishing 1st in the league, they were up against 4th place Pune City FC in the qualifiers. Over the 2 legs, Bengaluru sealed their place in the finals after a 3-1 aggregate victory over Pune City FC. Joining Bengaluru in the finals were Chennaiyin FC, who went past FC Goa with ease in a 4-1 aggregate win. The finals were held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. Chennaiyin FC marched to a victory with a brave 3-2 victory against the home team and subsequently won their 2nd title in 3 years. 

2018-2019 Season:Bengaluru FC

The 5th season of the IPL would see previous season’s runners up Bengaluru lift the title for the first time. Both the finalists of the season Bengaluru and Goa had finished 1st and 2nd respectively with an identical win, draw and loss record. Bengaluru faced off NorthEast United FC, who they beat 4-2 to progress into the finals. Goa comfortably cruised past in a 5-2 win over their opponents Mumbai City FC. Mumbai Football Arena was the venue for the finals of the 18-19 season. Bengaluru managed to edge Goa in a simple 1-0 victory to lift their maiden ISL title.

Hero is the title sponsor of the Indian Super League. The associate sponsors of ISL are Maruti Suzuki. While Apollo tires, Dream 11, Bisleri and Nivia are the official sponsors.