- Source: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Sporting Club (often abbreviated as HAL or HASC) is an Indian institutional multi-sports club based in Bangalore, best known for its football team. It was named after the company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The club has competed in the top tiers of Karnataka football — the Bangalore A Division and the BDFA Super Division.
As one of the top clubs from Karnataka, they have also competed in the National Football League till 2007, and subsequently the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system.
The club was originally founded in 1950s, with having hockey, football and other sections. They were revived in 2006. Nicknamed "the pilots", HAL used Bangalore Football Stadium as their home ground. In 2014, following poor performance in 2013–14 season, the club announced "temporary shutting down activities".
History
= Formation and journey
=Originally founded in the 1950s, the club later became affiliated with Bangalore District Football Association (BDFA) in the 90s. In 1952, the club clinched prestigious Stafford Challenge Cup title. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Sports Club began their journey through participating in the Bangalore A Division league, in which they emerged champions in 2000. Before getting revived in 2006, they clinched the BDFA Super Division titles in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005. HAL took part in the 2001–02 NFL season.
= 2006–2010
=After finishing third in the NFL Second Division in 2006, HASC were promoted to the Premier Division. Although only the top two teams from the Second Division gain promotion, Tata Football Academy who finished first in the standings were not able to form a professional team for the Premier Division. Therefore, HASC were promoted to the 11th NFL Premier Division along with runners up Churchill Brothers.
In 2010, the club emerged as the runners-up of the 2010 I-League 2nd Division after the end of final round, hosted in Bengaluru. With 16 points in 7 matches, HAL finished on 2nd as ONGC FC clinched title.
= 2010–present
=HASC qualified for 2010–11 I-League season after finishing second in the 2010 I-League 2nd Division. They were the second South Indian team in I-League after Viva Kerala. In the last match of the season, they defeated defending champions Dempo 4–2 to starve off relegation to I-League 2nd Division, with Xavier Vijay Kumar scoring two goals. HAL later clinched the 2012–13 Bengaluru Super Division title.
In the 2013–14 edition of the BDFA Super Division, HASC finished eighth among nine teams. This prompted the club to shut down their activities "temporarily" in December 2014. The coach H. Chnadrashekhar said, "We will not field a team temporarily (in the Cups and the league) and to that effect HASC's management had sent a letter to BDFA secretary ST Bhoopal." Reports of the club resuming operations and fielding their team emerged after they held selection trials in 2019.
In 2023–24 season of BDFA Super Division League, HAL secured fourth-place finish.
Crest
The HASC crest was different from its parent company, with just the word HAL in green letters.
Home ground
HASC used the Bangalore Football Stadium as its home ground for domestic and regional league matches since 2006, which previously had a capacity of 45,000 spectators. Built in 1967, the stadium has artificial turf and currently has a capacity of 8,400.
Club's training facilities are situated at the HAL Sports Club Ground in Bengaluru, which is used for selection trials of their youth teams, alongside state youth competitions.
Ownership and finances
The ownership of HASC has been from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The company HAL were not so influential when running the club at first, as shown from their poor record before the 2010 I-League 2nd Division season in which the club achieved promotion.
Notable players
The following HAL players have been capped at senior/youth international level, with their respective countries. Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.
Jimmy Mulisa (2001–2002)
Raja Baliev Nurlan (2001–2002)
Ruslan Sydykov (2001–2002; 2002–2003)
Philip Tarlue (2004)
Rohit Chand (2010–2012)
Aleksandar Šujdović (2011–2012)
Honours
= League
=National Football League II
Champions (1): 2000–01
Third place (1): 2005–06
I-League 2nd Division
Runners-up (1): 2010
BDFA Super Division/Bangalore Football League
Champions (9): 1984, 1990, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2012–13
Runners-up (1): 2011–12
Bangalore B Division
Champions (1): 2020–21
= Cup
=Stafford Challenge Cup
Champions (1): 1952
Sait Nagjee Football Tournament
Champions (3): 1952, 1953, 1954
Puttiah Memorial Trophy
Champions (6): 1977, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008
Gadhinglaj Cup
Runners-up (1): 2016
ONGC Invitational Trophy
Runners-up (1): 2016
Other departments
= Field hockey
=The club has its hockey team, that competed in Beighton Cup (one of the oldest field hockey tournaments in the world). Then known as Hindustan Aircraft, they lifted the trophy in 1951, and finished as runners-up in 1952.
Honours
Beighton Cup
Champions (1): 1951
Runners-up (1): 1952
Aga Khan Gold Cup
Runners-up (1): 1949
= Academy and youth football
=Club's youth/academy team (colts) participated in I-League U19.
See also
List of football clubs in India
References
Further reading
Bibliography
Majumdar, Boria; Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). A Social History Of Indian Football: Striving To Score. Routledge. ISBN 9780415348355. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021.
Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
Martinez, Dolores; Mukharjiim, Projit B (2009). Football: From England to the World: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-88353-6. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022.
Dineo, Paul; Mills, James (2001). Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora. London, United Kingdom: Frank Cass Publishers. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7146-8170-2. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022.
Nath, Nirmal (2011). History of Indian Football: Upto 2009–10. Readers Service. ISBN 9788187891963. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022.
Shreekumar, S. S. (15 August 2020). THE BEST WAY FORWARD FOR INDIA'S FOOTBALL. HSRA Publications. ISBN 9788194721697. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
Other sources
Chaudhuri, Arunava (14 December 2012). "Indian Football: Transfer Season 2012/13 — Version 8". Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
"Jotin heads in HAL's points". bangaloremirror.com. Bengaluru: Bangalore Mirror. 30 April 2010. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
"HAL Bangalore vs Mumbai FC Lineups and Statistics". goal.com. GOAL. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
Cyriac, Biju Babu (31 May 2011). "Dada Nabeel lands in Salgaocar". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Bengaluru: The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
Chattopadhyay, Hariprasad (17 January 2015). "Time to regain lost glory". telegraphindia.com. Kolkata: The Telegraph India. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
Dev, Arun (24 October 2018). "Bangalore's Forgotten Heroes Who Beat the Brits at Their Own Game". TheQuint. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
"Ramalingam Thyagraj – Hindustan Aeronautics Limited FC". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
Williams, Joe (25 September 2017). "The Goa and Maha Derby: A thing past in I-League". khelnow.com. Khel Now News. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
King, Ian; Morrison, Neil; Veroeveren, Piet; Cruickshank, Mark (30 May 2013). "India 1985 – Regional Leagues: Calcutta League". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022.
PTI (30 April 2001). "East Bengal win National League". Rediff. Pres Trust of India. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
Rodrigues, Mario (19 October 2011). "Indian football: Suspects vs outsiders". livemint.com. Mumbai: LiveMint News. Archived from the original on 1 June 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
Chaudhuri, Arunava (16 July 2015). "India 2001/02 — National Football League". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
External links
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC at WorldFootball.net
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC at Soccerway
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC at Global Sports Archive