New entrants Jamshedpur FC, owned by the Tata Group appointed former Kerala Blasters head coach Steve Coppell to lead their debut conquest in the ISL. The former Manchester United winger brought with him his assistant coach from this old club in the form of Ishfaq Ahmed.
The Jharkhand-based side started their pre-season training camp in Jamshedpur from the first week of October and embarked on a fortnight-long trip to Thailand thereafter. Against JL Chiang Mai United FC in their very first match, Jamshedpur won by the closest of margins as former NorthEast United youngster Jerry Mawihmingthanga found himself on the scoresheet.
It was a one-sided affair when they took on sister side Tata Steel FC at the Tata Football Academy (TFA) ground. Made up mostly of amateurs, the difference in quality showed as Jamshedpur FC ran riot with an 8-0 result. Trindade Goncalves (16’ 18’), Izu Azuka (27’ 37’) and Farukh Choudhary (75’ 90’) registered braces. Kervens Belfort (24’) and Souvik Chakraborti (86’) also joined the party. In their second friendly match at home, Jamshedpur suffered a 3-1 defeat against I-League giants East Bengal. Izu Azuka was on target again as Mehtab Hossain faced his old side. The Men of Steel face NorthEast United FC in their first game on 18 November away from home at the Indira Gandhi Atheltic Stadium in Guwahati.
