John Gregory ATK Chennaiyin FC ISL 4 2017/2018

John Gregory, Khogen Singh named "coach of the year" at AIFC awards

Chennaiyin FC head coach John Gregory has been adjudged as the "coach of the year", among others, at the first ever Association of Indian Football Coaches (AIFC) Annual Awards ceremony held at the DY Patil University in Navi Mumbai, Mumbai, on Tuesday.

The English manager led the Chennai-based side to their second Indian Super League (ISL) title in the 2017-18 season after they defeated Bengaluru FC 3-2 in the final which was followed by Gregory extending his contact with the club for another term.

Similarly, Khogen Singh was won the "best coach" honour in the I-League category after leading Minerva Punjab FC to the summit - only the second north-Indian club to achieve the feat since JCT in the inaugural NFL (National Football League) way back in 1996-97. In the I-League, Mohun Bagan's Arpan Dey was named a the "AIFC goalkeeping coach of the year".

So was Scottish tactician David Robertson felicitated for helping Real Kashmir become the first team from the state of Jammu & Kashmir to gain I-League promotion by winning the 2017-18 I-League 2nd division.

Minerva Punjab's U-13 and U-15 trainers Anthony Andrews and Harpreet Bedi also won accolades in their respective grades. Shillong Lajong's Bobby Nongbet, who was in charge of the senior team before Alison Kharsyntiew took over, was meanwhile emdowed for winning the U-18 Youth League after beating Kerala Blasters in the final.

IWL 2017-18 champions Rising Student's Club

Shukla Dutta, who recently led the Indian U-17 women's national team at the BRIC U-17 football tournament in Johannesburg, South Africa, was bestowed by the "coach of the year" citation for winning the second edition of the Indian Women's League (IWL) after getting the better of former champions Eatern Sporting Union (ESU).

At the same time, the Western India Football Association (WIFA) has been recognised with the "AIFC special achievement" award while former India player and coach and Arjuna awardee PK Banerjee bagged the distinguished "AIFC Hall of Fame" title.

All the awards were handed out at the two-day Indian Football Coaches Convention (IFCC) 2018 conducted jointly by All India Football Federation (AIFF) and AIFC from July 23-24, 2018.

The list of awardees are as follows:
 

AIFC Hall of Fame: PK Banerjee.
 

AIFC COACH OF THE YEAR AWARDS:
 

Youth League U-13: Anthony Andrews, Minerva Punjab FC.

Youth League U-15: Harpreet Bedi, Minerva Punjab FC.

Youth League U-18: Bobby Nongbet, Shillong Lajong FC.

I-League 2nd division: David Robertson, Real Kashmir.

Indian Women's League: Shukla Dutta, Rising Student Club.

Indian Super League: John Gregory, Chennaiyin FC.

I-League: Khogen Singh, Minerva Punjab FC.

AIFC goalkeeping coach of the year: I-League: Arpan Dey, Mohun Bagan.

AIFC special Achievement award: WIFA, Maharashtra.

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