Kerala's Kochi based outfit Kerala Blasters FC have once again failed to add to their Trophy cabinet as the club officially has been eliminated from the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-2024 season playoffs after losing to the Odisha FC in Odisha in Playoffs 1 match at Bhubaneswar's Kalinga Stadium.
4th placed Odisha FC welcomed injured ladden 5th placed Kerala Blasters FC in Bhubaneswar for the Playoffs 1 match, with the winner of the match advancing to the semi-finals of the tournament to face Mohun Bagan Super Giant.
Kerala Blasters FC have struggled to add to their Trophy cabinet ever since the club's inception in 2014 for the inaugural edition of the Indian Super League. Today in this article, we take a look at Kerala Blasters FC's league table position in every Indian Super League season and their performance in the ISL Playoffs since their inception in 2014.
Indian Super League (ISL) 2014
The club was named after Indian cricket team's iconic player Sachin Tendulkar's nickname 'Master Blaster'. In their first season in the league, Kerala Blasters FC finished 3rd in the league table in ISL 2014 edition and made it to the playoffs. They beat top of the table Chennaiyin FC in the semi-final 1 but eventually lost the final match to Atletico de Kolkata with an added time goal at the end of the match from Mohammed Rafique.
Indian Super League (ISL) 2015
The 2nd season for the club was a rather disappointing season. The Blasters didn't enjoy a great time and finished bottom of the table, 8th out of 8th in the league. Kerala Blasters FC only could bag 13 points from 14 matches.
Indian Super League (ISL) 2016
Kerala Blasters FC bounced back well after a rather underwhelming season the last time around. In 2016, Blasters finished 2nd in the points table with 22 points, 1 point behind top of the table Mumbai City FC. In the semi-finals, they beat Delhi Dynamos in the penalty shootout to reach the final, and once again they faced off against Atletico de Kolkata and again they lost the final in the penalty shootout, missing out on their 2nd opportunity to win the Indian Super League.
Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-2018
It was once again downhill trajectory for the Kerala Blasters FC next season. In the season 4th of the Indian Super League (ISL), Kerala Blasters FC finished 6th, failing to qualify for the playoffs, in an expanded season when the total number of teams were increased to 10 from 8 and the matches in the league phase going upto 18 matches per team.
Indian Super League (ISL) 2018-2019
Kerala Blasters FC once again failed to qualify for the Indian Super League (ISL) playoffs in the 5th season. Infact, the team went further downhill as they finished a lowly 9th with just 15 points from 18 matches and they finished just ahead of Chennaiyin FC.
Indian Super League (ISL) 2019-2020
Kerala Blasters completed their hat-trick of not making it into the ISL playoffs for 3 seasons in a row when they even failed to make it to the ISL playoffs in the 2019-2020 season, finishing 7th with 19 points from 18 matches. This was despite their striker Bartholomew Ogbeche finishing the season as the top goal scorer with 15 goals.
Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-2021
The streak of disappointment continued for the Kochi based club, as they failed to make it to the ISL playoffs for the 4th season in a row. In the Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-2021 season, Kerala Blasters FC finished lowly 10th position out of 11 teams, just ahead of Odisha FC, with 17 points from 20 matches.
Indian Super League (ISL) 2021-2022
Finally the streak was broken in 2021-2022 season when Kerala Blasters FC finally made it to the ISL playoffs after a back-to-back failure of 5 season. They finished the season 4th in the league table and beat the eventual ISL League Shield Winners Jamshedpur FC in the semi-finals over two leg to finally reach the ISL final for the first time since 2016, against Hyderabad FC. But, it once again ended in a disappointment. Despite leading in the match, it was Sahil Tavora's goal at the 88th minute equalled the score for Hyderabad FC. Eventually it was Hyderabad FC who beat Kerala Blasters FC in the penalty shootout to win the ISL Cup. This was Kerala Blasters FC's third defeat in ISL Finals.
Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-2023
Kerala Blasters FC booked their place into the ISL Playoffs once again after finishing 5th, since the total number of qualifying for ISL playoffs was increased to 6 teams, with 31 points from 20 matches. In the playoff match, it ended in a disappointment again for the Blasters. Facing rivals Bengaluru FC, the regular 90 minutes ended in a stalemate, but it was Sunil Chhetri's quick free-kick goal in the 96th minute of the match that put Bengaluru FC.
But then a most controversial incident happened. Kerala Blasters FC head coach Ivan Vukomanovic was not happy with referee allowing that quick free-kick and asked his team to walk-out of the match, this Bengaluru FC won the match 1-0, and it ended in another disappointment for the Blasters.
Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-2024
Kerala Blasters FC made it to the ISL playoffs this season (2023-2024) as well under head coach Ivan Vukomanovic. They finished 5th once again and faced off against Odisha FC in the playoff match. The first half ended with 0-0 scoreline, but their Lithuanian signing this season Fedor Černych gave Kerala Blasters FC the lead at the 67th minute of the match.
But Odisha FC pulled-off a great comeback. Diego Mauricio scored at the 87th minute to equal the score 1-1 by the full-time. The match went into the extra-time, and it was Isak Vanlalruatfela's goal at the 98th minute that eventually helped Odisha FC beat Kerala Blasters FC 2-1 at Bhubaneswar's Kalinga Stadium to progress into the semi-finals while Kerala Blasters FC faced another exit from the tournament without adding to their cabinet.
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