Bangladesh Premier League (football)

Founded in 2007 as the country's first professional national football league, the BPL was originally known as the B.League and was renamed the Bangladesh League in 2009.^[7] In 2012, it was rebranded as the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).^[8]

The first B League match took place on 2 March 2007 between Abahani Limited Dhaka and Muktijoddha Sangsad KC at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, ending in a goalless draw.^[9] The next day in Khulna, Prashanta Dey scored the first goal in the history of professional football in the country as Khulna Abahani blanked the capital side Rahmatganj MFS 2–0.^[10] On 27 March 2007, Alfaz Ahmed netted the first hat-trick in B League history to give Muktijoddha Sangsad a 4–1 win over Rahmatganj MFS.^[11]

Abahani Limited Dhaka have won the league a record six times since 2007. In the 2015–16 season, Abahani Limited Dhaka also became the first team to win the professional league title with an unbeaten record.^[12]

Competition

From the 2023–24 season, there are 11 clubs in the Bangladesh Premier League, instead of the previous 12. During the course of a season (usually from December to July) each club plays the other clubs twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for 20 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by position on the league table depending on points, then the head-to-head record between the tied teams is taken into consideration, and then goal difference.^{[citation needed]}

Promotion and relegation

A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Bangladesh Premier League and the Bangladesh Championship League. The two lowest placed teams in the Bangladesh Premier League are relegated to the Championship League, and the top two teams from the Championship League are promoted to the Bangladesh Premier League.^[13]

Successful clubs by seasons

Performance by clubs

Current clubs (2023–24)

Barisal

Beanibazar

Cox's Bazar

Feni

Kamalpur

Mymensingh

Bashundhara

Bangabandhu

Chittagong

Comilla

Rajshahi

Gopalganj

Narayanganj

Munshiganj

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Locations of accredited BPL venues and of past and present BPL member clubs

Former clubs

The following clubs are not competing in the Bangladesh Football Premier League during the 2023–24 season but have done previously for at least one season.

The all-time BPL table is an overall record of all match results, points, and goals of every team that has played in BPL since its inception in 2007. The table is accurate to the end of the 2022–23 season. Teams in bold are part of the 2023–24 season. Numbers in bold are the record (highest either positive or negative) numbers in each column.^[29]

League or status prior to the 2023–24 season:

In terms of coaching performance, after the first 15 seasons of the BPL, a Bangladeshi head coach has won the BPL six times while a foreign head coach has won it eight times and one season was cancelled for COVID-19. Pakir Ali of Sri Lanka was the first foreign head coach to win the BPL while the second coach was Ali Akbar Pourmoslemi of Iran. Spaniard Óscar Bruzón was the most recent foreign coach to win the BPL in the 2022–23 season. He has the most BPL championships at four.

Amalesh Sen was the first Bangladeshi coach to win the BPL in the league's opening season and he has won BPL championshis at three times. Maruful Haque and Atiqur Rahman Atiq the only other Bangladeshi coach to win the Bangladesh Premier League.

The current head coaches in the Bangladesh Premier League are:

Current head coaches

Team	Head Coach
Bashundhara Kings	Óscar Bruzón
Bangladesh Police FC	Aristică Cioabă
Brothers Union
Chittagong Abahani Limited	Mahbubul Haque Jewel
Abahani Limited Dhaka	Andrés Cruciani
Mohammedan SC	Alfaz Ahmed
Fortis FC	Masud Parvez Kaisar
Gopalganj Sporting Club	Saifur Rahman Moni
Rahmatganj MFS	Kamal Babu
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi	Maruful Haque
Sheikh Russel KC	Zulfiker Mahmud Mintu

Winning head coaches

Head coach	Club	Wins	Winning years
Óscar Bruzón	Bashundhara Kings	4	2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
Amalesh Sen	Abahani Limited Dhaka	3	2007, 2008–09, 2009–10
Maruful Haque	Sheikh Russel KC Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi	2	2012–13 2013–14
György Kottán	Abahani Limited Dhaka	1	2016
Atiqur Rahman Atiq	Abahani Limited Dhaka	1	2017–18
Ali Akbar Pourmoslemi	Abahani Limited Dhaka	1	2012
Joseph Afusi	Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi	1	2014–15
Pakir Ali	Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi	1	2010–11

Seasonal statistics

As of July 2023^[29]

Top scorers by season

As of July 2023

Season after season, players in the BPL compete for the golden boot title, which is awarded at the end of each season to the top scorer throughout the entire season. The most recent winner of the golden boot is Dorielton Gomes, who won the golden boot at the end of the 2022–23 season after scoring 20 goals. Raphael Odovin Onwrebe is both currently the holders of the most golden boot titles with two golden boots. The five Nigerians make up the six golden boots won by Nigerians, the most of any nationality in the league. While to date Enamul Haque remains the only local golden boot winner, claiming the award in 2009–10.

BPL Golden Boot winners^[30]

Year	Nationality	Player	Club	Goals	Ref.
2007		Elijah Obagbemiro Junior	Brothers Union	16	[31]
2008–09		Alamu Bukola Olalekan	Mohammedan SC	18
2009–10		Enamul Haque	Abahani Limited Dhaka	21	[32]
2010–11		James Moga	Muktijoddha Sangsad KC	19
2012		Ismael Bangoura	Team BJMC	17
2012–13		Osei Morrison	Mohammedan SC	12	[33]
2013–14		Wedson Anselme	Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi	26	[34]
2014–15		Emeka Darlington	Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi	19	[35]
2016		Sunday Chizoba	Abahani Limited Dhaka	19	[36]
2017–18		Solomon King Kanform	Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi	15
		Raphael Odovin Onwrebe
2018–19		Raphael Odovin Onwrebe	Sheikh Russel KC	22
2019–20	/	Eleta Kingsley	Arambagh KS	5
		Sunday Chizoba	Abahani Limited Dhaka
2020–21		Robson Azevedo da Silva	Bashundhara Kings	21
2021–22		Souleymane Diabate	Mohammedan SC	21
2022–23		Dorielton Gomes	Bashundhara Kings	20

Bangladeshi top scorers

All-time top scorers

As of 9 August 2023

BPL all-time top scorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Apps	Ratio	Years
1	Sunday Chizoba	132	111+		2010–2022
2	Ismael Bangoura	90	50+		2010–2020
3	Zahid Hasan Ameli	78	173+		2007–2019
4	Nkwocha Kingsley Chigozie	75			2009–2020
5	Mithun Chowdhury	67	143	0.39	2008–2019
6	Souleymane Diabate	60	79	0.76	2018–
7	Shakhawat Hossain Rony	58	94+		2008–
8	Wedson Anselme	54	53+		2013–2018
9	Siyo Zunapio	54	100	0.54	2011–2021
10	Enamul Haque	54	92+		2007–2019
11	/ Eleta Kingsley	51	94	0.54	2011–
12	Alamu Bukola Olalekan	51			2008–2018
13	Emeka Darlington	49			2013–2016
14	Robson Azevedo da Silva	47	61	0.77	2020–
15	Tawhidul Alam Sabuz	46	80+		2009–
16	Solomon King Kanform	45	88	0.51	2017–2022
17	Nabib Newaj Jibon	42	122	0.34	2013–
18	Raphael Odovin Onwrebe	39	44	0.89	2017–2019
19	Zahid Hossain	39	120+		2008–2022
20	Dorielton Gomes	38	35	1.09	2021–
21	Landing Darboe	37	36+		2013–2021
22	Daniel Colindres	37	69	0.54	2018–2023
23	Jewel Rana	37	109+		2013–

Appearances

As of 5 April 2024

BPL all-time most appearances

Rank	Player	Apps	Years
1	Nasiruddin Chowdhury	225+	2009–
2	Zahid Hasan Ameli	173+	2007–2019
3	Mithun Chowdhury	143	2008–2019
4	Yeasin Khan	139	2012–
5	Ashraful Islam Rana	131	2015-
6	Habibur Rahman Sohag	124	2009–2022
7	Zahid Hossain	120+	2008–2022
8	Mohamed Sohel Rana	119	2010–
9	Sunday Chizoba	111+	2010–2022
10	Mamunul Islam	106	2007-
11	Anisur Rahman Zico	104	2015-

Italics denote players still playing professional football,
Bold denotes players still playing in the Bangladesh Premier League.

All-time hat-tricks

Rank	Country	Player	Hat-tricks
1		Sunday Chizoba	9
2		Ismael Bangoura	6
3		Souleymane Diabate	5
4		Emeka Darlington	4
		Raphael Odovin
6		Wedson Anselme	3
		Kingsley Chigozie
		Mithun Chowdhury
		Eleta Kingsley

All-time assists

Rank	Country	Player	Assists
1		Robson Azevedo	38
2		Mostafa Kahraba	18
3		Daniel Colindres	17

All-time clean sheets

Rank	Player	Clean sheets	Years
1	Anisur Rahman Zico	50+	2015-
2	Ashraful Islam Rana	26+	2015

Player of the Season

Season	Player	Team
2007	Zahid Hasan Ameli[37]	Abahani Limited Dhaka
2018–19	Daniel Colindres	Bashundhara Kings
2020–21	Robson Azevedo da Silva	Bashundhara Kings

Young Player of the Season

Season	Player	Team
2018–19	Robiul Hasan	Arambagh KS
2020–21	Nihat Jaman Ucchash[38]	Arambagh KS

132 matches of season 2015–2016 were broadcast live at BTV World and Boishakhi TV, also live commentary was produced by Radio Next FM.^[52] Every match of this league has been streaming live on BFF's page of Mycujoo platform from 2018 to 2019 season. Bangla TV started broadcasting selected matches of the BPL 2018–19 matches live from 9 May 2019.^[49] The first sports channel of Bangladesh T sports started to broadcast the matches of BPL 2020–21 from 13 January 2021.

Continental qualification

Bangladesh Premier League teams can qualify for the top Asian club competitions – the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs and AFC Cup – through their performance in the league. Before the 2012–13 season Bangladeshi clubs were only allowed entry to the now defunct AFC President's Cup, which was a competition targeted for emerging football nations. Since the 2021–22 season the league winners are allowed entry to the qualifying play-offs of the AFC Champions League.^[53]

Abahani Limited Dhaka was the first Bangladesh Premier League club to club to play in Asian competition when they participated in the 2008 AFC President's Cup. The club qualified for the competition, after winning the first edition of the league in 2007. The first six seasons of the league Bangladeshi clubs only participated in the AFC President's Cup, until Sheikh Russel KC the winners of the 2012–13 league season were given entry 2015 AFC Cup qualifying play-off. The winners of the 2013–14 season of the league Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, were the first Premier League club to be given direct entry into the AFC Cup, during the 2016 AFC Cup.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2022, it was confirmed that Bashundhara Kings, the winners of the 2021–22 league season will partake in the AFC Champions League Play-off round, while holding an automatic place in the AFC Cup group stages if they are unable to advance past the play-offs. Meanwhile the runner-up of the league will take part in the qualifiers of the AFC Cup or will directly qualify for the competition if the league winners advance past the AFC Champions League play-offs. The league's third place team along with the Federation Cup champions, will remain standby for the AFC Cup Play-off round if the league winners succeed to qualify for the AFC Champions League main stage.^[54]

Extracted from the 2022 ranking of nations by their AFC club points

Ranking					Member association	Club points									ACL 2024–25 (GS+PO)	Tier 2 2024–25 (GS+PO)	Tier 3 2024–25 (GS+PO)
2022[55]	2021[56]	Mvmt	Region	Region Mvmt		2014[57]	2015[58]	2016[59]	2017[60]	2018[61]	2019[62]	2021[63]	2022[64]	Total
25	15	-10	W 11		DPR Korea	0.000	0.000	0.000	3.433	7.433	11.067	0.000	0.000	16.117	–	0+1	0+1
26	26	0	W 12		Indonesia	6.500	5.667	0.000	0.000	4.100	5.045	0.000	3.960	15.083	–	0+1	0+1
27	21	-6	W 15		Bangladesh	0.000	0.000	1.000	1.333	1.433	6.933	2.790	3.760	14.120	-	-	0+1
34	25	-9	W 16		Oman	2.167	2.333	1.000	2.200	1.583	1.433	0.000	6.795	12.453	–	–	0+1
29	24	-5	W 17		Maldives	0.667	2.000	1.333	4.300	4.300	0.000	0.200	2.030	9.467	–	–	0+1

Updated on 5 May 2023.(Source)

BPL clubs in AFC tournament

Defunct

Competitions previously run by AFC include:

• Bangladesh Football Federation
• Bangladesh Women's Football League
• Federation Cup
• Independence Cup
• Super Cup
• Bangladesh Championship League
• BFF U-18 Football League
• BFF U-16 Football Tournament
• Dhaka Derby
• List of Bangladeshi football champions
• Bangladesh national football team

• BPL Football (official website)
• Bangladesh Football Federation (official website)
• BPL Football (Official Facebook page)
• Bangladesh Premier League at FIFA.com
• Bangladesh Premier League at soccerway.com