Full name Dzongree Football Club 2014 5th League Thimphu League | Ground Capacity 25,000 Arena/Stadium Changlimithang Stadium Founded 2011 | |
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Ground Changlimithang
Thimphu, Bhutan | ||
Dzongree Football Club is a football club from Thimphu, Bhutan, who currently play in the A Division, the top level of football in Bhutan, and finished as runner's up in 2003, but have spent most of their history either in mid-tabl in the A-Division or playing in the B-Division.
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History
The first recorded instance of Dzongree participating in the A-Division was in 2003, where they finished as runners-up to eventual winners Druk Pol, who finished the season unbeaten. The only known result for Dzongric for this season is a 5–2 victory over Druk United.
Their next recorded involvement, since only the top four teams for 2004 are known, in the A-Division was in 2005, where they finished bottom. During this season, they won only two games and lost all the remaining fixtures out of the total of 12 played. Sources indicate that Dzongree and the team who finished second from bottom, Rigzung Club, entered into a relegation play-off with the top two teams from that season's B-Division, who were Choden and Rookies F.C. However details of any matches that took place are not available.
Details for the 2006 season are very scant, so it is not possible to say whether Dzongree survived the relegation playoff the previous season, however, they definitely did not compete in the A-Division in 2007, nor were they involved in the promotion / relegation playoffs at the end of the season from the B-Division. In fact available sources indicate that they do not appear to have competed again in the A-Division at least until 2012. This season was mediocre as far as Dzongree were concerned, winning only three of their ten games and losing all of the others, where they finished fourth and failed to qualify for the inaugural Bhutan National League.
The following season saw a slight improvement. Despite only winning three games and drawing one of their eight matches in the A-Division, their performance was sufficient to see them into third place out of five teams and to qualify for the National League for the first time. However, they struggled in the National League winning only two and drawing one of their ten games and finishing second to last in fifth place, only Phuentsholing below them. It was during this season that Dzongree signed a foreign player to play for their team. The Nigerian, Chichi, joined the club on an exchange program with a Nigerian football academy, a rarity within Bhutanese football, particularly given the stringent Bhutanese immigration laws that meant obtaining a visa for any foreign player was very difficult. Chichi scored in every game in which he played and was said to have been instrumental in securing National League football for Dzongree.
2014 was also a disappointing season for the club, which saw them miss out on National League qualification, the team finishing fifth out of seven teams. They won only three games, drawing another three along the way and scored only twelve goals in all ten matches, the lowest total out of all the competing teams.
Current squad
As at 2013:
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.