Bengaluru, December 8: India's first ever professional football league, the I-League will kick off the 2021-22 season on December 26 with all the matches scheduled to be played across three venues in West Bengal sans crowds.
The league will start with the current title-holders Gokulam Kerala in action on the opening day. And this season the league will see three more teams join the 10 from the previous season.
Rajasthan United FC from Rajasthan and Mumbai-based Kenkre FC are promoted to the league after making their way through the qualifiers, while Sreenidi Deccan FC from Andhra Pradesh joins the league after they won a bid to field a team through a franchise entry.
This season, the matches will be played at three venues - Mohun Bagan Ground in Kolkata, Kalyani Stadium in Kalyani and Naihati Stadium in Naihati. All the teams, along with the officials and support staff will be placed in the bio-secure bubble for the entire season.
A total of 114 games will be played this season and matches will kick off at 2 PM, 4:30 PM and 7:30 PM. The 13 teams will first play against each other once in the round-robin format and then the teams will be split into two groups, as per their standings in Phase 1, which ends on February 24, 2022.
Based on the standings at the end of Phase 1, the top seven teams will play for the title and AFC Cup qualification in a separate single-legged league format, while the bottom six will play to avoid relegation.
The bottom placed team in the relegation round will drop down to the I-League 2nd Division or the I-League qualifiers in the 2022-23 season. Now, let's take a look at the fixtures of Phase 1 of the leage.
I-League 2021-22 Phase 1 Fixtures with Venues and Timings in IST
| DATE | FIXTURE | VENUE | TIME in IST |
| December 26 | TRAU vs Indian Arrows | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| December 26 | Gokulam Kerala FC vs Churchill Brothers | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| December 26 | Rajasthan United FC vs Punjab FC | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| December 27 | NEROCA FC vs Sreenidi Deccan FC | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| December 27 | Real Kashmir FC vs Aizawl FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| December 27 | Mohammedan SC vs Sudeva Delhi FC | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| December 30 | Sreenidi Deccan FC vs TRAU | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| December 30 | NEROCA FC vs Gokulam Kerala FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| December 30 | Aizawl FC vs Mohammedan SC | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| December 31 | Sudeva Delhi FC vs Indian Arrows | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| December 31 | Real Kashmir FC vs Kenkre FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| December 31 | Punjab FC vs Churchill Brothers | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 4 | Mohammedan SC vs Sreenidi Deccan FC | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| January 4 | Gokulam Kerala vs Real Kashmir FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 4 | TRAU vs NEROCA FC | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 5 | Rajasthan United FC vs Aizawl FC | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| January 5 | Kenkre FC vs Punjab FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 5 | Churchill Brothers vs Sudeva Delhi FC | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 9 | Rajasthan United FC vs Sudeva Delhi FC | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| January 9 | Punjab FC vs Aizawl FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 9 | Real Kashmir FC vs Sreenidi Deccan FC | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 10 | TRAU vs Churchill Brothers | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| January 10 | Gokulam Kerala FC vs Kenkre FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 10 | Mohammedan SC vs Indian Arrows | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 14 | Sudeva Delhi FC vs Aizawl FC | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| January 14 | Punjab FC vs Sreenidi Deccan FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 14 | Real Kashmir FC vs NEROCA FC | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 15 | Rajasthan United FC vs Indian Arrows | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| January 15 | Mohammedan SC vs Churchill Brothers | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 15 | TRAU vs Kenkre FC | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 19 | Indian Arrows vs Aizawl FC | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| January 19 | Sudeva Delhi FC vs Sreenidi Deccan FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 19 | Punjab FC vs NEROCA FC | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 20 | Rajasthan United FC vs Churchill Brothers | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| January 20 | TRAU vs Gokulam Kerala FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 20 | Mohammedan SC vs Kenkre FC | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 24 | Indian Arrows vs Sreenidi Deccan FC | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| January 24 | Sudeva Delhi FC vs NEROCA FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 24 | Churchill Brothers vs Aizawl FC | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 25 | Rajasthan United FC vs Kenkre FC | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| January 25 | Punjab FC vs Real Kashmir FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 25 | Mohammedan SC vs Gokulam Kerala FC | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 29 | NEROCA FC vs Indian Arrows | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| January 29 | Aizawl FC vs Kenkre FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 29 | Sreenidi Deccan FC vs Churchill Brothers | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| January 30 | Real Kashmir FC vs Sudeva Delhi FC | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| January 30 | Gokulam Kerala FC vs Rajasthan United FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| January 30 | TRAU vs Mohammedan SC | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| February 3 | Sreenidi Deccan FC vs Kenkre FC | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| February 3 | Aizawl FC vs Gokulam Kerala FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| February 3 | NEROCA FC vs Churchill Brothers | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| February 4 | Real Kashmir FC vs Indian Arrows | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| February 4 | Punjab FC vs Sudeva Delhi FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| February 4 | TRAU vs Rajasthan United FC | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| February 8 | NEROCA FC vs Kenkre FC | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| February 8 | Sreenidi Deccan FC vs Gokulam Kerala FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| February 8 | Aizawl FC vs TRAU | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| February 9 | Punjab FC vs Indian Arrows | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| February 9 | Mohammedan SC vs Rajasthan United FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| February 9 | Real Kashmir FC vs Churchill Brothers | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| February 13 | NEROCA FC vs Aizawl FC | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| February 13 | Rajasthan United FC vs Real Kashmir FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| February 13 | Mohammedan SC vs Punjab FC | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| February 14 | Tiddim Road AC vs Sudeva Delhi FC | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| February 14 | Gokulam Kerala FC vs Indian Arrows | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| February 14 | Kenkre FC vs Churchill Brothers | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| February 18 | Aizawl FC vs Sreenidi Deccan FC | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| February 18 | NEROCA FC vs Rajasthan United FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| February 18 | Real Kashmir FC vs Mohammedan SC | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| February 19 | Indian Arrows vs Kenkre FC | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| February 19 | Sudeva Delhi FC vs Gokulam Kerala FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| February 19 | Punjab FC vs Tiddim Road AC | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| February 23 | Sreenidi Deccan FC vs Rajasthan United FC | Mohun Bagan Ground | 2 PM |
| February 23 | NEROCA FC vs Mohammedan SC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| February 23 | Real Kashmir FC vs Tiddim Road AC | Kalyani Stadium | 7:30 PM |
| February 24 | Sudeva Delhi FC vs Kenkre FC | Naihati Stadium | 2 PM |
| February 24 | Punjab FC vs Gokulam Kerala FC | Kalyani Stadium | 4:30 PM |
| February 24 | Indian Arrows vs Churchill Brothers | Naihati Stadium | 7:30 PM |