In early 2014, it was announced that the
All India Football Federation, the national federation for Football in India, and
IMG-Reliance would be accepting bids for ownership of eight of nine selected cities for the upcoming
Indian Super League, an eight-team franchise league modeled along the lines of the
Indian Premier League, the country's professional cricket league.
First season (2014) under Peter Reid , club's first marquee player. On 15 September 2014, the club signed
Nicolas Anelka, a former
French international who had been a free agent since his departure from
West Bromwich Albion earlier in the year. Three days later, former Swedish international
Freddie Ljungberg was signed as the team's first marquee player, returning from two years of retirement. Englishman
Peter Reid was appointed as the team's first ever head coach. Mumbai were the visitors in the first ever ISL match on 12 October 2014, at
Atlético de Kolkata's
Salt Lake Stadium. Without Anelka and Ljungberg, the side lost 3–0. On 18 October 2014, the club registered their first victory over
FC Pune City by beating them 5–0 at
DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai, in which
André Moritz registered the first ever hat-trick of ISL. The team finished seventh in the table out of eight and did not qualify for the
playoffs.
Second season (2015) under Nicolas Anelka in December 2015 In July 2015,
Nicolas Anelka became
player-manager, replacing
Peter Reid.
Frantz Bertin was appointed captain at the beginning of the season. The club then roped in
India's captain
Sunil Chhetri for a domestic record-breaking deal of ₹1.2 crore, and signed 2015 I-League's player of the year awardee
Sony Norde of Haiti. Sunil Chhetri was the top scorer for the team as he scored seven goals including a hat-trick against
NorthEast United FC. Mumbai only won four matches and lost six to finish in sixth position in the league table. Due to such results, Anelka resigned and announced his departure at the end of the season.
Alexandre Guimarães era (2016–2018) was appointed as head coach of Mumbai City for the 2016–17 season After the first two seasons, Mumbai City's management made big changes by appointing
Alexandre Guimarães as the head coach for the 2016 ISL season. The club moved into their new home stadium, the
Mumbai Football Arena, at Andheri. The club also signed
2010 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball winner
Diego Forlán on a three-month deal, with the option to extend for another year as a marquee player for the season. The arrival of the Uruguayan changed the dynamics of the struggling Mumbai team to title contenders. Forlán scored the first hat-trick of the Hero ISL 2016 season as The Islanders beat
Kerala Blasters 5–0 at Mumbai Football Arena on 19 November 2016. It was also the first hat-trick of any marquee player in the history of the ISL. The team conceded the fewest goals (8) of all teams in the league, whilst
Lucian Goian finished with the most tackles (67). Alexandre's team kept eight clean sheets in the group stage, making it a record across all three tournament editions. As a result, Mumbai City finished the 14 rounds with six wins, five draws, and three losses. However, the club lost to
ATK in the two-legged semi-finals. In 2017, the ISL announced another auction in order to make way for new entrants
Jamshedpur FC &
Bengaluru FC, which led other clubs to start the squad rebuilding process once again. While Mumbai City missed their star performers, including the club's all-time top goalscorer Sunil Chhetri, the club managed to retain
Alexandre Guimarães after he guided the club to their first-ever playoffs in three seasons. The club also managed to retain captain & goalkeeper
Amrinder Singh for 12 million INR after he was awarded the best goalkeeper in the previous season, while keeping a record number of clean sheets for the club. They also retained the services of midfielder
Sehnaj Singh who was instrumental in the club's success in the previous season. In the foreign department, they retained the defensive duo of Goian and
Gérson Vieira, alongside Brazilian midfielder
Léo Costa. They also retained Rakesh Oram, a player under the U-21 player quota. However, the club's new signings did not perform at their best, as they finished the season in 7th position, failing to qualify for the playoffs, with the coach being criticized for overly defensive tactics. After the ISL season had concluded, Mumbai City FC also took part in the inaugural edition of the
Super Cup. They kicked off proceedings smoothly by defeating
Indian Arrows by a scoreline reading 2–1 in the qualifier round. However, they were defeated by
East Bengal FC in the Round of 16. On 14 August 2018, The club stated that they and Alexandre Guimarães had parted company by mutual consent. This ended the Guimarães Era, with the Brazilian-born Costa Rican manager being with the Islanders since 2016.
Jorge Costa era (2018–2020) 2018–19 season After the announcement that Mumbai City FC had parted ways with Guimarães, the Islanders broke the news about their new head coach. Former Portugal international & Champions League Winner
Jorge Costa signed as the manager of Mumbai City FC for the 2018/19 Indian Super League season. The club also signed Indian Internationals
Alen Deory and
Subhasish Bose along with some foreign players such as
Modou Sougou,
Rafael Bastos,
Arnold Issoko and
Paulo Machado. The team started the season with a 2–0 loss at home to
Jamshedpur FC, followed by a 1–1 draw to
Kerala Blasters. The team then recorded a 2–0 win against
FC Pune City, then lost 5–0 to rivals
FC Goa. After that run of results, Jorge Costa made tactical changes, which led to the club's best unbeaten run in history at the time (9 games unbeaten). The team ended December with a 6–1 win against Kerala Blasters, with
Modou Sougou scoring 4 of the team's six goals in the match, which was a record-breaking tally as Sougou became the first player in the league to score four goals in a single match. It was Mumbai's best-ever victory against any club. They also managed to break league leaders Bengaluru FC's unbeaten run at
Mumbai Football Arena in January. The club managed to secure a play-off finish with a 3–1 victory against ATK on 22 February 2019 with a game in hand, thanks to Modou Sougou's second hat-trick in the league, which is also a record for having maximum hat-tricks for the Islanders. The 3rd-place finish saw them face off against
FC Goa, which resulted in a 5–1 defeat at home despite Mumbai opening the scoring. They managed to bounce back and beat Goa 1-0 in the away fixture, but it wasn't enough to overturn the deficit. Hence, the Islanders could not play in the 2018/19 ISL Final in their home stadium - the
Mumbai Football Arena. Even though Mumbai lost in the Play-offs,
Arnold Issoko won the DHL Winning Pass of the League Award for his maximum number of assists (8 assists) in the League, and Modou Sougou became the joint second goalscorer with 12 goals. Fan Favorite
Amrinder Singh ended the league with the most saves and joint-highest number of clean sheets (6). On that positive note, on 19 March 2019, the club confirmed that Head Coach Jorge Costa had extended his stay at the club. The Portuguese signed a one-year extension and would remain at the helm until the end of the 2019/20 season. The next task for Jorge Costa and his side was the
2019 Super Cup, with the Islanders drawn to play
Chennaiyin FC in the Round of 16 on 29 March at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar. Costa opted to play with an almost all-Indian squad, with
Lucian Goian as the only foreign recruit in their ranks. Costa also promoted two highly rated youths, Mohammed Kaif, and Nakul Shelke, from their youth ranks. The team started promisingly but failed to capitalize on the chances created and were eliminated from the Super Cup with a 2–0 defeat.
2019–20 season After announcing the departure of club captain
Lucian Goian to Chennaiyin before the 2019–20 season, Mumbai brought in
Mato Grgić,
Sèrge Kevyn,
Amine Chermiti,
Diego Carlos, and
Mohamed Larbi, with the first game of the 2019–20 season resulting in a 1–0 win over Kerala Blasters. On 28 November 2019,
City Football Group, a subsidiary of
Abu Dhabi United Group, acquired a major stake in Mumbai City FC. This was the first time a top European club had acquired a majority stake in a club in India. There were ups and downs for Jorge Costa's team, but injuries to the mainstays of the team hampered Mumbai City FC's good run. In the end, they fell short of the final playoff spot by just three points by losing to Chennaiyin FC. Looking back at the records, the Islanders had registered a record statistic as they had 12 players on the scoresheet who scored the team's 25 goals. Costa's Mumbai City was known for being defensively strong and lethal on the counter-attack. It became the first team to do a league double over Bengaluru FC in ISL history and did not lose to them in the two years Costa was at the helm. After finishing fifth, and with the City Football Group ownership coming into full effect, Jorge Costa's reign at the club ended.
Acquisition by CFG and success under Sergio Lobera (2020–2021) After several months of anticipation, the City Football Group's acquisition of the club was fully effective. Under the new ownership, the club decided to kickstart a new era and signed the former FC Goa coach
Sergio Lobera as manager. By doing so, they became the second Indian club after FC Goa to play in the
Champions League. The Islanders had earlier sealed their playoff berth with a 3–3 draw against FC Goa, with four league games to go which was the quickest-ever qualification (15 Games). Before that, they were also unbeaten for 12 games. Their first semifinal leg against FC Goa at Fatorda ended in a 2–2 draw. The second leg ended in a goalless draw, which means the match went into a penalty shootout. In the shootout, they beat FC Goa 6–5, where
Rowllin Borges scored the decisive penalty. In their final against ATK Mohun Bagan at the Fatorda Stadium, they won the game 2–1, with
Bipin Singh scoring the decisive goal in the 90th minute. Thus, Mumbai City FC became the first club to win the league winners' shield and the ISL trophy in a single season.
Des Buckingham era (2021–2023) 2021-22 season On 8 October 2021, Mumbai City appointed English manager
Des Buckingham as head coach on a two-year contract. The club began its
2021–22 season campaign with a 3–0 win on 22 November against FC Goa. At the end of the season though, Mumbai City finished in fifth place, meaning they failed to qualify for the
playoffs. Ahead of the 2022 AFC Champions League kick-off, the club went to
Abu Dhabi for training and defeated Emirati giants
Al Ain 2–1 in a friendly match. Under Buckingham, Mumbai City became the first Indian club to win a match in the AFC Champions League, as they defeated
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya of Iraq by 2–1.
2022-23 season On 4 January 2023, on the back of the historic
AFC Champions League campaign, and helping Mumbai reach the Durand Cup final in their maiden attempt, Mumbai City FC extended Buckingham's contract for 2 years, keeping him at the club till the end of 2024/25 season. This season, the club made a historic run at
2022–23 Indian Super League by becoming League winners for the second time with two games to spare. They broke records in that season with the most points (46), most wins (14), least defeats (2), most goals scored (54), most positive Goal Difference (33), most successful passes (9047), and longest unbeaten streak (18 matches) since ISL's inception. However, they were beaten by
Bengaluru FC and
East Bengal FC in the last two league games, followed by a third defeat to Bengaluru FC in the 1st leg of the semifinals, 0–1. Although they defeated them in the 2nd leg with a scoreline of 1–2 in regulation time and equaled them in an aggregate score of 2-2, they lost on Sudden Death in a score of 9–8, thereby finishing the hopes for another ISL trophy and becoming the first team to do the double twice but ending a highly successful league campaign. Buckingham was highly credited with improving the performances of young Indian players and for the attractive brand of football that Mumbai played throughout the season.
2023–24 season The club began the 23–24 season with the
2023 Durand Cup, where Mumbai were drawn in a group with
Jamshedpur FC,
Mohammedan SC, and the
Indian Navy football team. Mumbai went on to win all three games of the group stage, but ended up losing in the quarter-final to eventual winners
Mohun Bagan SG on 28 August 2023. Following their Durand Cup elimination, Mumbai's next match of the season came almost a month later in the
2023–24 AFC Champions League against
F.C. Nassaji Mazandaran on 18 September 2023, where Mumbai were defeated 2–0. Mumbai played their first ISL match of the season on 24 September 2023 away against
NorthEast United FC, winning 2–1 with a brace from striker
Jorge Pereyra Díaz securing the win. Mumbai's first home league match of the season came against
Kerala Blasters FC, with Mumbai winning 2-1 with goals from
Jorge Pereyra Díaz and
Apuia. Buckingham's last match as Mumbai manager came on 6 November 2023, in a spririted 2–0 loss at home to Saudi Arabian team
Al-Hilal. Ten days later, on November 16, Mumbai confirmed Buckingham's departure from the club to go to
Oxford United FC.
Petr Krátký era (2023–present) 2023–24 season On 9 December 2023,
Petr Krátký was appointed as the new head coach of Mumbai City after
Des Buckingham left mid-season to join
EFL League One side
Oxford United. His first game ended in a 0–0 draw away to
FC Goa on 12 December 2023. His first win came on 20 December 2023, in a fiery 2–1 win over
Mohun Bagan SG, which included 11 yellow cards and seven red cards. Going into the final league match of the 2023/24 season against
Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Mumbai were two points clear of Mohun Bagan and only needed a draw to win the ISL Shield, but ended up losing 2-1. and a 2-0 win in the second leg to get to the
ISL Final. In the final, Mumbai took revenge against
Mohun Bagan Super Giant, winning 3-1 with goals from
Jorge Pereyra Díaz,
Bipin Singh, and
Jakub Vojtuš, securing the second ISL Cup in the club's history. The first match of the new season was away against
Mohun Bagan SG on 13 September 2024, which eventually ended in a 2-2 draw with goals from
Tiri and
Thaer Krouma. In the club's next match, away against
Jamshedpur FC, despite going 1-0 up following a long-range goal from
Nikos Karelis, Mumbai eventually lost 3-2. The early winless streak continued, with a 0-0 draw at home against
Bengaluru FC. The club finally got their first win away against
FC Goa, getting a 2-1 win with goals from
Nikos Karelis and
Yoëll van Nieff. On 7 February 2025, after a 0-2 win away against
NorthEast United FC, Mumbai became the first team to achieve 100 Indian Super League wins. At the end of the league stage of the
season, Mumbai City finished 6th with 36 points (9 wins, 6 draws, 9 losses), qualifying for the playoffs. However, their playoff run ended in the knockout round with a 5–0 defeat to Bengaluru FC, one of the heaviest losses in ISL playoff history.
Nikolaos Karelis finished as the club’s top scorer with 11 goals. Spanish defender
Tiri stood out with solid performances at the back, contributing 1 goal and 2 assists in addition to anchoring the defense. Young full-back
Nathan Rodrigues, given his debut and regular game time due to
Akash Mishra's unavailability, emerged as a breakthrough player, recording 3 goals, 1 assist and solid performances at the back. In the
2025 Super Cup, Mumbai City reached the semi-finals but were knocked out by Jamshedpur FC, ending their cup run one step short of the final.
2025–26 season and CFG exit Mumbai City FC did not participate in the
2025 Durand Cup due to the ongoing dispute between AIFF and FSDL over the renewal of the Master Rights Agreement. The uncertainty regarding the future of the ISL, coupled with a Supreme Court directive that suspended contract renewals until a verdict on the AIFF constitution, created operational hurdles and forced the club to delay its pre-season preparations. After a period of uncertainty, Mumbai City confirmed their participation in the
Super Cup. They were confirmed to be in Pot A of the Super Cup draw. The club was drawn in Group D alongside
SC Delhi,
Rajasthan United, and
Kerala Blasters. Mumbai won their first match 4-1 against Delhi, but lost the next match 1-0 against Rajasthan United. Needing a win to qualify for the semi-finals, Mumbai defeated Kerala Blasters 1-0 to secure their berth on head-to-head record. However, the club lost 2-1 to eventual winners
Goa in the semi-final. After a commercial review and in light of the uncertainty surrounding the future of the ISL, City Football Group announced the divesting of its shares in the club. This meant a return of complete ownership to the founding owners. == Club crest and kits ==