Formation 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 cricket tournament. On 13 April 2014, it was announced that the
Bollywood actor
John Abraham and
Shillong Lajong Football Club had won the bidding for the franchise. On 16 July 2014, the club signed
Joan Capdevila, a
European Championship and
World Cup winning defender with Spain, as its marquee player. He said: "India is a huge country and it should be a privilege for me to be a small part in popularizing this global game here and working with the young talented footballers of North East India". On 19 August the club hired its first manager, New Zealander
Ricki Herbert, who had represented his nation at the
1982 World Cup and managed New Zealand at the
2010 World Cup.
2014 season: Inaugural season , club's first marquee player. On 13 October 2014, the team won their first ISL match at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, with Spaniard
Koke scoring the only goal of the game to defeat
Kerala Blasters. The team did not make
the end-of-season play-offs, finishing in last place among the eight teams.
2015 season: Narrowly missed play-offs For their second season, NorthEast United signed former Portugal international
Simão Sabrosa as their new marquee signing. On 1 July 2015, the team announced their manager for the
2015 season, former Venezuela national coach,
César Farías. The team lost all three of their opening matches with Simão absent through injury, but then earned a 2–0 home win over
Chennaiyin FC in which the marquee player won and dispatched an added-time penalty kick to open the scoring. The club entered the top-four for semi-finals by the end of the season but lost their position to
Chennaiyin, who defeated
Pune City to gain 3 points and secure the spot.
2016 season: Nelo Vingada, Velez, Alfaro era On 13 May 2016, NorthEast United announced
Sérgio Farias as the club's new manager. However, Farias joined his former club
Suphanburi FC for a second stint forcing NorthEast United to look for a new coach. On 9 July 2016, NorthEast United officially announced Sérgio Farias' exit. On 23 July 2016, NorthEast United announced
Nelo Vingada as the club's new manager. The club also appointed
Francisco Bruto Da Costa as their assistant manager. The club again got a chance to enter the top-four for semi-finals if they defeat Kerala Blasters, but lost and hence, losing their semi-final chance. The club scored 14 goals and conceded 14 goals in that season. More than half of the goals (8) were scored by the South American duo
Nicholas Velez and
Emiliano Alfaro with 3 and 5 goals respectively.
2017–18 season: A forgettable campaign On 17 July 2017, in hope for a great season NorthEast United signed the young Portuguese manager
Joao Carlos Pires de Deus. After playing its preseason games in
Antalya,
Turkey. The team began its season against the ISL debutants
Jamshedpur FC. The game ended in a draw with neither side managing to find the back of the net despite NorthEast playing against a 10 men Jamshedpur in the last 20 minutes. Next they played
Chennaiyin FC in Chennai, where they failed to keep the record of never losing in Chennai after losing 3–0. NorthEast witnessed their first win of the season where they defeated
Delhi Dynamos 0–2 in the opponent's ground. The first goal of the match came from
Marcinho in the 17th minute, when a cross by
Halicharan Narzary from the left flank found him unmarked inside the box. The second goal came from the striker
Danilo in the 22nd minute, when he pressured the Delhi custodian
Albino Gomes and made him make error inside his own box, leaving an open goal for
Danilo to score his first and last goal of the season and, 500th goal of the league. It was followed by a 4 match losing streak right after which the Portuguese manager was sacked. The team management brought in the ex-Chelsea boss
Avram Grant as a technical advisor who acted as a caretaker manager in the absence of
Joao. He was later promoted to head coach on 12 January 2018, after the team released an official statement about
Joao's sacking. The team won 2 out of the first 3 games under
Grant, where they defeated
FC Goa 2–1 and
Chennaiyin FC 3–1 at home.
Seiminlen Doungel scored the first ever hat-trick for NorthEast United in that match. The team failed to win a single match after that, ending the season in a long 8 match winless streak in which they drew 1 match and lost all other matches. During the league season, they managed to win only 3 matches with a total score of 12, and they finished at the lowest position in the league points table. This had happened once before, in the inaugural season, but their score that time had been better. Thus, this was the worst season for the club in its existence. On 19 February 2018, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced the
Indian Super Cup as a replacement for the
Federation Cup. It will be played between 16 teams, the top 6 teams of ISL and I-League and the remaining 4 will be picked through a qualifier played between the bottom 4 from both league. NorthEast United participated in the
Cup Qualifiers for the 4 remaining spots. NorthEast United played their qualifier match against
Gokulam Kerala on 15 March 2018 which they lost 2–0 and got eliminated.
2018–19 season: Eelco Schatorrie era, maiden play-offs 2018-19 is the fifth season of the club's existence. The season started with a positive start under coach Eelco Schatorrie with NorthEast United drawing with Goa and two consecutive wins over ATK and defending champions Chennaiyin. Against Chennaiyin, NorthEast United made a thrilling comeback after down 3–1 in 35th minute to 3–3 in first half and winning the match 4–3. After Some thrilling victories against Kerala Blasters and Chennaiyan the club strengthened its way to the playoffs. After playing 17 matches and getting 28 points Northeast United finally qualified for the playoffs with Jamshedpur losing a chance to the playoffs with a draw against Chennaiyan FC and also for Super Cup. They lost the fewest matches and conceded the fewest goals of any team in the league. They also made a club record of 29 points. Former
Nigerian international
Bartholomew Ogbeche became the highest goalscorer of the club scoring 12 goals. NorthEast United became a major force in the league driven by the trio of
Borges-Ogbeche-
Gallego. They defeated
Bengaluru in the first leg of semi-finals with 'Boot Jolokia'
Mascia scoring in the dying moments in the game. Northeast United lost their second leg against Bengaluru which also saw Federico Gallego getting injured. The aggregate score was 4–2. In the Super Cup, the team reached quarter-finals after fellow northeastern club
NEROCA didn't play the match in round of 16 hence, giving them a walkover. In the quarter-finals, they lost to Chennaiyin by 1–2. After a successful season, the team was 'dismantled'. Head Coach Schattorie and top-scorer Ogbeche moving to Kerala Blasters, Borges moving to
Mumbai City.
2019–20 season The club appointed
Robert Jarni, as their head coach and also signed the Ghanaian legend
Asamoah Gyan and Indian U17 youngsters
Ninthoi Meetei and
Lalengmawia. The season started well for the club and they managed to stay unbeaten for 6 games and on the top half of the table. But the club failed to carry on the momentum and remained winless for the rest of the season. The club also lost their scoring boots not managing to score in 6 matches out of 7 matches that followed and losing its Marquee striker Asamoah Gyan to an injury in the early half of the season. The head coach Robert Jarni was sacked in the later half of the season and replaced by assistant manager and head of academy
Khalid Jamil. Robert Jarni managed his final match against Jamshedpur which ended in a 3–3 draw. The club failed to reach the play-offs, and were at 9th place at the end of the season.
2020–22 season: Khalid Jamil era The club appointed
Gerard Nus, a Spanish manager as their head coach and also signed the Mauritanian international
Khassa Camara, Ghanaian striker
Kwesi Appiah and Belgian defender
Benjamin Lambot. The club announced the retention of their star goalkeeper Subashish Roy and some local Indian players. They also retained Uruguayan midfielder Federico Gallego. They signed some Indian players including Rocharzella, Imran, Ashutosh Mehta and Gurjinder Kumar. They signed
Luis Machado,
Idrissa Sylla and
Dylan Fox as their AFC player. The team played their first match of the season against Mumbai City and won it by 1-0 as Kwesi Appiah scored a penalty. The club parted ways with coach Gerard Nus after 11 matches in the ISL season. He was replaced by Khalid Jamil as interim head coach. Under Khalid, the club saw a nine match unbeaten run, which also helped in reaching the play-offs for second time in their history. On road to play-off, they also made a ten match unbeaten run, their longest ever. The club drew 1–1 with
ATK Mohun Bagan in first leg of semi-final and lost the second leg 1–2, thus ending their campaign with 2–3 on aggregate and 11 game unbeaten run. On 23 October 2021, Jamil was appointed as the head coach of NorthEast United, making him the first Indian permanent head coach of an ISL club. Under his guidance, NorthEast began its
2021–22 Indian Super League campaign on 20 November with a 4–2 loss to
Bengaluru FC. NorthEast United FC had a forgetful 2021–22 season after the highs of the 2020–21 season. They had a sluggish start to the season as injuries and issues off the pitch dictated their on field performances. The ISL's first ever Indian head coach Khalid Jamil failed to live up to everyone's expectations as the Highlanders finished 10th on the league standings.
2022–23 season On 11 August 2022, NorthEast United announced the signing of
Marco Balbul as their manager for the upcoming season. NorthEast United appointed
Paul Groves and
Floyd Pinto as their assistant manager for the upcoming season. On 8 December 2022,
Vincenzo Alberto Annese joined NorthEast United as the new head coach after the club sacked
Marco Balbul mid-season.
2023–2025: Juan Pedro Benali era, the rise and first silverware On 22 May 2023, NorthEast United appointed
Juan Pedro Benali as the team's Head Coach on a 1+1 year deal. The highlight of the 2024-25 season came on August 31, 2024, when NorthEast United clinched their first Durand Cup title. In a thrilling final against Mohun Bagan SG, the match was decided by a penalty shootout, with NorthEast United emerging victorious. This was the first major silverware win in the club's history. In the ongoing Indian Super League, NorthEast United has demonstrated a mix of results. A standout performance was their commanding 5–0 victory over Jamshedpur FC on October 26, 2024, marking their biggest win in ISL history. In the 2025 Durand Cup, NorthEast United had a campaign—starting with a strong 3-1 win over Malaysian Armed Forces where Alaaeddine Ajaraie scored a hat-trick. They followed up with performances (including a 4-0 win over Bodoland FC in the quarterfinals) and reached the final by defeating Shillong Lajong 1-0 in the semis. In the final, they thrashed debutants Diamond Harbour FC 6-1—becoming the first team in over three decades to defend the Durand Cup—with six different goalscorers and a commanding display of depth.
2026–present The
2025–26 Indian Super League season started late due to the expiration of the rights agreement between FSDL and AIFF. NorthEast United lost their first match 0–3 against
East Bengal, followed by three consecutive draws. They secured their first home victory in Guwahati in over 400 days with a 2–1 win against
Jamshedpur. The club also paid tribute to
Zubeen Garg, who had passed away six months earlier. In their subsequent match against
Odisha, the team printed the names of several prominent athletes, including Olympic medalists and former footballers from the region, to raise awareness against
identity–based discrimination faced by people from Northeast India. ==Crest, colors and kits==