It thus ends Jamshedpur FC’s chapter in the ISL. was founded in June 2017 and played its first season in the ISL that year. They went on to finish top of the league in the 2021/22 season and thus won the League Shield. It also confirms Churchill Brothers’ entry into the ISL and thus a possible end to a roller coaster ride since the 38-year-old Goan club finished top of the table in the 2024/25 season of the I-League and initially being declared champions. After that was reversed and awarded to Inter Kashi due to a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision, Churchill refused to play in the 2025/26 season of the second tier, which was rechristened as the Indian Football League. This resulted in them being further relegated to the third division.

Jamshedpur’s exit had come as a shock, with the decision being announced just a couple of days after it was confirmed that India will host five-time champions Brazil in Kolkata later this year. It also came just over a month after it was announced that crisis-ridden ISL was set to be run by a consortium formed by the clubs playing in the league. Tata Steel vice-president DB Sundara Raman has said that it will continue to “continue to focus on football at the grassroots and youth level”.

“This includes the Tata Football Academy, which has trained 150 cadets who have represented India and 26 captains of national teams across various age groups. We will continue to maintain and enhance our sporting infrastructure – repurposing it for grassroots football and athlete development. We will be modernising our youth system, investing in and further building its capability in collaboration with the AIFF,” he said.