The club was originally founded in 1950s, with having hockey, football and other sections. They were revived in 2006.[14] Nicknamed "the pilots",[15][16] HAL used
Bangalore Football Stadium as their home ground.[17] In 2014, following poor performance in
2013–14 season, the club announced of "temporary shutting down... activities".[18][19][20]
History
Formation and journey
Originally founded in the 1950s, the club later became affiliated with Bangalore District Football Association (BDFA) in the 90s.[21] In 1952, the club clinched prestigious
Stafford Challenge Cup title.[22][23][24] Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Sports Club began their journey through participating in the
Bangalore A Division league,[25][26] in which they emerged champions in 2000.[27] Before getting revived in 2006, they clinched the
BDFA Super Division titles in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.[28] HAL took part in the 2001–02 NFL season.[29]
2006–2010
After finishing third in the NFL Second Division in 2006, HASC were promoted to the Premier Division.[30] Although only the top two teams from the Second Division gain promotion,
Tata Football Academy who finished first in the standings were not able to form a professional team for the Premier Division. Therefore, HASC were promoted to the 11th NFL Premier Division along with runners up
Churchill Brothers.
In 2010, the club emerged as the runners-up of the
2010 I-League 2nd Division after the end of final round, hosted in
Bengaluru. With 16 points in 7 matches, HAL finished on 2nd as
ONGC FC clinched title.[31]
In the 2013–14 edition of the BDFA Super Division, HASC finished eighth among nine teams. This prompted the club to shut down their activities "temporarily" in December 2014. The coach H. Chnadrashekhar said, "We will not field a team temporarily (in the Cups and the league) and to that effect HASC's management had sent a letter to BDFA secretary ST Bhoopal."[18] Reports of the club resuming operations and fielding their team emerged after they held selection trials in 2019.[39]
In 2023–24 season of BDFA Super Division League, HAL secured fourth-place finish.[40][41]
Crest
The HASC crest was different from the crest its parent company. For instance the Hindustan Company logo has a picture of the earth with a plane going around and has the word HAL written as well as the Hindi way of writing HAL while the HASC just has a crest with the word HAL in green letters.[42][43]
Club's training facilities are situated at the HAL Sports Club Ground in Bengaluru, which is used as venue for selection trials of their U19, U23 teams, alongside state youth competitions.[52]
Ownership and finances
The ownership of HASC has been from
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).[53] The company HAL were not so influential when running the club at first, as shown from their poor record before the 2010 I-League 2nd Division season in which the club achieved promotion.[35][54]
The following HAL players have been capped at senior/youth international level, with their respective countries. Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.[55]
The club has its hockey team, that competed in
Beighton Cup (one of the oldest
field hockey tournaments in the world). Then known as Hindustan Aircraft, they lifted the trophy in 1951, and finished as runners-up in 1952.[79][80]
Chattopadhyay, Hariprasad (17 January 2015).
"Time to regain lost glory". telegraphindia.com. Kolkata: The Telegraph India. Archived from
the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
The club was originally founded in 1950s, with having hockey, football and other sections. They were revived in 2006.[14] Nicknamed "the pilots",[15][16] HAL used
Bangalore Football Stadium as their home ground.[17] In 2014, following poor performance in
2013–14 season, the club announced of "temporary shutting down... activities".[18][19][20]
History
Formation and journey
Originally founded in the 1950s, the club later became affiliated with Bangalore District Football Association (BDFA) in the 90s.[21] In 1952, the club clinched prestigious
Stafford Challenge Cup title.[22][23][24] Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Sports Club began their journey through participating in the
Bangalore A Division league,[25][26] in which they emerged champions in 2000.[27] Before getting revived in 2006, they clinched the
BDFA Super Division titles in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.[28] HAL took part in the 2001–02 NFL season.[29]
2006–2010
After finishing third in the NFL Second Division in 2006, HASC were promoted to the Premier Division.[30] Although only the top two teams from the Second Division gain promotion,
Tata Football Academy who finished first in the standings were not able to form a professional team for the Premier Division. Therefore, HASC were promoted to the 11th NFL Premier Division along with runners up
Churchill Brothers.
In 2010, the club emerged as the runners-up of the
2010 I-League 2nd Division after the end of final round, hosted in
Bengaluru. With 16 points in 7 matches, HAL finished on 2nd as
ONGC FC clinched title.[31]
In the 2013–14 edition of the BDFA Super Division, HASC finished eighth among nine teams. This prompted the club to shut down their activities "temporarily" in December 2014. The coach H. Chnadrashekhar said, "We will not field a team temporarily (in the Cups and the league) and to that effect HASC's management had sent a letter to BDFA secretary ST Bhoopal."[18] Reports of the club resuming operations and fielding their team emerged after they held selection trials in 2019.[39]
In 2023–24 season of BDFA Super Division League, HAL secured fourth-place finish.[40][41]
Crest
The HASC crest was different from the crest its parent company. For instance the Hindustan Company logo has a picture of the earth with a plane going around and has the word HAL written as well as the Hindi way of writing HAL while the HASC just has a crest with the word HAL in green letters.[42][43]
Club's training facilities are situated at the HAL Sports Club Ground in Bengaluru, which is used as venue for selection trials of their U19, U23 teams, alongside state youth competitions.[52]
Ownership and finances
The ownership of HASC has been from
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).[53] The company HAL were not so influential when running the club at first, as shown from their poor record before the 2010 I-League 2nd Division season in which the club achieved promotion.[35][54]
The following HAL players have been capped at senior/youth international level, with their respective countries. Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.[55]
The club has its hockey team, that competed in
Beighton Cup (one of the oldest
field hockey tournaments in the world). Then known as Hindustan Aircraft, they lifted the trophy in 1951, and finished as runners-up in 1952.[79][80]
Chattopadhyay, Hariprasad (17 January 2015).
"Time to regain lost glory". telegraphindia.com. Kolkata: The Telegraph India. Archived from
the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2021.