What team did the NSL be followed after an ocean or draft?

After marquee, retention, auction and draft, each team has 14 players. Similarly, some teams are also conducting talent hunts and are continuing to sign foreign players.

This time, each team will be allowed to sign 6 foreign players. One of them must be from Asia. Similarly, the team will be able to keep one player from Category D and one player must be kept from the Talent Hunt.

After the auction and draft, all seven participating teams have prepared their drafts. Some teams have strengthened their teams by signing foreign players.

This time, Kathmandu Razors, the winner of the first edition, Lalitpur City FC, the winner of the second edition, Dhangadhi FC, who became the runner-up twice, along with Pokhara Thunders, FC Chitwan, Butwal Lumbini FC and Jhapa FC will compete. Jhapa FC is a team added to the second edition, while the remaining six teams have been playing since the first edition.

Lalitpur City FC

Defending champions Lalitpur City FC retained defender Anant Tamang as their marquee player, while retaining defender Sanish Shrestha from Category A and midfielder Aditya Shakya from Category B.

Lalitpur was successful in bringing in good players in the auction. Lalitpur had emphasized on defense and midfield in the auction. Lalitpur, which brought in midfielders Mani Kumar Lama and Santosh Khatri from Category A, had signed goalkeeper Samit Shrestha, defenders Yogesh Gurung and Abhishek Waiba, midfielders Sudip Gurung and Navin Lama from Category B.

Similarly, Lalitpur has signed Manoj Rai, Pawan Shahi, Dipesh Ghale and Anish Chhetri from the draft.

Lalitpur has also intensified its foreign player signings. Lalitpur has signed Bhutanese captain and forward Chencho Gyalsen. Similarly, it has signed Haitian forward Kervens Belfort and Palestinian midfielder Jonathan Cantilana.

• Marquee Player: Anant Tamang
• Category A: Sanish Shrestha (retained), Mani Kumar Lama, Santosh Khatri
• Category B: Aditya Shakya (Retained), Sudip Gurung, Yogesh Gurung, Navin Lama, Abhishek Waiba, Samit Shrestha
• Category C: Manoj Rai, Pawan Shahi, Dipesh Ghale, Anish Chhetri
• Foreign players: Jeffrey Baltus, Jonathan Cantilana, Kervens Belfort, Chencho Galsen

Kathmandu Razors

Kathmandu Rangers, the champions of the first edition of the NSL, appointed young midfielder Rohan Karki as the marquee player while retaining Dipesh Gurung, Kuldeep Karki, and Abhishek Baral, who played in the previous season.

Similarly, Kathmandu signed midfielder Dinesh Henzon and forward Gillespie Jung Karki from Category A and Ashish Chapagain, Kamal Shrestha, Diwakar Chaudhary and Anjal Maharjan from Category B through the auction.

Kathmandu signed Bharat Chaudhary, Mausam Magar, Pushkar Khadka, and Pemba Dorji Lama from the Category C draft.

Kathmandu has signed Sierra Leonean forward Buya Turayya as a foreign player.

Kathmandu has also changed its coaching staff this time. Earlier, Balgopal Maharjan was the head coach of Kathmandu for two consecutive seasons. This time, the club has signed UEFA Pro License coach Patrick Wilde from Belgium.

• Marquee Player: Rohan Karki
• Category A: Dipesh Gurung (Retained), Dinesh Henzon, Gillespie Jung Karki
• Category B: Kuldeep Karki, Abhishek Baral (retained), Ashish Chapagai, Kamal Shrestha, Diwakar Choudhary, Anjal Maharjan
• Category C: Bharat Chaudhary, Mausam Magar, Pushkar Khadka, Pemba Dorji
• Foreign player: Bouya Toure

Dhangadhi FC

Dhangadhi FC had previously reached the finals of both editions and were defeated. Despite Dhangadhi putting up a good team in both editions, they could not win the title.

This time, Dhangadhi has also retained all the marquee players including the coaching staff. Midfielder Kritisharatna Chunju, who played for Dhangadhi last season, has been made the marquee player. Similarly, Dhangadhi had retained Devendra Tamang, Ramchandra Waji and Randeep Poudel.

Dhangadhi signed Category A Pasang Lama and Vivek Poudel from the auction, while George Prince Karki, Prashant Laxman, Ashok Khawas, and Ziyarath Sheikh were brought in from Category B. Similarly, Dhangadhi signed Amrit Shrestha, Rohan Khadgi, Harish Raj Bhatt, and Santosh Mahat from the Category C draft.

Dhangadhi will also continue to play for the new season with Nigerian forward Olawale Afiz, who played for Dhangadhi in both seasons. Similarly, Lebanese forward Ahmed Hijazi will also play for Dhangadhi. Similarly, Dhangadhi has also signed Mohammed Al-Jawini, who played for the Morocco U23 team.

Dhangadhi has also signed Spanish UEFA Pro Licensed coach Juan Manuel.

• Marquee Player: Kritish Ratna Chunju
• Category A: Devendra Tamang (retained), Pasang Lama, Vivek Poudel
• Category B: Randeep Poudel and Ramchandra Waji (retained), George Prince Karki, Prashant Lakshmi, Ashok Khawas, Ziarath Sheikh
• Category C: Amrit Shrestha, Rohan Khadgi, Harish Raj Bhatt, Santosh Mahat
• Foreign players: Olwale Afiz, Ahmed Hijazi, Mohammed Al-Jaweni

Pokhara Thunders

Pokhara Thunders finished third in the second edition despite finishing top of the league stage after losing in both qualifiers. This time, Pokhara has also changed the entire coaching staff, including the marquee and captain.

Pokhara, which has made young forward Samir Tamang its new marquee, has appointed previous marquee player Ayush Ghalan as captain. Similarly, Suman Shrestha has been appointed as head coach.

Along with Ayush, Pokhara retained Padam Bhattarai from Category B and Narendra Chaudhary from Category C.

Pokhara has announced that it will retain only Suraj Jyu Thakuri from Category A in the auction and one player from the NRNA quota. Similarly, Pokhara had retained Ram Thapa, Chandan Das, Vishal Tamang, Krishal Moktan, and Ekraj Budhathoki from Category B in the auction. However, after Ram Thapa was not released by B Division club Planning Boys, Pokhara has retained forward Nawayug in his place. Nawayug was Pokhara’s marquee player in the first edition.

• Marquee Player: Samir Tamang
• Category A: Ayush Ghalan (retained), Suraj Jyu Thakur
• Category B: Padam Bhattarai (Retained), Nawayug Shrestha*, Chandan Das, Vishal Tamang, Krishal Moktan, Ekraj Budhathoki
• Category C: Narendra Choudhary (retained), Gaurav Shrestha, Sakal Regmi, Praveen Kumar Sunar

*Note: Pokhara signed Ram Thapa through the auction, but he was not available for the NSL, so Nawayug Shrestha was named in his place.

FC Chitwan

FC Chitwan, which has not performed well in the previous two seasons, has built a new team for the third season, changing everything from marquee players to coaches.

Chitwan, which has appointed Anjan Bista, the joint-highest goal scorer for the national team, as its marquee player, has brought in Navin Neupane as its head coach. Similarly, Chitwan retained goalkeeper Bishal Shrestha, who was the marquee player last season, as well as defender Tshiring Gurung and midfielder Roshan Rana Magar.

Chitwan, which had players in every position before the auction, also got good players from the auction. Along with Anjan, Chitwan was able to sign Category A’s Abhishek Limbu and Sumit Shrestha, who played Gold Cup for NRT Club, and Category B’s Shishir Lekhi and Jay Gurung from the auction. Similarly, Chitwan also took players like Category B’s Milan Rai and Neeraj Chaudhary from the auction.

Chitwan signed Vivek Gurung, Shishir Chaudhary, Vishal Syangtan and Pradeep Bhandari from the Category C draft. Having players who have played together in club football in Chitwan’s team can create a good team balance. Apart from NRT, Vishal Shrestha, Roshan Rana, Tshiring Gurung and Pradeep Bhandari, who have been playing together from Machhindra, are also in this team. Both Vishal and Pradeep are goalkeepers.

Similarly, Chitwan has signed local stars Rozal Dahal and Ruki Ganesh Nepali from Talent Hunt.

Chitwan is yet to sign foreign players. After signing foreign players, Chitwan’s team can become even better.

• Marquee Player: Anjan Bista
• Category A: Vishal Shrestha (retained), Abhishek Limbu, Sumit Shrestha
• Category B: Chiring Gurung and Roshan Rana Magar (retained), Milan Rai, Shishir Lekhi, Jai Gurung, Niraj Choudhary
• Category C: Vivek Gurung, Shishir Chaudhary, Vishal Syangtan, Pradeep Bhandari
• Local Star: Rozelle Dahal
• Ruki : Ganesh Nepali

Butwal Lumbini FC

Butwal Lumbini FC has also appointed a new marquee player and head coach for the new NSL season.

Butwal Lumbini, which has appointed national team midfielder Manish Dangi as its new marquee player, has appointed Pushpalal Sharma of Bhutanese club Paro FC as its head coach.

Similarly, local Ritesh Malla has been appointed as assistant coach and Dilip Chhetri as goalkeeper coach, while Yam Gurung has been appointed as technical director.

Butwal Lumbini retained midfielder Eric Bista, who was the marquee and captain for the second season, as well as Saroj Tamang and Nirajan Dhami. Similarly, Butwal signed Pradeep Lama and Deep Karki from Category A and Fatteman Ghale, Bimal Pandey, Tikendra Thapa and Sandeep Karki from Category B from the auction.

Similarly, Butwal Lumbini has signed Suman Shrestha, Ningsang Limbu, Khemraj Shrestha, and Manish Sedhai from the Category C draft.

• Marquee Player: Manish Dangi
• Category A: Eric Bista (Retained), Pradeep Lama, Deep Karki (Whistleblower)
• Category B: Saroj Tamang and Nirajan Dhami (retained), Fatteman Ghale, Bimal Pandey, Tikendra Thapa, Sandeep Karki
• Category C: Suman Shrestha, Ningsang Limbu, Khemraj Shrestha, Manish Sedhai

Jhapa FC

Jhapa FC is a team that debuted in the NSL from the second season. Jhapa, which appointed Anjan Bista as the marquee coach last season and brought in a Spanish coach, failed to reach the playoffs.

This season, Jhapa has also changed its marquee player and coaching staff. Similarly, Jhapa has also made a new team. Jhapa has made midfielder Laken Limbu, who was in the team last season but was unable to play due to injury, the new marquee player, while only defender Tshering Lama has been retained.

Similarly, Jhapa has appointed local coach Prabhesh Katuwal, who has made Machhindra FC the A Division League champion for two consecutive seasons, as the new head coach. Similarly, Kumar Giri has been appointed as assistant coach and Min Basnet as goalkeeping coach.

Jhapa was a bit unlucky in the auction. While Jhapa signed Ashish Gurung from Category A in the auction, they brought in Prabin Basnet from the NRNA quota. Similarly, from Category B, Jhapa signed Abhinash Syangta, Dipesh Dhimal, Anjal Shrestha, Roshan Pahari, Dipendra BK, and Ujwal Rai in the auction.

Jhapa has signed Srijan Dani, Aaron Thapa, Shyam Murmu, and Abhishek Gurung from Category C.

Similarly, Jhapa has signed Uzbekistan’s Azamat Abdulev and Serbia’s Lazar Arsik as foreign players.

Jhapa will represent the Koshi Province as the only club this time. Biratnagar City FC played NSL from the East in the first season. But when Biratnagar withdrew its name in the second season, Jhapa FC and Sporting Ilam FC were added as new teams from the East. After Ilam withdrew its name in the third season, Jhapa is the only club from the East.

• Marquee Player: Lucken Limbu
• Category A: Tshiring Lama (Retained), Ashish Gurung, Prabin Basnet (NRN)
• Category B: Abhinash Syangta, Dipesh Dhimal, Anjal Shrestha, Roshan Pahari, Dipendra Bik, Ujwal Rai
• Category C: Srijan Dani, Aaron Thapa, Shyam Murmu, Abhishek Gurung
• Foreign players: Azamat Abdulev, Lazar Arsik