Despite the remarkable performance throughout the season, Jamshedpur FC head coach Owen Coyle marked their win over FC Goa in the second half of the Hero ISL 2021-22, as the most important victory of the campaign.

It was earlier in January when teams had to deal with a few Covid-19 cases in their camps, which led to disruption in schedule and matches being cancelled. Jamshedpur FC also had to battle their own issues.

“Against FC Goa, we showed that we can dig in and win in different ways. I remember telling Sandy (Coyle’s number two) in the dressing room that the win versus Goa will be our most important win because to have achieved that stuck in a hotel (in quarantine) without playing a match for 17 days and without training for 11 days, it was a remarkable achievement,” said Owen Coyle to The Times of India. 

The Men of Steel were phenomenal towards the end of the season, claiming seven wins on the trot to script a new Hero ISL record as well as claim the ISL League Winners’ Shield.

However, the heroic efforts from the Red Miners could not fetch them a season double (ISL League Winners’ Shield and Hero ISL Trophy), with Kerala Blasters FC eliminating them in the two-legged semi-final.

Coyle, who is credited for orchestrating the fairytale story - transforming a low-budget team to giant killers, rated the feat as one of the highlights of his glittering managerial career.

“I would say this is as good as anything. People are saying you won the biggest game in the world to get (Burnley) into the Premier League, a 100m pounds game or whatever it is, but what we have been able to do here is truly remarkable,” added the former Burnley manager.

“We are not the super clubs in the league, we are not a big spending club, paying big salaries, but we have played to win. Look at the records. This is as good as anything else because of how we have done it and the challenges of the bio-bubble.”