Yendrembam Denechandra Meitei (born 28 March 1994) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Indian Super League club Odisha, on loan from Kerala Blasters.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Yendrembam Denechandra Meitei | ||
| Date of birth | (1994-03-28) 28 March 1994 (age 28) | ||
| Place of birth | Manipur, India | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left back | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Odisha, (on loan from Kerala Blasters) | ||
| Number | 30 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2008–2009 | Mohun Bagan | ||
| 2009 | Sambhalpur Academy | ||
| 2011–2013 | Pune | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013–2014 | Pune | 1 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Ozone | 1 | (0) |
| 2017 | Sagolband United | ||
| 2017–2018 | Churchill Brothers | 15 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | NEROCA | 4 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | TRAU | 12 | (0) |
| 2020– | Kerala Blasters | 9 | (0) |
| 2022– | → Odisha (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| India U23 | |||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 February 2022 | |||
Born in Manipur, Meitei started playing football from the age of 10 years.[1] He initially trained at a local stadium to improve his technical ability.[1] He eventually managed to make it into his district team and then the Manipur football team in the youth nationals.[1] Then in 2008 he was signed by Mohun Bagan A.C. to join their academy.[1] After a one-year stay at the academy, Meitei joined the Sambhalpur Academy in Orissa.[1] However, due to problems with both academies in terms of how they taught academics, Meitei dropped out of both.[1] He then went back to Manipur to play for a local club.[1]
Then, after going back to Manipur, James Singh of Mumbai F.C. recommended Meitei to trial at Pune F.C. for a spot in the Pune F.C. Academy.[1] Meitei trialed for the spot in the academy and passed.[1] While with the Pune F.C. Academy Meitei had won the I-League U19 twice.[1]
On 10 October 2013, Meitei made his professional debut for Pune F.C. in the I-League against Mohun Bagan A.C. at the Balewadi Sports Complex in which he came on in the 89th minute for Pierre Douhou as Pune won the match 2–0.[2]
On 5 August 2020, it was announced that Meitei would join Kerala Blasters from TRAU FC.[3] He made his first appearance for the club on 29 November 2021, against Chennaiyin FC.[4] On 6 May 2021, Metei signed a new three-year contract with Kerala Blasters, keeping him at the club until 2024.[5]
Meitei was included in the Kerala Blasters squad for the 2021 Durand Cup,[6] and played his first match against arch-rivals Bengaluru FC on 15 September, where he received a red card and the match ended in a 2–0 defeat for the Blasters.[7] He played his first match of the 2021–22 Indian Super League season as a substitute for Nishu Kumar against Bengaluru itself in the 88th minute of the, which they lost 0–1.[8]
On 6 July 2022, Odisha FC announced the signing of Meitei on a season long loan deal from the Blasters.[9]
Meitei has represented India at the under-23 level in which he played for them in a tournament held at Bangladesh.[1]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | AFC | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Pune | 2013–14 | I-League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| Ozone | 2016–17 | I-League 2nd Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| Churchill Brothers | 2017–18 | I-League | 15 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | |
| NEROCA | 2018–19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| TRAU | 2019–20 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| Kerala Blasters | 2020–21 | Indian Super League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
| 2021–22 | 3 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Kerala Blasters total | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||
| Odisha (loan) |
2022–23 | Indian Super League | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| Career total | 42 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 0 | ||
Kerala Blasters FC – current squad | |
|---|---|
|