Did you know India is the home to one of the Oldest Tournaments? The Durand Cup is the third oldest football tournament, was first held in India. Not only that, India is also the home of the fourth oldest football Tournament in India, The IFA shield. Did you know that the Turning point of Indian Football came much before our Independence?
Interesting! Isn’t it? Let us find out more about the History of The Oldest Football Tournaments in India.
Durand Cup is the one of the most celebrated tournaments in our country. It is the oldest Football Tournament in Asia and was First held in Shimla in the year 1888. It is the third oldest football tournament in the world. In its early years, Various team from the British Indian Army used to compete against each other. Several teams from the army still take part in the tournament.
East Bengal AC has appeared in the finals the highest number of times, they managed to achieve this feat 26 times and Mohun Bagan has done so on 25 occasions. Interestingly, the rivals have won the cup 16 times each. It has been over a decade since both of them have appeared in the finals. The Kolkata based clubs have also faced defeat the highest number of times, East Bengal has lost 10 times in the finals whereas Mohun Bagan has lost the finals 9 times.
The tournament takes place over a span of 20 days which includes multiple phases, namely the Knockout phase and the Quarter Final phase. The tournament follows the Group/knockout pattern. Over the years the trophy has seen a decline in the level of sponsors leading to the fall in the standards of the tournament. ISL is another factor which is responsible for the downfall of the Durand Cup. The organizers have said that the 2015 edition of the cup has been cancelled.
The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association. It is one of the oldest football tournaments in the world. The Indian Football Association was formed in 1893, the same year in which the IFA Shield first took place.
Nagendraprasad Sarbadhichari, the founder of "Boys Club", one of the first clubs in India was responsible for the sport gaining popularity in the earlier times. Post this, Mohun Bagan, Mohammedan FC started gaining popularity. These clubs were still developing in the 1890’s and 1900’s. 1911 was the first year when an Indian club won the IFA shield. Mohun Bagan achieved this feat by defeating East Yorkshire Regiment 2 – 1. The year 1911 can very well be called as the turning point of Indian football.
East Bengal Club tops the list of winner, winning the trophy 27 times. Mohun Bagan is second in the list, winning the tournament 21 times. East Bengal and Mohun Bagan have appeared in the finals almost the same number of times, East Bengal has appeared 37 times whereas their rivals have appeared 36 times. The tournament follows a group knockout pattern. In the Cup’s 2014 edition, Mohammedan FC won the cup after a gap of 73 years. United SC u -19 are the current champions.
Santosh Trophy was first held in 1942. The trophy as named after the the former president of the Indian Football Association – Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh, now in Bangladesh. This was the top football tournament before the National Football League started in the year 1996. The Cup has seen many changes over the years like the introduction of State Teams, change in the tournament format, etc. The
West Bengal has won the trophy the maximum number of times (31), followed by Punjab(8) and Kerala(5). In the 70 editions held so far, Bengal has appeared in the finals a staggering 43 times, Punjab has appeared 15 times and Kerala has appeared 13 times.
The main tournament has 16 teams. The hosts along with Winners, Runners-Up, and Third-Placed will directly enter into the main tournament. If the host is among Winner, Runners-Up, or Third-Placed team, the fourth-placed team will also directly qualify to main tournament. The remaining teams will be split into 3 zones. Top 4 teams in each zones will qualify to main tournament. Each Zones will have 2 Groups. Top-two teams in each groups will qualify to Final Round.
The Sait Nagjee Trophy was started in 1952 and was held till 1995. The Nagjee trophy has had many international participants however 2 Indian clubs [Mohammedan Sporting Club & JTC Mills] have won the trophy the maximum number of times [4 times]. JTC Mills has had a 100% record, they have not lost any of the 4 finals that they have played in. The Punjab based club also won the last edition of the tournament in 1995. Mohammedan Sporting Club on the other hand has appeared in the finals a record 6 times.
The trophy that had 35 editions before 1995 is set to be revived after 20 years. The KDFA president believes that the infrastructure to hold a major tournament is finally in place and tournament is set to take place towards the end of January next year. The tournament which is now the Nagjee International Club Football Tournament will focus on an international front. Eight teams from Europe, Latin America and Asia will play fifteen thrilling matches in front of the home crowd of Kozhikode, making this event the first in Indian football history.
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