The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy,[1] due to ties with FIFA[2] also known as the FIFA Santosh Trophy,[3] or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state semi-professional national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the sport's governing body in India.[4] Before the launch of the first national club league, the National Football League in 1996, the Santosh Trophy was considered the top domestic tournament in India.[5] Many players who have represented India internationally, played in the Santosh Trophy.[6] The tournament is held every year with eligible teams divided into zones, play in the qualifying round and can progress into the tournament proper.[7]
 | |
| Organising body | AIFF |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1941 |
| Region | India |
| Number of teams |
|
| Related competitions | National Games |
| International cup(s) | Asian Champion Club Tournament (1967–70) |
| Current champions | Services (7th title) |
| Most successful team(s) | West Bengal (32 titles) |
| Television broadcasters | FIFA+ (online streaming) SportsKPI SportsCast India (YouTube) |
| Website | Senior NFC |
 2024–25 Santosh Trophy | |
The tournament was started in 1941 by the Indian Football Association (IFA), which was the then de facto governing body of football in India. It was named after the former president of the IFA, Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury, the Maharaja of Santosh who had died aged 61 in 1939.[5][8][9] The IFA later donated the Santosh Trophy to the AIFF, soon after its formation as the sport's official governing body in India, and since then AIFF has been organising the tournament. The trophy for the runner-up, Kamala Gupta Trophy, was also donated by the then president of IFA, Dr. S.K. Gupta, and it was named in honour of his wife.[10] The third-place trophy, Sampangi Cup, was donated by the Karnataka State Football Association (then Mysore Football Association) and was named so in the memory of a renowned footballer, Sampangi, who was from Mysore.[10] Until 2018, the tournament was organised as an individual competition, but since 2021, the AIFF rebranded it as the men's senior tier of National Football Championship for the regional teams of various age groups. In September 2022, it was announced that the tournament will be organized on zonal basis.[11]
Background
edit
The Santosh Trophy was started after the former presidents of the Indian Football Association, Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh, and Satish Chandra Chowdhury, donated the trophy to the All India Football Federation.[5][12] At the time of the first tournament, India lacked a proper championship for football teams. The other major nationwide football competitions at the time were the Durand Cup, Rovers Cup and IFA Shield.[5] In 1990, in an attempt to bring through more younger players, the AIFF made the Santosh Trophy into an under-23 competition. This move only lasted for three seasons before the tournament was reverted to a senior competition.[5]
During his time as the head coach of India, Bob Houghton called for the tournament to be discontinued and said that it was a waste of time and talent.[5] He was more aggressive against the tournament after striker Sunil Chhetri injured himself in the 2009 Santosh Trophy and had to miss the Nehru Cup.[6] As a result, national team players were not allowed to participate in the tournament, which was also eventually reverted.[5] In 2013 the AIFF decided that players from the top-tier clubs would be barred from participating in the Santosh Trophy, but numerous members of reserve, academy and youth sides of the I-League and the Indian Super League participate in the tournament for game-time.[13] The tournament is still regarded as a suitable platform for young players from the I-League 2, I-League 3, or State leagues to attract major clubs.[14][15]
Current teams
editThe following teams participate in the tournament as states, union territories and institutions.
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chhattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu and Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Pondicherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Railways
- Services
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttarakhand
- West Bengal
Defunct teams
editResults
editFinals
editThe following is the list of winners and runners-up from every edition of the Santosh Trophy[16]
Final appearances
edit| Team | Wins | Runners-up | Last win |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Bengal / Bengal | 32 | 14 | 2016–17 |
| Punjab | 8 | 8 | 2007–08 |
| Kerala | 7 | 8 | 2021–22 |
| Services | 7 | 5 | 2023–24 |
| Goa | 5 | 9 | 2008–09 |
| Karnataka / Mysore | 5 | 5 | 2022–23 |
| Maharashtra / Bombay | 4 | 12 | 1999–00 |
| Railways | 3 | 6 | 1966–67 |
| Hyderabad | 2 | 2 | 1957–58 |
| Andhra Pradesh / Andhra | 1 | 1 | 1965–66 |
| Delhi | 1 | 1 | 1944–45 |
| Manipur | 1 | 1 | 2002–03 |
| Mizoram | 1 | 0 | 2013–14 |
| Tamil Nadu / Madras | 0 | 2 | – |
| Meghalaya | 0 | 1 | – |
Performance in Asian competitions
edit| Year | Team | Progress | Score | Opponents | Venue(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Railways | W/O |  Hapoel Tel Aviv
|
Withdrew | |
| 1969 | Mysore | Fourth Place | 0–2 |  Toyo Kogyo
|
at Bangkok, Thailand |
| 1970 | Bengal | 3rd in Group Stage | N/A | Hapoel Tel Aviv,  PSMS Medan,  Royal Thai Police
| |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Hero Senior NFC". the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ "Arunachal jitters delink Fifa from Santosh Trophy, decision puts AIFF in a spot of bother". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ "AIFF Executive Committee meeting: FIFA President to attend Santosh Trophy final". the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ Kapadia, Novy (27 May 2012). "Memorable moments in the Santosh Trophy". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g Anand, Vijay (16 March 2014). "The history of Santosh Trophy". SportsKeeda. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- ^ a b "The rise and fall of the Santosh Trophy". The Indian Express. 12 March 2014. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- ^ "70th Santosh Trophy". The Indian Football Live. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- ^ Majumdar, Boria, Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (1 February 2006). Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation. New Delhi: Penguin India. ISBN 9780670058747. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Maharaja of Santosh dead Archived 24 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Indian Express, 1 April 1939, p. 15
- ^ a b "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Santosh Trophy". IndianFootball.de. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019.
- ^ Mukherjee, Sayan (27 September 2022). "Six foreigners recommended for matchday squads as I-League returns on 29 Oct". news9live.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ Sengupta, Somnath (24 April 2012). "Legends of Indian Football : The Pioneers". thehardtackle.com. The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
- ^ "AIFF mulling over Santosh Trophy's future". News 18. 17 September 2013. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- ^ Raghunandan, Vaibhav (24 April 2019). "Santosh Trophy: Where Indian Football's History and Its Future Reside". NewsClick. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ^ Chakraborty, Sruti (24 February 2023). "Balai Dey: The man who connects India, Pakistan and the Hero Santosh Trophy". the-aiff.com. New Delhi: All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "Santosh Trophy Winners". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
Further reading
edit- Sarkar, Dhiman (25 March 2018). "India's football past gasping for survival". Hindustan Times. Kolkata. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- Santosh Trophy 2023-23 Schedule