Santosh Trophy

Last updated

Santosh Trophy
National Football Championship.svg
Organising body AIFF
FIFA
Founded1941;83 years ago (1941)
RegionIndia
Number of teams
  • Group stage: 36
  • Final round: 12
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 SSEN
FIFA+ (online streaming)
SportsKPI
SportsCast India
(YouTube)
Website Senior NFC
Soccerball current event.svg 2024–25 Santosh Trophy

The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, [1] or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state 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. [2] 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. [3] Many players who have represented India internationally, played in the Santosh Trophy. [4] The tournament is held every year with eligible teams divided into zones, play in the qualifying round and can progress into the tournament proper. [5]

Contents

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. [3] [6] [7] 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. [8] 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. [8] 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. [9]

Background

Santosh Trophy logo used until 2021 SantoshTrophy Logo.jpg
Santosh Trophy logo used until 2021

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. [3] [10] 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. [3] 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. [3]

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. [3] 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. [4] As a result, national team players were not allowed to participate in the tournament, which was also eventually reverted. [3] 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. [11] 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. [12] [13]

Current teams

The following teams participate in the tournament as states, union territories and institutions.

Defunct teams

Results

Finals

The following is the list of winners and runners-up from every edition of the Santosh Trophy [14]

SeasonHost cityWinnerScoreRunner-up
1941–42 Kolkata Bengal 5–1 Delhi
1944–45 Delhi Delhi 2–0 Bengal
1945–46 Bombay Bengal 2–0 Bombay
1946–47 Bangalore Mysore 0–0, 2–1 Bengal
1947–48 Kolkata Bengal 0–0, 1–0 Bombay
1949–50 Kolkata Bengal 5–0 Hyderabad
1950–51 Kolkata Bengal 1–0 Hyderabad
1951–52 Bombay Bengal 1–0 Bombay
1952–53 Bangalore Mysore 1–0 Bengal
1953–54 Kolkata Bengal 0–0, 3–1 Mysore
1954–55 Madras Bombay 2–1 Services
1955–56 Ernakulam Bengal 1–0 Mysore
1956–57 Trivandrum Hyderabad 1–1, 4–1 Bombay
1957–58 Hyderabad Hyderabad 3–1 Bombay
1958–59 Madras Bengal 1–0 Services
1959–60 Nowgong Bengal 3–1 Bombay
1960–61 Kozhikode Services 0–0, 1–0 Bengal
1961–62 Bombay Railways 3–0 Bombay
1962–63 Bangalore Bengal 2–0 Mysore
1963–64 Madras Maharashtra 1–0 Andhra Pradesh
1964–65 Guwahati Railways 2–1 Bengal
1965–66 Kollam Andhra Pradesh 1–1, 1–0 Bengal
1966–67 Hyderabad Railways 0–0, 2–0 Services
1967–68 Cuttack Mysore 1–0 Bengal
1968–69 Bangalore Mysore 0–0, 1–0 Bengal
1969–70 Nowgong Bengal 6–1 Services
1970–71 Jalandhar Punjab 1–1, 3–1 Mysore
1971–72 Madras Bengal 4–1 Railways
1972–73 Goa Bengal 4–1 Tamil Nadu
1973–74 Ernakulam Kerala 3–2 Railways
1974–75 Jalandhar Punjab 6–0 Bengal
1975–76 Kozhikode Bengal 0–0, 3–1 Karnataka
1976–77 Patna Bengal 1–0 Maharashtra
1977–78 Kolkata Bengal 1–1, 3–1 Punjab
1978–79 Srinagar Bengal 1–0 Goa
1979–80 Coimbatore Bengal 1–0 Punjab
1980–81 Cuttack Punjab 0–0, 2–0 Railways
1981–82 Thrissur Bengal 2–0 Railways
1982–83 Kolkata Bengal and Goa (joint winners) – 0–0, 0–0
1983–84 Madras Goa 1–0 Punjab
1984–85 Kanpur Punjab 3–0 Maharashtra
1985–86 Jabalpur Punjab 0–0 (4–1 p) Bengal
1986–87 Calcutta Bengal 2–0 Railways
1987–88 Kollam Punjab 0–0 (5–4 p) Kerala
1988–89 Guwahati Bengal 1–1 (4–3 p) Kerala
1989–90 Margao Goa 2–0 Kerala
1990–91 Palakkad Maharashtra 1–0 Kerala
1991–92 Coimbatore Kerala 3–0 Goa
1992–93 Kochi Kerala 2–0 Maharashtra
1993–94 Cuttack Bengal 2–2 (5–3 p) Kerala
1994–95 Chennai Bengal 2–1 (a.s.d.e.t.) Punjab
1995–96 Margao Bengal 1–0 Goa
1996–97 Jabalpur Bengal 1–0 (a.s.d.e.t.) Goa
1997–98 Guwahati Bengal 1–0 Goa
1998–99 Chennai Bengal 5–0 Goa
1999–00 Thrissur Maharashtra 3–2 Kerala
2001–02 Mumbai Kerala 3–2 (a.s.d.e.t.) Goa
2002–03 Imphal Manipur 2–1 (a.s.d.e.t.) Kerala
2004–05 Delhi Kerala 3–2 Punjab
2005–06 Kochi Goa 3–1 ( a.e.t. ) Maharashtra
2006–07 Gurgaon Punjab 0–0 ( a.e.t. )(5–3 p) West Bengal
2007–08 Srinagar Punjab 1–0 Services
2008–09 Chennai Goa 0–0 ( a.e.t. )(4–2 p) West Bengal
2009–10 Kolkata West Bengal 2–1 Punjab
2010–11 Guwahati West Bengal 2–1 Manipur
2011–12 Odisha Services 3–2 Tamil Nadu
2012–13 Kochi Services 0–0 ( a.e.t. )(4–3 p) Kerala
2013–14 Siliguri Mizoram 3–0 Railways
2014–15 Ludhiana Services 0–0 (5–4 p) Punjab
2015–16 Nagpur Services 2–1 Maharashtra
2016–17 Goa West Bengal 1–0 Goa
2017–18 Kolkata Kerala 2–2 (4–2 p) West Bengal
2018–19 Ludhiana Services 1–0 Punjab
2021–22 Manjeri Kerala 1–1 (5–4 p) West Bengal
2022–23 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Riyadh Karnataka 3–2 Meghalaya
2023–24 Yupia Services 1–0 Goa
2024–25 Hyderabad

Final appearances

TeamWinsRunners-upLast win
West Bengal / Bengal 32142016–17
Punjab 882007–08
Kerala 782021–22
Services 752023–24
Goa 592008–09
Karnataka / Mysore 552022–23
Maharashtra / Bombay 4121999–00
Railways 361966–67
Hyderabad 221957–58
Andhra Pradesh / Andhra 111965–66
Delhi 111944–45
Manipur 112002–03
Mizoram 102013–14
Tamil Nadu / Madras 02
Meghalaya 01

Performance in Asian competitions

Asian Champion Club Tournament

YearTeamProgressScoreOpponentsVenue(s)
1967 Railways Semi-finalsW/O Flag of Israel.svg Hapoel Tel Aviv Withdrew
1969 Mysore Fourth Place0–2 Flag of Japan.svg Toyo Kogyo at Bangkok, Thailand
1970 Bengal 3rd in Group StageN/A Flag of Israel.svg Hapoel Tel Aviv, Flag of Indonesia.svg PSMS Medan, Flag of Thailand.svg Royal Thai Police

See also

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References

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Further reading