The Indian football champions are the winners of the highest league in Indian men's football, which is currently the Indian Super League.
| Indian Football League (1st tier) |
|---|
| National Football League (1996–2007) I-League (2007–2017) I-League & Indian Super League (2017–2022) Indian Super League (2022–present) |
| Country |
 India
|
| Founded |
| 1996 |
| Number of teams (from 2024–25) |
| 13 |
| Current champions |
| Mohun Bagan SG |
| Most successful club |
| Mohun Bagan SG (6 titles)[1] |
Though Indian football tournaments dates back to the eighteenth century, a proper league system, the National Football League (NFL) was established in 1996, playing it first season in 1996–97. Its champions were considered the national champions. After the 2006–07 season, the NFL was rebranded, becoming the I-League with its champions continuing to be considered national champions until 2017, when the Indian Super League (ISL) became the country's joint premier football league. In 2022, ISL became the only top tier football league of the country. ISL playoffs winners were considered as ISL champions until 2021–22 season. Later from 2022–23 season, ISL champions designation was awarded to the table toppers.
There are 12 clubs who have won either the National Football League or the I-League and championships and six clubs who have won the Indian Super League since the league became the joint top division in India. JCT were the first club to have won any championship, winning the 1996–97 NFL. Mohun Bagan SG are the most successful club, winning championships six times, NFL three times, I-League twice and ISL once.
History
editThe first Indian football league, the National Football League (NFL) was an association football league competition in India which was organised into three divisions. The Premier Division of the league was first introduced in 1996, though the country already had a long history in the sport thanks to the likes of the IFA Shield and the Federation Cup. The league though is now transformed into the I-League and continues with that name. The change was supposed to bring more popularity to Indian Football. The first league season of I-League consisted of eight teams from the NFL plus two promoted teams from the former Division Two.
The 1996–97 Indian National Football League was the first season of the NFL and ended with JCT Mills FC being crowned champions. The NFL era though saw Kolkata clubs East Bengal and Mohun Bagan had the most championships with three respectively. The I-League era is different though as most of the champions of the league have come from Goa.
Currently, the team with the most championships in I-League is Dempo who have won three championships in the league.
In 2014, a new football league named Indian Super League has started. In its first three seasons it was running without recognition from the AFC. Before 2017–18 season, ISL got recognition from Asian Football Confederation (AFC). In July 2017, it was proposed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) that the Indian Super League champion be granted a spot in the AFC Cup, Asia's second-tier club competition.[2] On 25 July 2017, the AFC approved the AIFF's proposal. Thus, from the 2017–18 season, the Indian Super League champions were allowed to participate in the AFC Cup from the qualification stages of the competition.[2] Meanwhile, India's spot in the AFC Champions League, Asia's top club competition, was still kept by the I-League;[2] thus two leagues were parallelly running in the country. In October 2019, a roadmap for development of league in India was proposed. All stakeholders accepted the proposal where it was announced that ISL premiers would now be entitled to the AFC Champions League, starting from 2021 edition and the I-League champion will get to play the AFC Cup.[3] From 2022–23 season the AFC Cup slot from I-League has been transferred to Super Cup and ISL became the only top tier League in India.
National League champions
edit| Season(s) | Format |
|---|---|
| 1996–2007 | National Football League first placed team |
| 2007–2017 | I-League first placed team |
| 2017–2022 | Both I-League first placed team and Indian Super League playoffs winners |
| 2022–present | Indian Super League first placed team |
National Football League (1996–2007)
editI-League (2007–2017)
editI-League and Indian Super League (2017–2022)
editFrom 2017–18 season until 2021–22 season, I-League and Indian Super League shared joint top flight status in Indian Football
I-League
edit| Season | Champions (number of titles) |
Runners-up | Third place | Winning coach | Leading goalscorers (club) |
Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Minerva Punjab | NEROCA | Mohun Bagan | 13 | ||
| 2018–19 | Chennai City | East Bengal | Real Kashmir | 21 | ||
| 2019–20 | Mohun Bagan (5) | Not awarded[a] | 12 | |||
| 2020–21 | Gokulam Kerala | Churchill Brothers | TRAU | 12 | ||
| 2021–22 | Gokulam Kerala (2) | Mohammedan | Sreenidi Deccan | 16 | ||
Indian Super League
edit| Season | Champions (number of titles) |
Runners-up | League Shield winners[b] | Winning coach (champions) |
Leading goalscorers (club) |
Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Chennaiyin[c] | Bengaluru | Didn't exist[b] | 18 | ||
| 2018–19 | Bengaluru (3) | Goa | 16 | |||
| 2019–20 | ATK[c] | Chennaiyin | Goa | 15 | ||
| 2020–21 | Mumbai City | ATK Mohun Bagan | Mumbai City | 14 | ||
| 2021–22 | Hyderabad | Kerala Blasters | Jamshedpur | 18 |
- ^ On 18 April 2020, All India Football Federation, the organising body of the league announced Mohun Bagan as champions and decided to cancel the remaining matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No team was relegated, and the remaining prize money (apart from the champion's prize money) was equally divided among the 10 teams as the remaining teams were closely placed in the league table.[4]
- ^ a b Since 2019–20, the regular season table toppers are awarded with the League Winners Shield and were granted a spot in AFC Champions League group stage till 2022–23 ISL Season.
- ^ a b ATK won the ISL title in 2014 and 2016 and Chennaiyin won the ISL title in 2015 before 2017–18 season when the ISL got official recognition from AFC.
Indian Super League (2022–present)
edit| Season | Champions (number of titles)[a][5] | Playoffs Winners | Playoffs Runners-up | Winning manager (Champions) |
Leading goalscorers (Club) |
Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–23 | Mumbai City (2) | ATK Mohun Bagan | Bengaluru | 12 | ||
| 2023–24 | Mohun Bagan SG (6)[6] | Mumbai City (2) | Mohun Bagan SG | 13 |
- ^ Since 2023–24 ISL season, the reigning regular season champions who are awarded with the League Winners Shield were granted a spot in AFC Champions League Two group stage.
Total titles won
editThere are 12 clubs who have won either the National Football League or the I-League. There are also 6 clubs who have won the Indian Super League since the league became the joint top division in India.
Teams in bold will compete in the Indian Super League for the 2024–25 season.
- † – Defunct clubs
By state
edit| State | Championships | Clubs |
|---|---|---|
| West Bengal | 14 | Mohun Bagan SG (6), East Bengal (4), ATK (3) |
| Goa | 9 | Dempo (5), Churchill Brothers (2), Salgaocar (2) |
| Karnataka | 3 | Bengaluru (3) |
| Maharashtra | 3 | Mumbai City (2), Mahindra United (1) |
| Punjab | 2 | JCT (1), Minerva Punjab (1) |
| Tamil Nadu | 2 | Chennaiyin (1), Chennai City (1) |
| Kerala | 2 | Gokulam Kerala (2) |
| Mizoram | 1 | Aizawl (1) |
| Telangana | 1 | Hyderabad (1) |
By city/town
edit| City / Town | State | Championships | Clubs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kolkata | West Bengal | 10 | Mohun Bagan SG (6), East Bengal (3), ATK (1) |
| Panaji | Goa | 5 | Dempo (5) |
| Bangalore | Karnataka | 3 | Bengaluru (3) |
| Mumbai | Maharashtra | 3 | Mumbai City (2), Mahindra United (1) |
| Margao | Goa | 2 | Churchill Brothers (2) |
| Vasco da Gama | Goa | 2 | Salgaocar (2) |
| Kozhikode | Kerala | 2 | Gokulam Kerala (2) |
| Aizawl | Mizoram | 1 | Aizawl (1) |
| Chennai | Tamil Nadu | 1 | Chennaiyin (1) |
| Coimbatore | Tamil Nadu | 1 | Chennai City (1) |
| Hoshiarpur | Punjab | 1 | JCT (1) |
| Ludhiana | Punjab | 1 | Minerva Punjab (1) |
| Hyderabad | Telangana | 1 | Hyderabad (1) |
National Cup winners
editFederation Cup (1977–2017)
editSuper Cup (2018–present)
edit| Season | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Bengaluru | East Bengal |
| 2019 | Goa | Chennaiyin |
| 2020–2022 | Tournament suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian National Team's international fixtures | |
| 2023 | Odisha | Bengaluru |
| 2024 | East Bengal | Odisha |
Total Cups won
edit| Club | Winner | Winning Years | Runners-up | Runners-up Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohun Bagan SG | 14 | 1978*, 1980*, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998 2001, 2006, 2008, 2015–16 |
6 | 1977, 1983, 1985, 2004, 2010, 2016–17 |
| East Bengal | 9 | 1978*, 1980*, 1985, 1996, 2007, 2009–10, 2010, 2012, 2024 | 9 | 1984, 1986, 1992, 1995–96, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2011, 2018 |
| Salgaocar | 4 | 1988, 1989, 1997, 2011 | 3 | 1987, 1990, 1994 |
| Bengaluru | 3 | 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mohammedan | 2 | 1983, 1984 | 3 | 1981, 1989, 2003 |
| Mahindra United | 2 | 2003, 2005 | 3 | 1991, 1993, 2007 |
| JCT Mills | 2 | 1995, 1995–96 | 0 | - |
| Kerala Police | 2 | 1990, 1991[7] | 0 | - |
| Dempo | 1 | 2004 | 5 | 1996#, 2001, 2008, 2012, 2014–15 |
| BSF (Border Security Force) | 1 | 1979 | 1 | 1988 |
| Odisha | 1 | 2023 | 1 | 2024 |
| ITI (Indian Telephone Industries) | 1 | 1977 | 0 | - |
| Churchill Brothers | 1 | 2013–14 | 0 | - |
| Goa | 1 | 2019 | 0 | - |
| Sporting Clube de Goa | 0 | - | 3 | 2005, 2006, 2013–14 |
| Shillong Lajong | 0 | - | 1 | 2009–10 |
| Aizawl | 0 | - | 1 | 2015–16 |
| Chennaiyin | 0 | - | 1 | 2019 |
- * : shared
- # :There were two federation cups in 1996
Multiple trophy wins
editThe Domestic Double
edit| Club | Seasons | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Mohun Bagan SG | 2001–02 | National Football League, Federation Cup |
| 2023–24 | Durand Cup, ISL League Shield | |
| Dempo | 2004–05 | National Football League, Federation Cup |
| Mahindra United | 2005–06 | National Football League, Federation Cup |
| Mumbai City | 2020–21 | ISL League Shield, ISL Cup |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "REPORT: MOHUN BAGAN SUPER GIANT SEE OFF MUMBAI CITY FC TO WIN LEAGUE SHIELD". www.indiansuperleague.com.
- ^ a b c "ISL gets official recognition from AFC, becomes second national football league". FirstPost. 28 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ^ "India clubs agree to work together on league roadmap". AFC. 14 October 2019. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ "League Committee sends its recommendations to the AIFF Executive Committee | Hero I-League". Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ "ISL Champions badge awarded to ISL Shield winners; Mumbai City FC set to wear the badge in the 2023-24 season". www.sportskeeda.com.
- ^ "MOHUN BAGAN ARE ISL CHAMPIONS: THE GLORY, THE RECORDS AND THE HEROES". www.indiansuperleague.com.
- ^ Federation Cup. the-aiff.com (archived)