The National Football Championship (), previously known as the Sher-e-Bangla National Football Championship or the Sher-e-Bangla Cup or the Bangabandhu National Football Championship, is a district-level national football tournament in Bangladesh, contested by districts and government institutions of the country. The tournament is run under the supervision of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF).
History Following the independence of Bangladesh, the tournament was reintroduced in 1973 as an inter-district national football competition contested by the district teams and government institutions under the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). On 10 January 2020, the BFF decided to revive the National Championship after a gap of 13 years, celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Upon its resumption, it was renamed the Bangabandhu National Football Championship.
Format Along with 64 districts football teams, three service teams, six public universities, five education boards, and Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan participate in the tournament. The participant districts have been divided into eight zones named Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, Shitalakshya, Brahmaputra, Surma, Chitra and Buriganga. Each zone consists of eight teams, except Surma, which contains seven teams. Knockout matches in every zone are played on a home and away basis. In the first round, a pair of teams from every zone play each other to decide four winners. In the second round, the four winners play the zonal semifinal. In the third round, the semi-final winners face each other in the zonal final. The champion from each zone qualify for the final round.
Teams representing education boards, universities, and the services teams—a total of 15 teams—are divided in four groups in Sheba zone. The teams of this zone play on a round-robin basis. Top two join eight zonal winners in the final round.
Results SeasonWinnerRunner-upTop scorerGoals1973 Dhaka District Kushtia District 1974 Dhaka District Barisal District 1975 Dhaka District Chittagong District 1976 Jessore District Rajshahi District 1977 Kushtia District Chittagong District 1978 Barisal District Rangpur District 1979 Barisal District Dhaka District 1980 Bangladesh Army and Dhaka University (joint winners) 1981 Bangladesh Army and Dhaka University (joint winners) 1982 Khulna District Bangladesh Army 1983 Sylhet District Dhaka District 1984 Feni District Dhaka District 1985 Comilla District Dhaka University 1986 Dhaka District Comilla District 1987–1988 Not Held1989 Bangladesh Army Dhaka University 1990 Dhaka University Bangladesh Army 1991 Not Held1992 Dhaka University Khulna District 1993 Khulna District Feni District 1994 Bhola District Dhaka University 1995 Not Held1996 Dhaka University Narayanganj District 1997–1999 Not Held2000 Noakhali District Bangladesh Army 2001–2003 Not Held2004 Narayanganj District Bangladesh Army Nasiruddin Chowdhury 52005 Not Held2006 Narayanganj District Dhaka District 2007–2019 Not Held2020 Bangladesh Army Bangladesh Navy Bangladesh Army Chittagong District Emtiyaz Raihan 6
References
External links Sher-e-Bangla Cup at RSSSF