The history of football in India has been going ever since the mid 1800s. It was the national sport of India at one point. India is home to some of the oldest football clubs in the world, and the world's third oldest competition, the Durand Cup. Football in India was highly celebrated at its peak. The Indian football outfit was called the "Brazilians of Asia".
1800s
Football was introduced to India by British soldiers in the mid-nineteenth century. It spread because of the efforts of Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari. In 1888 the Durand Cup was founded by then India's Foreign Secretary, Mortimer Durand at Shimla, India. The Durand Cup is the third oldest football competition behind the FA Cup and the Scottish Cup. It was initiated, as a recreation for British troops stationed in India. Royal Scots Fusiliers won the first edition of the cup by beating Highland Light Infantry 2–1 in the final. In 1893, the IFA Shield was founded as the fourth oldest trophy in the world. Calcutta, then capital of British India, soon became the hub of Indian football. Sarada FC was the oldest Indian football club.
Calcutta FC was the first club to be established in 1872. Other early clubs include Dalhousie Club, Traders Club and Naval Volunteers Club.
In 1889 India's oldest current team Mohun Bagan A.C. was founded as "Mohun Bagan Sporting Club". This was the first club to be under the rule of the army. Both Hindus and Muslims players played in it. Several football clubs like Calcutta FC, Sovabazar and Aryan Club were established in Calcutta during the 1890s. Mohammedan Sporting Club was established in 1891. Tournaments like the Gladstone Cup, Trades Cup and Cooch Behar Cup also started around this time. R B Ferguson Football Club was established on February 20, 1899 in Thrissur, Kerala and it was the oldest football club in the southern part of India. The club was named after the Kochi Police Superintendent, R B Ferguson. The club was famed by the nickname Young Men's Football Club and played a huge role in promoting football in Kerala during the early 1900s.
The first Indian Federation, the Indian Football Association, was founded in 1893 but did not have a single Indian on its board.
1900–1950
Several clubs were founded, more Cup competitions were introduced and Indian players became more common. The major event that showed a rise in Indian Football was in 1911 when Mohun Bagan AC defeated East Yorkshire Regiment 2–1 in the final of the IFA Shield. This was the first time an Indian team won a major national tournament. The Durand Cup, first held in Shimla in 1888, was the first Indian football competition and is incidentally the third oldest surviving competition the World over. It was started by Sir Mortimer Durand.
In the 1940s "Aurora Football Club" the second newest club in southern India was formed in Kerala. It was formed by the football loving fans of Ollur (Thrissur) which started its football journey from Thrissur.
The first known official international tour by Indian team which consisted of both Indian and British players were in 1924, where the team was led by legendary Indian footballer Gostha Paul. Football teams consisting of entirely Indian players started to tour Australia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand during the late 1930s. The first international match India played before independence is yet to be verified, but the trace of first international match that India played overseas was against Ceylon in 1933. It was India's second International tour, where Gostha Paul led the Indian side to a victory over the host country with 1–0 score. On 4 July 1936 India played against visiting Chinese team, which was held at Calcutta. The match was a draw 1–1. After the success of several Indian football clubs abroad, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) was formed in 1937.
In 1938, India made an official tour to Australia where they played matches against many clubs and the Australian national side. From 3 September 1938 at Sydney, India played 5 friendly matches. At the Sydney match they saw a defeat of 5–3. Second match was at Brisbane, where the Indians fought back for a draw of 4–4. In the third match at Newcastle on 17 September, India registered their first win by a margin of 4–1. However, the Australians defeated India in the next two matches held at Sydney and Melbourne with a score of 5–4 and 3–1 respectively.
In 1941, the leading regional tournament Santosh Trophy started by the Indian Football Association. 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. The IFA later donated the Santosh Trophy to the AIFF.
On their way to 1948 London Olympics, Chinese team again visited India, where they played Mohammedan fc, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan then finally on 17 July 1948, a friendly match held at Kolkata, where they were defeated by the Indian national side by 0-1 score. The 1948 London Olympics was India's first major international tournament, where a predominately barefooted Indian team lost 2–1 to France, failing to convert two penalties. The Indian team was greeted and appreciated by the crowd for their sporting manner."The French had been given a run for their money – and that, too, by the barefooted Indians!", the British media expressed. At a press conference, shortly after, the Indians were asked why they played barefooted. The ever witty then Indian captain Talimeren Ao said, “Well, you see, we play football in India, whereas you play BOOTBALL!” which was applauded by the British. The next day, that comment was splashed in the newspapers of London. Sarangapani Raman scored the only goal for India in that match and thus the first Indian international goal ever in the Olympics.
The 1950 World Cup India qualified by default for the 1950 FIFA World Cup finals as a result of the withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents. But the governing body AIFF decided against going to the World Cup, being unable to understand the importance of the event at that time. Reason shown by AIFF was that there was the cost of travel, although FIFA agreed to bear a major part of the travel expenses, lack of practice time, team selection issues and valuing Olympics over FIFA World cup.
Although FIFA imposed a rule banning barefoot play following 1948 Olympics where India had played barefoot, the suggestion that the Indian team refused to play because they were not allowed to play barefoot is not entirely true; according to the then-Indian captain Sailen Manna, it was invented to cover up. The team had not made it past the first round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers until 2018, when they defeated Nepal 2–0 over the course of two home-and-away games.
1951–1962: The golden era of Indian football The Indian team started the 1950s with victory in the 1951 Asian Games which they hosted. India beat both Indonesia and Afghanistan 3–0 to reach the final where they beat Iran 1–0. In 1952, India continued their form by winning the Colombo Quadrangular Cup held in Sri Lanka. This is called as the Golden time of Indian football. As four years earlier, many of the team played without boots but after the result in the Olympics AIFF immediately made it mandatory to wear boots.
India also won three further editions of the Quadrangular Cup, which were held in Burma, Calcutta and Dhaka in 1953, 1954 and 1955 respectively. India then went on to finish eighth in the 1954 Asian Games held in Manila.
At the 1956 Olympics they finished fourth, this is the second time India made history in the world of football. India first met hosts Australia, winning 4–2 with Neville D'Souza becoming the first Asian to score a hat trick in the Olympics and also making India the first Asian team to reach the Olympic semi-finals. They lost 4–1 to Yugoslavia, and lost the third place play-off match 3–0 to Bulgaria.
India participated in the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan where they finished fourth, and the Merdeka Cup 1959 in Malaysia finishing second. The side started off 1960 with Asian Cup qualifiers in which they failed to qualify. India went on to win the 1962 Asian Games where they beat South Korea 2–1 in the final, and two years later finished second in the 1964 AFC Asian Cup which was held in round-robin format. India played in the Merdeka Cup in 1964, 1965 and 1966 where they finished 2nd, 3rd and 3rd.
1963–1984: Post-golden era Rahim's death in the early '60s pegged Indian football back after a successful period. India played in the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok but were eliminated in first round. India then took third place in the 1970 Asian Games, beating Japan 1–0 in the third place, play-off. In mid-'70s, Indian youth team jointly won the Youth Asian Cup with Iran. Indian football would go through a barren phase in '70s, '80s, and '90s, gradually losing its foothold as a top Asian team.
In 1984 India qualified for the 1984 Asian Cup. The team were placed in Group B but ended in last place after losing all but 1 match (which was a draw). India also failed to score during the Asian Cup as well which brought up questions about team selection.
Mohun Bagan AC created history again when they went on to win the IFA Shield in 1978 after a 2–2 draw against FC Ararat Yerevan from Soviet Union. The club became the first Indian side, post-independence, to win the title while competing with a non-Asian side.
East Bengal F.C. club went on to win the 1973 IFA Shield against Pyongyang City Sports Club of North Korea.
1985–2000 India won gold medals in the SAF Games of both 1984 (in Dhaka) and 1987 (Calcutta). They won the inaugural SAARC Cup in 1993 in Lahore, and finished runner-up in Colombo two years later. By 1997 the competition had been renamed as the SAFF Cup, and India won it in both 1997 and 1999 edition, when they hosted it in Goa.
India also got a major boost when the All India Football Federation created the National Football League in 1996. This was India's first ever national domestic league.
2000–2010: The rebirth of Indian football East Bengal F.C. club of Kolkata won the ASEAN Club Championship in 2003.
Although India failed to qualify for the 2004 Asian Cup, the senior team gained the silver medal in the inaugural Afro Asian Games, with victories over Rwanda and Zimbabwe (then 85 places ahead of India in the world rankings), losing the final 1–0 to Uzbekistan. As a result, Indian football has steadily earned greater recognition and respect, both within the country and abroad. In November 2003 then-India coach Stephen Constantine was named AFC Manager of the Month.
India lost to Pakistan and Bangladesh in the 2003 SAFF Cup, and defeats in the 2006 World Cup Qualification meant Stephen Constantine was sacked. The LG Cup win in Vietnam under Stephen Constantine was one of the few bright spots in the early part of the 2000s. It was India's first victory in a football tournament outside the subcontinent since 1974. India defeated hosts Vietnam 3–2 in the final despite trailing 2–0 after 30 minutes.
In 2005 Syed Nayeemuddin was appointed as India coach but he was immediately sacked the following year after heavy defeats in 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Much traveled and experienced coach Bob Houghton was later appointed coach of the team in 2006. Under Houghton, India saw a huge revival in World Football. In August 2007, the Indian national team won the Nehru Cup for the first time in its history beating Syria 1–0. In August the following year, India defeated Tajikistan 4–1 to lift the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup and, in turn, qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. In 2009 August, India again won the Nehru Cup beating Syria again but this time in penalties (6–5).