The Senior Men's National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, or simply the 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. 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. Many players who have represented India internationally, played in the Santosh Trophy. The tournament is held every year with eligible teams divided into zones, play in the qualifying round and can progress into the tournament proper.
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.Maharaja of Santosh dead , Indian Express, 1 April 1939, p. 15 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. 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. 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.
Background
The Santosh Trophy was started after the former presidents of the Indian Football Association, Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury of Santosh, and Satish Chandra Chowdhury, donated the trophy to the All India Football Federation. 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. 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.
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. 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. As a result, national team players were not allowed to participate in the tournament, which was also eventually reverted. 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. 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.
Current teams The following teams participate in the tournament as states, union territories and institutions.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands Andhra Pradesh (Andhra) 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 (Mysore) Kerala (Travancore-Cochin) Ladakh Lakshadweep Madhya Pradesh (Central Provinces) Maharashtra (Bombay) Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Odisha (Orissa) Pondicherry Punjab Rajasthan (Rajputana) Railways Services Sikkim Tamil Nadu (Madras) Telangana Tripura Uttar Pradesh (United Provinces) Uttarakhand West Bengal (Bengal)
Defunct teams North-West India (1941/42–1945/46) Dacca (1944/45–1945/46) Hyderabad (1944/45–1958/59) Daman and Diu (until 2022/23) Dadra and Nagar Haveli (until 2022/23)
Results The following is the list of winners and runners-up from every edition of the Santosh Trophy Season Host cityWinner Score 1941–42 Calcutta 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 Calcutta Bengal 0–0, 1–0 Bombay 1949–50 Calcutta Bengal 5–0 Hyderabad 1950–51 Calcutta Bengal 1–0 Hyderabad 1951–52 Bombay Bengal 1–0 Bombay 1952–53 Bangalore Mysore 1–0 Bengal 1953–54 Calcutta 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 Maharashtra 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 Calcutta 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 Calcutta 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 Bengal 1986–87 Calcutta Bengal 2–0 Railways 1987–88 Kollam Punjab 0–0 Kerala 1988–89 Guwahati Bengal 1–1 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 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 Maharashtra 2006–07 Gurgaon Punjab 0–0 West Bengal 2007–08 Srinagar Punjab 1–0 Services 2008–09 Chennai Goa 0–0 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 Kerala 2013–14 Siliguri Mizoram 3–0 Railways 2014–15 Ludhiana Services 0–0 Punjab 2015–16 Nagpur Services 2–1 Maharashtra 2016–17 Goa West Bengal 1–0 Goa 2017–18 Kolkata Kerala 2–2 West Bengal 2018–19 Ludhiana Services 1–0 Punjab 2021–22 Manjeri Kerala 1–1 West Bengal 2022–23 Riyadh Karnataka 3–2 Meghalaya 2023–24 Yupia Services 1–0 Goa 2024–25 Hyderabad West Bengal 1–0 Kerala 2025–26 Dhakuakhana Services 1–0 Kerala
Performance by teams Team Wins West Bengal / Bengal 33 14 Punjab 8 8 2007–08 Services 8 5 2025–26 Kerala 7 10 2021–22 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
Asian Champion Club Tournament YearTeamProgressScoreOpponentsVenue(s)1967RailwaysSemi-finalsW/O Hapoel Tel AvivWithdrew1969MysoreFourth Place0–2 Toyo Kogyoat Bangkok, Thailand1970Bengal3rd in Group StageN/A Hapoel Tel Aviv, PSMS Medan, Royal Thai Police1971Punjab4th in Group StageN/A Bangkok Bank, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Aliyat Al-Shorta
See also Sport in India History of Indian football Indian football league system Institutional League
References
Further reading
Santosh Trophy 2023-23 Schedule