List of Indian football champions
| Indian Football League (1st tier) |
|---|
| National Football League (1996–2007) I-League (2007–2017) I-League & Indian Super League (2017–present) |
| Country |
 India
|
| Founded |
| 1996 |
| Number of teams |
| 11 (2021–22 ISL) 13 (2021–22 I-League) |
| Current champions |
| Mumbai City (2020–21 ISL) Gokulam Kerala (2020–21 I-League) |
| Most successful club |
| Dempo Mohun Bagan (5 titles each) |
The Indian football champions are the winners of the highest league in Indian men's football. Currently two parallel football league system exists, namely Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League.
Though Indian football tournaments dates back to the eighteenth century, a proper league system was established in 1996 with the commencement of National Football League (NFL). Since its inception in the 1996–97 season, the champions of the NFL were considered as the national champions. However, after the 2006–07 season of the NFL, the league was rebranded as the I-League. Since 2007–08 season, the I-League champions were considered the national champions until 2016–17 season. Since 2017–18 season the ISL became the joint premier football league of the country along with I-League. The ISL regular season premiers represents India in the AFC Champions League group stage, the I-League champions represents India in the AFC Cup group stage, and the winner of the Indian Super League's play-offs gets a slot into the AFC Cup play-offs. However, the winners of the ISL play-offs are considered as the ISL champions since its inception in 2014.
There are 12 clubs who have won either the National Football League or the I-League and 4 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 and Dempo are the most successful clubs, winning championships five times each. Mohun Bagan won the NFL thrice and the I-League twice, whereas, Dempo won the NFL twice and the I-League thrice. Also, Bengaluru is the only club who has won both the I-League and the ISL at least once; they won the I-League twice and the ISL once.
History[]
The first Indian football league, the National Football League (commonly known as the 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. They are also the team with the most championships overall (3 in I-League + 2 in NFL = 5 titles overall).
In 2014, a new football league named Indian Super League has started. In its first three seasons it was running without recognition from AFC. Before 2017–18 season, ISL get 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.[1] 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.[1] Meanwhile, India's spot in the AFC Champions League, Asia's top club competition, was still kept by the I-League,[1] 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.[2]
Champions[]
National Football League (1996–2007)[]
| Season | Champions (number of titles) |
Runners-up | Third place | Leading goalscorers (Club) |
Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | JCT | Churchill Brothers | East Bengal | Bhaichung Bhutia (JCT)
|
14 |
| 1997–98 | Mohun Bagan | East Bengal | Salgaocar | Raman Vijayan (Kochin)
|
10 |
| 1998–99 | Salgaocar | East Bengal | Churchill Brothers |  Philip Mensah (Churchill Brothers)
|
11 |
| 1999–2000 | Mohun Bagan (2) | Churchill Brothers | Salgaocar |  Igor Shkvyrin (Mohun Bagan)
|
11 |
| 2000–01 | East Bengal | Mohun Bagan | Churchill Brothers |  José Ramirez Barreto (Mohun Bagan)
|
14 |
| 2001–02 | Mohun Bagan (3) | Churchill Brothers | Vasco | Yusif Yakubu (Churchill Brothers)
|
18 |
| 2002–03 | East Bengal (2) | Salgaocar | Vasco | Yusif Yakubu (Churchill Brothers)
|
21 |
| 2003–04 | East Bengal (3) | Dempo | Mahindra United | Cristiano Júnior (East Bengal)
|
15 |
| 2004–05 | Dempo | Sporting Goa | East Bengal |  Dudu Omagbemi (Sporting Goa)
|
21 |
| 2005–06 | Mahindra United | East Bengal | Mohun Bagan | Ranti Martins (Dempo)
|
13 |
| 2006–07 | Dempo (2) | JCT | Mahindra United | Odafa Onyeka Okolie (Churchill Brothers)
|
18 |
I-League (2007–2017)[]
| Season | Champions (number of titles) |
Runners-up | Third place | Leading goalscorers (Club) |
Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Dempo (3) | Churchill Brothers | JCT | Odafa Onyeka Okolie (Churchill Brothers)
|
22 |
| 2008–09 | Churchill Brothers | Mohun Bagan | Sporting Goa | Odafa Onyeka Okolie (Churchill Brothers)
|
24 |
| 2009–10 | Dempo (4) | Churchill Brothers | Pune | Odafa Onyeka Okolie (Churchill Brothers)
|
21 |
| 2010–11 | Salgaocar (2) | East Bengal | Dempo | Ranti Martins (Dempo)
|
28 |
| 2011–12 | Dempo (5) | East Bengal | Churchill Brothers | Ranti Martins (Dempo)
|
32 |
| 2012–13 | Churchill Brothers (2) | Pune | East Bengal | Ranti Martins (Prayag United)
|
26 |
| 2013–14 | Bengaluru | East Bengal | Salgaocar |  Cornell Glen (Shillong Lajong) Darryl Duffy (Salgaocar) Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru)
|
14 |
| 2014–15 | Mohun Bagan (4) | Bengaluru | Royal Wahingdoh | Ranti Martins (East Bengal)
|
17 |
| 2015–16 | Bengaluru (2) | Mohun Bagan | East Bengal | Ranti Martins (East Bengal)
|
12 |
| 2016–17 | Aizawl | Mohun Bagan | East Bengal |  Aser Pierrick Dipanda (Shillong Lajong)
|
11 |
I-League and Indian Super League (2017–present)[]
Since 2017–18 season, I-League and Indian Super League shared joint top fight status in Indian Football
I-League[]
| Season | Champions (number of titles) |
Runners-up | Third place | Leading goalscorers (Club) |
Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Minerva Punjab | NEROCA | Mohun Bagan | Aser Pierrick Dipanda (Mohun Bagan)
|
13 |
| 2018–19 | Chennai City | East Bengal | Real Kashmir |  Pedro Manzi (Chennai City) Willis Plaza (Churchill Brothers)
|
21 |
| 2019–20 | Mohun Bagan (5) | Not awarded[a] | Aser Pierrick Dipanda (Punjab)
|
12 | |
| 2020–21 | Gokulam Kerala | Churchill Brothers | TRAU | Bidyashagar Singh (TRAU)
|
12 |
Indian Super League[]
| Season | Champions (number of titles) |
Runners-up | League Winners' Shield (number of titles)[b] |
Regular season Runners-up | Leading goalscorers (Club) |
Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Chennaiyin[c] | Bengaluru | — | Coro (Goa)
|
18 | |
| 2018–19 | Bengaluru (3) | Goa | — | Coro (Goa)
|
16 | |
| 2019–20 | ATK[c] | Chennaiyin | Goa | ATK |  Roy Krishna (ATK) Nerijus Valskis (Chennaiyin) Bartholomew Ogbeche (Kerala Blasters)
|
15 |
| 2020–21 | Mumbai City | ATK Mohun Bagan | Mumbai City | ATK Mohun Bagan | Igor Angulo (Goa)
|
14 |
| 2021–22 | TBD | TBD | Jamshedpur | Hyderabad | TBD | TBD |
- ^ On 18 April 2020, All India Football Federation, the organising body of the league announced Mohun Bagan A.C. 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.[3]
- ^ Since 2019–20 ISL season, the regular season table toppers are awarded with a League Winners' Shield and granted a spot in AFC Champions League group stage.
- ^ 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.
Total titles won[]
There are 12 clubs who have won either the National Football League or the I-League. There are also 4 clubs who have won the Indian Super League since the league became the joint top division in India.
Teams in bold compete in either the I-League or Indian Super League for the 2021–22 season.
| Rank | Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning seasons | Runners-up seasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohun Bagan | 5 | 4 | 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2014–15, 2019–20, | 2000–01, 2008–09, 2015–16, 2016–17 |
| 2 | Dempo | 5 | 1 | 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12 | 2003–04 |
| 3 | East Bengal1 | 3 | 7 | 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04 | 1997–98, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2018–19 |
| 4 | Bengaluru1 | 3 | 2 | 2013–14, 2015–16, 2018–19 | 2014–15, 2017–18 |
| 5 | Churchill Brothers2 | 2 | 6 | 2008–09, 2012–13 | 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2020–21 |
| 6 | Salgaocar | 2 | 1 | 1998–99, 2010–11 | 2002–03 |
| 7 | JCT
|
1 | 1 | 1996–97 | 2006–07 |
| Chennaiyin1 | 1 | 1 | 2017–18 | 2019–20 | |
| 8 | Mahindra United
|
1 | 0 | 2005–06 | — |
| Aizawl2 | 1 | 0 | 2016–17 | — | |
| Punjab2 | 1 | 0 | 2017–18 | — | |
| Chennai City | 1 | 0 | 2018–19 | — | |
| ATK
|
1 | 0 | 2019–20 | — | |
| Mumbai City1 | 1 | 0 | 2020–21 | — | |
| Gokulam Kerala2 | 1 | 0 | 2020–21 | — | |
| Never won | Sporting Goa | 0 | 1 | — | 2004–05 |
| Pune | 0 | 1 | — | 2012–13 | |
| NEROCA2 | 0 | 1 | — | 2017–18 | |
| Goa1 | 0 | 1 | — | 2018–19 | |
| ATK Mohun Bagan1,3 | 0 | 1 | — | 2020–21 |
- ^Note 1 – Indian Super League club
- ^Note 2 – I-League club
- ^Note 3 - ATK Mohun Bagan is a merger of the football section of multi-sport club Mohun Bagan and former football club ATK
– Defunct clubs
By state[]
| State | Championships | Clubs |
|---|---|---|
| Goa | 9 | Dempo (5), Churchill Brothers (2), Salgaocar (2) |
| West Bengal | 9 | Mohun Bagan (5), East Bengal (3), ATK (1) |
| Karnataka | 3 | Bengaluru (3) |
| Punjab | 2 | JCT (1), Punjab (1) |
| Tamil Nadu | 2 | Chennaiyin (1), Chennai City (1) |
| Maharashtra | 2 | Mahindra United (1), Mumbai City (1) |
| Mizoram | 1 | Aizawl (1) |
| Kerala | 1 | Gokulam Kerala (1) |
By city/town[]
| City / Town | State | Championships | Clubs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kolkata | West Bengal | 9 | Mohun Bagan (5), East Bengal (3), ATK (1) |
| Panaji | Goa | 5 | Dempo (5) |
| Bangalore | Karnataka | 3 | Bengaluru (3) |
| Margao | Goa | 2 | Churchill Brothers (2) |
| Vasco da Gama | Goa | 2 | Salgaocar (2) |
| Mumbai | Maharashtra | 2 | Mahindra United (1), Mumbai City (1) |
| 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 | Punjab (1) |
| Kozhikode | Kerala | 1 | Gokulam Kerala (1) |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ 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. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ "League Committee sends its recommendations to the AIFF Executive Committee | Hero I-League". Retrieved 2020-04-18.
External links[]
| NFL and I-League Champions | |
|---|---|
| National Football League |
|
| I-League |
|
- I-League
- National association football champions
- National Football League (India)
- Indian Super League