The 2021–22 MFA Elite Division was the 109th season of the

MFA Elite Division The Mumbai Football League, also known as the Harwood League, is organised by Mumbai Football Association (MFA) as a ladder-based competition involving a total of five divisions and over 300 teams. It is the top football league in Mumbai and t ...

, the top-tier

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, a city in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. The 2020–21 season was called off due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The league format was restructured in 2018-19 season and two groups were formed. In 2021, the groups were renamed the MFA Elite Premier League and MFA Elite Corporate League.

Aaditya Thackeray Aaditya Uddhav Thackeray (born 13 June 1990) is an Indian Politician who served as a Cabinet Minister of Higher Education, Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Environment for the Government of Maharashtra. He is also an MLA of Maharashtra Legislat ...

was re-elected president of the

Mumbai Football Association Mumbai Football Association (MFA), formerly known as Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA), is an organisation that governs the football in and around the Indian city of Mumbai. It is a member of the Western India Football Association, w ...

Mumbai City FC Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014, during the inaugural season of ...

is considered Mumbai's premier club, having participated in the

2021–22 Indian Super League season The 2021–22 Indian Super League season is the 8th season of the Indian Super League (ISL) Since its formation and 26th season of the top division of the Indian football league system. The start date and fixtures for the first 11 rounds were a ...

and the

2022 AFC Champions League The 2022 AFC Champions League is the 41st edition of Asia's premier club association football, football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 20th under the current AFC Champions League title. This season is offi ...

, while

Kenkre FC Mumbai Kenkre FC (also known as Kenkre Football Club) is an Indian professional association football, football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 2000, the club currently competes in MFA Elite Division of Mumbai Football League, and ...

was Mumbai's representative at the

2021–22 I-League The 2021–22 I-League (also known as Hero I-League for sponsorship reasons) is the 15th season of I-League, last as the top tier of Indian football league system, since its establishment in 2007. All the matches are hosted in a bio-secure bubb ...

. However, Mumbai City hasn't competed in the MFA Elite League since 2019 when their U-18 team was suspended for assaulting the assistant referee. Karnataka Sports Association were the champions of the 2019–20 MFA Elite Division.

Format

The

consists of two parallel leagues, the MFA Elite Premier League and the MFA Elite Corporate League. This season, the Elite Premier League has 18 teams while the Elite Corporate League has 14. Only the teams from the MFA Elite Premier League are considered for promotion to the I-League 2nd Division. In the League stage, teams from their respective leagues play each other once. The teams finishing at the top of their respective league are crowned winners. The winners and the next two teams from each league qualify for the Harwood Champions League where they will play each other once in a joint league. The leaders will be declared the champions. This tournament is expected to run from the 27th June to 11th July at the

Cooperage Ground The Cooperage Football Ground is a football stadium located in Nariman Point, Mumbai, India. It is currently home to multiple Mumbai Football League clubs. The Western India Football Association has operated from the Cooperage Ground since 1969 ...

, Mumbai.

Stadiums

Matches were played at the

in Nariman Point, Neville D’Souza Football Turf in

Bandra Bandra (Indian English, æːɳɖɾa also known as Vandre (Help:IPA/Marathi, �aːn̪d̪ɾe is an upscale coastal suburb located in Mumbai (Bombay) area of the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India. The suburb is located to the immediate nor ...

, and

Mumbai Football Arena Mumbai Football Arena is a football stadium in Mumbai, India. It is located in the Andheri Sports Complex. It is one of the only few dedicated football stadiums in the country, which has been hugely appreciated by football pundits and has hoste ...

Andheri Andheri ( �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a locality in the western part of the city of Mumbai in India. Udayanagari, the name of a hill near the Mahakali caves, inspired the name Andheri. On the former islet of Versova, also known as Vasave, there was ano ...

Format

Stadiums

Teams

League table

Elite Premier League

Elite Corporate League

Harwood Champions League

See also

References