The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based
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 ...
competition 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
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
, organised by
Indian Football Association (WB), under
state football leagues in India. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is officially known as
SNU Calcutta Football League,
and is the
oldest football league in
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
.
Indian Football Association (IFA) conducts the CFL with more than 160 mostly Kolkata based clubs and units. Started in 1898, this league is the oldest football league in Asia and regarded as one of the oldest football competitions in the world.
CFL currently consists of a seven-tier pyramid system
and there are more than 8,500 directly registered players of IFA participating in CFL every year, making it one of the biggest leagues in the country.
History
Early years (1890s–1910s)
In 1898,
IFA
IFA or Ifa may refer to:
Organisations
Economics
* Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK
* Index Fund Advisors
* Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK
* Institute of Ac ...
introduced a two-tiered football league in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
on the lines of
English Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. Until 1937, CFL was a major tournament with participation open to every team across the nation but after the establishment of
AIFF
Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) is an audio file format standard used for storing sound data for personal computers and other electronic audio devices. The format was developed by Apple Inc. in 1988 based on Electronic Arts' Interchange File ...
, CFL became a regional competition.
The
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...
garrison
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
stationed at
Fort William played an instrumental role in shaping the Calcutta Football League by putting forth numerous teams alongside other
European settlers
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
. The Army teams won all but twelve of the titles until 1933. On eight of those twelve occasions the title was claimed by
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
and the rest by
Dalhousie. Native teams were barred from participating for the first 15 seasons, and only clubs designated for
civil servants
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
,
merchants
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...
,
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
and other
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
nationalities made up the rest of the league, in a clearly designed exercise to exclude
Indians of any religion.
In 1914, IFA permitted only two native clubs-
Mohun Bagan
Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...
and
Aryan
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
, in the Second Division of CFL. Mohun Bagan had a successful campaign and earned promotion to the Premier Division in their debut season, whereas Aryan was promoted to the top division two years later. From 1917 to 1920, the Second Division was won by two other native clubs, namely
Kumortuli
Kumortuli (also spelt Kumartuli, or the archaic spelling ''Coomartolly'') is a traditional potters' quarter in northern Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The city is renowned for its sculpting prowess. It not only manufactures clay idols for various f ...
Club (in 1917, 1918 and 1919) and Town Club (in 1920), but their promotions were denied due to the allowance of only two native clubs to play in each tier.
Uprise of native dominance (1920s–1947)
1921 saw the rise of
East Bengal
ur,
, common_name = East Bengal
, status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan
, p1 = Bengal Presidency
, flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg
, s1 = East ...
who began their CFL journey in the Second Division in place of
Tajhat Club who had withdrawn from the league. Three years later East Bengal finished the Second Division as the joint-winners with
Cameroons
British Cameroon or the British Cameroons was a British Empire, British League of Nations mandate, mandate territory in British West Africa, formed of the Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Today, the Northern Cameroons forms parts of th ...
B and since Cameroons A was in the Premier Division, East Bengal got the opportunity for promotion. As two native clubs were already playing in the Premier Division, East Bengal's promotion was to be rejected as well. At this, the club called for
amendments An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...
and in the following General Meeting of IFA, the nine British teams conveyed their approval, while Mohun Bagan and Aryan opposed it. Eventually the rule regulating the promotion of native clubs was abolished on the consent of the majority.
![1940 league winning mohammedan sporting team](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/1940_league_winning_mohammedan_sporting_team.jpg)
Even though the native clubs got more opportunities yet the British dominance continued till 1933. In 1934,
Mohammedan won the title in their debut season and became the first native club to win CFL.
The club went on to win the league six out of seven times from 1935 to 1941, with 1939 being the only exception when they didn't participate and Mohun Bagan went away with their first league title that year.
Post-independence era (1947–1970s)
In the post-independence years, many other state leagues were introduced and various clubs from other states rose in glory, but CFL was still considered to be one of the top leagues in the nation and provided innumerable young talents. The league matches were mostly played in
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
and matches involving the Big Three of Calcutta (Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan) regularly attracted more than 30,000 spectators.
From 1934 to 1981,
Eastern Railway was the only club outside of the Big Three to win the title in 1958.
The CFL had a long history of crowd trouble, and the burgeoning fanfare exacerbated it. The rapidly increasing off-the-field rivalry between the respective fans of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal saw one of the darkest days of
Indian football when 16 fans lost their lives because of a stampede and rioting during a
Kolkata Derby
The Kolkata Derby (locally known as "Boro Match"; bn, বড় ম্যাচ) is the football match in Kolkata, between East Bengal and ATK Mohun Bagan (Mohun Bagan till 2019–20). In January 2020, the owners of a Kolkata based Indian Su ...
in CFL on 16 August 1980 in
Eden Gardens
The Eden Gardens is a cricket ground in Kolkata, India. Established in 1864, it is the oldest and second-largest cricket stadium in India and third-largest in the world. The stadium currently has a capacity of 66,000.
Eden Gardens is often re ...
. Since then the day is celebrated every year as the
Football Lover's Day.
Years of obscurity (1980s–2000s)
In the 80s and 90s, the league caught many eyes with the rivalry between the two of Indian football's finest tacticians—
P.K. Banerjee and
Amal Dutta
Amal Dutta (4 May 1930 – 10 July 2016) was a former Indian footballer, coach and football manager. Born in Calcutta, then Bengal Presidency, he is considered as the first professional football coach in the country. A finest thinker of the sp ...
, besides the decades old rivalry among the Big Three.
Due to the rise in financial demands and steady modernisation of the sport, the league became dominated by the Big Three clubs as the smaller clubs struggled to keep up with their economy. The league saw the beginning of a major downfall with the introduction of
NFL (now
I-League
The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...
). The importance of regional competitions decreased as all the top clubs in the state were racing for the national honours. From the later 20th century, Mohammedan eventually lost its stronghold and, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal became the only dominant teams in the league. In the new century, the IFA revamped the competition into a six-tier competition with the seventh tier, called the nursery league, reserved for sub-junior teams. The top tier, Premier Division, was also divided into two groups so as to include more teams.
Resurgence (2010s–present)
Starting in 2010, East Bengal won a record eight consecutive titles until their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan break the streak in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
. In 2018 the league's popularity had a sudden upsurge and recorded more than 15,000 spectators even in matches involving small clubs. Most news reports in the local media reverberated the popular feeling— "''The passion of the 70s is back.''" Small clubs like
Peerless
Peerless may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* Peerless Motor Company, an American automobile manufacturer.
* Peerless Brewing Company, in Birkenhead, UK
* Peerless Group, an insurance and financial services company in India
* Peerless R ...
and
George Telegraph introduced some of the foreign talents that later went on to become big names in the country.
In
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, Peerless clinched the honour and became the second team outside the Big Three after Eastern Railway to win the league since 1934.
Since the independence of India, the CFL was never cancelled until 2020 when after a lengthy delay 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 ...
it was decided to cancel the then CFL season.
Structure
With the season starting from 2015, the clubs/units were redistributed among the first six divisions and the last division was reserved only for youth teams.
Usually 12-14 teams participate in the Premier Division A and compete in a
single-leg round'robin tournament. The top two teams are promoted to the
I-League 2nd Division
I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...
, and the bottom two teams are relegated to Premier Division B. In the Premier Division B, usually 10 teams are involved and the tournament is divided into two phases. In the first phase, all the teams play in a
single-leg round-robin tournament. In the second phase, the teams are split into two groups (A and B) of top teams and bottom teams respectively. The teams in Group A compete for promotion to the Premier Division A, while those in Group B compete to avoid relegation to the First Division.
Apart from the Premier Division A, most other divisions are competed by about 20 teams, and the format of the tournaments in the lower divisions isn't always the same. The top teams in respective divisions are promoted to the division higher to it and the bottom teams get relegated to the lower one.
The most successful clubs participating in the top-tier of the league includes
East Bengal
ur,
, common_name = East Bengal
, status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan
, p1 = Bengal Presidency
, flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg
, s1 = East ...
,
Mohun Bagan
Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...
and
Mohammedan. However, since 1982, the league has been won by either East Bengal or Mohun Bagan until 2019 when
Peerless
Peerless may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* Peerless Motor Company, an American automobile manufacturer.
* Peerless Brewing Company, in Birkenhead, UK
* Peerless Group, an insurance and financial services company in India
* Peerless R ...
made history by winning their maiden league title and becoming the first team outside the Kolkata's Big Three to win the league after a gap of 61 years since
Eastern Railway had won.
Sponsorship
Media coverage
Champions of the top-most division
By year
Pre-independence era (1898–1947)
Post-independence era (1947–present)
By team
The list only contains the names of the teams that have won the top-most division of the Calcutta Football League more than once.
See also
*
Football in Kolkata
Football is one of the most popular sports in Kolkata, West Bengal. East Bengal, ATK Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan are the heart of Kolkata football. The rivalry between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal is one of the fiercest in the world and is conside ...
References
External links
Indian Football Association(Official website)
*
{{Kolkata topics
1898 establishments in India
Recurring sporting events established in 1898
4
Football in West Bengal