The Delhi Football League is organised by
Football Delhi
Football Delhi (formerly Delhi Soccer Association) is one of the 37 Indian state football associations that are affiliated to the All India Football Federation. It is the state-level governing body of football-related sports in Delhi, India. Th ...
(FD) as a ladder-based
state 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 involving a total of
four divisions and over 80 teams in the Indian state of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
. Delhi Premier League is the top-division, started in 1948 as DSA Senior Division.
History
The first parent body of Delhi football was formed in 1926, with professor Mohammed Zubair Qureishi as secretary. There was no proper local league but the clubs used to participate in private tournaments organised by sport enthusiasts.
Due to the violence and upheaval caused by the
Partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
, the Delhi League was suspended after 1946. It resumed in 1948 and the oldest club in the capital Young Men has won it that year. From 1948 onwards, the Delhi League took a particular shape. It had three divisions. The top 10 teams played in the A division, on a double-leg basis, with all matches being held at the Ambedkar Stadium, earlier known as the Delhi Gate Stadium. The B and C division matches took place at either the nearby Crescent Ground or the President's Estate Ground. Except for transport allowance, kit and refreshment, there was no payment to the players. However, club officials would strive to get their top players jobs in leading public sector concerns like Delhi Audit, Northern Railway,
State Bank of India
State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational public sector bank and financial services statutory body headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. SBI is the 49th largest bank in the world by total assets and ranked 221st in the ''Fortune ...
,
Central Secretariat Service, Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking (DESU),
Food Corporation of India
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingest ...
(FCI) and so on. A competitive institutional league was also held annually.
Competition structure
Delhi Premier League
Delhi Premier League, previously known as ''Football Delhi Senior Division League'' (''FD Senior Division'') and ''DSA Senior Division'', is the top state-level football league in Delhi and level 4 of
Indian football league system. It is also the highest level inter-city league played in the capital. Competition is conducted by Football Delhi, official governing body of Delhi region under
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 ...
. Most players from this league are selected to represent
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
for
Santosh Trophy
The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...
.
Teams
FD Senior Division League
Football Delhi Senior Division League is the second tier of Delhi Football League system.
B-Division League
Football Delhi B-Division is the third tier of Delhi Football League system.
Teams
C-Division League
Football Delhi C-Division is the fourth tier of Delhi Football League system.
Teams
Venues
The most of league matches are played at
Ambedkar Stadium
Dr. Ambedkar Stadium is a football stadium in New Delhi, India. The stadium is named in honour of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, famous social reformer and architect of the Indian Constitution. It was earlier known as
the Corporation Stadium. It also hel ...
or
Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
, both of which are located in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
.
Top division results by year
The Delhi League was started in 1948, but has not been finished on some occasions. From 1985, a new format, Super League (two groups followed by knock-out semifinals and final), was adopted.
See also
*
Football Delhi
Football Delhi (formerly Delhi Soccer Association) is one of the 37 Indian state football associations that are affiliated to the All India Football Federation. It is the state-level governing body of football-related sports in Delhi, India. Th ...
References
External links
* (Football Delhi official)
{{Sports leagues of India
4
Football in Delhi