Dhaka Senior Division Football League

Dhaka Senior Division Football League, also referred as First Division Football League, is the third tier of football league in Bangladesh. Until 2006, it was the top-tier league of the country. It was established in 1948 as Dhaka League, while Bangladesh was still under Pakistani control. Upon the creation of the new national top-tier professional league B. League in 2007, Dhaka League was merged with Dhaka First Division League, renamed as Dhaka Senior Division Football League and introduced as second tier league. Finally after the creation of Bangladesh Championship League in 2012, it became the third tier. The winner of the league will promoted to Bangladesh Championship League.

History

(1948–1972)

First in 1948, a year after the independence of Pakistan and India the Dhaka League became the centre of attraction for the people of Dhaka, which was then in East Pakistan in the 1960s. The first league title was won by Victoria SC, who were considered by many to be the strongest club in South-Asia. Sports clubs like Dhaka Wanderers (The President of Dhaka wanderers was MD. Abdul Gaffar coming from a Nawab Family.) and Mohammedan Sporting Club were the more successful ones and grew the base for league football among Bengalis. Dhaka's football grew popular and footballers from here were selected for the Pakistan national football team.

During the Pakistani days, a number of office clubs also participated in the Football League. Some of those were, PWD, Police, Dhaka Central Jail, East Pakistan Gymkhana, East Pakistan Government Press (EPG), East Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (EPIDC), East Pakistan Railways to name some. After Bangladesh's liberation war, in 1971, EPIDC one of the most successful office teams was changed into Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and EPG Press into BG Press. Following 23 uninterrupted seasons, the Dhaka League was not held in 1971, due to the war, and was not completed the following year. However, during the unfinished 1972 season, Dhaka Wanderers striker "Boro" Nazir Ahmed, scored a hattrick against Dilkusha SC and thus became the first player to achieve this feat since the country's independence.

During the first 16 rounds of the league all the clubs played each other, however, from the 17th round the top-8 teams played a single round robin known as the Super League, while the bottom-4 teams played a single round robin to fight against relegation. The rest of the midtable sides played a Single Round League with no specific incentive. The league normally consisted of 16 teams but the number of teams varied each year.

Dhaka League (1973–1991)

After independence, the league resumed in 1973, as Team BJMC , previously known as EPIDC, were crowned champions. In 1972, newly promoted Iqbal Sporting was reformed as Abahani Limited Dhaka, by Sheikh Jamal. The club soon made a name for themselves by signing Mohammedan SC star Kazi Salahuddin and winning the 1974 league title, thus starting the fierce rivalry between the two clubs. The following few years saw both the Dhaka Giants dominate the domestic scene, however, during the last year of the decade, Team BJMC caused an upset by claiming the league title. The 1980s was the golden era of club football in Dhaka. Any match involving Mohammedan or Abahanii would draw huge crowds at the Dhaka stadium. Other than the two giants, Team BJMC, Brothers Union, Rahmatganj MFS and Muktijoddha Sangsad KC frequently formed strong teams while, Wari Club and Azad Sporting were seen as the ‘Giant Killers’.

In 1980, Mohammedan SC won the league with only suffering a single defeat the entire season. However, it was their rivals Abahani who dominated the Dhaka league for the first half of the decade, winning the league title in 1981, 1983, 1984 & 1985. During the 1982 season, Mohammedan striker Abdus Salam Murshedy also created history by scoring a record 27 league goals, surpassing the 24 goals Kazi Salahuddin scored for Abahani in 1973. The 1985 season was a significant year in Dhaka football, as a bold move from the Dhaka football authority saw the introduction of the 3 point system in the league, at that time, only the English League used this system. The change later helped Abahani clinch the title from Brothers Union, during the Super League round. Abahani thus became the first club from Bangladesh to participate in the Asian Club Championship, the following year.

The 1987 season saw the level of football In the Dhaka league reach its peak. Mohammedan signed Iranian international Reza Naalchegar while Abahani signed Iranian duo Samir Shaker and Karim Allawi. Alongside the foreign recruits Mohammedan midfielder Sayed Rumman Sabbir was the best local talent that season, while Monem Munna and Sheikh Mohammad Aslam, were already being seen as two of the best players in the subcontinent. In the end Mohammedan's veteran midfielder Khurshid Alam Babul scored the all important goal during the last game of the season against Abahani, earning his team a crucial 3-2 victory to win the league. With the teams finishing on equal points play off matches were required, and after a 0–0 draw in the first play off match Mohammedan secured the title with a 2–0 win in the 2nd play-off match, where no spectator were allowed into the Army Stadium, due to a fight that previously broke out between the rival fans, during the first play off round. Mohammedan soon completed a of hat-trick league titles during 1988-89 season, when the league was held at the Mirpur Stadium for the first time.

Premier Division League (1992–2006)

The start of the 1990s saw the league being held inconsistently by the Bangladesh Football Federation, as after 1990 the authorities decided to take a year-long break. In 1992, the winner was again decided by the season ending game between Abahani and Mohammedan, as Mamun Joarder scored a brace to help Abahani retain the league title, after the season ended BFF decided to rename the competition as the Premier Division League. The newly restructured league got rid of the Super league system and replaced it with a single league system, where the clubs played 16 rounds in order to decide the champions.

In the mid-nineties, Abahani, Mohammedan and Brothers Union agreed to create a pool system in order to lower player salaries, this new agreement had created a huge impact on both national team and club performances as the players continued to dispute with the authorities of their respective clubs. In 1994, the director of Muktijoddha SKC, Manzur Quader took advantage of this situation by signing 11 national team mainstays. Even after Muktijodda's new acquisition both Abahani and Mohammedan continued to dominate the following three years until the 1997–98 season. During the last game of the league Muktijoddha played Mohammedan who needed a point to win the league, however, Mukti's skipper Imtiaz Ahmed Nakib scored a brace and thereby won the team their first ever league title.

In 2000, a National Football Championship started, including the first 3 teams from the Dhaka Premier league, along with the district league champions of Chittagong, Rajshahi, and the winners of a playoff between the champions of Sylhet and Barisal. The cahmpionship was intoroduced in order to widen the domestic football scene and help club's outside of the capital to engage in producing more quality players, as domestic football was witnessing a decline of spectators.

The start of the new decade saw Muktijoddha win their second league title, and although the following couple of years saw the old Dhaka duo maintain their dominance, Brothers Union proceeded to win two consecutive league titles, thanks to the partnership between Alfaz Ahmed and Arman Mia. Nevertheless, the popularity of the league kept on declining due to the country's poor performances in the international circuit and the Dhaka based league also failed to produce local talents like before. In 2006, the BFF again canceled the league season, as most of the top-tier clubs decided focus on the National Football Championship, meaning the country did not have a functioning top-tier league for a span of two years.

Senior Division League (2007–present)

In 2007, the B.League was announced as the country's new top-tier by the Bangladesh Football Federation. The Premier Division League (Dhaka League) was merged with Dhaka First Division League (second-tier 1948–2004), and reintroduced as the country's second tier, Dhaka Senior Division Football League. In 2012, after the creation of Bangladesh Championship League, it became the third tier. The winner of the league will promoted to Bangladesh Championship League, while the team that finished bottom will be relegated to the Dhaka Second Division Football League.

Sponsorship

Previous winners

1948–1970

1971–1992

Premier Division League

Senior Division League

*2007–08: Fakirerpool Young Men's Club
*2008–09: Not held
*2010: Fakirerpool Young Men's Club
*2011: Not held
*2012–13: Badda Jagarani Sangsad
*2013–14: Not held
* 2014–2015: Fakirerpool Young Men's Club
*2017: Swadhinata KS
* 2018-19: Kawran Bazar Pragati Sangha
*2019–20: Not held
*2020–21: Not held
* 2021–22: Somaj Kallyan KS Mugda

Champions

Championships by division

The list contains the total number of Dhaka League titles that clubs in Dhaka have attained by division.

Champions by team

The list includes the total number of Dhaka League titles that clubs in Dhaka have attained.

Top Scorers

Records

All-time top scorers

All-time top scorers from when the league was the country's top division from 1948 to 2007.

See also

*Football in Bangladesh
*Aga Khan Gold Cup

References

External links

Dhaka Football League: Days of Glory
at daily-sun.com
History of Dhaka Football
at barta24.com
Dhaka Football League Quiz
at somewhereinblog
Newspaper articles
at kironsportsdesk.com

{{AFC third leagues

3
Sports leagues established in 1948
Professional sports leagues in Bangladesh
1948 establishments in East Pakistan
Sport in Dhaka
Third level football leagues in Asia