The Trades Cup (also known as the Trades Challenge Cup or IFA Trades Challenge Cup) is an Indian

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 ...

tournament held in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and organised by

Indian Football Association The Indian Football Association, abbreviated as IFA, is the organisation that administers association football in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the oldest Football Association in India and was founded in 1893. Among the founders was form ...

. Incorporated in 1889, it is the second oldest football tournament 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 ...

and oldest football tournament in Kolkata. It is the traditional curtain raiser for the Kolkata football season.

History

The Trades Cup was instituted in 1889 by the trading community of Calcutta and was organised by the

Dalhousie AC Dalhousie Athletic Club is an Indian multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was established in 1880, during the British rule in India. The club tent is located in Mayo Road, Kolkata Maidan, in Esplanade. Dalhousie competed in the Pre ...

committee. It was the first open football tournament in India, where Indian, British, regimental and college clubs participated. The first Indian club to win a match against a British team was

Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikary (Bengali: নগেন্দ্র প্রসাদ সর্বাধিকারী) was an Indian football personality, known as the "Father of Indian Football" for his role in founding the first Indian footbal ...

's Sovabazar Club. They won the opening match of the 1892 Trades Cup by defeating the East Surrey Regiment with the score of 2–1. The first Indian club to win the Trades Cup was the National Association who won the trophy in the 1900 edition. The Indian club from South Calcutta under the guidance of Manmatha Ganguly defeated the British side, Shibpur Engineering College on 11 August 1900 at the Shobhabazar Ground.

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 ...

completed a hat-trick of Trades Cup titles between 1906 and 1908, which enabled them to make their

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association. The IFA is the governing body of football in the state of West Bengal, came into existence in 1893. Named after the association, the IFA Shield to ...

debut in 1909. The Trades Cup was revived after not being held for 25 years in 2004 by the IFA. The tournament gives the Kolkata clubs outside the "Big Three" playing in the Premier and lower divisions the chance to field and organise their teams ahead of the start of their league season.

History

Results

See also

References

Further reading