The Goa Professional League (abbreviated as GPL, also known as the Selvel Goa Pro League for sponsorship reasons) is the premier state-level

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

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to 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 ...

. It is organised by the

Goa Football Association Goa Football Association ( GFA; pt, Associação de Futebol de Goa) is the state governing body of football in Goa within the jurisdiction of the Republic of India. It is affiliated with the All India Football Federation, the national governin ...

History

The official league in Goa, called the ''First division'', began in 1951 and was organised by the Conselho de Desportos. The first Llague champion of Goa was Clube Desportivo de Chinchinim who beat Football Club of Siolim, to clinch the title. League continued under the aegis of the Conselho de Desportos until the season of 1958–59, with Clube de Desportos de Vasco da Gama taking the title that year. In 1959, the Goa Football Association was established as the official administrative body of football and from that season onwards the league was conducted by GFA. The 1959–60 League was conducted by the GFA and Clube Independente de Margao emerged champions. Until the 1968–69 season, the First division league was considered as senior. The GFA introduced "Senior division league" in 1969–70, which used to be the topmost division, but later was abandoned. In 1970–71 season, apart from the Senior division league, there came into existence the First division league, which was split into two groups, namely the North Zone and South Zone. While the North Zone consisted of teams from

Ilhas Tiswadi ( pt, Ilhas de Goa, lit=Islands of Goa, or simply ''Ilhas'') is a Tehsil, sub-district in the district of North Goa district, North Goa, situated in the Indian coastal state of Goa. It is the largest and populous island of Goa situat ...

and

Bardez ''Bardez'' ( kok, Bardes; pt, Bardes; IPA: ) is a ''taluka'' of the North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It was a ''concelho'' in the Portuguese State of India before 1961. Etymology The name is credited to the Saraswat Br ...

, the South Zone accommodated teams from

Mormugao Mormugao is a seaport city situated in the eponymous Mormugao taluka (municipality) of the South district, in the Goa state, India. It has a deep natural harbour and remains Goa's chief port. Towards the end of the Indo-Portuguese era in 191 ...

and

Salcete Salcete ( Konkani: ''Saxtti''/''Xaxtti''; pt, Salcette) is a sub-division of the district of South Goa, in the state of Goa, situated by the west coast of India. The Sal river and its backwaters dominate the landscape of Salcete. His ...

. From the around 24 teams in the Second division, just one would make it to the First division, while there were around 60 teams battling it out in the Third division, of which two teams make it to the next stage. Subsequently, the teams finishing at the bottom of their respective pool are relegated to lower divisions. In 1977 Goa Football Association introduced the ''Super league'', with

Salgaocar Sports Club Salgaocar Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Vasco, Goa, that competes in the Goa Professional League. They have also played in the I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. Founded in 1956, the c ...

clinching the title. With football continuing to develop at a fast pace, GFA decided it was time to push the game onto a higher platform. Goa emerged as the first State ever in the country, to go fully professional with the game. The first ''Professional league'' was launched in the 1998–99 season. The five top teams of the 1997–98 Super League –

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

, Salgaocar,

Dempo Dempo Mining Corporation Limited is a prominent mining company from the western Indian state of Goa. The mineral business was founded by Mr. Vasantrao S. Dempo in 1941 along with his younger brother Mr. Vaikuntrao Dempo. Mr. Vasantrao S. Demp ...

, Vasco and VLM SC – automatically qualified for the Pro league. The Professional league was expanded to six teams from the 2000–2001 season, after the GFA increased the participating number and competitiveness factor. Since 2002 the league was played as an eight-team format with home-and-away fixtures, making it 14 matches for each club. The GFA then announced that the 2011 season would be played with 10 teams under a new format.

Competition structure

Current clubs

The following 11 clubs are competing in the GPL during the 2022–23 season.

List of champions

For past winners at this level before 1997, see: List of Goan State Football Champions.

Top scorers

References

External links

* {{Goa topics

Professional League Professional sports, Professional sports leagues are organized in numerous ways. The two most significant types are one that developed in Europe, characterized by a tiered structure using promotion and relegation in order to determine participati ...