The Calcutta Women's Football League, also known as the Kanyashree Cup, is a women's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. Founded in 1993, it is the oldest

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

league in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and organised by

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

(IFA), the official football governing body in the state. The tournament is primarily participated by teams across

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

History

The Calcutta Women's Football League was founded by Indian Football Association (IFA) in 1993 to introduce women's football in West Bengal in the lines of men's domestic football system. The inaugural edition was won by an ''institutional team'' of

Income Tax Department The Income Tax Department (also referred to as IT Department; abbreviated as ITD) is a government agency undertaking direct tax collection of the government of the Republic of India. It functions under the Department of Revenue of the Mini ...

against Behala Aikya Sammilani. Due to lack of sufficient resources and reception towards women's football in the nation, the organising body either cancelled or organised the tournament in small scale for the following years, thereby leaving negligible data about the tournament during the period. The popularity considerably rose when the two big clubs of Bengal—

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

and

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

—formed their respective women's teams to participate in the competition. Both the teams would reach the finals for two consecutive years, with

winning in 2001 and Mohun Bagan in 2002. But, considering no national level honours to fight for, the two clubs found it financially unprofitable to maintain a women's football division, thus East Bengal disbanded it in 2003 and Mohun Bagan in 2004. During this period, the only team to continue their dominance was Income Tax. After years of discontinuation of the competition, it was started once again in 2017. The following year was won by another institutional team –

Sashastra Seema Bal The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB; ) is a Central Armed Police Forces, central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding Border guard, India’s borders with Indi ...

(SSB). This was the first edition of Calcutta Women's Football League where the winner was given a chance to qualify for

Indian Women's League The Indian Women's League (abbreviated as the IWL) is the women's top tier professional football league in India, founded in 2016. Currently, a total of 8 teams from across the country participate in the league. The competition was planned ...

. In

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

the tournament was renamed to Kanyashree Cup under the patronage of the state

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 2 ...

. East Bengal once again formed its women's team to participate and reached the finals where they lost against SSB, who became the second team after Income Tax to win three consecutive finals. The 2021 edition did not take place due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and in the following edition, due to management disputes, East Bengal informed IFA about not participating. SSB continued their dominance by defeating the women's team of

Southern Samity Southern Samity is an Indian professional multi-sports club from Kolkata. Founded in 1945, the club is also based in Siliguri, North Bengal. Apart from sports, they are also involved in numerous cultural activities. Its football section compete ...

. In 2022, East Bengal once again formed their women's team and went on to win the Kanyashree Cup for the second time after 2001, winning all the matches and defeating Sreebhumi in the final. In 2024, a new second division was formed known as Kanyashree Cup Premier Division B, with 15 clubs participating for the season.

League structure

Champions of CWFL top division

Kanyashree Cup Premier Division A

Kanyashree Cup Premier Division A is the top-tier women's state level

league in the

n state of

. It was instituted in 2024, with a new second division known as Premier Division B.

Kanyashree Cup Premier Division B

Kanyashree Cup Premier Division B is the 2nd tier women's state level

league in the

n state of

References

{{Football in Kolkata 1993 establishments in West Bengal Calcutta Women's Football League Football competitions in West Bengal Regional Women's Football leagues in India Sports leagues established in 1993

History

League structure

Champions of CWFL top division

Kanyashree Cup Premier Division A

Kanyashree Cup Premier Division B

See also

References