History of football in India
Royal Scots Fusiliers won the first edition of the cup by beating Highland Light Infantry 2–1 in the final.
The major event that showed a rise in Indian Football was in 1911 when Mohun Bagan AC defeated East Yorkshire Regiment 2–1 in the final of the IFA Shield.
[9] Football teams consisting of entirely Indian players started to tour Australia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand during the late 1930s.
It was India's second International tour, where Gostha Paul led the Indian side to a victory over the host country with 1–0 score.
In 1938, India made an official tour to Australia where they played matches against many clubs and the Australian national side.
It was named after the former president of the IFA, Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury, the Maharaja of Santosh who had died aged 61 in 1939.
On their way to 1948 London Olympics, Chinese team again visited India, where they played Mohammedan fc, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan then finally on 17 July 1948, a friendly match held at Kolkata, where they were defeated by the Indian national side by 0-1 score.
[16] The 1948 London Olympics was India's first major international tournament, where a predominately barefooted Indian team lost 2–1 to France, failing to convert two penalties.
India qualified by default for the 1950 FIFA World Cup finals as a result of the withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents.
But the governing body AIFF decided against going to the World Cup, being unable to understand the importance of the event at that time.
The team had not made it past the first round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers until 2018, when they defeated Nepal 2–0 over the course of two home-and-away games.
In 1952, India continued their form by winning the Colombo Quadrangular Cup held in Sri Lanka.
India also won three further editions of the Quadrangular Cup, which were held in Burma, Calcutta and Dhaka in 1953, 1954 and 1955 respectively.
Indian football would go through a barren phase in '70s, '80s, and '90s, gradually losing its foothold as a top Asian team.
Mohun Bagan AC created history again when they went on to win the IFA Shield in 1978 after a 2–2 draw against FC Ararat Yerevan from Soviet Union.
Although India failed to qualify for the 2004 Asian Cup, the senior team gained the silver medal in the inaugural Afro Asian Games, with victories over Rwanda and Zimbabwe (then 85 places ahead of India in the world rankings), losing the final 1–0 to Uzbekistan.
As a result, Indian football has steadily earned greater recognition and respect, both within the country and abroad.
The LG Cup win in Vietnam under Stephen Constantine was one of the few bright spots in the early part of the 2000s.
In 2005 Syed Nayeemuddin was appointed as India coach but he was immediately sacked the following year after heavy defeats in 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
In August 2007, the Indian national team won the Nehru Cup for the first time in its history beating Syria 1–0.
On 9 December 2010, it was announced that the AIFF had signed a new 15-year 700–crore deal with Reliance Industries and the International Management Group.
Then on 14 January 2011, India played Bahrain where again they lost 5–2 with Sunil Chhetri and Gouramangi Singh scoring.
India played its first match in 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification on 21 Mar winning 3–0 against Chinese Taipei, with Jewel Raja Shaikh, Sunil Chhetri and Jeje Lalpekhlua scoring the goals.
In addition, they created another history by defeating South China AA of Hong Kong with a margin of 4 goals in 2016 AFC Cup on 9 March 2016.
This is till date the highest margin of victory by any Indian club side on foreign soil.
As part of the Premier One licensing criteria, a club must comply with a set of guidelines in order to participate in tournaments conducted by the AFC and the AIFF.
The long-due roadmap hopes that in the country’s centenary year of independence, India will also emerge as a new powerhouse of Asian football.
They are encouraging member associations to create more competitions at the state and district level, with the main objective to attract more youngsters into the sport by giving them a dream to reach the very top of Indian football pyramid.
Roy Trophy had been held for players under 19 years of age, between the teams representing state associations.
The tournament was instituted by the AIFF in 1962, with the Indian Football Association presenting the trophy in the memory of former West Bengal Chief Minister Bidhan Chandra Roy.
