National Football Championship (Pakistan)

[1] The National Football League era though saw Karachi based Pakistan Airlines with most championships, winning the competition nine times.

[4] However, any sort of professionalism in the game was non-existent, as the first participants of the championship used players from local schools, colleges, government departments that coincidentally employed sportsmen, and open trials.

[2][5] The Dhaka League often attracted the leading players from West Pakistan to play professionally in a competition run as a parallel to the National Championships each year.

[1][2] Before the Bangladesh Liberation War, the 1969–70 National Championship was won by Chittagong in East Pakistan as they beat Peshawar in the final at Comilla.

[2] These government entities primarily used investment in sports as evidence of their Corporate Social Responsibility, with little incentive to develop talent or professionalise their set-ups.

[9][10] Butt also managed to get a three-year sponsorship deal with Lifebuoy Soap, with amounts of 35 million PKR spent in the organisations of the seasons and televised through the country.

[11] Butt was eventually ousted by Mian Muhammad Azhar due to political rifts and alleged abuse of power.

With Butt's dismissal in 1994 and ban by FIFA in 1995, Pakistani football declined again into an era of mismanagement and long-lasting lack of sponsors in the upcoming years.