The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal.[1] The IFA came into existence in 1893,[2] and was named after the association. The IFA Shield tournament was started in the same year. It is the third oldest football tournament in India, after Durand Cup and Trades Cup, and is among the oldest football competitions in the world.[3]
 | |
| Organising body | Indian Football Association (West Bengal) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1893 |
| Region | India (primarily West Bengal) |
| Number of teams | Various |
| Related competitions | Women's IFA Shield |
| Current champions | Real Kashmir (2nd title) |
| Most successful club(s) | East Bengal (29 titles) |
| Television broadcasters | None |
| Website | ifawb |
 2024 IFA Shield | |
History
editThe royal houses of Patiala and Cooch Behar, A.A. Apcar of Armenian Club and J Sutherland of Dalhousie AC had financially contributed for the inception of the Shield. The coveted shield was designed by Walter Locke & Co. (Calcutta) and made by Messrs Elkington & Co. (London).[4]
During the initial years of the competition, the IFA Shield was dominated by British Army teams and the Royal Irish Rifles defeated W.D.R.A. to lift the first IFA Shield in 1893. However, their stranglehold over the Shield was broken in 1911,[5] when Mohun Bagan became the first all-Indian side to win the IFA Shield by defeating East Yorkshire Regiment by 2–1.[6][7][8] That was a historic moment for Indian football as well the struggle for independence, as the natives beat the Englishmen in their own game. While the Royal Irish Rifles remains the most successful British Army side with 5 titles, East Bengal Club has won the IFA Shield a record 29 times.
From 2015 to 2018, the IFA Shield was designed as an youth tournament wherein youth teams of all divisions were allowed to participate.[9] The decision was taken by IFA due to busy schedule of AIFF which includes Indian Super League, I-League, I-League 2nd Division, State leagues and Super Cup among others. In 2020, the tournament was once again organised as a senior event.[10]
Results
editPre-independence era (1893–1946)
edit
Post-independence era (1948–present)
edit
Notes:
- 1. ^ Tournament not held.
- 2. ^ Joint winners.
- 3. ^ Final abandoned.
- 4. ^ The final was abandoned at half-time after Mohammedan Sporting refused to continue, and the Shield was awarded to East Bengal.[18]
- 5. ^ The replay was abandoned due to torrential rain: after Mohun Bagan objected to a third match and refused to play again, the Shield was awarded to East Bengal.[19]
- 6. ^ The final was abandoned after 35 minutes as Palmeiras started a brawl on the pitch: the Shield was awarded to East Bengal, and the IFA also ordered that Palmeiras' results be deleted from the records.[20][21]
- 7. ^ Final abandoned.
- 8. ^ An all-Indian side won the Shield for the first time.
- 9. ^ Organised as an Under-19 tournament.
- 10. ^ Final abandoned.
- 11. ^ The Shield was awarded to Indian Culture League as East Bengal played with an unregistered player in the third match.[21]
- 12. ^ The final was abandoned due to dispute between the finalists over extra time.[22]
Performance by teams
editPerformance by Indian teams
editThough the tournament was dominated by the British Army teams during its initial years, yet British Indian teams too participated representing India prior to the independence, but very few were an all-Indian side. Mohun Bagan AC the first all-Indian side to win the tournament in 1911.
Top 10 Indian teams in IFA Shield
edit| No. | Team | Championships (Latest) |
Runner-ups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Bengal | 29 (2018) | 11 |
| 2 | Mohun Bagan | 22 (2003)[23] | 20 |
| 3 | Calcutta | 9 (1924) | 8 |
| 4 | Mohammedan | 6 (2014) | 4 |
| 5 | Dalhousie | 2 (1905) | 5 |
| 6 | Churchill Brothers | 2 (2011) | 1 |
| United | 2 (2015) | 1 | |
| 8 | Mahindra United | 2 (2008) | 0 |
| Real Kashmir | 2 (2021) | 0 | |
| 9 | Aryan | 1 (1940) | 2 |
| Police | 1 (1939) | 2 | |
| 10 | Sreenidhi Deccan FC | 0 | 1 |
Performance by Overseas teams
edit- Winners:
Club Atlético Peñarol (1985)
Pakhtakor Tashkent FK (1993)
Finance and Revenue FC (2004)
FC Bayern Munich II (2005)
- Runners-up:
PAS Tehran FC (1970)
Pyongyang SC (1973)
FC Ararat Yerevan (1978)- FC Shakhtar Donetsk (1985)
Irtysh Pavlodar FK (1993)
Mohammedan SC Dhaka (1995)
Al-Karkh SC (1996)
Palmeiras B (2001)
Santos FC (2008)- Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club (2014)
Awards
editSince the 123rd edition of the tournament, the awards for the Best Coach of the tournament, the Best Player of the tournament, the highest goalscorer of the tournament and Fair Play has been renamed in honour of India's football icons- P. K. Banerjee, Chuni Goswami and Krishanu Dey,[24][25] and renowned sports photojournalist – Ronojoy 'Ronny' Roy.[26][27]
Krishanu Dey Memorial Award
editAs of December 2020[update]
| Year | Player | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 |  Abegunrin Adefemi Lukman
|
5 | Real Kashmir |
| 2021 |  Rahim Osumanu
|
5 | Gokulam Kerala |
P. K. Banerjee Memorial Award for the Best Coach
editAs of December 2020[update]
| Year | Head Coach | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 |  Ranjan Bhattacharya
|
George Telegraph |
Chuni Goswami Memorial Award for the Best Player
editAs of December 2020[update]
| Year | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 |  Mason Robertson
|
Real Kashmir |
| 2021 | Mason Robertson
|
Real Kashmir |
Ronny Roy Fair Play Award
editAs of December 2021[update]
| Year | Club |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Real Kashmir FC
|
| 2021 | Indian Arrows
|
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Nag, Utathya (19 April 2023). "Calcutta Football League: East Bengal kings of Asia's oldest league competition — full winners list". olympics.com. The Olympics Football. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
- ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the IFA-Shield". indianfootball.de. Indian Football Network. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
- ^ "FOOTBALL IN BENGAL". www.ifawb.com. The Indian Football Association (West Bengal). Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ "Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari — The first visionary of Indian football". Football Paradise. 25 November 2019. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Sengupta, Somnath (29 July 2011). "Tactical Evolution Of Indian Football (Part One): Profiling Three Great 2—3—5 Teams". thehardtackle.com. Kolkata: The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ Majumdar, Boria, Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (1 February 2006). Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation. New Delhi: Penguin India. ISBN 9780670058747. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Chronology of Important Sports Events — West Bengal". wbsportsandyouth.gov.in. Kolkata: Government of West Bengal – Department of youth services and sports. 2017. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ Basu, Jaydeep (29 July 2020). "A victory for India? Why Mohun Bagan's historic 1911 IFA Shield win was purely about football". Scroll. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ^ "IFA Shield now U-19 tournament". Telegraph India. 10 January 2015. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- ^ "IFA Shield set for return as senior event". The Indian Express. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ "Mohun Bagan Athletic Club: Umapati Kumar". mohunbagangorbo.com. Kolkata. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ Chakrabarty, Kushal (12 July 2012). "Mohammedan Sporting Club, Kolkata: A New Horizon". kolkatafootball.com. Kolkata Football. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava; Jönsson, Mikael; Bobrowsky, Josef (13 February 2014). "India 1996/97 – List of Champions: 102nd IFA Shield". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022.
- ^ "IFA Shield: Tata Football Academy wins the 120th IFA Shield". 7 March 2016. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
- ^ "IFA Shield 2020 FULL MATCH Real Kashmir Make History, Beat George Telegraph In Final | The Fan Garage (TFG)". thefangarage.com. 19 December 2020. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ "Real Kashmir FC defends IFA Shield title, beats Sreenidi Deccan FC in a thriller". sportstar.thehindu.com. Sportstar. 15 December 2021. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
- ^ "Kings offered to co-host IFA Shield". thedailystar.net. The Daily Star. 13 January 2023.
- ^ "It's Mohammedan Sporting vs Dhanmondi in IFA Shield final". The Times of India. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ^ Banerjee, Ritabrata (26 March 2020). "Indian football: Instances when the Kolkata derby got abandoned". Goal.com. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ^ "East Bengal declared IFA Shield winners". Rediff. 12 October 2001. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ^ a b Sengupta, Somnath (8 March 2011). "The Glorious History Of IFA Shield". Thehardtackle.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- ^ "Soccer Sensation". NewspaperSG. Malaya Tribune. 11 August 1934. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ^ "TROPHY ROOM - Mohun Bagan Athletic Club". themohunbaganac.com. Benguluru Football Club. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ Mohamed, Farzan (3 December 2020). "IFA Shield 2020". www.sportskeeda.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ ""Krishanu Dey Memorable Highest Scorar Trophy" for 123RD IFA Shield 2020 । পিকে-চুনীর পর এবার IFA শিল্ডে কৃশানু দে-র নামে পুরস্কার". zeenews.india.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ "Shield's Fair Play trophy renamed in honour of Ronny Roy". aajkaal.in. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ "123RD IFA SHIELD RESULTS 2020–21: Awards after the FINAL (VYBK)". kolkatafootball.com. Kolkata Football. 19 December 2020. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
Bibliography
edit- Nath, Nirmal (2011). History of Indian Football: Upto 2009–10. Readers Service. ISBN 9788187891963. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022.
- "The passage of football in India". ifawb.org. Kolkata: Indian Football Association. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- "The Mohun Bagan AC winning Team at the 1911 IFA-Shield". indianfootball.de. Indian Football Network. 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
External links
edit- Official website of the Indian Football Association (IFA)
- India – List of IFA Shield Finals on RSSSF
- The Glorious History Of IFA Shield By Somnath Sengupta, thehardtackle.com