Calcutta Football League

It is the oldest football league in Asia.

Calcutta Football League

Organising body	Indian Football Association (West Bengal)
Founded	1898; 126 years ago (1898)
Country	India
Divisions	7
Number of teams	26 (Premier Division) 160+ (overall)
Level on pyramid	1-7 (State) 5–10 (National)
Promotion to	I-League 3 (from CFL Premier Division)
Relegation to	Various
Domestic cup(s)	IFA Shield
League cup(s)	Trades Cup
Current champions	Mohammedan (14th title) (2023)
Most championships	East Bengal (39 titles)
TV partners	InSports TV
Current: 2023 Calcutta Premier Division

Indian Football Association (IFA) conducts the CFL with more than 160 mostly Kolkata-based clubs and units. Started in 1898, this league is the oldest football league in Asia and regarded as one of the oldest football competitions in the world. CFL currently consists of a seven-tier pyramid system, with more than 8,500 directly registered players of IFA participating in CFL every year, making it one of the biggest leagues in the country.

Early years (1890s–1910s)

In 1898, IFA introduced a two-tiered football league in Calcutta on the lines of English Football League in England and Wales. Until 1937, CFL was a major tournament with participation open to every team across the nation but after the establishment of AIFF, CFL became a regional competition.

The British Indian Army garrison stationed at Fort William played an instrumental role in shaping the Calcutta Football League by putting forth numerous teams alongside other European settlers. The Army teams won all but twelve of the titles until 1933. On eight of those twelve occasions the title was claimed by Calcutta and the rest by Dalhousie. Native teams were barred from participating for the first 15 seasons, and only clubs designated for civil servants, merchants, missionaries and other European nationalities made up the rest of the league, in a clearly designed exercise to exclude Indians of any religion.

In 1914, IFA permitted only two native clubs, Mohun Bagan and Aryan, in the Second Division of CFL. Mohun Bagan had a successful campaign and earned promotion to the Premier Division in their debut season, whereas Aryan was promoted to the top division two years later. From 1917 to 1920, the Second Division was won by two other native clubs, namely Kumortuli Club (in 1917, 1918 and 1919) and Town Club (in 1920), but their promotions were denied due to the allowance of only two native clubs to play in each tier.

Uprise of native dominance (1920s–1947)

1921 saw the rise of East Bengal who began their CFL journey in the Second Division in place of Tajhat Club who had withdrawn from the league. Three years later East Bengal finished the Second Division as the joint-winners with Cameroons B and since Cameroons A was in the Premier Division, East Bengal got the opportunity for promotion. As two native clubs were already playing in the Premier Division, East Bengal's promotion was to be rejected as well. At this, the club called for amendments and in the following General Meeting of IFA, the nine British teams conveyed their approval, while Mohun Bagan and Aryan opposed it. Eventually the rule regulating the promotion of native clubs was abolished by majority.

 

Even though the native clubs got more opportunities yet the British dominance continued till 1933. In 1934, Mohammedan won the title in their debut season and became the first native club to win CFL. The club went on to win the league six out of seven times from 1935 to 1941, with 1939 being the only exception when they did not participate and Mohun Bagan went away with their first league title that year.

Post-independence era (1947–1970s)

In the post-independence years, many other state leagues were introduced and various clubs from other states rose in glory, but CFL was still considered to be one of the top leagues in the nation and provided innumerable young talents. The league matches were mostly played in monsoon and matches involving the Big Three of Calcutta (Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan) regularly attracted more than 30,000 spectators. From 1934 to 1981, Eastern Railway was the only club outside of the Big Three to win the title in 1958.

The CFL had a long history of crowd trouble, and the burgeoning fanfare exacerbated it. The rapidly increasing off-the-field rivalry between the respective fans of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal saw one of the darkest days of Indian football when 16 fans lost their lives because of a stampede and rioting during a Kolkata Derby in CFL on 16 August 1980 in Eden Gardens. Since then the day is celebrated every year as the Football Lover's Day.

Years of obscurity (1980s–2000s)

In the 80s and 90s, the league caught many eyes with the rivalry between the two of Indian football's finest tacticians— P.K. Banerjee and Amal Dutta, besides the decades old rivalry among the Big Three.

Due to the rise in financial demands and steady modernisation of the sport, the league became dominated by the Big Three clubs as the smaller clubs struggled to keep up with their economy. The league saw the beginning of a major downfall with the introduction of NFL (now I-League). The importance of regional competitions decreased as all the top clubs in the state were racing for the national honours. From the later 20th century, Mohammedan eventually lost its stronghold and, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal became the only dominant teams in the league. In the new century, the IFA revamped the competition into a six-tier competition with the seventh tier, called the nursery league, reserved for sub-junior teams. The top tier, Premier Division, was also divided into two groups so as to include more teams.

Resurgence (2010s–present)

Starting in 2010, East Bengal won a record eight consecutive titles until their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan broke the streak in 2018. In 2018, the league's popularity had a sudden upsurge and recorded more than 15,000 spectators even in matches involving small clubs. Most news reports in the local media reverberated the popular feeling— "The passion of the 70s is back." Small clubs like Peerless and George Telegraph introduced some of the foreign talents that later went on to become big names in the country.

In 2019, Peerless clinched the honour and became the second team outside the Big Three after Eastern Railway to win the league since 1958. Since the independence of India, the CFL was never cancelled until 2020 when after a lengthy delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was decided to cancel the then CFL season.

With the season starting from 2023, the clubs/units were redistributed among the first six divisions and the last division was reserved only for youth teams.

Starting from 2023, 26 teams participate in the Premier Division, divided into two groups at the same pyramid level and compete in a single-leg round robin tournament. The top three teams in each 13-team group will compete in a single-leg round robin tournament and the group leaders will be declared the champions. The top two teams, not already in the ISL or I-League are promoted to the I-League 3. The bottom three teams in each 13-team group also compete in a separate single-leg round robin tournament and the bottom four teams are relegated to the First Division.

Apart from the Premier Division A, most other divisions are competed by about 20 teams, and the format of the tournaments in the lower divisions isn't always the same. The top teams in respective divisions are promoted to the division higher to it and the bottom teams get relegated to the lower one.

The most successful clubs participating in the top-tier of the league includes East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan. However, since 1982, the league has been won by either East Bengal or Mohun Bagan until 2019 when Peerless made history by winning their maiden league title and becoming the first team outside the Kolkata's Big Three to win the league after a gap of 61 years since Eastern Railway had won.

CFL Premier Division 2023 season clubs

All CFL division clubs

By year

Pre-independence era (1898–1947)

Year	Winner	Note
1898	Gloucestershire Regiment
1899	Calcutta
1900	Royal Irish Rifles
1901	Royal Irish Rifles
1902	King's Own Scottish Borderers
1903	Sutherland Highlanders
1904	King's Own Regiment
1905	King's Own Regiment
1906	Highlander Light Infantry
1907	Calcutta
1908	Gordon Light Infantry
1909	Gordon Light Infantry
1910	Dalhousie
1911	70th Company Royal Garrison Artillery
1912	Black Watch
1913	Black Watch
1914	Argyllshire Highlanders
1915	10th Middlesex Regiment
1916	Calcutta
1917	Royal Lincolnshire Regiment
1918	Calcutta
1919	12th Special Service Battalion
1920	Calcutta
1921	Dalhousie
1922	Calcutta
1923	Calcutta
1924	Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
1925	Calcutta
1926	North Staffordshire Regiment
1927	North Staffordshire Regiment
1928	Dalhousie
1929	Dalhousie
1930	None	Cancelled due to nationwide Satyagraha movement.
1931	Durham Light Infantry
1932	Durham Light Infantry
1933	Durham Light Infantry
1934	Mohammedan	First all-Indian club to win the league.
1935	Mohammedan
1936	Mohammedan
1937	Mohammedan
1938	Mohammedan
1939	Mohun Bagan
1940	Mohammedan
1941	Mohammedan
1942	East Bengal
1943	Mohun Bagan
1944	Mohun Bagan
1945	East Bengal
1946	East Bengal
1947	None	Cancelled due to Indian independence movement.
Source: IFA (WB)

Post-independence era (1947–present)

By team

The list only contains the names of the teams that have won the top-most division of the Calcutta Football League more than once.

Club	Titles	Winning years
East Bengal	39	1942, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1961, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Mohun Bagan	30	1939, 1943, 1944, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2018
Mohammedan	14	1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1948, 1957, 1967, 1981, 2021, 2022, 2023
Calcutta FC	8	1899, 1907, 1916, 1918, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1925
Dalhousie	4	1910, 1921, 1928, 1929
Durham Light Infantry	3	1931, 1932, 1933
Black Watch	2	1912, 1913
Gordon Light Infantry		1908, 1909
King's Own Regiment		1904, 1905
North Staffordshire Regiment		1926, 1927
Royal Irish Rifles		1900, 1901

CFL Premier Division is the top-tier state level football league in the Indian state of West Bengal

CFL 2nd Division is the 2nd tier state level football league in the Indian state of West Bengal

CFL 2nd Division is the 3rd tier state level football league in the Indian state of West Bengal

CFL 3rd Division is the 4th tier state level football league in the Indian state of West Bengal

CFL 4th Division is the 5th tier state level football league in the Indian state of West Bengal

CFL 5th Division Group A is the 6th tier state level football league in the Indian state of West Bengal

CFL 5th Division Group B is the 7th tier state level football league in the Indian state of West Bengal

• Football in Kolkata

Cited sources