IFA Shield
Association football competition in India
The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, 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.
01History
The 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).
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, when Mohun Bagan became the first all-Indian side to win the IFA Shield by defeating East Yorkshire Regiment by 2-1. 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 a youth tournament wherein youth teams of all divisions were allowed to participate. The decision was taken by IFA due to busy schedule of AIFF which includes Indian Super League, I-League, I-League 2, State leagues and Super Cup among others. In 2020, the tournament was once again organised as a senior event.
02Results
Pre-independence era (1893-1946)
Post-independence era (1947-present)
Notes:
- 1. ^Tournament not held.
- 2. ^Joint winners.
- 3. ^An all-Indian side won the Shield for the first time.
- 4. ^The final was abandoned due to a dispute between the finalists over extra time.
- 5. ^A scheduled fourth match was scratched and Indian Culture League were awarded the Shield as East Bengal played with an unregistered player in the third match.
- 6. ^The replay was abandoned due to torrential rain, but Mohun Bagan objected to a third match and refused to play: the third match was scratched and East Bengal were awarded the Shield.
- 7. ^The final was abandoned at half-time after Mohammedan Sporting refused to continue, and East Bengal were awarded the Shield.
- 8. ^The final was abandoned after 35 minutes after Palmeiras started a violent brawl, with Palmeiras fans also throwing chairs onto the pitch: East Bengal were awarded the Shield, and the IFA ordered that Palmeiras' results be deleted from the records.
- 9. ^Organised as an Under-19 tournament.
03Performance by teams
Performance by Indian teams
Though 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
| No. | Team | Championships (latest) |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Bengal | 29 (2018) | 12 |
| 2 | Mohun Bagan | 21 (2025) | 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 | |
| 10 | Aryan | 2 (1983) | 2 |
| Police | 1 (1939) | 2 |
Performance by overseas teams
- Winners:
- FC Ararat Yerevan (1978)
- 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 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)
04Awards
Since 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, and renowned sports photojournalist, Ronojoy 'Ronny' Roy.
Krishanu Dey Memorial Award
| Year | Player | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Abegunrin Adefemi Lukman | 5 | Real Kashmir |
| 2021 | Rahim Osumanu | Gokulam Kerala |
P. K. Banerjee Memorial Award
As of December 2020
| Year | Head coach | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Ranjan Bhattacharya | George Telegraph |
Chuni Goswami Memorial Award
| Year | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Mason Robertson | Real Kashmir |
| 2021 |
Ronny Roy Fair Play Award
As of December 2021
| Year | Club |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Real Kashmir |
| 2021 | Indian Arrows |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “IFA Shield”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- IFA Shield.png by IFA Shield, Fair use
- Mohun Bagan 1911 IFA shield winning team.jpg by Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
- East Bengal FC 1949 IFA Shield.jpg by AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain
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