Santosh trophy is one of the major football competitions played in India. The competition is played under AIFF by the regional state associations and government institutions. The Santosh Trophy was considered the top domestic football tournament before the beginning of the I-League (National Football League) and Indian Super League. Many players playing international football have also played in the Santosh trophy. So, let us know in detail about the Santosh trophy.
History of Santosh trophy
The tournament was inaugurated in the year of 1941 and was named after the president of the Indian Football Association (IFA) Mr. Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary, the Maharaja of Santosh. Mr. Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury had a keen interest in the game and after his retirement from public services, he became the president of the Kolkata Football League and Indian Football Association and was elected to the same position for six consecutive years. IFA donated the Santosh trophy, Ex IFA vice president S. K. Gupta donated the runner-up trophy. Karnataka state football association donated the third-place trophy. At the time when the Santosh trophy started the other main championships were Durand Cup, Rovers Cup, and the IFA shield (West Bengal) football association.
To spread the love of football throughout the country, the Santosh trophy was organized as a U-23 tournament in 1990 so that a good football player gets trained and gets a fair chance in this competition at the state level and in other government bodies also. The Trophy encourages young players in the country to play football.
Santosh Trophy Winners List:
The tournament is held every year and it has 31 teams. All the teams are divided into respective groups and have to face tough competition in preliminary rounds in order to reach the qualifying matches. Here is the list of winners till now in Santosh trophy
| Year | Host | Winner | Score | Runner up |
| 1941-1942 | Kolkata | Bengal | 5-1 | Delhi |
| 1944-1945 | Delhi | Delhi | 2-0 | Bengal |
| 1945-1946 | Bombay | Bengal | 2-0 | Bombay |
| 1946-1947 | Bangalore | Mysore | 0-0(2-1) | West Bengal |
| 1947-1948 | Kolkata | Bengal | 0-0(1-0) | Bombay |
| 1949-1950 | Kolkata | Bengal | 5-0 | Hyderabad |
| 1950-1951 | Kolkata | Bengal | 1-0 | Hyderabad |
| 1951-1952 | Bombay | Bengal | 1-0 | Bombay |
| 1952-1953 | Bangalore | Mysore | 1-0 | Bengal |
| 1953-1954 | Kolkata | Bengal | 0-0(3-1) | Mysore |
| 1954-1955 | Madras | Bombay | 2-1 | Services |
| 1955-1956 | Emakulum | Bangalore | 1-0 | Mysore |
| 1956-1957 | Trivendrum | Hyderabad | 1-1(4-1) | Bombay |
| 1957-1958 | Hyderabad | Hyderabad | 3-1 | Bombay |
| 1958-1959 | Madras | Bengal | 1-0 | services |
| 1959-1960 | Nowgong | Bengal | 3-1 | Bombay |
| 1960-1961 | Kozhikode | Services | 0-0(1-0) | Bengal |
| 1961-1962 | Bombay | Railways | 3-0 | Bombay |
| 1962-1963 | Bangalore | Bengal | 2-0 | Mysore |
| 1963-1964 | Madras | Maharashtra | 1-0 | Andhrapradesh |
| 1964-1965 | Guwahati | Railways | 2-1 | West Bengal |
| 1965-1966 | Kollam | Andhra Pradesh | 1-1(1-0) | West Bengal |
| 1966-1967 | Hyderabad | Railways | 0-0(2-0) | Services |
| 1967-1968 | Cuttack | Mysore | 1-0 | West Bengal |
| 1968-1969 | Bangalore | Mysore | 0-0(1-0) | West Bengal |
| 1969-1970 | Nowgong | West Bengal | 6-1 | Services |
| 1970-1971 | Jalandhar | Punjab | 1-1(3-1) | Mysore |
| 1971-1972 | Maldives | West Bengal | 4-1 | Railways |
| 1972-1973 | Goa | West Bengal | 4-1 | Tamil Nadu |
| 1973-1974 | Ernakulum | Kerala | 3-2 | Railways |
| 1974-1975 | Jalandhar | Punjab | 6-0 | West Bengal |
| 1975-1976 | Kozhikode | West Bengal | 0-0(3-1) | Karnataka |
| 1976-1977 | Patna | West Bengal | 1-0 | Maharashtra |
| 1977-1978 | Kolkata | West Bengal | 1-1(3-1) | Punjab |
| 1978-1979 | Srinagar | West Bengal | 1-0 | Goa |
| 1979-1980 | Coimbatore | West Bengal | 1-0 | Punjab |
| 1980-1981 | Cuttack | Punjab | 0-0(2-0) | Railways |
| 1981-1982 | Thrissur | West Bengal | 2-0 | Railways |
| 1982-1983 | Kolkata | West Bengal and Goa won the trophy 0-0 draw | ||
| 1983-1984 | Madras | Goa | 1-0 | Punjab |
| 1984-1985 | Kanpur | Punjab | 3-0 | Maharashtra |
| 1985-1986 | Jabalpur | Punjab | 0-0(4-1) | West Bengal |
| 1986-1987 | Kolkata | West Bengal | 2-1 | Railways |
| 1987-1988 | Kollam | Punjab | 0-0(5-4) | Kerala |
| 1988-1989 | Guwahati | West Bengal | 1-1(4-3pen) | Kerala |
| 1989-1990 | Margao | Goa | 2-0 | Kerala |
| 1990-1991 | Palakkad | Maharashtra | 1-0 | Kerala |
| 1991-1992 | Coimbatore | Kerala | 3-0 | Goa |
| 1992-1993 | Kochi | Kerala | 2-0 | Maharashtra |
| 1993-1994 | Cuttack | West Bengal | 2-2(5-3pen) | Kerala |
| 1994-1995 | Chennai | West Bengal | 2-1 | Punjab |
| 1995-1996 | Margao | West Bengal | 1-0 | Goa |
| 1996-1997 | Jabalpur | West Bengal | 1-0 | Goa |
| 1997-1998 | Guwahati | West Bengal | 5-1 | Goa |
| 1998-1999 | Chennai | West Bengal | 1-0 | Goa |
| 1999-2000 | Thrissur | Maharashtra | 3-2 | Kerala |
| 2000-2001 | Mumbai | Kerala | 3-2 | Goa |
| 2002-2003 | Imphal | Manipur | 2-1 | Kerala |
| 2004-2005 | Delhi | Kerala | 3-2 | Punjab |
| 2005-2006 | Kochi | Goa | 3-1 | Maharashtra |
| 2006-2007 | Gurgaon | Punjab | 0-0(5-3pen) | West Bengal |
| 2007-2008 | Srinagar | Punjab | 1-0 | Services |
| 2008-2009 | Chennai | Goa | 0-0(4-2pen) | West Bengal |
| 2009-2010 | Kolkata | West Bengal | 2-1 | Punjab |
| 2010-2011 | Assam | West Bengal | 2-1 | Manipur |
| 2011-2012 | Odisha | Services | 3-2 | Tamil Nadu |
| 2012-2013 | Kerala | Services | 0-0(4-3pen) | Kerala |
| 2013-2014 | Siliguri | Mizoram | 3-0 | Railways |
| 2014-2015 | Ludhiana | Services | 0-0(5-4pen) | Punjab |
| 2015-2016 | Nagpur | Services | 2-1 | Maharashtra |
| 2016-2017 | Goa | West Bengal | 1-0 | Goa |
| 2017-2018 | Kolkata | Kerala | 2-2(4-2pen) | West Bengal |
| 2018-2019 | Ludhiana | Services | 1-0 | Punjab |
Current teams and their top players
The current teams participating in Santosh trophy are as follows
Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chattisgarh, Daman & Diu, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Services,
Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal. Apart from one, all the others are the state teams that represent their particular states in the Santosh Trophy. The one different team is the services team, which represents the Indian armed forces in the Santosh trophy. Most of the teams are managed by their own state football associations, which are affiliated to AIFF.
The West Bengal team won the Santosh trophy title 32 times. The top goal scorer till now for the Santosh trophy is Inder Singh from Punjab with 45 goals. Another player N. Paisley from West Bengal scored 7 goals in a single match against Rajputana and thus scored the maximum number of goals in a single match.
So, this is all you want to know about the Santosh trophy. If you know of Something else, do let me know in the comment section.
