Durand Cup

Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, who incorporated the tournament in Shimla in 1888.

The Durand football tournament, known as Durand Cup, was started by Sir Mortimer Durand at Shimla in 1888.[12] Sir Durand was recuperating from illness in Shimla in North India. Having become conscious of the value of sport as a means to maintain health, he decided to present a prize to encourage sporting competition in India. In 1940 the venue of the tournament was shifted to New Delhi.[12]

The Durand Tournament was initially a military affair, open to the Army in India: the British Indian Army, the regular Army and other military units such as provincial frontier-security regiments and the volunteer regiments of the reserves.[13] In practice, however, the native soldiers traditionally preferred field hockey to football, a fact which has been evident from the Indian and Pakistani dominance of that sport in international events such as the Olympics. The exception to this tradition were the Nepali men of the brigades of Gurkhas. Initially, this tended to leave the field open to the British Indian Army until football's popularity took hold and it became the more universal sport it is today.

As World War II broke, the British soldiers left India and the tournament was opened to civilian teams to maintain the level of competition in 1940, which also saw Mohammedan become the first civilian team to win the tournament at the Irwin Amphitheater.[14]

The initial matches were played in Dagshai, which is actually within a short distance outside Shimla, until 1940 when the tournament was permanently relocated to the capital city– Delhi. The inaugural final of the tournament, in 1888, was a Scottish Derby, with the first name on the trophy being the Royal Scots Fusiliers, who beat the Highland Light Infantry with a score of 2–1.[15][16] The Durand Cup was suspended during the two World Wars and the Partition.[17]

Following India's independence in 1947, efforts were made in order to shift the tournament to the newly formed Pakistan, but was strongly resisted the three Service Chiefs and the Defence Secretary of India and ensured that the Durand Cup remains a part of Indian football.[18] Since then the tournament is hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society, a registered society at Delhi, presided by the Chief of Defence Staff (India) and chaired by the three Service Chiefs of Indian Armed Forces.[12][19]

The most successful teams are currently East Bengal Club and Mohun Bagan AC, accounting for no less 32 cup victories over the years, with 16 wins each.[20][21][22] With the eclipse of high-profile teams of Hyderabad Police and Madras Regimental Centre since 1970 the Durand Cup has been won mostly by teams from Calcutta, such as East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, or by Border Security Force and JCT FC.[21] In 1997, FC Kochin from the south won for the first time.[23][24]

Salgaocar (in green) and BSF players (in red) during the 2008 Durand Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium.

Mahindra United FC won the first title of the 3rd millennium and became the first team from Mumbai to win a repeat victory, following its 1998 win.[25] In recent years however, Goa has also produced a run of winning form. In 2003, Goa matched this feat, when Salgaocar FC added to its 1999 victory.[26] In 2005, another Goan side, Sporting Clube de Goa, missed the title by a whisker when the Army XI produced an upset to win,[27] but the following year was undeniably Goan when a third Goan team, Dempo SC, thrashed JCT by 2–0 in the 2006 final.[28] Recent seasons has been dominated by yet another Goan team, Churchill Brothers FC Goa. They won the tournament three times: in 2007, 2009 and 2011, and narrowly missed a hat-trick, as runners-up in 2008.[29][30][31] Since 2000, only twice the Cup was won by the Indian Armed Force teams, Army XI in 2005,[27] and Army Green in 2016.[32] In 2014, the Durand Cup was held outside Delhi, for the first time since its relocation in 1940, in Goa, and Salgaocar FC became the champions for the third time. In 2019, Gokulam Kerala FC became the second football club from the south to win the Cup.[23]

The significance of the tournament have dissipated with time but the Indian Armed Forces kept the Durand Tournament tradition alive over the decades. Osian's became the first civilian organisation to co-host the Durand Cup on a 5-year deal with DFTS until 2010, in order to develop the tournament and revive the interest in the game.[33][34] The tournament had been scrapped-off from the calendar a number of times without any significant reason, for instance in the years 2015, 2017 and 2018.[35][36]

In 2019, the tournament was jointly organised by the Armed Forces and the Government of West Bengal. In that season, Gokulam Kerala FC became the second football club from the south to win the Cup at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan.[23] In 2020, the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[37][38] In 2021, the Armed Forces decided to host the tournament in West Bengal, jointly with the Government of West Bengal, till 2025.[39] As the significance of the tournament depraved, most of the ISL clubs participating would field their respective reserve squads, in order to focus on the more important league games. But at the 130th edition of the tournament, the organisers took an effort to revive the lost legacy and most clubs decided to field full-strength squads. FC Goa became the first ISL club and the fourth Goan club to win the tournament by defeating Mohamedan SC in 2021.

• Addatimes
• SonyLIV (only semifinals and final)

• Sony Sports (only semifinals and final)

• Most wins: 16, joint record:
  • Mohun Bagan (1953, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1994, 2000)[44]
  • East Bengal (1951, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1970, 1972,1978, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2002, 2004)[44]
• Most consecutive wins: 3, joint record:
  • Mohun Bagan (1963, 1964, 1965 and 1984, 1985, 1986)[45][46]
  • East Bengal (1989, 1990, 1991)[47]
  • Highland Light Infantry (1893, 1894, 1895)[48][49]
• Most appearances: 28
  • Mohun Bagan (1950, 1953, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2009, 2019)[44][50]
• Most appearances without ever winning: 3
  • East Lancashire Regiment (1880, 1900,1902)[49]
• Most appearances without ever losing: 3, joint record:
  • Salgaocar (1999, 2003, 2014)[51][52]
    • South Wales Borderers (1900, 1901, 1938)[53]
• Biggest win
  • Highland Light Infantry 8–1 Shimla Rifles (2nd Punjab Volunteer Rifle Corps) (1889)[54]
• Highest scoring: 9, joint record:
  • Highland Light Infantry 8–1 Shimla Rifles (2nd Punjab Volunteer Rifle Corps) (1889)[54]
  • Churchill Brothers 5–4 United (2011)[55]
• Most goals by a losing side: 4:
  • United against Churchill Brothers (2011)[55]