1.3 HISTORY OF FOOTBALL IN INDIA

This sudden boom of organized football accompanied by staggering crowds of spectators brought with it certain problems with which other countries did not face until much later on.

The spread of football outside of Great Britain, mainly due to the British influence abroad, started slowly, but it soon gathered momentum and rapidly reached all parts of the world.

By the late 1930s there were 51 FIFA members; in 1950, after the interval caused by the Second World War, that number had reached 73. Over the next half-century, football's popularity continued to attract new devotees and at the end of the 2007 FIFA Congress, FIFA had 208 members in every part of the world.

1.3 HISTORY OF FOOTBALLIN INDIA:

Football in India dates back to the nineteenth century when the game was introduced by the British soldiers. Although Cricket is the most popular game in the country even today, football is widely celebrated in many parts of the country especially West Bengal, Goa, Kerala and the North-Eastern states.

Soon, other clubs like Mohun Bagan, Sovabazar and the Aryan Club came into existence and Calcutta became the epicenter of Indian football. To glorify the beautiful game, several tournaments cropped up, among those, the Trades Cup, The Cooch Behar Cup, The Durand Cup and the IFA Shield took the spotlight. Sovabazar became the first team to win the Trades Cup, in 1982. But it was in 1911 that India made a mark in football.

During the 1970’s, India club football was at its peak, with Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting Club being the three most active clubs with huge fan bases throughout the country. East Bengal won the1973IFAShieldedgingpast PyongyangCity SportsClubwhile MohunBagan won the1978edition by having the better of FC Ararat Yerevan of Soviet Union, becoming the first Indian team to win the title against a Non-Asian team after Independence.

1977 was a special year for Indian football. First, Brazilian legend Pele set his foot for the first time on Indian soil for an exhibition match against Mohun Bagan AC for his club New York Cosmos. The Kolkata giants played exceptionally well to hold the North American side 2-2 in front of 70,000 people at the Eden Gardens stadium. It was also in that year that the AIFF started the Federation Cup, back then it was the most prestigious club tournament in India. ITI Bangalore won the inaugural edition of the tournament by virtue of a 1-0 win against Mohun Bagan in the final.

The Nehru Cup was started by the All India Football Federation in 1982, which was a tournament involving International teams from around the globe. Uruguay won the inaugural edition of the cup defeating China in the final. The 1980’s and 1990’s saw a huge decline Indian football as they failed to hold onto their position in Asia and suffered heavy defeatsin International fixtures. After several years of trophy drought, the “Blue