Indian Football Association


The Indian Football Association, abbreviated as IFA, is the organisation that administers football in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the oldest football association in India and was founded in 1893. Among the founders was former football team|English] international Elphinstone Jackson.
The IFA organises tournaments such as the Calcutta Football League, the Calcutta Women's Football League and the IFA Shield. In 2021, the IFA also took an initiative to start its own futsal league.
It also sends state teams for Santosh Trophy and Rajmata Jijabai Trophy.

History

Contrary to the name, the association does not administer the game in India, a task that falls to the All India Football Federation, instead governs the game in the state of West Bengal. However, before the formation of the AIFF, the IFA was in de facto control of football in India by virtue of its administration by Englishmen as well as its affiliation to the Football Association. Hence, all foreign tours were conducted by the IFA and also foreign teams negotiated with the IFA for visits to India. In its formative years, the only Indian representative in the English dominated executive committee was Kalicharan Mitra from the Sovabazar Club. By vigorously promoting the game in Bengal, the IFA became undivided India's premier football body in the early decades of the 20th century.
Through the efforts of Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari, A.R. Brown and B.C. Lindsay of Dalhousie AC, and Watson of Calcutta FC, the IFA was established in 1893. A.R. Brown was the first Secretary of the IFA. Norman Prichard, the first Indian to win an Olympic medal, was the Secretary of the IFA in 1900.The most remarkable person to head the IFA was the Maharaja of Santosh, Sir M.N. Roy Chowdhury. During his tenure the IFA played an instrumental role in the formation of the AIFF.
The IFA had organised many historical tournaments like the Trades Cup, the Gladstone Cup, the Cooch Behar Cup and the coveted IFA Shield, prior to the incorporation of Calcutta Football League in 1898. The Trades Cup is the oldest tournament in Kolkata, being instituted in 1889.
Clubs outside Bengal complained about the lack of neutrality in the affairs of the IFA. This disillusionment of clubs and patrons led to the formation of associations such as the Western India Football Association, which preferred to be governed by themselves rather than by the IFA. After years of numerous conferences and meetings, the IFA along with other five regional football associations broke their mutual deadlock to form the AIFF in 1937.

State teams

Men

The 23 district associations affiliated with the Indian Football Association.
No.AssociationDistrict/Region
1Alipurduar District Sports AssociationAlipurduar
2Bankura District Sports AssociationBankura
3Burdwan District Sports AssociationPaschim Bardhaman and Purba Bardhaman
4Birbhum District Sports AssociationBirbhum
5Chandernagore Sporting AssociationChandannagar
6Cooch Behar District Sports AssociationCooch Behar
7Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Sports AssociationDarjeeling
8Dakshin Dinajpur District Sports AssociationDakshin Dinajpur
9Hooghly District Sports AssociationHooghly
10Howrah District Sports AssociationHowrah
11Jalpaiguri District Sports AssociationJalpaiguri
12Jhargram District Sports AssociationJhargram
13Kalimpong District Sports AssociationKalimpong
14Malda District Sports AssociationMalda
15Manbhum Sports AssociationPurulia
16Murshidabad District Sports AssociationMurshidabad
17Nadia District Sports AssociationNadia
18North 24 Parganas District Sports AssociationNorth 24 Parganas
19Paschim Medinipur District Sports AssociationPaschim Medinipur
20Purba Medinipur District Sports AssociationPurba Medinipur
21Siliguri Mahakuma Krira ParishadSiliguri
22South 24 Parganas District Sports AssociationSouth 24 Parganas
23Uttar Dinajpur District Sports AssociationUttar Dinajpur

Competitions

Men's

Men's

Women's

Evolution


Management

OfficeName
PresidentAjit Banerjee
ChairmanSubrata Dutta
Vice-presidentSudeshna Mukherjee
Vice-presidentSaurav Pal
Vice-presidentSwarup Biswas
SecretaryAnirban Dutta
Assistant SecretaryRakesh Kumar Jha
Assistant SecretaryMD Jamal
Assistant SecretaryBiswajit Bhaduri
TreasurerDebasish Sarkar