Sad end to iconic soccer tournaments

Future generations will remember the year 2015 as the end of an era in Indian football. For the first time, five major domestic tournaments, Durand Cup, Rovers Cup, IFA Shield, DCM tournament and Federation Cup, which sustained Indian football for over a century, were not held. The Durand and Federation Cup, held till last year, were discontinued as suitable dates for these competitions could not be found.

Top level football in the country now has only two major competitions, the ongoing Indian Super League (October to December) and the forthcoming I-League, from January 2016. With such limited opportunities to perform it is inevitable that many talented players are not emerging. This explains why India’s Fifa ranking has slipped to 172.

The DCM tournament started in 1945 as a low-key event in Delhi, but blossomed within a decade. Since 1968 they were the first tournament to annually call foreign clubs to participate. Indian fans and clubs in those days rarely got exposure to international football. So the DCM tournament filled this vacuum.

Teams from Iran, North and South Korea, China, erstwhile USSR, Australia, Croatia and Ethiopia amongst others participated. This provided Indian club teams with valuable exposure and the fans witnessed different styles of football.

When this company got trifurcated in the mid-nineties, the new generation of owners lost interest in football and the tournament was never held after 1997. The All India Football Federation made no effort to persuade the owners and so a major tournament stopped forever.

The Rovers Cup in Bombay started in 1891. It was organised annually by the Western India Football Association and popularised football in that region. Initially British regimental teams dominated this tournament. Mohun Bagan became the first Indian club side to reach the final in 1923. However they lost 1-3 to Durham Light Infantry. Bagan were so popular in Mumbai that in their matches’ gate money collection was over '10,000. Bangalore Muslims became the first Indian team to win the tournament in 1937.

The Rovers Cup was last held in 2000. It shut down due to a legal case over availability of the Cooperage, the venue for the tournament. Now the legal issues have been resolved, I-League matches are played there, but no efforts are being made to revive the Rovers Cup.

The IFA Shield which started in 1893 in Kolkata has many historical connections. Mohun Bagan’s win in 1911 had remarkable nationalistic connotations. Also football became so popular that in 1912, for the first time in India, a sports event was filmed by J.F. Madan and Company the pioneers of motion pictures in the country. The IFA Shield, now a shoddily organised U-19 year’s tournament is the butt of ridicule.

The Durand tournament, the third oldest in the world (only the FA Cup in England and Scotland are older), started in 1888. Since Independence it was run by the Indian Army, but has stopped as no suitable dates are available.

The same reason is cited for shutting down the AIFF-organised Federation Cup. India once had five league cum knock out tournaments held annually. Now there is not a single national level knock out tournament in the country.