When Services won the Santosh Trophy, for the first time, way back in 1960-61 in Kozikhode, the senior national championships had immense significance. It served as a trial to choose probables for India and was the most important tournament in the country.
Former national coach S. Rahim always gave importance to performances in the Santosh Trophy. He selected precocious teenagers Tulsidas Balaram and Zulfiqar for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics on the basis of their performances for champions Hyderabad in the 1956 senior nationals at Trivandrum.
For most of the 20th century, the best players in the country always played in the Santosh Trophy as it was considered a prestigious tournament. However the senior national championship has now declined in importance and since 2012 it is being held simultaneously along with the I-League.
Consequently the best players in the country are busy with their respective I-League clubs and ignore these championships.
Services won the Santosh Trophy for the fourth time in Nagpur earlier this month, beating hosts Maharashtra 2-1 in the final. But many of the participating state teams did not have their best players. Only the institutional sides Services and Railways had full strength teams, as they do not participate in the I-league.
This may also alter next year as the Services Sports Control Board will allow its players to join an I-League club on loan. So speedy forward Arjun Tuddu and crafty midfielder P. Jain maybe unavailable next year as they could be on club duty.
The All India Football Federation pleads helplessness about the clash of dates as due to the ISL from October-December, they have a packed schedule.
But it is inexplicable why the AIFF does not send its scouts to watch the Santosh Trophy in both the zonal phase and final round to identify talent. It is a chance for players from states like semi-finalists Tamil Nadu, which do not have I-League teams to showcase their talent.
The AIFF should take the Santosh Trophy seriously as in its current format the once prestigious tournament has become unglamorous and redundant.
In 1960-61, Services were captained by the towering late Peter Thangaraj, India’s goalkeeper in both the 1956 Melbourne and 1960 Rome Olympics and a gold medal winner in the 1962 Asian Games. Fifty-six years ago, Services also had stalwarts like international midfielder Ethiraj of MEG, Bangalore, and star forwards like Kuppaswamy, Bir Bahadur and Bhupinder Singh Rawat.
The winning goal was scored by Sherman Thapa in the replayed final against mighty Bengal. The first match ended in a goalless draw.
Bengal were a star-studded team, with brilliant forwards Balaram, Chuni Goswami, midfielders Kempiah and Ram Bahadur and stopper back Jarnail Singh in their XI. In fact Services gave a gutsy display to thwart star-studded Bengal’s attempt to win the Santosh Trophy three years in a row.
Bengal were champions in 1958-59 beating Services 1-0 in the final with Balaram scoring the winning goal. A year later they beat Bombay 3-1 in the title round clash. Balaram had played and scored in every Santosh Trophy final since 1956 and 1961 was the first year he did not score in the final.
