Durand Cup – World’s One Of The Oldest Tournament
The Indian football team is improving its FIFA ranking and also working on its grassroots. But it has one of the oldest football tournaments in the world known as the Durand Cup. It is the domestic football competition in India and its inaugural tournament was held in Shimla in 1888. Durand Cup is organized by the Durand Football Tournament Society and it is open for any national club of all divisions with guest teams from Indian Armed Forces.
History:
The Durand Cup was incorporated by Sir Henry Mortimer Durand in Shimla. Sir Henry Mortimer Durand was the foreign secretary of India from 1884 to 1894. In 1940 the venue for the tournament was shifted to New Delhi. Initially, it began as a football tournament for different regiments of the Army forces of India, various departments, and princely states. But after getting independence in 1947, the presence of the different clubs of the army was still here as a guest invitee.
Format:
The current Durand Cup is played between 24 teams in a round-robin and knockout format. Each team has a maximum limit of 30 players on their roster.
Post-Independence winners:
India gained independence in 1947 but the tournament did not hold between 1940 – 1949. The first tournament was held in 1950 in post independent era. Hyderabad City Poicy was the inaugural champion of the tournament by beating Mohan Bagan. Currently, Mohan Bahan is the most successful team in the tournament with 17 titles.
In 1962 and 2020 tournament was not held due to the Sino-Indian War and the pandemic. After Moan Bagan East Bengal is the second successful team with 16 titles and Border Security Force is third with 7 titles.
Trophy:
Unlike the other tournaments, the Durand Cup has three trophies namely, the Durand Cup, Shimla Trophy, and President Cup.
The Durand Trophy is also known as MasterPiece as Nicknaem, this is the main trophy that became a rolling trophy in 1965.
The Shimla Trophy was donated by residents of Shimla in 1904 to show their passion and support for the game. The Nickname of this trophy is The Artestry. This trophy awarded in rolling since 1965
The pride is the nickname of the President Trophy, it is a rolling trophy that replaced the Viceroy’s trophy post-independence by President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad
