The Santosh Trophy is a prestigious inter-state national football competition for men in India.
Started in 1941, the Santosh Trophy was launched by the Indian Football Association (IFA), the former governing body for the sport in India. It was founded in order to address the need for a state-level national football championship in the country.
The Durand Cup, Rovers Cup and IFA Shield were some of the other major nationwide football competitions at the time,
The Santosh Trophy is named after former IFA president Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh.
The IFA later donated the Santosh Trophy to the AIFF. Since then, the Santosh Trophy has been organised by the AIFF.
Apart from the winners, the runner-ups and third-placed teams in the Santosh Trophy also receive separate trophies. The runners-up trophy is named the Kamla Gupta Trophy. It was donated by another former IFA president, Dr SK Gupta, in memory of his wife.
The third-placed trophy is called the Sampangi Cup, named in memory of a renowned footballer from Mysore, Sampangi.
Bengal (now West Bengal) won the first edition of the Santosh Trophy after beating Delhi 5-1 in the 1941-42 final. They are also the most successful team in the tournament’s history after winning a staggering 32 titles.
Punjab are second on the list with eight titles while Kerala are third with seven trophies.
Karnataka are the defending champions of the Santosh Trophy after beating Meghalaya 3-2 in the 2022-23 final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Get Santosh Trophy winners list.
Santosh Trophy winners list: Know all the champions from 1941-2024
|
Season |
Host City |
Winner |
Runner-up |
|
1941-42 |
Kolkata |
Bengal |
Delhi |
|
1944-45 |
Delhi |
Delhi |
Bengal |
|
1945-46 |
Bombay |
Bengal |
Bombay |
|
1946-47 |
Bangalore |
Mysore |
Bengal |
|
1947-48 |
Kolkata |
Bengal |
Bombay |
|
1949-50 |
Kolkata |
Bengal |
Hyderabad |
|
1950-51 |
Kolkata |
Bengal |
Hyderabad |
|
1951-52 |
Bombay |
Bengal |
Bombay |
|
1952-53 |
Bangalore |
Mysore |
Bengal |
|
1953-54 |
Kolkata |
Bengal |
Mysore |
|
1954-55 |
Madras |
Bombay |
Services |
|
1955-56 |
Ernakulam |
Bengal |
Mysore |
|
1956-57 |
Trivandrum |
Hyderabad |
Bombay |
|
1957-58 |
Hyderabad |
Hyderabad |
Bombay |
|
1958-59 |
Madras |
Bengal |
Services |
|
1959-60 |
Nowgong |
Bengal |
Bombay |
|
1960-61 |
Kozhikode |
Services |
Bengal |
|
1961-62 |
Bombay |
Railways |
Bombay |
|
1962-63 |
Bangalore |
Bengal |
Mysore |
|
1963-64 |
Madras |
Maharashtra |
Andhra Pradesh |
|
1964-65 |
Guwahati |
Railways |
Bengal |
|
1965-66 |
Kollam |
Andhra Pradesh |
Bengal |
|
1966-67 |
Hyderabad |
Railways |
Services |
|
1967-68 |
Cuttack |
Mysore |
Bengal |
|
1968-69 |
Bangalore |
Mysore |
Bengal |
|
1969-70 |
Nowgong |
Bengal |
Services |
|
1970-71 |
Jalandhar |
Punjab |
Mysore |
|
1971-72 |
Madras |
Bengal |
Railways |
|
1972-73 |
Goa |
Bengal |
Tamil Nadu |
|
1973-74 |
Ernakulam |
Kerala |
Railways |
|
1974-75 |
Jalandhar |
Punjab |
Bengal |
|
1975-76 |
Kozhikode |
Bengal |
Karnataka |
|
1976-77 |
Patna |
Bengal |
Maharashtra |
|
1977-78 |
Kolkata |
Bengal |
Punjab |
|
1978-79 |
Srinagar |
Bengal |
Goa |
|
1979-80 |
Coimbatore |
Bengal |
Punjab |
|
1980-81 |
Cuttack |
Punjab |
Railways |
|
1981-82 |
Thrissur |
Bengal |
Railways |
|
1982-83 |
Kolkata |
Bengal and Goa were joint winners |
|
|
1983-84 |
Madras |
Goa |
Punjab |
|
1984-85 |
Kanpur |
Punjab |
Maharashtra |
|
1985-86 |
Jabalpur |
Punjab |
Bengal |
|
1986-87 |
Calcutta |
Bengal |
Railways |
|
1987-88 |
Kollam |
Punjab |
Kerala |
|
1988-89 |
Guwahati |
Bengal |
Kerala |
|
1989-90 |
Margao |
Goa |
Kerala |
|
1990-91 |
Palakkad |
Maharashtra |
Kerala |
|
1991-92 |
Coimbatore |
Kerala |
Goa |
|
1992-93 |
Kochi |
Kerala |
Maharastra |
|
1993-94 |
Cuttack |
Bengal |
Kerala |
|
1994-95 |
Chennai |
Bengal |
Punjab |
|
1995-96 |
Margao |
Bengal |
Goa |
|
1996-97 |
Jabalpur |
Bengal |
Goa |
|
1997-98 |
Guwahati |
Bengal |
Goa |
|
1998-99 |
Chennai |
Bengal |
Goa |
|
1999-00 |
Thrissur |
Maharashtra |
Kerala |
|
2001-02 |
Mumbai |
Kerala |
Goa |
|
2002-03 |
Imphal |
Manipur |
Kerala |
|
2004-05 |
Delhi |
Kerala |
Punjab |
|
2005-06 |
Kochi |
Goa |
Maharashtra |
|
2006-07 |
Gurgaon |
Punjab |
West Bengal |
|
2007-08 |
Srinagar |
Punjab |
Services |
|
2008-09 |
Chennai |
Goa |
West Bengal |
|
2009-10 |
Kolkata |
West Bengal |
Punjab |
|
2010-11 |
Guwahati |
West Bengal |
Manipur |
|
2011-12 |
Odisha |
Services |
Tamil Nadu |
|
2012-13 |
Kochi |
Services |
Kerala |
|
2013-14 |
Siliguri |
Mizoram |
Railways |
|
2014-15 |
Ludhiana |
Services |
Punjab |
|
2015-16 |
Nagpur |
Services |
Maharashtra |
|
2016-17 |
Goa |
West Bengal |
Goa |
|
2017-18 |
Kolkata |
Kerala |
West Bengal |
|
2018-19 |
Ludhiana |
Services |
Punjab |
|
2021-22 |
Manjeri |
Kerala |
West Bengal |
|
2022-23 |
Riyadh |
Karnataka |
Meghalaya |
|
2023-24 |
Yupia |
Services | Goa |
Most successful teams in Santosh Trophy: Titles won by each team
|
Team |
Titles |
Last win |
|
West Bengal |
32 |
2016-17 |
|
Punjab |
8 |
2007-08 |
|
Kerala |
7 |
2021-22 |
|
Services |
7 |
2023-24 |
|
Goa |
5 |
2008-09 |
|
Mysore/Karnataka |
5 |
2022-23 |
|
Bombay/Maharashtra |
4 |
1999-00 |
|
Railways |
3 |
1966-67 |
|
Hyderabad/Telangana |
2 |
1957-58 |
|
Andhra Pradesh |
1 |
1965-66 |
|
Delhi |
1 |
1944-45 |
|
Manipur |
1 |
2002-03 |
|
Mizoram |
1 |
2013-14 |
Photo credit: Alamy
