Shimla-the birthplace of the Durand Cup and the Indian Air Force ...

Football-Hope of salvation
By Poonam Talwar Sayal
Football has long been one of the most popular street
sports of India. Most kids dabble with football in one
form or the other during their growing up years, be it
with an actual football, a tennis ball, a stone, an empty
tin or simply a scrunched up piece of foil! However despite this
apparent innate leaning towards the sport, football has not been
able to make a significant mark on our national sports scene.
‘Bend it like Beckham’ an inspiring movie on women’s football
has been an all season favourite, so much so that it inspired my
daughters to take on football as a sport. Now Durand Cup and
football clubs are regular meal time discussion topics. And so
the end of the JCT Football Club, a great football legend had
us delving into the depths of ‘football-ing’ in India, its glorious
birth and tragic decline!
The history of football in India can be traced back to the preindependent
period, when the British introduced the game to
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the sub-continent. Kolkata (previously Calcutta) became the
hub of Indian football and initial matches were played between
army teams. The first football game was organized in 1854
between the ‘Calcutta Club of Civilians’ and the ‘Gentlemen of
Barrackpore’!
The sport soon found its way into civilian society and ‘Calcutta
FC’, the first football club of India was founded in 1872. Soon
many football clubs mushroomed in Kolkata and nearby areas
including the famous Mohun Bagan Athletic Club (later named
as the National Club of India), which came into existence
in 1889. Even today, Kolkata is considered to be the home of
Indian football and its existence as an organised sport is almost
entirely shouldered by the north eastern states of West Bengal,
Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
The Indian Football Association (IFA) was created in 1893 and
five years later, in 1898 the Durand Cup, which is the oldest