The Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament was an annual football tournament first held in Colombo, Ceylon. It was also alternatively known as Colombo Cup. Established in 1952 by the Ceylon Football Association as a part of the Colombo Fair, the national sides of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) and Burma played each other in a round robin tournament. The tournament was last played in 1955. In 1953 it was hosted in Rangoon, Burma, in 1954 at Calcutta, India, and finally at Dacca, East Pakistan.[1][2]
| Organising body | Ceylon Football Association |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1952 |
| Abolished | 1955 |
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Most successful team(s) |  India (4 titles) |
Background
editEstablished in 1952 by the Ceylon Football Association as a part of the Colombo Exhibition, it was Initially scheduled for March 1952 to coincide with princess Elizabeth II visit to Ceylon, the event was canceled due to the death of King George VI, which led to the cancellation of her visit.[1]
The trophy awarded to the winner of the tournament was called the Colombo Cup. The competition featured four countries from the former British Raj: Burma, Ceylon, India, and Pakistan.[3][4][5] It was commonly referred to as the Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament or sometimes simply the Quadrangular Tournament.[1][6][7][8]
The success of the 1952 event led the four countries to agree to hold annual tournaments, with each country hosting in turn and additional trophies being awarded alongside the Colombo Cup. For example, the Burma Bowl was introduced in 1953, and the Pakistan Silver Cup in 1955.[1][9]
However, after the fourth tournament in 1955, plans for the next edition in March 1957 in Ceylon fell through. The Ceylon government withheld funding, and the All-India Football Federation withdrew, arguing that the Olympic Games and the Asian Games already provided enough international competition. In January 1958, there was a proposal for Ceylon and India to continue the Colombo Cup competition alone, but India rejected the idea.[1]
Results
edit| Year | Host | Winner | Runner-up | 3rd Place | 4th place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 Details |
Colombo, Ceylon |  India  Pakistan (Trophy shared)[10] |
None |  Ceylon  Burma |
None |
| 1953 Details |
Rangoon, Burma[11] | India |
Pakistan |
Burma |
Ceylon |
| 1954 Details |
Calcutta, India | India |
Ceylon |
Pakistan |
Burma |
| 1955 Details |
Dacca, Pakistan | India |
Pakistan |
Burma |
Ceylon |
Stadiums
edit| Year | Stadium | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Colombo Oval | Colombo, Ceylon |
| 1953 | Aung San Stadium | Rangoon, Burma |
| 1954 | Calcutta FC Ground | Calcutta, India |
| 1955 | Dacca Stadium | Dacca, East Pakistan |
Statistics
editPerformance by nation
edit| Team | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| India
|
4 (1952, 1953, 1954*, 1955) | ||
 Pakistan
|
1 (1952) | 2 (1953, 1955) | 1 (1954) |
 Sri Lanka
|
1 (1954) | 1 (1952) | |
 Burma
|
3 (1952, 1953, 1954) |
- * = host
Top goal scorers by edition
edit
| Years | Player(s) | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Sheoo Mewalal
|
4 |
| 1953 | Samuel
|
4 |
| 1954 | Puran Bahadur Thapa
|
4 |
| 1955 | Pradip Kumar Banerjee
|
5 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e "Asian Quadrangular Tournament (Colombo Cup) 1952-1955".
- ^ "The Indian National Team at the Colombo Cup". www.indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 2003-06-13.
- ^ "Remembering Moideen Kutty, the 'iron man' from Kerala who captained Pakistan football team". The Indian Express. 2023-06-20. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
- ^ "1965: The year India, Pakistan began sparring in sports". The Times of India. 2015-08-31. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
- ^ "Sri Lanka Sports News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers". archives.dailynews.lk. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
- ^ "Ahmed Khan, part of India's Asian Games gold-winning football team, passes away". Firstpost. 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
- ^ "Sri Lanka beat Burma 2 - 1 to get first international win in football". archives.sundayobserver.lk. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
- ^ "'Pradip da will remain alive in our hearts': AIFF condoles legendary PK Banerjee's death". Hindustan Times. 20 March 2020.
- ^ "HT This Day: Nov 1, 1953 -- India win Asian soccer cup". Hindustan Times. 31 October 2022.
- ^ "History in Timeline of Indian Football". All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
- ^ "Quadrangular Football: India's Win". The Indian Express. Rangoon, Burma. 25 October 1953. p. 9. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.