National Football League (India)

For other uses, see NFL (disambiguation).

National Football League

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Country	India
Confederation	AFC
Founded	1996
Folded	2007
Divisions	1 (1996) 2 (1997–2005) 3 (2006-2007)
Number of teams	10
Level on pyramid	1 (1996-2006)
Domestic cup(s)	Federation Cup
International cup(s)	Asian Club Championship
Last champions	Dempo S.C. (2006–07)
Most championships	Mohun Bagan A.C. East Bengal Club (3 titles each)

The National Football League (commonly known as the NFL) was an association football league competition in India between 1996 and 2007 which was organised into three divisions. The league is now transformed into the I-League and continues with that name. The Premier Division of the league was first introduced in 1996, though the country already had a long history in the sport thanks to the likes of the IFA Shield and the Federation Cup. In fact, the Santosh Trophy (started in 1941) was the top football competition in the country before the then National Football League started.

A Second Division was added to the league in 1997, as Football in India grew to challenge cricket for the title of India's most popular sport. Between the divisions each year two teams were relegated and two teams were promoted. By 2006 a Third Division was added but that did not matter as by this time this would be the last year for the NFL; it was replaced in 2007 by the I-League which focuses on completely turning Indian football into a professional sport.

List of Champions

Year	Champions (number of titles)	Runners-up	Third place	Top goalscorer	Goals
1996-97	JCT FC (1)	Churchill Brothers S.C.	Kingfisher East Bengal FC	Baichung Bhutia	14
1997-98	Mohun Bagan AC (1)	Kingfisher East Bengal FC	Salgaocar SC	Raman Vijayan	10
1998-99	Salgaocar SC (1)	Kingfisher East Bengal FC	Churchill Brothers S.C.	Philip Mensa	11
1999-2000	Mohun Bagan AC (2)	Churchill Brothers S.C.	Salgaocar SC	Igor Shkvyrin	11
2000-01	Kingfisher East Bengal FC (1)	Mohun Bagan AC	Churchill Brothers SC	Jose Barreto	14
2001-02	Mohun Bagan AC (3)	Churchill Brothers S.C.	Vasco SC	Yusif Yakubu	18
2002-03	Kingfisher East Bengal FC (2)	Salgaocar SC	Vasco SC	Yusif Yakubu	21
2003-04	Kingfisher East Bengal FC (3)	Dempo SC	Mahindra United	Cristiano Junior	15
2004-05	Dempo SC (1)	Sporting Clube de Goa	Kingfisher East Bengal FC	Dudu Omagbemi	21
2005-06	Mahindra United (1)	Kingfisher East Bengal FC	Mohun Bagan AC	Ranty Martins	13
2006-07	Dempo SC (2)	JCT FC	Mahindra United	Ranty Martins Odafe Okolie	16

All-time NFL member clubs

Original 12 Clubs

• JCT FC (1996-2007) - defunct
• East Bengal Club (1996-2007)
• Salgaocar S.C. (1996-2006)
• Indian Bank (1996-1999, 2002-2004)
• Dempo S.C. (1996-2000, 2002-2007)
• Air India FC (1996-1998, 1999-2000, 2005–2007)
• Churchill Brothers S.C. (1996-2005, 2006-2007)
• Mahindra United (1996-2007) - defunct
• Mohammedan SC (1996-1997, 2003-2004, 2005–2007)
• Kerala Police F.C. (1996-1997) - defunct
• Mohun Bagan A.C. (1996-2007)
• Indian Telephone Industries Limited (1996-1997, 1998-2003) - defunct

Other First Division Clubs

In order of there promotion to the First Division.

• FC Kochin (1997-2002) - defunct
• Tollygunge Agragami (1998-2005)
• State Bank of Travancore (1999-2001, 2004-2005)
• Border Security Force SC (1999-2000)
• Vasco S.C. (2000-2005)
• Punjab Police FC (2001-2002)
• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited S.C. (2002-2003, 2006-2007)
• Sporting Clube de Goa (2003-2007)
• Fransa-Pax FC (2004-2006)