Santhosh Trophy

The Santosh Trophy is a football knock-out competition played by regional state associations and government institutions affiliated with the All India Football Federation (AIFF), India's governing body in Sports.

It is named after late Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh (now in Bangladesh), who was the head of West Bengal's football organisation at the time (which later became the Indian Football Association).

Prior to the establishment of India's first national club league, the National Football League, in 1996, the Santosh Trophy was regarded as the country's top domestic championship in India.

The tournament is conducted once a year and features 37 teams separated into groups that must qualify for the tournament properly through the preliminary stage.

The runners-up trophy is known as the Kamla Gupta Trophy, and it was presented in honour of his wife by late Dr. S.K. Gupta, former president of the Indian Football Association. 

The trophy awarded to the third-placed team is known as the Sampangi Cup, and it was established in 1952 by the Mysore Football Association (now KFSA) in remembrance of Sampangi, a well-known Mysore player.


Basic Facts

  • Started in – 1941.
  • Named After – Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary.
  • The runners-up trophy is known as – Kamla Gupta Trophy.
  • First Santosh Trophy matches were played in – Calcutta.
  • Winners of the first Santosh Trophy –  Bengal.
    • Defeated Delhi (5-1)
  • First Santosh Trophy tournament in Kerala was held at – Ernakulam (Twelfth Santosh Trophy, 1955).
  • Kerala first won the Santosh Trophy in the Year – 1973 (Thirty Santosh Trophy).
    • Captain of the first Santosh Trophy winning team of Kerala – T.K. Subramanian / T.K. Mani / Captain Mani.
    • Defeated Services  (3-2).
    • Coach – Simon Sunderraj.
    • Vice-captain – T. A. Jaffar.
    • Venue – Maharaja’s College Stadium, Kochi.
  • First Malayali captain to win the Santosh Trophy – O. Chandrasekharan (Captain of Maharashtra Team, 1963).
  • Years Kerala won the Santosh Trophy – 7 times.
    • 1973, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2004, 2017, 2022.
  • Kerala's first title outside South India – 2001.
  • The team that has won the Santosh Trophy for the most no of times – West Bengal (32 wins).
    • and 14 runners up finishes for a total of 46 final appearances.
  • Punjab has the second highest number of wins (8 times).
  • Kerala ranks third with Services in number of wins (7 times).


Santosh Trophy Winners (1941-2023)

Below is the list of Santosh Trophy winners from 1941 to 2023:

YearWinnersRunners up
1941West Bengal (Bengal)Delhi
1944DelhiWest Bengal (Bengal)
1945West Bengal (Bengal)Maharashtra (Bombay)
1946Karnataka (Mysore)West Bengal (Bengal)
1947West Bengal (Bengal)Maharashtra (Bombay)
1949West Bengal (Bengal)Hyderabad
1950West Bengal (Bengal)Hyderabad
1951West Bengal (Bengal)Maharashtra (Bombay)
1952Karnataka (Mysore)West Bengal (Bengal)
1953West Bengal (Bengal)Karnataka (Mysore)
1954Maharashtra (Bombay)Services
1955West Bengal (Bengal)Karnataka (Mysore)
1956HyderabadMaharashtra (Bombay)
1957HyderabadMaharashtra (Bombay)
1958West Bengal (Bengal)Services
1959West Bengal (Bengal)Maharashtra (Bombay)
1960ServicesWest Bengal (Bengal)
1961RailwaysMaharashtra (Bombay)
1962West Bengal (Bengal)Karnataka (Mysore)
1963MaharashtraAndhra Pradesh
1964RailwaysWest Bengal (Bengal)
1965Andhra PradeshWest Bengal (Bengal)
1966RailwaysServices
1967Karnataka (Mysore)West Bengal (Bengal)
1968Karnataka (Mysore)West Bengal (Bengal)
1969West Bengal (Bengal)Services
1970PunjabKarnataka (Mysore)
1971West Bengal (Bengal)Railways
1972West Bengal (Bengal)Tamil Nadu
1973KeralaRailways
1974PunjabWest Bengal (Bengal)
1975West Bengal (Bengal)Karnataka
1976West Bengal (Bengal)Maharashtra
1977West Bengal (Bengal)Punjab
1978West Bengal (Bengal)Goa
1979West Bengal (Bengal)Punjab
1980PunjabRailways
1981West Bengal (Bengal)Railways
1982West Bengal (Bengal) and GoaNA
1983GoaPunjab
1984PunjabMaharashtra
1985PunjabWest Bengal (Bengal)
1986West Bengal (Bengal)Railways
1987PunjabKerala
1988West Bengal (Bengal)Kerala
1989GoaKerala
1990MaharashtraKerala
1991KeralaGoa
1992KeralaMaharashtra
1993West Bengal (Bengal)Kerala
1994West Bengal (Bengal)Punjab
1995West Bengal (Bengal)Goa
1996West Bengal (Bengal)Goa
1997West Bengal (Bengal)Goa
1998West Bengal (Bengal)Goa
1999MaharashtraKerala
2001KeralaGoa
2002ManipurKerala
2003KeralaPunjab
2005GoaMaharashta
2006PunjabWest Bengal
2007PunjabServices
2008GoaWest Bengal
2009West BengalPunjab
2010West BengalManipur
2011ServicesTamil Nadu
2012ServicesKerala
2013MizoramRailways
2014ServicesPunjab
2015ServicesMaharashtra
2016West BengalGoa
2017KeralaWest Bengal
2018ServicesPunjab
2021KeralaWest Bengal
2022KarnatakaMeghalaya
2023ServicesGoa


75th Santosh Trophy 2021-22



The details of the 75th Santosh Trophy Tournament of 2021-22 that was hosted by Kerala is given below:

  • Winners of 75th Santosh Trophy Tournament – Kerala.
    • Kerala beat West Bengal 6-5 in the penalty shootout.
  • Kerala’s third win in a Santosh Trophy tournament on home soil.
  • Venue – Manjeri Payyanad Stadium (Malappuram, Kerala).
  • Captain of  the Kerala Team –  Jijo Joseph.
  • Coach of the Kerala Team – Bino Goerge.
  • Player of the Tournament –  Jijo Joseph.
  • Top scorer – Jesin T.K. (9 Goals).

Captains of Santosh Trophy Winning Teams of Kerala

The following table lists the year in which Kerala won Santosh Trophy and the captains who led the winning teams:

YearCaptain
1973 T.K. Mani
1992V. P. Sathyan
1993Kurikesh Mathew
2001V. Sivakumar
2004Sylvester Ignatius
2017Rahul V. Raj
2022Jijo Joseph

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