Santosh Trophy is an Indian football tournament in which the states of the country along with some government institutions participate. This is held annually since 1941. Bengal was the first winner of the competition held in 1941. Kerala and Goa are placed at 3rd position with 5 trophies each. Bengal have won Santosh Trophy a record 31 times, followed by Punjab who have won it 8 times.

History of Santhosh Trophy:

Santosh Trophy has become a launch pad for players to get selected for I-League which was introduced as National Football League in 1996. The trophy is named after the late Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh, now in Bangladesh.

Tournament Structure:

The format for the tournament has kept changing over the years. At present, the teams are divided into eight groups, each of which has three or four teams. The eight winners from each group are then drawn along with four seeded teams, who do not have to go through qualifying round, and these twelve teams are divided in groups of three each. This is the quarter final stage and from there the semi-final and final.

Santhosh Trophy (Summary)