List of Indian football champions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Indian football champions are the winners of the highest league in Indian men's football, which is currently the Indian Super League.
Indian Football League (1st tier) |
---|
National Football League (1996–2007) I-League (2007–2017) I-League & Indian Super League (2017–2022) Indian Super League (2022–present) |
Country |
India |
Founded |
1996 |
Number of teams (from 2024–25) |
13 |
Current Champions |
Mohun Bagan SG |
Most successful club |
Mohun Bagan SG (6 titles)[1] |
Though Indian football tournaments dates back to the eighteenth century, a proper league system was established in 1996 with the commencement of National Football League (NFL). Since its inception in the 1996–97 season, the champions of the NFL were considered as the national champions. However, after the 2006–07 season of the NFL, the league was rebranded as the I-League. Since 2007–08 season, the I-League champions were considered the national champions until 2016–17 season. Since 2017–18 season the ISL became the joint premier football league of the country along with I-League upto 2021–22 season. Since 2022–23 season ISL became the only top tier football league of the country and hence ISL champions are considered as the national champions. However, the winners of the ISL play-offs were considered as the ISL champions since its inception in 2014.
There are 12 clubs who have won either the National Football League or the I-League and 6 clubs who have won the Indian Super League since the league became the joint top division in India. JCT were the first club to have won any championship, winning the 1996–97 NFL. Mohun Bagan Super Giant are the most successful club via winning championships six times. They won the NFL thrice, I-League twice and ISL once.