Welcome To Durand Football
The Durand Football Tournament was started at Shimla in the year 1888 by Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, then, the Foreign Secretary to British India. The tournament is the third oldest football tournament in the world and oldest in Asia and India. It first began as a football tournament for different departments and regiments of Armed Forces of British and native India. The original tournament committee had the Political Secretary as ex-officio President and the local military officer as Honorary Secretary. The Viceroy and Commander-in-Chief were the Patron-in-Chief and Vice Patron-in-Chief respectively.
The The Durand Tournament was initially a military affair, open to the regular Army and other military units such as provincial frontier security regiments and volunteer reserve regiments of British India. The tournament was played at Dagshai, which is at a short distance from Shimla. It was suspended during World War-I, from year 1914 to 1919 and was revived in year 1921 and thereafter continued as an All India Inter Regiment Football Competition till 1939 at Shimla, the summer capital of British Rule. In 1940, the Durand Football Championship was held at Delhi. In the same year, civil teams were also given permission to participate in Durand Tournament. That year, Mohammedan Sporting Club won the tournament to record the first ever victory of a civilian team and lifted the coveted trophy. The Durand Committee suspended the Durand Tournament from 1941 to 1949 during the period of Second World War and started it again in 1950.
After independence, from 1947 to 1949, there was heavy pressure to shift the tournament to Lahore as it was claimed by Pakistan. The Three Service Chiefs and Sh. H.M. Patel, ICS, Defence Secretary intervened successfully and resisted the move. It was at their behest that the tournament was re-started in Delhi in the year 1950. From 1950 onwards, it was annually staged in Delhi till 2013. From 2013 to 2018 the tournament was shifted to Goa and thereafter has been played in Kolkata and some North Eastern states till date due to the popularity of the sport there. This is the only Football Tournament in the country which is organized and managed by the Armed Forces solely to promote the football in the country.
The President’s Cup
Presented for the first time by Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, this trophy was given to the winning team permanently. It is designed with a circular disc atop the Ashoka Lion Capital.
The Durand Cup
In 1965, the Durand Football Tournament Society declared the Durand Cup as a rolling trophy. Since then the winning team kept the trophy for a year and returned it before the next edition.
The Simla Trophy
By 1903, the Simla locals were hugely attached to the historic tournament and the carnival it brought with it. The public donated to present another rolling trophy to the winning team and therefore the name Simla trophy.
Durand Football Tournament Society
Shri H.M. Patel, ICS, Defence Secretary, the first President of the Tournament Committee, advised that the tournament should be registered under the Societies Act, so that the tournament not be claimed by any other organization. Accordingly, on 20 Dec 1958, the Durand Tournament got registered under the Societies Registration Act as ‘Durand Football Tournament Society’. It was also stipulated in the Rules, Regulations and Bye Laws of the Society that the Durand Football Tournament Society would be headed by the three Service Chiefs.
The main aim of Durand Football Tournament Society is to promote Football in the country by conducting Durand tournament annually. The tournament is open to all club teams in the country and conducted under the aegis of All India Football Federation. Durand Tournament emerged as the most prestigious tournament in the country along with IFA Shield of Calcutta and Rovers Football Tournament of Mumbai. Amongst these tournaments, Durand Cup has maintained its original character, vision and prestige. The support of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), Sports Ministry, Govt of India and the three Services has been most forthcoming.
Present Format
The tournament was moved to Goa in 2014 and then to Kolkata since 2019. The tournament is conducted on League cum Knockout format. In the 133rd Edition of Durand Cup (2024), 24 teams participated including two services teams from Bangladesh and Nepal. NationalI-League Teams are seeded directly in league round and Services Football Champion team is also seeded directly to Quarter Final round.
Current Status
The 133rd Edition of Durand Cup(2024) was conducted at Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Shillong and Kokrajhar from 26 Jul to 31 Aug 2024. The final match was graced by General Anil Chauhan, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM,Chief of Defence Staff, Chairman COSC & President DFTS, GOC-in-C Eastern Command& other Govt officials/dignitaries. The winner of 133rd Edition was North East United FC which defeated Mohun Bagan SG in penalty shootouts with score 2(2) - 2(3).
Envisaged Future
Durand Football Tournament Society has taken a transformative approach to better the conduct of the Tournament. While the vision would remain the same i.e. promote football as an important and popular sport in the country, there is a thought to improve the format of conduct to make the event more attractive and popular.
Participating Teams
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