The 2008 I-League U19 was the first edition of the

I-League U19 The Youth League, also known as Hero Youth League for sponsorship reasons, is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the All India Football Federation. It consists of 3 age groups competitions: U17 (E ...

as replacement for the

National Football League (Under-19) The National Football League (Under-19) (NFL Under-19) was an annual played a youth league competition featuring football clubs from India. Founded in 2001 through the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the NFL was the first youth football ...

which was folded before. The tournament was held in September 2008 in Jamshedpur,

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

with the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

and

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

youth teams and academies. All teams played the other teams in their group once and the group winners (4 group winners) and second placed (4 second placed) play in the quarterfinals. The winner qualifies for the semifinals and its winners play in the final. The

Tata Football Academy Tata Football Academy (Tata FA or TFA) is an association football academy situated in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India, sponsored by Tata Steel, which owns ISL outfit Jamshedpur FC. It is one of the renowned football academies in India. History ...

won the first edition of the youth league.

Group Stage

The 16 participating teams were divided into four groups and played against each other. The group winner and the second placed made it to the next round.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Final round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

References

{{Youth League U18 2008–09 in Indian football Youth football in India I-League U19 seasons