The 1968–69 Santosh Trophy was the 25th edition of the

Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state football leagues in India, state-level association football, football competition contested by the L ...

, the main

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

competition for

football in India Football in India has historically been among the top 3 most popular sport in terms of players participation and TV viewership, together with long time number one cricket and re-emerging kabaddi. India's current top domestic football league is ...

. It was held from 23 February to 29 March 1969 in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...

. The home team

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

beat

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

1–0 in the final.

Group stage

Knockout stage

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

entered the quarter-finals after its victory against

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

in the group stage. However,

and

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

made the quarter-finals after their wins over

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the eas ...

and

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

respectively in the pre-quarter-finals.

Pre-quarter-finals

Quarter-finals

Replay Second replay

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played in two legs; all games including the final were played at the

Sree Kanteerava Stadium Sree Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium, also known as Sampangi Outdoor Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Bangalore, India. It houses a running track, a volleyball court, and two outdoor rock climbing walls. The stadium is owned by the Department o ...

. The first semi-final was played between

and

. After the two legs ended with the teams level at a 3–3 aggregate, a coin toss was held to decide the team that would progress to the Final. A confusion followed with both captains claiming to have won the toss, before the tournament committee of the Mysore State Football Association and officials of the

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry ...

decided that another match be played to decide the victor. Madras withdrew protesting their decision for the replay which meant Mysore went through to the Final. The Madras Football Association stated that the "replay is against the rules of the championship and in spite of the fact that the Madras captain called correctly during the toss of the coin..." It further added, "It may be mentioned that the rules of the championship do not provide for a toss but only for a draw of lots." The second semi-final was played between

and Maharashtra. Both legs ended in 1–1 draws, and Bengal proceeded to the Final after a lot was drawn in their favour.

First leg

Second leg

Final

The Final was contested by Mysore and Bengal on 26 March 1969. The match ended in a goalless draw and was replayed on 29 March. The replay which was announced to be played on 30 March was later brought back by a day. Mysore won the replay 1–0 with Doraiswamy Nataraj scoring for them in the 67th minute.

Replay

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santosh Trophy 1968-1969 1968–69 in Indian football Santosh Trophy seasons