The Delhi Football League is a ladder-based

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

competition in the Indian union territory of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, organised by

Football Delhi Football Delhi, also known as Delhi Soccer Association, is one of the 36 Indian state football associations that are affiliated to the All India Football Federation. It is the governing body of Association football, football-related sports in t ...

(FD) as part of the state leagues. Delhi Premier League is the top division, started in 1948 as DSA Senior Division.

History

The first parent body of Delhi football was formed in 1926, with professor Mohammed Zubair Qureishi as secretary. There was no proper local league but the clubs used to participate in private tournaments organised by sport enthusiasts. Due to the violence and upheaval caused by the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

, the Delhi League was suspended after 1946. It resumed in 1948 and the oldest club in the capital Young Men has won it that year. From 1948 onwards, the Delhi League took a particular shape. It had three divisions. The top 10 teams played in the A division, on a double-leg basis, with all matches being held at the Ambedkar Stadium, earlier known as the Delhi Gate Stadium. The B and C division matches took place at either the nearby Crescent Ground or the President's Estate Ground. Except for transport allowance, kit and refreshment, there was no payment to the players. However, club officials would strive to get their top players jobs in leading public sector concerns like Delhi Audit, Northern Railway,

State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...

Central Secretariat Service Central Secretariat Service (; abbreviated as CSS) is the Public administration, administrative Civil Services of India, civil service under Group A and Group B of the Central Civil Services of India, Central Civil Services of the executive bra ...

, Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking (DESU),

Food Corporation of India The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is a public sector company. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, formed by the enactment of Food Corporation Act, 1964 by the Parliament of India. Its t ...

(FCI) and so on. A competitive institutional league was also held annually.

Structure

Delhi Premier League

Delhi Premier League, previously known as ''Football Delhi Senior Division League'' (''FD Senior Division'') and ''DSA Senior Division'', is the top state-level football league in Delhi and level 5 of

Indian football league system The Indian football league system is the league structure of football club competitions in India. The highest level of men's club football competition is the Indian Super League. Indian Women's League, founded in 2016, is the highest level of ...

. It is also the highest level inter-city league played in the capital. Competition is conducted by Football Delhi, official governing body of Delhi region under

AIFF AIFF may refer to: * Audio Interchange File Format * All India Football Federation, the national governing body of Association football in India Film festivals * Addis International Film Festival, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia * Alexandria Internation ...

. Most players from this league are selected to represent

for

Santosh Trophy The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), th ...

Clubs

Eleven clubs competed in the first edition.

Champions

FD Senior Division League

Football Delhi Senior Division League is the second tier of Delhi Football League system.

FD A-Division

Football Delhi A-Division is the third tier of Delhi Football League system.

FD B-Division

Football Delhi B-Division is the fourth tier of Delhi Football League system.

FD C-Division

Football Delhi C-Division is the fifth tier of Delhi Football League system.

Champions of the top-most division

The Delhi League was started in 1948, but has not been finished on some occasions. From 1985, a new format, Super League (two groups followed by knock-out semifinals and final), was adopted.

References

External links

* (Football Delhi official) {{Sports leagues of India Regional Football leagues in India Football in Delhi