| 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 | |
| Most successful club | |
| Mohun Bagan (6 titles)[1] |
Though Indian football tournaments dates back to the eighteenth century, a proper league system. the National Football League (NFL) was established in 1996, playing it first season in 1996–97. Its champions were considered the national champions. After the 2006–07 season, the NFL was rebranded, becoming the I-League with its champions continuing to be considered national champions until 2017, when the Indian Super League (ISL) became the country's joint premier football league. In 2022, ISL became the only top tier football league of the country. ISL playoffs winners were considered as ISL champions until 2021–22 season. Later from 2022–23 season, ISL champions designation was awarded to the table toppers.
There are 12 clubs who have won either the National Football League or the I-League and championships and six 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 are the most successful club, winning championships six times, NFL three times, I-League twice and ISL once.
The first Indian football league, the National Football League (NFL) was an association football league competition in India which was organised into three divisions. The Premier Division of the league was first introduced in 1996, though the country already had a long history in the sport thanks to the likes of the IFA Shield and the Federation Cup. The league though is now transformed into the I-League and continues with that name. The change was supposed to bring more popularity to Indian Football. The first league season of I-League consisted of eight teams from the NFL plus two promoted teams from the former Division Two.
The 1996–97 Indian National Football League was the first season of the NFL and ended with JCT Mills FC being crowned champions. The NFL era though saw Kolkata clubs East Bengal and Mohun Bagan had the most championships with three respectively. The I-League era is different though as most of the champions of the league have come from Goa.
Currently, the team with the most championships in I-League is Dempo who have won three championships in the league.
In 2014, a new football league named Indian Super League has started. In its first three seasons it was running without recognition from the AFC. Before 2017–18 season, ISL got recognition from Asian Football Confederation (AFC). In July 2017, it was proposed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) that the Indian Super League champion be granted a spot in the AFC Cup, Asia's second-tier club competition.[2] On 25 July 2017, the AFC approved the AIFF's proposal. Thus, from the 2017–18 season, the Indian Super League champions were allowed to participate in the AFC Cup from the qualification stages of the competition.[2] Meanwhile, India's spot in the AFC Champions League, Asia's top club competition, was still kept by the I-League;[2] thus two leagues were parallelly running in the country. In October 2019, a roadmap for development of league in India was proposed. All stakeholders accepted the proposal where it was announced that ISL premiers would now be entitled to the AFC Champions League, starting from 2021 edition and the I-League champion will get to play the AFC Cup.[3] From 2022–23 season the AFC Cup slot from I-League has been transferred to Super Cup and ISL became the only top tier League in India.
| Season(s) | Format | |
|---|---|---|
| 1996–2017 | National Football League/I-League first placed team | |
| 2017–2022 | Both I-League first placed team and Indian Super League playoffs winners | |
| 2022–present | Indian Super League first placed team |
From 2017–18 season until 2021–22 season, I-League and Indian Super League shared joint top flight status in Indian Football
| Season | Champions (number of titles) | Runners-up | Third place | Winning manager | Leading goalscorers (Club) | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Minerva Punjab | NEROCA | Mohun Bagan | Khogen Singh |  Aser Pierrick Dipanda (Mohun Bagan) | 13 | |
| 2018–19 | Chennai City | East Bengal | Real Kashmir |  Akbar Nawas |  Pedro Manzi (Chennai City)Willis Plaza (Churchill Brothers) | 21 | |
| 2019–20 | Mohun Bagan (5) | Not awarded | Kibu Vicuña | Aser Pierrick Dipanda (Punjab) | 12 | ||
| 2020–21 | Gokulam Kerala | Churchill Brothers | TRAU |  Vincenzo Alberto Annese | Bidyashagar Singh (TRAU) | 12 | |
| 2021–22 | Gokulam Kerala (2) | Mohammedan | Sreenidi Deccan | Vincenzo Alberto Annese | Marcus Joseph (Mohammedan) | 16 | |
| Season | Champions (number of titles) | Runners-up | League Winners Shield/Premiers | Regular season runners-up | Winning manager (Champions) | Leading goalscorers (Club) | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Chennaiyin | Bengaluru | Didn't exist | John Gregory | Coro (Goa) | 18 | ||
| 2018–19 | Bengaluru (3) | Goa | Carles Cuadrat | Coro (Goa) | 16 | |||
| 2019–20 | ATK | Chennaiyin | Goa | ATK | Antonio Lopez Habas | Roy Krishna (ATK) Nerijus Valskis (Chennaiyin)  Bartholomew Ogbeche (Kerala Blasters) | 15 | |
| 2020–21 | Mumbai City | Mohun Bagan | Mumbai City | Mohun Bagan | Sergio Lobera | Igor Angulo (Goa) Roy Krishna (Mohun Bagan) | 14 | |
| 2021–22 | Hyderabad | Kerala Blasters | Jamshedpur | Hyderabad | Manolo Márquez | Bartholomew Ogbeche (Hyderabad) | 18 | |
| Season | Champions/League Winners Shield (number of titles)[4] | Regular season runners-up | Playoffs Winners | Playoffs Runners-up | Winning manager (Champions) | Leading goalscorers (Club) | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–23 | Mumbai City (2) | Hyderabad | Mohun Bagan | Bengaluru | Des Buckingham |  Diego Maurício (Odisha) Cleiton Silva (East Bengal) Dimitri Petratos (ATK Mohun Bagan) | 12 | |
| 2023–24 | Mohun Bagan (6)[5] | Mumbai City (2) | Mohun Bagan | Antonio López Habas | Dimitrios Diamantakos (Kerala Blasters) Roy Krishna (Odisha) | 13 |
There are 12 clubs who have won either the National Football League or the I-League. There are also 6 clubs who have won the Indian Super League since the league became the joint top division in India.
Teams in bold will compete in the Indian Super League for the 2024–25 season.
| Rank | Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning seasons | Runners-up seasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohun Bagan | 6 | 5 | 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2014–15, 2019–20, 2023–24 | 2000–01, 2008–09, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2020–21 |
| 2 | Dempo | 5 | 1 | 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12 | 2003–04 |
| 3 | East Bengal | 3 | 7 | 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04 | 1997–98, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2018–19 |
| 4 | Bengaluru | 3 | 2 | 2013–14, 2015–16, 2018–19 | 2014–15, 2017–18 |
| 5 | Churchill Brothers | 2 | 6 | 2008–09, 2012–13 | 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2020–21 |
| 6 | Salgaocar | 2 | 1 | 1998–99, 2010–11 | 2002–03 |
| Mumbai City | 2 | 1 | 2023–24 | ||
| 7 | Gokulam Kerala | 2 | 0 | 2020–21, 2021–22 | - |
| 8 | JCT | 1 | 1 | 1996–97 | 2006–07 |
| Chennaiyin | 1 | 1 | 2017–18 | 2019–20 | |
| Hyderabad | 1 | 1 | 2022–23 | ||
| 9 | Mahindra United | 1 | 0 | 2005–06 | - |
| Aizawl | 1 | 0 | 2016–17 | - | |
| Minerva Punjab | 1 | 0 | 2017–18 | - | |
| Chennai City | 1 | 0 | 2018–19 | - | |
| ATK | 1 | 0 | 2019–20 | - | |
| Sporting Goa | 0 | 1 | — | 2004–05 | |
| Pune | 0 | 1 | — | 2012–13 | |
| NEROCA | 0 | 1 | — | 2017–18 | |
| Goa | 0 | 1 | — | 2018–19 | |
| Kerala Blasters | 0 | 1 | — | 2021–22 | |
| Mohammedan | 0 | 1 | — | 2021–22 |
| State | Championships | Clubs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Bengal | 10 | Mohun Bagan (6), East Bengal (3), ATK (1) | |
| Goa | 9 | Dempo (5), Churchill Brothers (2), Salgaocar (2) | |
| Karnataka | 3 | Bengaluru (3) | |
| Maharashtra | 3 | Mumbai City (2), Mahindra United (1) | |
| Punjab | 2 | JCT (1), Minerva Punjab (1) | |
| Tamil Nadu | 2 | Chennaiyin (1), Chennai City (1) | |
| Kerala | 2 | Gokulam Kerala (2) | |
| Mizoram | 1 | Aizawl (1) | |
| Telangana | 1 | Hyderabad (1) |
| City / Town | State | Championships | Clubs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kolkata | West Bengal | 10 | Mohun Bagan (6), East Bengal (3), ATK (1) | |
| Panaji | Goa | 5 | Dempo (5) | |
| Bangalore | Karnataka | 3 | Bengaluru (3) | |
| Mumbai | Maharashtra | 3 | Mumbai City (2), Mahindra United (1) | |
| Margao | Goa | 2 | Churchill Brothers (2) | |
| Vasco da Gama | Goa | 2 | Salgaocar (2) | |
| Kozhikode | Kerala | 2 | Gokulam Kerala (2) | |
| Aizawl | Mizoram | 1 | Aizawl (1) | |
| Chennai | Tamil Nadu | 1 | Chennaiyin (1) | |
| Coimbatore | Tamil Nadu | 1 | Chennai City (1) | |
| Hoshiarpur | Punjab | 1 | JCT (1) | |
| Ludhiana | Punjab | 1 | Minerva Punjab (1) | |
| Hyderabad | Telangana | 1 | Hyderabad (1) |
| scope=col | Season | scope=col style="background:gold" | Winner | scope=col style="background:silver" | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row style=text-align:center | 2018 | Bengaluru | East Bengal | ||
| scope=row style=text-align:center | 2019 | Goa | Chennaiyin | ||
| scope=row style=text-align:center | 2020–2022 | Tournament suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian National Team's international fixtures | |||
| scope=row style=text-align:center | 2023 | Odisha | Bengaluru | ||
| scope=row style=text-align:center | 2024 | East Bengal | Odisha | ||
| Club | Winner | Winning Years | Runners-up | Runners-up Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohun Bagan | 14 | 1978*, 1980*, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998 2001, 2006, 2008, 2015–16 | 6 | 1977, 1983, 1985, 2004, 2010, 2016–17 | |
| East Bengal | 9 | 1978*, 1980*, 1985, 1996, 2007, 2009–10, 2010, 2012, 2024 | 9 | 1984, 1986, 1992, 1995–96, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2011, 2018 | |
| Salgaocar | 4 | 1988, 1989, 1997, 2011 | 3 | 1987, 1990, 1994 | |
| Bengaluru | 3 | 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018 | 1 | 2023 | |
| Mohammedan | 2 | 1983, 1984 | 3 | 1981, 1989, 2003 | |
| Mahindra United | 2 | 2003, 2005 | 3 | 1991, 1993, 2007 | |
| JCT Mills | 2 | 1995, 1995–96 | 0 | - | |
| Kerala Police | 2 | 1990, 1991[6] | 0 | - | |
| Dempo | 1 | 2004 | 5 | 1996#, 2001, 2008, 2012, 2014–15 | |
| BSF (Border Security Force) | 1 | 1979 | 1 | 1988 | |
| Odisha | 1 | 2023 | 1 | 2024 | |
| ITI (Indian Telephone Industries) | 1 | 1977 | 0 | - | |
| Churchill Brothers | 1 | 2013–14 | 0 | - | |
| Goa | 1 | 2019 | 0 | - | |
| Sporting Clube de Goa | 0 | - | 3 | 2005, 2006, 2013–14 | |
| Shillong Lajong | 0 | - | 1 | 2009–10 | |
| Aizawl | 0 | - | 1 | 2015–16 | |
| Chennaiyin | 0 | - | 1 |
| Club | Seasons | Titles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohun Bagan | 2001–02 | National Football League, Federation Cup | |
| Dempo | 2004–05 | National Football League, Federation Cup | |
| Mahindra United | 2005–06 | National Football League, Federation Cup |
| Club | Seasons | Titles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohun Bagan | 2023–24 | ISL Shield, Durand Cup | |
| Mumbai City | 2020–21 | ISL Shield, ISL Cup |
Philip Mensah (Churchill Brothers)
