The Indian football champions are the winners of the highest tier of the Indian football league system, currently the Indian Super League.
Though Indian football tournaments date back to the eighteenth century, a proper league system, the National Football League (NFL) was established in 1996–97. 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. 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 six clubs who have won the Indian Super League. JCT were the first club to have won any championship, winning the 1996–97 NFL. Mohun Bagan are the most successful club, winning championships five times, NFL three times and I-League twice.
History 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. 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. Meanwhile, India's spot in the AFC Champions League, Asia's top club competition, was still kept by the I-League; 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. From 2022 to 2023 season the AFC Cup slot from I-League has been transferred to Super Cup and ISL became the only top tier League in India.
List of champions by season National Football League (1996–2007)
Key †Winning team won the Double (League title and Federation Cup)
Season (titles) (club) Goals11996–97JCTChurchill BrothersEast Bengal Sukhwinder Singh Bhaichung Bhutia 1421997–98Mohun BaganEast BengalSalgaocar T. K. Chathunni Raman Vijayan 1031998–99SalgaocarChurchill Brothers Shabbir Ali Philip Mensah 114Mohun BaganChurchill BrothersSalgaocar Subrata Bhattacharya Igor Shkvyrin 1152000–01East BengalMohun BaganChurchill Brothers Monoranjan Bhattacharya José Barreto 1462001–02 Mohun Bagan †Churchill BrothersVasco Subrata Bhattacharya Yusif Yakubu 1872002–03East BengalSalgaocar Subhash Bhowmick2182003–04DempoMahindra United Subhash Bhowmick Cristiano Júnior 1592004–05 Dempo †Sporting GoaEast Bengal Armando Colaco Dudu Omagbemi 21102005–06 Mahindra United †East BengalMohun Bagan Derrick Pereira Ranti Martins 13112006–07DempoJCTMahindra United Armando Colaco Odafa Okolie 18
I-League (2007–2017) Season (titles) (club) Goals12DempoChurchill BrothersJCT Armando Colaco Odafa Okolie 22132008–09Churchill BrothersMohun BaganSporting Goa Zoran Đorđević24142009–10DempoChurchill BrothersPune Armando Colaco21152010–11SalgaocarEast BengalDempo Karim Bencherifa Ranti Martins 28162011–12DempoChurchill Brothers Armando Colaco32172012–13Churchill BrothersPuneEast Bengal Mariano Dias Ranti Martins 26182013–14BengaluruEast BengalSalgaocar Ashley Westwood Cornell Glen Darryl Duffy Sunil Chhetri 14192014–15Mohun BaganBengaluruRoyal Wahingdoh Sanjoy Sen Ranti Martins 17202015–16BengaluruMohun BaganEast Bengal Ashley Westwood12212016–17Aizawl Khalid Jamil Aser Dipanda 11
I-League and Indian Super League (2017–2022) From the 2017–18 season until the 2021–22 season, the I-League and the Indian Super League shared joint top-tier status in the Indian football league system.
I-League Season (titles) (club) Goals22Minerva PunjabNEROCAMohun Bagan Khogen Singh Aser Dipanda 13232018–19Chennai CityEast BengalReal Kashmir Akbar Nawas Pedro Manzi Willis Plaza 21242019–20Mohun BaganNot awarded Kibu Vicuña Aser Dipanda 12252020–21Gokulam KeralaChurchill BrothersTRAU Vincenzo Annese Bidyashagar Singh 262021–22MohammedanSreenidi Deccan Marcus Joseph 16
Indian Super League Until the 2021–22 season, the winners of the Indian Super League playoffs final were awarded the championship title.
Season (titles) Score (club) Goals22Chennaiyin3–2Bengaluru John Gregory Coro 18232018–19Bengaluru1–0Goa Carles Cuadrat16242019–20ATK3–1Chennaiyin Antonio López Roy Krishna Nerijus Valskis Bartholomew Ogbeche 15252020–21Mumbai City2–1Mohun Bagan Sergio Lobera Igor Angulo Roy Krishna 14262021–22Hyderabad1–1 3–1 Kerala Blasters Manolo Márquez Bartholomew Ogbeche 18
Indian Super League (2022–present) Season (titles) (club) Goals272022–23Mumbai CityHyderabadMohun Bagan Des Buckingham Diego Maurício Cleiton Silva Dimitri Petratos 12282023–24Mohun BaganMumbai CityGoa Antonio López Dimitrios Diamantakos Roy Krishna 13292024–25FC GoaBengaluru José Molina Alaaeddine Ajaraie 23302025–26East BengalMohun BaganMumbai City Óscar Bruzón Youssef Ezzejjari 11
Performances Sixteen clubs have won India's top-tier league title. Six clubs won the National Football League, six clubs won the I-League, and six clubs have won the Indian Super League. From the 2017–18 season until the 2021–22 season, the I-League and Indian Super League shared joint top-tier status in the Indian football league system.
Performance by club . RankClubWinnersWinning seasons1Mohun Bagan761997–98, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2014–15, 2019–20, 2023–24, 2024–252000–01, 2008–09, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2020–21, 2025–262Dempo512004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–122003–043East Bengal472000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2025–261997–98, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2018–194Bengaluru322013–14, 2015–16, 2018–192014–15, 2017–185262008–09, 2012–131996–97, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2020–21Salgaocar 211998–99, 2010–112002–03Mumbai City212020–21, 2022–23 2023–24Gokulam Kerala202020–21, 2021–229JCT 111996–972006–07Chennaiyin112017–182019–20Hyderabad 112021–22 2022–23Mahindra United 102005–06Aizawl102016–17Minerva Punjab 102017–18Chennai City 102018–19ATK 102019–20
Performance by state StateChampionshipsClubsWest Bengal12Mohun Bagan (7), East Bengal (4), ATK (1)Goa9Dempo (5), Churchill Brothers (2), Salgaocar (2)Karnataka3Bengaluru (3)Maharashtra3Mumbai City (2), Mahindra United (1)Punjab2JCT (1), Minerva Punjab (1)Tamil Nadu2Chennaiyin (1), Chennai City (1)Kerala2Gokulam Kerala (2)Mizoram1Aizawl (1)Telangana1Hyderabad (1)
Performance by city/town City/TownStateChampionshipsClubsKolkataWest Bengal12Mohun Bagan (7), East Bengal (4), ATK (1)PanajiGoa5Dempo (5)BangaloreKarnataka3Bengaluru (3)MumbaiMaharashtra3Mumbai City (2), Mahindra United (1)MargaoGoa2Churchill Brothers (2)Vasco da GamaGoa2Salgaocar (2)KozhikodeKerala2Gokulam Kerala (2)AizawlMizoram1Aizawl (1)ChennaiTamil Nadu1Chennaiyin (1)CoimbatoreTamil Nadu1Chennai City (1)HoshiarpurPunjab1JCT (1)LudhianaPunjab1Minerva Punjab (1)HyderabadTelangana1Hyderabad (1)
Performance by region RegionChampionshipsWest12East12South8North2Northeast1
National Cup winners
Federation Cup (1977–2017, 2026–present) YearWinnersRunners-upIndian Telephone IndustriesMohun Bagan1978–79Mohun Bagan and East Bengal - (joint winners)1979–80BSFMafatlal Mills1980–81Mohun Bagan and East Bengal - (joint winners)1981–82Mohun BaganMohammedan1982–83Mafatlal Mills1983–84MohammedanMohun Bagan1984–85East Bengal1985East BengalMohun Bagan1986–87Mohun BaganEast Bengal1987–88Salgaocar1988–89SalgaocarBSF1989–90Mohammedan Sporting1990Kerala PoliceSalgaocar1991Mahindra & Mahindra1992Mohun BaganEast Bengal1993Mahindra & Mahindra1994Salgaocar1995JCTEast Bengal1995–961996East BengalDempo1997SalgaocarEast Bengal1998Mohun Bagan1999Not held20002001Mohun Bagan Dempo2002Not held2003Mahindra UnitedMohammedan Sporting2004DempoMohun Bagan2005Mahindra UnitedSporting Goa2006Mohun Bagan2007East BengalMahindra United2008Mohun BaganDempo2009–10East BengalShillong Lajong2010Mohun Bagan2011SalgaocarEast Bengal2012East BengalDempo2013–14Churchill BrothersSporting Goa2014–15BengaluruDempo2015–16Mohun BaganAizawl2016–17BengaluruMohun Bagan
AIFF Super Cup (2018–2025)
SeasonWinnerRunner-up2018Bengaluru (3)East Bengal2019GoaChennaiyinTournament suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian national team's international fixtures2023OdishaBengaluru2024East Bengal (9)Odisha2025Goa (2)Jamshedpur2025–26Goa (3)East Bengal
Performance by club Key *Shared#There were two federation cups in 1996 . RankClubWinner1Mohun Bagan141978*, 1980*, 1981, 1982, 1986, 19871992, 1993, 1994, 19982001, 2006, 2008, 2016 61977, 1983, 1985, 2004, 2010, 20172East Bengal 91978*, 1980*, 1985, 1996, 2007, 2009–10, 2010, 2012, 2024 101984, 1986, 1992, 1995–96, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2011, 2018, 2025–263Salgaocar 41988, 1989, 1997, 2011 31987, 1990, 19944Bengaluru 32014–15, 2017, 2018 12023Goa 32019, 2025, 2025–26 06Mohammedan 21983, 1984 31981, 1989, 2003Mahindra United 22003, 2005 31991, 1993, 2007JCT 21995, 1995–96 0Kerala Police 21990, 1991Federation Cup. the-aiff.com (archived) 010Dempo 12004 51996#, 2001, 2008, 2012, 2014–15Border Security Force 11979 11988Odisha 12023 12024Indian Telephone Industries 119770Churchill Brothers 12013–14 0
Performance by state StateChampionshipsClubsWest Bengal25Mohun Bagan (14), East Bengal (9), Mohammedan (2)Goa9Salgaocar (4), Goa (3), Dempo (1), Churchill Brothers (1),Karnataka4Bengaluru (3), Indian Telephone Industries (1)Punjab3JCT (2), Border Security Force (1)Maharashtra2Mahindra United (2), Kerala2Kerala Police (2)Odisha1Odisha (1)
Performance by region RegionChampionshipsEast26West11South6North3
See also List of Indian football first tier top scorers List of association football competitions Super Cup Durand Cup Indian Football League Indian Super League Football in India List of Indian women's football champions
References
External links India – List of National Champions at the RSSSF