FC "Mohammedan" (Calcutta, India)

Football is one of the most famous and common sports of our time. However, few football fans are fond of, for example, the championship of India. Everyone follows the leading championships of such countries as Spain, Germany, England and Italy - and, naturally, behind major tournaments, such as the Champions League and the Europa League.

However, if you look closely at the system of Indian championships, you can see many amazing and memorable things. One of them is the championship of such a city as Calcutta. India has a standard system of championships, but separately from it in this city has its own tournament. And it is one of the oldest in the world. So you definitely need to find out about what is happening in the football world of a city like Calcutta.

India gave the world the club "Mohammedan" - modern football fans have hardly heard about it, but it is also one of the old clubs that was once one of the strongest in India and is still one of the most respected.

The most famous club

The football club Mohammedan (Calcutta, India) is one of the most famous and popular in the whole country, and it is also familiar to many fans of football in the world. The history of this club begins in the distant 1891, it is the oldest in the country, and it is this team that won the legendary championship of Calcutta for the first time in history, which will be discussed in more detail below. As for the club itself, he became the fashion trendsetter for football in the country and had a serious impact on his further development in India. However, unfortunately, to date, the former glory has been left behind, and in football terms FC "Mohammedan" (Calcutta, India) is far from in the best condition.

Successes

What successes for the incredibly long history this club has achieved? Given the fact that during the history of the sport in the country there were a variety of regional and national cups, almost every one of them, "Mohammedan" won at least once. However, if we talk about the most prestigious trophy of the country, which is won by the winner of the championship of India in football, he did not give in to the team. Moreover, "Mohammedan" could not even win in the Second League - the biggest achievement was reaching the First League from second place.

But if you pay attention to the above-mentioned championship of Calcutta, then here this team had a serious success. Unfortunately, the record for the number of trophies won, "Mohammedan" could not become, but it was this club for the first time in history won this tournament in 1934. Since then, he has won eleven victories, the last of which dates back to 1981.

Nine times the team stopped a step away from the victory, and the last time was in 2016, that is, in the last draw of the tournament - then the victory was won by the worst opponent of "Mohammedan", "East Bengal". Just exactly "East Bengal" and is the record-breaker for victories in the championship of Calcutta - he got the trophy 38 times. At the same time the club plays in the Higher League of India, where last year it took the third place. Naturally, the most prestigious tournament is the championship of India - Calcutta-League, rather, it is a historic friendly tournament.

The latest results of "Mohammedan"

If we talk about how this club acted in the last decade, then we can safely say that the whole of India is not afraid of it. Calcutta-league even bowed to the players for the last time for a long time. In 2009, the club flew from the top division, four years played in the second division. In 2013, "Mohammedan" took third place, stopping a step from entering the First League, and already in 2014, took second place and broke into the most prestigious national championship.

However, there he did not last long - in the first season the team took 13th place and returned to the Second League. The remaining two years the club there and held, while not having the opportunity to repeatedly return to the highest level. As you already understood, the most important tournament for a sport such as football, the championship of India. Calcutta-league is not so important in the sports plan of the tournament, but it still needs to be told separately. In general, it is worth talking about the very Indian system of football in more detail.

Indian Super League

This tournament is the youngest and most corresponds to the spirit of modern football, as it is fully commercial. It was created in 2013, when the auction sold the rights to eight teams that were supposed to participate in this tournament, American and other businessmen. Immediately after buying the teams, strong players began to come to them, who were previously important figures in European football. Given such a small size of the tournament, in the standard championship only 14 rounds are played. After this, the play-off stage is played out, in which the winner is determined. To date, only two championships have been played so far - in 2014, the Atlético Club from Calcutta won, and in 2015, Chennaiin.

National Football League

However, the Indian Super League is not the leading tournament of the country - it is criticized, as its season is too short and it is not aimed at the development of Indian football, but to attract finance. The main tournament is the I-League, that is, the championship of India. It was this tournament that became the leading one in the country where football before that was developed exclusively at the amateur level. There is this tournament since 1996, but then it was called the National Football League, and although it was founded by the local football federation, it still remained semi-professional.

Already in 1997, the second division was added, and in this format the tournament lasted almost ten years. In 2006, a third division was added, but even then thoughts of a global reformation appeared, and in 2007 the National Football League ceased to exist to give way to the first professional football tournament.

Championship of India

The first winner was the club "Dempo", which eventually won three trophies and is the record holder, as the clubs "Churchill Brothers", "Bengaluru" and "Mohun Bagan" won so far only twice. The format of the tournament does not remain stable for one year - constantly changing any element, from the smallest detail to the number of teams in the championship. At the moment, 11 teams play without each playoff phase. The best teams are in the Asian Cup, as well as some get a chance to qualify for the Asian Champions League, but so far few clubs match the format of the tournament.

Second League

As for the second league, this is the tournament where the weakest teams of the championship of India drop out - and from where the strongest clubs of the second league come to the championship of India. This is where the "Mohammedan" mentioned above stands.

Championship of Calcutta

However, the most noteworthy tournament that India can boast of is the Calcutta Championship. The tournament table in it looks more than interesting, as it is attended by more than a hundred clubs from such an Indian city as Calcutta. It is one of the oldest football tournaments, since it is held since 1989.

How does India play football? The Calcutta Championship, the tournament table of which is divided in a rather convoluted manner, is an excellent example. In the current championship there are six divisions, with the first and last of them divided into two sub-divisions. In each of them plays 10 or more teams, which first spend the first half of the season in a common table, which eventually breaks into two halves. The first half spends the second part of the season in the fight for the championship, and the second - trying not to fly to the lower division. An interesting fact is that in the top flight since 1982 only two clubs have won - "East Bengal" and "Mohun Bagan".