The Indian Football Association is deeply rooted in the history of the game in the sub-continent. From one watershed day in the mid-nineteenth century when Nagendra Prasad Adhikari became the first Indian to kick a football to an extreme yearning for the game in the current millennium, IFA has firmly stayed the course to shape footballing dreams across generations. Nagendra Prasad’s fascination with the game triggered the birth of a series of clubs, Calcutta FC being the first one to be established, in 1872. With football gaining momentum, clubs like Dalhousie, Traders and Naval Volunteers emerged. In the intense rush for football, Mohun Bagan and Aryan were founded in Calcutta in the 1890s. As football began unfolding its many wonders to Indians, Calcutta became the hub of the game in the country during the British rule and has continued to retain that exclusivity to date. Tournaments like Gladstone Cup, Trades Cup and the Cooch Behar Cup became regular features in the football calendar around that time. But the rules of the game did not appear to be uniform for all these competitions as they were played in step with diverse interpretations of the laws by football exponents of that era.

The Indian Football Association is deeply rooted in the history of the game in the sub-continent. From one watershed day in the mid-nineteenth century when Nagendra Prasad Adhikari became the first Indian to kick a football to an extreme yearning for the game in the current millennium, IFA has firmly stayed the course to shape footballing dreams across generations. Nagendra Prasad’s fascination with the game triggered the birth of a series of clubs, Calcutta FC being the first one to be established, in 1872. With football gaining momentum, clubs like Dalhousie, Traders and Naval Volunteers emerged. In the intense rush for football, Mohun Bagan and Aryan were founded in Calcutta in the 1890s. As football began unfolding its many wonders to Indians, Calcutta became the hub of the game in the country during the British rule and has continued to retain that exclusivity to date. Tournaments like Gladstone Cup, Trades Cup and the Cooch Behar Cup became regular features in the football calendar around that time. But the rules of the game did not appear to be uniform for all these competitions as they were played in step with diverse interpretations of the laws by football exponents of that era.