The Trades Cup (also known as the Trades Challenge Cup^[1] or IFA Trades Challenge Cup)^[2] is an Indian football tournament held in Kolkata and organised by Indian Football Association.^[3][4] Incorporated in 1889, it is the second oldest football tournament in Asia and oldest football tournament in Kolkata.^[5][6][7] It is the traditional curtain raiser for the Kolkata football season.

History

The Trades Cup was instituted in 1889 by the trading community of Calcutta and was organised by the Dalhousie AC committee.^[1][8] It was the first open football tournament in India, where Indian, British, regimental and college clubs participated.^[9][10]

The first Indian club to win a match against a British team was Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari's Sovabazar Club.^{[11][12][13][14]} They won the opening match of the 1892 Trades Cup by defeating the East Surrey Regiment with the score of 2–1.^[15][16][17] The first Indian club to win the Trades Cup was the National Association who won the trophy in the 1900 edition. The Indian club from South Calcutta under the guidance of Manmatha Ganguly defeated the British side, Shibpur Engineering College on 11 August 1900 at the Shobhabazar Ground.^[15][18][19] Mohun Bagan completed a hat-trick of Trades Cup titles between 1906 and 1908,^[20] which enabled them to make their IFA Shield debut in 1909.^[21]

The Trades Cup was revived after not being held for 25 years in 2004 by the IFA. The tournament gives the Kolkata clubs outside the "Big Three" playing in the Premier and lower divisions the chance to field and organise their teams ahead of the start of their league season.^[22]

Results

List of Trades Cup Finals^[23][24]

Year	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Ref.
1889	Dalhousie AC	2–1	Howrah
1890	The Buffs Regiment
1891	2nd King's Liverpool Regiment
1892	1st East Lancashire Regiment
1893	St Xavier's College
1894	Medical College
1895	Medical College
1896	Shibpur Engineering College
1897	Apprentice Engineers' Recreation Club, Jamalpore
1898	Apprentice Engineers' Recreation Club, Jamalpore
1899	Hastings FC
1900	National Association		Shibpur Engineering College
1901	Shibpur Engineering College
1902	National Association
1903	Medical College
1904	Medical College
1905	Shibpur Engineering College
1906	Mohun Bagan			[25]
1907	Mohun Bagan	3–2	Dalhousie AC B	[25]
1908	Mohun Bagan			[25]
1909	Wanderers
1910	Eastern India Railway, Asansol
1911	Chandernagore FC
1912	National Association
1913	Aryan			[26]
1914	Kumartuli			[26]
1932	Howrah Union			[27][28]
1938	Mohun Bagan			[29]
1939	Mohun Bagan
1943	Mohun Bagan
1944	Mohun Bagan
1945	Mohun Bagan
1949	Mohun Bagan
1950	Mohun Bagan
1960	East Bengal			[30]
1965	Mohun Bagan
1966	East Bengal			[30]
1975	East Bengal			[30]
1976	East Bengal			[30]
1979–2003	Not held
2004	Calcutta FC	2–1	Eastern Railway SC	[22]
2005	Eastern Railway SC	(3–2 p)	Wari AC	[31]
2006	Peerless SC	0–0 (5–4 p)	United SC	[32]
2007	Chirag United SC	3–1	Eastern Railway SC	[33]
2008	West Bengal Police	3–0	SAIL	[34]
2011	Howrah Union	1–0	Food Corporation of India
2012	Janbazar SC	1–0	Howrah Union
2013	Pathachakra FC	1–0	Milan Bithee FC	[35]
2014	Food Corporation of India	5–1	Mohammedan AC	[36]
2015	City AC	2–1	Barisha SC
2016	Calcutta Port Trust	0–0 (5–4 p)	Wari AC
2017	City AC	2–1 (5–4 p)	BSS SC	[37]
2018	Howrah Union		Calcutta Police	[38]
2019	Dalhousie AC	2–1	Howrah Union	[2]

See also

• History of Indian football
• Football in Kolkata
• List of oldest football competitions

References

Further reading

Bibliography

• Mitra, Soumen (1 January 2006). In Search of an Identity: The History of Football in Colonial Calcutta. Kolkata: Dasgupta & Co. Private Ltd. ISBN 978-8182110229. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022.
• Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
• Sen, Dwaipayan (2013). "Wiping the Stain Off the Field of Plassey: Mohun Bagan in 1911". In Bandyopadhyay, Kausik; Mallick, Sabyasachi (eds.). Fringe Nations in World Soccer. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-99810-5.
• Shreekumar, S. S. (15 August 2020). THE BEST WAY FORWARD FOR INDIA'S FOOTBALL. HSRA Publications. p. 244. ISBN 9788194721697. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
• Sen, Ronojoy (2015). "The Empire Strikes Back: The 1911 IFA Shield and Football in Calcutta". Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-16490-0.
• Martinez, Dolores; Mukharji, Projit B (2009). Football: From England to the World: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-88353-6. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022.
• Sharma, Nikhil Paramjit; Gupta, Shantanu (4 February 2019). India's Football Dream. SAGE Publications India. ISBN 9789353283063. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
• Dutta, P. L., Memoir of 'Father of Indian Football' Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1944) (hereafter Memoir)
• Majumdar, Boria, Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation. Penguin India. ISBN 9780670058747.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Ghosh, Saurindra Kumar. Krira Samrat Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary 1869–1940 (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1963) (hereafter Krira Samrat).
• Nath, Nirmal (2011). History of Indian Football: Upto 2009–10. Readers Service. ISBN 9788187891963. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022.
• Dineo, Paul; Mills, James (2001). Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora. London, United Kingdom: Frank Cass Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7146-8170-2. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022.
• Mukhopadhay, Subir (2018). সোনায় লেখা ইতিহাসে মোহনবাগান (transl. Mohun Bagan in the history written in gold). ISBN 978-93-850172-0-9.
• Banerjee, Argha; Basu, Rupak (2022). মোহনবাগান: সবুজ ঘাসের মেরুন গল্প (transl. Mohun Bagan: Green fields' Maroon stories). Shalidhan. ISBN 978-81-954667-0-2.
• Majumdar, Boria; Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). A Social History Of Indian Football: Striving To Score. Routledge. ISBN 9780415348355. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021.
• Basu, Jaydeep (2003). Stories from Indian Football. UBS Publishers' Distributors. ISBN 9788174764546. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022.
• Kausik Bandyopadhyay (29 November 2020). Scoring Off the Field: Football Culture in Bengal, 1911–80. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000084054. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
• "Regionalism and club domination: Growth of rival centres of footballing excellence". Soccer & Society. Taylor & Francis. 6:2–3 (2–3): 227–256. 6 August 2006. doi:10.1080/14660970500106410. S2CID 216862171. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.

Others

• "Triumphs and Disasters: The Story of Indian Football, 1889—2000" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
• From recreation to competition: Early history of Indian football Archived 9 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine. pp. 124–141. Published online: 6 Aug 2006. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
• Sengupta, Somnath (29 July 2011). "Tactical Evolution Of Indian Football (Part One): Profiling Three Great 2-3-5 Teams". thehardtackle.com. Kolkata: The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
• Shah, Manasi (19 June 2022). "A burnt-down football club and a 121-year-old legacy the flames couldn't touch". telegraphindia.com. Kolkata: The Telegraph India. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
• "The passage of football in India". ifawb.org. Kolkata: Indian Football Association. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
• Bhattacharya, Ayan (10 September 2023). "বাংলা ভাগের ক্ষত কিভাবে বিষিয়ে দিল মোহনবাগান আর ইস্টবেঙ্গলকে?" [How did the wound of the partition of Bengal poisoned both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal?]. inscript.me (in Bengali). Kolkata: ইনস্ক্রিপ্ট বাংলা নিউজ. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.