Kanyashree Cup

The Calcutta Women's Football League, also known as the Kanyashree Cup,[1] is a women's football league in the Indian state of West Bengal.[2] Founded in 1993, it is the oldest women's football league in India and organised by Indian Football Association (IFA), the official football governing body in the state. The tournament is primarily participated by teams across Kolkata.

Calcutta Women's Football League
Organising bodyIndian Football Association (IFA)
Founded1993 (1993)
Number of teams32
Level on pyramid3
Promotion toIWL 2nd Division
Domestic cup(s)Women's IFA Shield
Current championsEast Bengal (2nd title)
Most championshipsIncome Tax
SSB Women (4 titles each)
TV partnersIFA TV (YouTube, Facebook)
Current: 2023–24

History

The Calcutta Women's Football League was founded by Indian Football Association (IFA) in 1993 to introduce women's football in West Bengal in the lines of men's domestic football system.[3] The inaugural edition was won by an institutional team of Income Tax Department against Behala Aikya Sammilani. Due to lack of sufficient resources and reception towards women's football in the nation, the organising body either cancelled or organised the tournament in small scale for the following years, thereby leaving negligible data about the tournament during the period.

The popularity considerably rose when the two big clubs of Bengal—East Bengal and Mohun Bagan—formed their respective women's teams to participate in the competition. Both the teams would reach the finals for two consecutive years, with East Bengal winning in 2001 and Mohun Bagan in 2002. But, considering no national level honours to fight for, the two clubs found it financially unprofitable to maintain a women's football division, thus East Bengal disbanded it in 2003 and Mohun Bagan in 2004. During this period, the only team to continue their dominance was Income Tax. After years of discontinuation of the competition, it was started once again in 2017. The following year was won by another institutional team – Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). This was the first edition of Calcutta Women's Football League where the winner was given a chance to qualify for Indian Women's League.

In 2020 the tournament was renamed to Kanyashree Cup under the patronage of the state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. East Bengal once again formed its women's team to participate and reached the finals where they lost against SSB, who became the second team after Income Tax to win three consecutive finals.[4] The 2021 edition did not take place due to COVID-19 pandemic and in the following edition, due to management disputes, East Bengal informed IFA about not participating. SSB continued their dominance by defeating the women's team of Southern Samity.[5]

Champions
Season Champion Runners-up
1993 Income Tax Behala Aikya Sammilani
1994 No data
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000 Itika Memorial Income Tax
2001 East Bengal Mohun Bagan
2002 Mohun Bagan East Bengal
2003 Income Tax Mohun Bagan
2004 Income Tax Sarojini Naidu Club
2005 Income Tax Sarojini Naidu Club
2006 Friends of the Stadium Income Tax
2007 No data
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014 did not happen
2015
2016
2017 Taltala Dipti Sangha No data
2018 SSB No data
2019 SSB Sreebhumi
2020–21 SSB East Bengal
2021–22 SSB Southern Samity
2022–23 East Bengal Sreebhumi

See also

References
  1. "Calcutta Women's Football League". The Away End. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  2. "Southern Samity and SSB to battle for top honours". ifawb.org. Kolkata, West Bengal: Indian Football Association (IFA). 17 March 2022. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  3. Madaan, Sachin (23 July 2011). "Indian Football: This One Is For The Ladies". www.thehardtackle.com. The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  4. "East Bengal forms women's team; Mohun Bagan 'not enthusiastic' enough". The Bridge. 25 October 2019. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  5. "SSB Women lift Kanyashree Cup". ifawb.org. Kolkata, West Bengal: Indian Football Association. 23 March 2022. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
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