The 75th edition of the Santosh Trophy for the national football championship will take place in Malappuram next year. Kerala will host the final round of this season's Santosh Trophy in the Manjeri stadium. Kochi to host a women's 4-team international tournament in December. Kerala will also host the national camps for junior teams.

Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium or the Manjeri Stadium or Payyanad Stadium is an athletics and football stadium in Manjeri, Kerala, India. The stadium is part of Malappuram District Sports Complex and Football Academy. It is under the management of the Malappuram District Sports Council.

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Kerala will soon become a football hub, according to V Abdulrahman, Sports Minister, Kerala. He was addressing the media in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday after an interaction with an All-India Football Federation team led by Abhishek Yadav, former international and deputy general secretary.

"Now that Kerala has opened up in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, stadiums too will be opened up soon. The state will host more national and international events soon," the minister added.

Meanwhile, Abhishek informed that Kerala will be in contention for future national camps for the junior and sub-juniors as well. "The national camps, including for the World Cup qualifiers, can be organised in Kerala and it will help develop the game as local players and clubs teams will get a chance to play the campers," he said.

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Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi will also host international teams consisting of four countries; including India in the senior women's championship. Kerala will also host national camps for the national women's team.

West Bengal has extended its sheer dominance in the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, winning the tournament for an unparalleled 33rd time. Robi Hansda's only goal in injury time snatched the trophy away from Kerala in the final at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium on 31 December 2024.

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For the 33rd time, West Bengal are 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 of the #SantoshTrophy 🌟#IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/HohyNuKFww

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) December 31, 2024

The 84-year-old tournament is one of the most prestigious trophies in Indian football to decide the state-level champions. Since its inception in 1941, 78 editions have taken place until 2024, crowning 13 different states as champions. 

West Bengal also hold the record for the most successive Santosh Trophy titles, having won six back-to-back editions between 1993 and 1999. Punjab is the second-most successful team with eight titles. Kerala and Services are third with seven Santosh Trophy titles each.

After missing out on the trophy after losing against Kerala on penalties in the 2021-22 Final, West Bengal has managed to avenge the loss in the 2024 Final. West Bengal is the state with the most trophies (33) and they also finished as runners-up for a record 14 times. 

Here is the list of the most successful teams in the history of the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy. 

The most successful teams in the Santosh Trophy history

The groupings for the 76th Senior Men's National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy and the Hero Senior Women's National Football Championships were conducted at the Football House in New Delhi on Friday, October 21, 2022, in a virtual draw ceremony that was attended by the State FAs.

Also present in the draw ceremony was AIFF Secretary General Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran, who joined virtually from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, along with representatives of the State FAs, who joined the meeting from their respective states.

The two senior national football championships will be played in a new format that will see the 36 states fight it out across six groups for a chance to make it to the final round.

AIFF Secretary General Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran said after the ceremony, "I am glad to see the enthusiasm and proactive participation of the state association representatives in the virtual draw ceremony for Santosh Trophy and National Women's Championships today. With the new competitive structure for the senior national championships, we can expect value addition in many aspects of the game at the State level."

The six group toppers, along with three best second-placed teams will qualify for the Final Rounds of the Senior Men's National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy, while six group toppers, and the four best second-placed teams will make it to the Final Rounds of the Senior Women's National Football Championship.

Railways and Services will get direct entry into the Senior Men's National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy Final Rounds, while Railways will get direct entry to the Senior Women's National Football Championship Final Round.

In the Final Round, the 12 best teams from across the country will be divided into two groups of six teams each, as they will subsequently play in a round robin format, before proceeding to the knockout rounds.

The 36 State FAs were also invited to bid for the hosting rights of the Group Stages and the Final Rounds. As announced earlier, semi-finals and final of the 76th Senior Men's NFC for Santosh Trophy will be held in Saudi Arabia.

Groupings for the 76th Senior Men's NFC for Santosh Trophy:

Group I: Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Leh & Ladakh.

Group II: Kerala, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir.

Group III: Goa, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland.

Group IV: West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Dadra, Haryana.

Group V: Meghalaya, Odisha, Sikkim, Telangana, Pondicherry, Andaman & Nicobar.

Group VI: Punjab, Manipur, Jharkhand, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Lakshadweep.

Groupings for the 76th Senior Women's NFC:

Group I: Haryana, Punjab, Sikkim, Telangana, Meghalaya, Nagaland.

Group II: Mizoram, Maharashtra, Kerala, Pondicherry, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh.

Group III: Odisha, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tripura.

Group IV: Jharkhand, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Leh & Ladakh.

Group V: Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Daman & Dadra, Uttar Pradesh, Lakshadweep.

Group VI: Manipur, Assam, Karnataka, Gujarat, Bihar, Andaman & Nicobar.

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Santosh Trophy is an Indian domestic football competition contested by the regional state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

Santosh Trophy, the Hero Senior National Football Championship is held every year since it was founded in 1941. The tournament, however, was not held in 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and finally it returned for Santosh Trophy 2022 in Kerala.

The tournament features 37 teams that are divided into five zones - North, South, East, West and North East, who go through qualifiers to progress to the main round, which features group and knock-out rounds.

In the 75 editions held till 2022, West Bengal is the most successful side with 32 wins and 14 runners up finishes for a total of 46 final appearances. The next best side in Santosh Trophy is Punjab, who have made a total of 16 final appearances and won the title 8 times.

Kerala and Services are the next best teams with 7 and 6 title wins respectively, while Goa (5), Maharashtra (4), Karnataka (4), Railways (3) and Andra Pradesh (3) have also won the title multiple times. Delhi, Manipur and Mizoram have won the title once so far.

Also, in the 1982-83 edition, the trophy was shared by West Bengal and Goa after the match ended 0-0 in regulation time as well as extra time.

Last top 10 winners of the Santosh Trophy:

Santosh Trophy was first introduced in the year 1941. The trophy was named in honor of the Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh (the location is currently located in Bangladesh). At the time, he was the president of the Indian Football Association, the football governing body of Bengal, and also the person who donated the trophy.

Durand Cup, Rovers Cup, Kalinga cup, and many more were other trophies that clubs competed to take home. But the Santosh remained the top most coveted among them all.

It was the award where the states showcased their finest talent, and the public pinned them on their high expectations. States and teams were required to organize camps for weeks, with the top trainers. The top players were picked from the crowd.

The teams are now grouped into eight groups, each with three or four teams. The eight group winners are then picked, along with four seeded teams that do not have to compete in the qualifying phase, and these twelve teams are divided into three groups of three. The quarter-final stage precedes the semi-final and final stages.

Most Successful Santosh Trophy winning team?

Bengal has won the title record 32 times, beating second-placed Punjab which has been crowned on eight occasions.

Kerala has just won Santosh Trophy 2022 to take their tally to 7 times. The significance of the Trophy has dwindled over time. The National Football League, which began in 1996, is often credited for this.

Kerala were crowned champions of the 75th Santosh Trophy 2022 at the Payyanad Stadium in Manjeri, Malappuram on Monday after a thrilling penalty shootout.

At the end of a dramatic final, Kerala edged West Bengal 5-4. The match was tied 1-1 in regulation time. Substitute Sajal Bag had missed Bengal's second spot kick while Kerala converted all five of theirs to triumph.

It is Kerala's seventh Santosh Trophy.

Earlier, Kerala had crawled their way back with a 116th minute equaliser to force penalties after Bengal had taken the lead in the first half of extra time.

Dilip Orawn had thought he had won it for Bengal, but substitute Ajayan stepped up to head in a late equaliser as the home crowd went berserk.

Earlier, in normal time, both sides got plenty of chances to score, as they played some exciting end-to-end football in the finals of Santosh Trophy 2022.

In the shootout, Bengal had to pay dearly for missing out on its second attempt, from Sajal Bag. All the other kicks went in. When the last of those kicks, taken by Kerala's M. Faslurahman, kissed the right top corner, the stadium erupted once again.

The last time they bagged the trophy was during the 2017/18 season when they defeated the same opponents in the penalty shootout at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

The last time Kerala had lifted a Santosh Trophy on home soil was in 1993. Back then, Kerala had defeated Maharashtra 2-0 in the final that was played at the Maharaja's College Ground in Ernakulam.

West Bengal, who are the most successful team in the history of the competition with 32 titles, lost their 14th Santosh Trophy final.

Kerala are now the third most successful team after Punjab (eight titles) and West Bengal (32).