Santosh Trophy - Wikipedia Santosh Trophy Santosh Trophy Founded 1941 ; 77 years ago ( 1941 ) Region India Number of teams 31 Current champions Kerala ( 6th title ) Most successful team ( s ) West Bengal ( 32 titles ) Website the-aiff.com 2017 -- 18 The Santosh Trophy is an association football knock - out competition contested by the regional state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation ( AIFF ), the sport 's governing body in India. Before the start of the first national club league, the National Football League, in 1996, the Santosh Trophy was considered the top domestic championship in India. Many players who have represented India internationally played and gained accolades while playing in the Santosh Trophy. The tournament is held every year with 31 teams who are divided into groups and who must qualify for the tournament proper through the preliminary round. The current champions are Kerala, who won their 6th title during the 2017 -- 18 edition. The tournament was started in 1941 and is named after the president of the Indian Football Association ( West Bengal 's football association ) at the time, Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh. The IFA were the ones who donated the Santosh Trophy. The runner - up trophy was also donated by an ex-IFA president, S.K. Gupta. The trophy is known as the Kamla Gupta Trophy. The third - place trophy, the Sampangi Cup, was donated by the Karnataka State Football Association ( then the Mysore Football Association ). Contents 1 History 2 Current sides 3 Winners 3.1 Final appearances 4 Player records 5 References 6 External links History The Santosh Trophy was started in 1941 after the then president of the Indian Football Association, West Bengal 's football association, Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh, donated the trophy. At the time of the first tournament, India lacked a proper main championship for football teams. The other two main competitions at the time were the Durand Cup, Rovers Cup, and the IFA Shield and they were played by club sides. In 1990, in an attempt to bring through more younger players, the All India Football Federation made the Santosh Trophy into an under - 23 competition. This move only lasted for three seasons before the tournament was reverted to a senior competition. During his time as the head coach of India, Bob Houghton called for the tournament to be discontinued and that it was a waste of time and talent. He was more aggressive against the tournament after India striker Sunil Chhetri injured himself in the 2009 Santosh Trophy and had to miss the Nehru Cup. As a result, national team players were not allowed to participate in the tournament. This was also eventually reverted. In 2013 it was revealed that the AIFF decided that I - League players would not be allowed to participate in the Santosh Trophy. Current sides The following teams participated in the tournament during the 2017 -- 18 qualifiers. Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chandigarh Chhattisgarh Daman & Diu Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Lakshadweep Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Odisha Pondicherry Punjab Rajasthan Services Sikkim Tamil Nadu Telangana Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal Winners The following is the list of winners and runners - up from every edition of the Santosh Trophy Season Host Winner Score Runner - up 1941 -- 42 Kolkata Bengal 5 -- 1 Delhi 1944 -- 45 Delhi Delhi 2 -- 0 Bengal 1945 -- 46 Bombay Bengal 2 -- 0 Bombay 1946 -- 47 Bangalore Mysore 0 -- 0 ( 2 -- 1 ) West Bengal 1947 -- 48 Kolkata Bengal 0 -- 0 ( 1 -- 0 ) Bombay 1949 -- 50 Kolkata Bengal 5 -- 0 Hyderabad 1950 -- 51 Kolkata Bengal 1 -- 0 Hyderabad 1951 -- 52 Bombay Bengal 1 -- 0 Bombay 1952 -- 53 Bangalore Mysore 1 -- 0 Bengal 1953 -- 54 Kolkata Bengal 0 -- 0 ( 3 -- 1 ) Mysore 1954 -- 55 Madras Bombay 2 -- 1 Services 1955 -- 56 Ernakulam Bengal 1 -- 0 Mysore 1956 -- 57 Trivandrum Hyderabad 1 -- 1 ( 4 -- 1 ) Bombay 1957 -- 58 Hyderabad Hyderabad 3 -- 1 Bombay 1958 -- 59 Madras Bengal 1 -- 0 Services 1959 -- 60 Nowgong Bengal 3 -- 1 Bombay 1960 -- 61 Kozhikode Services 0 -- 0 ( 1 -- 0 ) Bengal 1961 -- 62 Bombay Railways 3 -- 0 Bombay 1962 -- 63 Bangalore Bengal 2 -- 0 Mysore 1963 -- 64 Madras Maharashtra 1 -- 0 Andhra Pradesh 1964 -- 65 Guwahati Railways 2 -- 1 West Bengal 1965 -- 66 Kollam Andhra Pradesh 1 -- 1 ( 1 -- 0 ) West Bengal 1966 -- 67 Hyderabad Railways 0 -- 0 ( 2 -- 0 ) Services 1967 -- 68 Cuttack Mysore 1 -- 0 West Bengal 1968 -- 69 Bangalore Mysore 0 -- 0 ( 1 -- 0 ) West Bengal 1969 -- 70 Nowgong West Bengal 6 -- 1 Services 1970 -- 71 Jalandhar Punjab 1 -- 1 ( 3 -- 1 ) Mysore 1971 -- 72 Madras West Bengal 4 -- 1 Railways 1972 -- 73 Goa West Bengal 4 -- 1 Tamil Nadu 1973 -- 74 Ernakulam Kerala 3 -- 2 Railways 1974 -- 75 Jalandhar Punjab 6 -- 0 West Bengal 1975 -- 76 Kozhikode West Bengal 0 -- 0 ( 3 -- 1 ) Karnataka 1976 -- 77 Patna West Bengal 1 -- 0 Maharashtra 1977 -- 78 Kolkata West Bengal 1 -- 1 ( 3 -- 1 ) Punjab 1978 -- 79 Srinagar West Bengal 1 -- 0 Goa 1979 -- 80 Coimbatore West Bengal 1 -- 0 Punjab 1980 -- 81 Cuttack Punjab 0 -- 0 ( 2 -- 0 ) Railways 1981 -- 82 Thrissur West Bengal 2 -- 0 Railways 1982 -- 83 Kolkata West Bengal and Goa shared the trophy after 0 -- 0 draw 1983 -- 84 Madras Goa 1 -- 0 Punjab 1984 -- 85 Kanpur Punjab 3 -- 0 Maharashtra 1985 -- 86 Jabalpur Punjab 0 -- 0 ( 4 -- 1 pen ) West Bengal 1986 -- 87 Calcutta West Bengal 2 -- 1 Railways 1987 -- 88 Kollam Punjab 0 -- 0 ( 5 -- 4 pen ) Kerala 1988 -- 89 Guwahati West Bengal 1 -- 1 ( 4 -- 3 pen ) Kerala 1989 -- 90 Margao Goa 2 -- 0 Kerala 1990 -- 91 Palakkad Maharashtra 1 -- 0 Kerala 1991 -- 92 Coimbatore Kerala 3 -- 0 Goa 1992 -- 93 Kochi Kerala 2 -- 0 Maharashtra 1993 -- 94 Cuttack West Bengal 2 -- 2 ( 5 -- 3 pen ) Kerala 1994 -- 95 Chennai West Bengal 2 -- 1 Punjab 1995 -- 96 Margao West Bengal 1 -- 0 Goa 1996 -- 97 Jabalpur West Bengal 1 -- 0 Goa 1997 -- 98 Guwahati West Bengal 5 -- 1 Goa 1998 -- 99 Chennai West Bengal 1 -- 0 Goa 1999 -- 00 Thrissur Maharashtra 3 -- 2 Kerala 2000 -- 01 Mumbai Kerala 3 -- 2 Goa 2002 -- 03 Imphal Manipur 2 -- 1 Kerala 2004 -- 05 Delhi Kerala 3 -- 2 Punjab 2005 -- 06 Kochi Goa 3 -- 1 Maharashtra 2006 -- 07 Gurgaon Punjab 0 -- 0 ( 5 -- 3 pen ) West Bengal 2007 -- 08 Srinagar Punjab 1 -- 0 Services 2008 -- 09 Chennai Goa 0 -- 0 ( 4 -- 2 pen ) West Bengal 2009 -- 10 Kolkata West Bengal 2 -- 1 Punjab 2010 -- 11 Assam West Bengal 2 -- 1 Manipur 2011 -- 12 Odisha Services 3 -- 2 Tamil Nadu 2012 -- 13 Kerala Services 0 -- 0 ( 4 -- 3 pen ) Kerala 2013 -- 14 Siliguri Mizoram 3 -- 0 Railways 2014 -- 15 Ludhiana Services 0 -- 0 ( 5 -- 4 pen ) Punjab 2015 -- 16 Nagpur Services 2 -- 1 Maharashtra 2016 -- 17 Goa West Bengal 1 -- 0 Goa 2017 -- 18 Kolkata Kerala 2 -- 2 ( 4 -- 2 pen ) West Bengal Final appearances Team Wins Runners - up Last win West Bengal 32 13 2016 -- 17 Punjab 8 7 2007 -- 08 Kerala 6 8 2017 -- 18 Goa 5 8 2008 -- 09 Services 5 5 2015 -- 16 Karnataka ( as Mysore ) 1968 -- 69 Railways 6 1966 -- 67 Maharashtra 5 1999 -- 00 Andhra Pradesh ( as Hyderabad ) 1957 -- 58 Bombay 7 1954 -- 55 Andhra Pradesh 1965 -- 66 Delhi 1944 -- 45 Manipur 2002 -- 03 Mizoram 0 2013 -- 14 Tamil Nadu 0 -- Karnataka 0 -- Player records Tournament top scorer : Inder Singh ( Punjab ) ( 45 goals ) Most goals in a single tournament : Inder Singh ( Punjab ) ( 23 goals -- 1973 -- 74 ) Most goals in a single match : N. Pagsley ( West Bengal ) and Inder Singh ( Punjab ) against Rajputana and Gujarat respectively. ( 7 goals ) References ^ Jump up to : Anand, Vijay ( 16 March 2014 ). `` The history of Santosh Trophy ''. SportsKeeda. Retrieved 18 December 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` The rise and fall of the Santosh Trophy ''. Indian Express. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2016. Jump up ^ `` 70th Santosh Trophy ''. The Indian Football Live. Retrieved 18 December 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` List of Winners / Runners - Up of the Santosh Trophy : ''. IndianFootball.de. Jump up ^ `` AIFF mulling over Santosh Trophy 's future ''. News 18. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2016. Jump up ^ `` Santosh Trophy 2016 ''. Kolkatafootball. Jump up ^ `` Santosh Trophy Winners ''. RSSSF. ^ Jump up to : `` From the History Book ''. The All India Football Federation. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2016. External links Official website of the AIFF Santosh Trophy Seasons 1941 -- 42 1944 -- 45 1945 -- 46 1946 -- 47 1947 -- 48 1949 -- 50 1950 -- 51 1951 -- 52 1952 -- 53 1953 -- 54 1954 -- 55 1955 -- 56 1956 -- 57 1957 -- 58 1958 -- 59 1959 -- 60 1960 -- 61 1961 -- 62 1962 -- 63 1963 -- 64 1964 -- 65 1965 -- 66 1966 -- 67 1967 -- 68 1968 -- 69 1969 -- 70 1970 -- 71 1971 -- 72 1972 -- 73 1973 -- 74 1974 -- 75 1975 -- 76 1976 -- 77 1977 -- 78 1978 -- 79 1979 -- 80 1980 -- 81 1981 -- 82 1982 -- 83 1983 -- 84 1984 -- 85 1985 -- 86 1986 -- 87 1987 -- 88 1988 -- 89 1989 -- 90 1990 -- 91 1991 -- 92 1992 -- 93 1993 -- 94 1994 -- 95 1995 -- 96 1996 -- 97 1997 -- 98 1998 -- 99 1999 -- 00 2000 -- 01 2002 -- 03 2004 -- 05 2005 -- 06 2006 -- 07 2007 -- 08 2008 -- 09 2009 -- 10 2010 -- 11 2011 -- 12 2012 -- 13 2013 -- 14 2014 -- 15 2015 -- 16 2016 -- 17 2017 -- 18 Qualifiers 1999 -- 2000 2012 -- 13 2013 -- 14 2014 -- 15 2015 -- 16 2016 -- 17 2017 -- 18 Finals 2017 2018 Teams Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar Chandigarh Chhattisgarh Daman & Diu Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Lakshadweep Maharashtra Madhya Pradesh Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Orissa Pondicherry Punjab Railways Services Sikkim Tamil Nadu Telangana Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal Football in India National teams Men India U-23 U-20 U-17 Women India U-19 U-16 League competitions Level 1 I - League ( Official league ) Indian Super League Indian Women 's League Level 2 I - League 2nd Division State / District Assam Chennai Delhi Goa Jamshedpur Karnataka Kerala Kolkata Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Mumbai Odisha ( Men 's ) Odisha ( Women 's ) Pune Punjab Sikkim Telangana Uttarakhand Cup competitions AIFF cups Santosh Trophy Super Cup Past tournaments Federation Cup ( 1977 -- 2017 ) Super Cup ( 1997 -- 2011 ) Other cups Durand Cup Other Indian football seasons State associations Defunct leagues Lists List of clubs Stadiums by capacity AIFF History Footballers League champions Sports leagues of India Major pro leagues Badminton Basketball Cricket ( Twenty20 ) Football ( ISL, I - League ) Hockey Kabaddi Mixed Martial Arts Wrestling Other tournaments Cricket ( List A ) Duleep Trophy ( First - class cricket ) Ranji Trophy ( First - class cricket ) Football Women 's Football Kabaddi Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santosh_Trophy&oldid=854298537 '' Categories : Santosh Trophy Football cup competitions in India Recurring sporting events established in 1941 1941 establishments in Scotland Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from December 2016 Use Indian English from December 2016 All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English Pages using deprecated image syntax Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español മലയാളം मराठी ଓଡ଼ିଆ தமிழ் Edit links This page was last edited on 10 August 2018, at 09 : 23 ( UTC ). 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Question: bengal was the first champion of santosh trophy. whom did they defeat in the finals
Answer: Delhi