# 1996–97 National Football League (India)

The 1996–97 National Football League, also known as the Philips National League for sponsorship reasons, was the inaugural season of the National Football League. The tournament began on 17 December 1996 and concluded on 16 March 1997. Before the commencement, the All India Football Federation maintained that it would be a semi-professional tournament for the first two years.
Philips India was the main sponsor for the tournament and a total prize money of ₹1.5 crore was announced; ₹35 lakh to the winner. Twelve teams took part in the competition, which was played in two round robin stages: a preliminary group stage featuring two groups of six teams each played in Calcutta and Goa, and a main stage featuring the top four from each group played after a gap of three weeks following the first. East Bengal were the favorites to win the competition by virtue of their victories in the Federation Cup and the Calcutta League earlier that season. However, in a closely fought second stage mostly between JCT Mills and Churchill Brothers, the former sealed the title on the final day with a win over Dempo, courtesy a hat trick by Bhaichung Bhutia. Air India's Godfrey Pereira was named the best player of the league and JCT Mills' Sukhwinder Singh, the best manager. JCT Mills also won the Fairplay Trophy, which carried a purse of ₹2.5 lakh.
The bottom two clubs in each group would not take part in the next edition, although Mohun Bagan would play the following season.

## Overview

The first match of the inaugural season of the National Football League kicked off at around 5:45 p.m. (IST), an hour after the scheduled time, on 17 December 1996 between East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting at the Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta. It was inaugurated by then India's Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda. East Bengal defeated Mohammedan Sporting 2–1 with Raman Vijayan scoring a brace for his team; the first goal coming in the 10th minute.

## Group stage

* Top four advance to the Championship stage.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | JCT Mills | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 11 | Qualify for Championship stage |
| 2 | East Bengal | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 11 | Qualify for Championship stage |
| 3 | Salgaocar | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 9 | Qualify for Championship stage |
| 4 | Indian Bank | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 6 | Qualify for Championship stage |
| 5 | Mohammedan Sporting | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 3 | Eliminated |
| 6 | Indian Telephone Industries | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 1 | Eliminated |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Dempo | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 12 | Qualify for Championship stage |
| 2 | Air India | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 10 | Qualify for Championship stage |
| 3 | Churchill Brothers | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 7 | Qualify for Championship stage |
| 4 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 7 | Qualify for Championship stage |
| 5 | Mohun Bagan | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 6 | Eliminated |
| 6 | Kerala Police | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 11 | −8 | 0 | Eliminated |

## Championship stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | JCT Mills | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 26 | 8 | +18 | 30 | Champions |
| 2 | Churchill Brothers | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 10 | +10 | 29 | Asian Club Championship |
| 3 | East Bengal | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 25 | |
| 4 | Dempo | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 18 | |
| 5 | Indian Bank | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 18 | −4 | 15 | |
| 6 | Air India | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 16 | −5 | 15 | |
| 7 | Salgaocar | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 13 | −5 | 13 | |
| 8 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 10 | 34 | −24 | 3 | |
* Philips National League champions
* JCT Mills 1st title

## Season statistics
### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref. |
| Bhaichung Bhutia$^5$ | JCT Mills | Mahindra | 6–1 (H) | 9 February 1997 | |
| Bhaichung Bhutia | JCT Mills | Dempo | 4–1 (A) | 16 March 1997 | |
$^5$ Player scored five goals
    Note: (H) – Home; (A) – Away

## 1996-97 Season Roll of Honour

| Competition | Winner | Details |
| National Football League | JCT FC | 1st Championship |
| Federation Cup | East Bengal | Defeated Dempo SC 2:1 |
| Super Cup | East Bengal | Defeated JCT FC 0:0 (4:2 Pens) |
| Santosh Trophy | Bengal | Defeated Goa 1:0 |
| Governor's Gold Cup | Air India | Defeated Mohun Bagan 0:0 (4:3 Pens) |
| 96th Rover's Cup | Salgaocar SC | Defeated Air India 1:0 |
| 102nd IFA Shield | JCT FC | Defeated Karkh Club (Iraq) 1:0 |
| Bordoloi Trophy | Mohun Bagan | Defeated East Bengal 2:1 |
| 5th Scissors Cup | Dempo SC | Defeated Indian Bank 1:0 |
| McDowell's Cup | Mohun Bagan | Defeated East Bengal 2:0 |
| Airlines Gold Cup | All Nepal FA XI | Defeated East Bengal 2:1 |