# National Football Championship (Bangladesh)

The Bangabandhu National Football Championship (Bengali: বঙ্গবন্ধু জাতীয় ফুটবল চ্যাম্পিয়নশিপ), previously known as the Sher-e-Bangla National Football Championship or the Sher-e-Bangla Cup, is a district-level national football tournament in Bangladesh, contested by districts and government institutions of the country. The tournament is run under the supervision of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF).

## History

The tournament was introduced by the East Pakistan Sports Federation in 1963 in memory of A. K. Fazlul Huq, who was popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla, upon the request of Abbas Mirza, former captain of Calcutta Mohammedan. Initially, the tournament would see First Division League clubs, university, and secondary education board teams compete.
Following the independence of Bangladesh, the tournament was reintroduced in 1973 as an inter-district national football competition contested by the district teams and government institutions under the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). On 10 January 2020, the BFF decided to revive the National Championship after a gap of 13 years, celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Upon its resumption, it was renamed the Bangabandhu National Football Championship.

## Format

    As of 2021–22
Along with 64 districts football teams, three service teams, six public universities, five education boards, and Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan will participate in the tournament. The participant districts have been divided into eight zones named Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, Shitalakshya, Brahmaputra, Surma, Chitra and Buriganga. Each zone consists of eight teams, except Surma, which contains seven teams. There will be knockout matches in every zone, which will be played on a home and away basis. In the first round, a pair of teams from every zone will play each other, which will decide four winners. In the second round, the four winners in each zone will play the zonal semifinal. In the third round, the semi-final winners will face each other in the zonal final. The champion from each zone will qualify for the final round.
Teams representing education boards, universities, and the services teams—a total of 15 teams—are divided in four groups in Sheba zone. The teams of this zone will play on a round-robin basis. Champion and runners-up of Sheba zone will join eight zonal champions in the final round.

## Sponsorship

| Period | Sponsor | Amount | Print Media | Ref. |
| 2020 | Walton Group | 8 lakhs BDT | Prothom Alo | |

## Results

| Season | Winner | Runner-up | Top Scorer | Goals |
| 1973 | Dhaka District | Kushtia District | | |
| 1974 | Dhaka District | Barisal District | | |
| 1975 | Dhaka District | Chittagong District | | |
| 1976 | Jessore District | Rajshahi District | | |
| 1977 | Kushtia District | Chittagong District | | |
| 1978 | Barisal District | Rangpur District | | |
| 1979 | Barisal District | Dhaka District | | |
| 1980 | Bangladesh Army and Dhaka University (joint winners) | Bangladesh Army and Dhaka University (joint winners) | | |
| 1981 | Bangladesh Army and Dhaka University (joint winners) | Bangladesh Army and Dhaka University (joint winners) | | |
| 1982 | Khulna District | Bangladesh Army | | |
| 1983 | Sylhet District | Dhaka District | | |
| 1984 | Feni District | Dhaka District | | |
| 1985 | Comilla District | Dhaka University | | |
| 1986 | Dhaka District | Comilla District | | |
| 1987–1988 | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1989 | Bangladesh Army | Dhaka University | | |
| 1990 | Dhaka University | Bangladesh Army | | |
| 1991 | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1992 | Dhaka University | Khulna District | | |
| 1993 | Khulna District | Feni District | | |
| 1994 | Bhola District | Dhaka University | | |
| 1995 | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1996 | Dhaka University | Narayanganj District | | |
| 1997–1999 | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2000 | Noakhali District | Bangladesh Army | | |
| 2001–2003 | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2004 | Narayanganj District | Bangladesh Army | Nasiruddin Chowdhury | 5 |
| 2005 | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2006 | Narayanganj District | Dhaka District | | |
| 2007–2019 | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2020 | Bangladesh Army | Bangladesh Navy | | |
| 2021–22 | Bangladesh Army | Chittagong District | Emtiyaz Raihan | 6 |