Glorious past, uncertain future

The Qutub Minar had stood tall in Delhi8217;s maiden Santosh Trophy victory, way back in 1945.

The Qutub Minar had stood tall in Delhi8217;s maiden Santosh Trophy victory, way back in 1945. Luring visitors Bengal into a city-trip on the eve of the match, the Delhi team had encouraged their rivals to go climbing the 365 stairs of the historical monument, open to the public then. Next day, either the dizziness, or the sheer exhaustion of the climb flattened Bengal8217;s playing XI, as hosts Delhi combined home advantage with greater guile, to knock off the favourites 2-0 in the final and avenge their loss of two years ago.

The 62nd edition of the Santosh Trophy which commences in Kashmir from May 25, might not have such trickery-tales to narrate. For winning this tournament doesn8217;t mean much now. It was perhaps India8217;s most prestigious tournament when first held in 1941 in Bengal. But with the passage of time, the glory has steadily faded. The national tournament is now more or less like a state league, with minimal crowd turn-outs, and players not too keen on participating either. Donated by the Indian Football Association IFA, the parent body of Bengal football, in the memory of late Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh now in Bangladesh, the national championship started as an annual football fixture contested by states and government institutions. On numerous occasions, it was not held due to lack of funds and 2007 also saw a complete cancellation due to terrorism in the valley of Kashmir.

Clubs bigger than states

Jagdish Malhotra, who was part of the Delhi team when it was last held in Kashmir in 1978-79, has happier memories. 8220;There was a time when players were proud to represent their states. Now with the professional league coming into the country, they don8217;t want to turn out in state colours. When we represented the state, the public recognised us if we walked on the streets. I remember people called out to us by our names and knew us from our jersey numbers. But now if you ask Bhutia Baichung or Chettri Sunil to roam the streets, how many would recognise them?8221; he asks.

Till the mid 908217;s, the Santosh Trophy had its own charm and fans followed their team wherever it went.

Losing spotlight

But with the start of the NFL in 1996-97 which hogged more attention, the Santosh Trophy started losing its character as the premier football tournament in the country. The tournament itself has seen a lot of changes in the format of the game. It started on a league basis and to promote the youngsters the tournament was also played in the under-23 category for two years in 1989-90 and 1990-91, but reverted to the original format after organisers didn8217;t quite persist with their developmental-zeal.

Organisers have had to confront bizarre situations as well. There have been instances when, due to tussles within a state association, two teams from a state landed at the competition venue! During the late 708217;s, Delhi had sent two teams to participate in the event. And when the Capital hosted it in the 2004, two teams from Uttar Pradesh trooped into the Capital.

Ending supremacy

With Bengal winning the tournament a maximum 29 times by any state, the All India Football Federation finally decided to induct the domicile rule in 2002 which stated that only those born within the state can represent that team. And the rule brought to an end the supremacy of Bengal and Goa who dominated since they drew the best talent from all over the country. Most of the players who played in Bengal and Goa had no option but to return to play for their own state in the national championship.

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The quality of football, meanwhile, has wavered between bad to worse. 8220;There is a huge difference in the nature of the game. The quality of football has gone down and the enthusiasm to play for respective states is completely missing from the players,8221; Keval Kaushik, former soccer player, now scribe said. The I-League is more or less old wine in a new bottle and the Santosh Trophy will continue to fade from consciousness. The AIFF would do well to jazz it up and make it attractive for its state units this year.

The stakes aren8217;t high enough to trick rivals into climbing Qutub Minars now. Kashmir, though, would be hoping for better.