Tamil Nadu Football Association

The Tamil Nadu Football Association (also known as Tamilnadu; abbreviated as TNFA), formerly the Madras Football Association, is one of the 36 Indian state football associations that are affiliated with the All India Football Federation. The TNFA administers lower-tier football in the state of Tamil Nadu.[3] It sends state teams for Santosh Trophy and Senior Women's National Football Championship.

Tamil Nadu Football Association
AbbreviationTNFA
Formation1934; 90 years ago (1934)
(as Madras Football Association)[1]
HeadquartersChennai
Region served
Tamil Nadu, India
Membership
31 district associations
President
Jesiah Villavarayar[2]
Parent organization
All India Football Federation (AIFF)

History edit

The first football tournament in Madras was held in 1894 with 10 teams from all over the country.[4] From the year 1895, the Madras Gymkhana Club hosted an annual tournament. The winning team gets the EK Chetty Cup. Regimental units like Queens Own Regiment, Lancashire Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion the Dorsetshire Regiment, and 5th Field Battery - Royal Regiment of Artillery participated in the tournament. The EK Chetty Cup was won by regimental teams till 1933. The Pachaiyappa High School became the first Indian and non-military team to win it. The South Indian Athletic Association instituted the Jatprole Cup tournament.[5]

Madras Football Association was formed on 5 January 1934, following drafting of the constitution on 26 October 1933, with jurisdiction for the whole of the original undivided state of Madras, including the present Andhra and Kerala states, by the members of the Madras United Club - a body founded by sport loving Indians.[6] Madras Football Association league championship was started in 1934. Pachaiyappa's football club won the inaugural 1934–35 league championship. The MFA started conducting the First division league from 1936, and the Second division from 1937. In the year of 1978, Madras city clubs formed a separate association under Chennai Football Association. renaming the state federation as the Tamil Nadu Football Association.[7]

N. Vittal served as the president of Tamil Nadu Football Association. He also served as the vice-president of All India Football Federation. T.R. Govindarajan served as the secretary of the TNFA.[8]

Some of the tournaments conducted by the TNFA are Tamil Nadu State League,[9][10][11] Vittal Trophy,[12] Champions Trophy - Universal Cup,[13] and TFA Shield.[14] At present, all these three tournaments are not conducted.[15] The major leagues in the Tamil Nadu happen in districts like Chennai and Madurai. Chennai district league (Chennai Super League)[16][17] is conducted by Chennai Football Association (CFA), and the Madurai district league by Madurai District Football Association. The Tiruvallur District Football Association conducted the Don Bosco - Fr. McFerran Trophy All India football tournament sanctioned by the Tamil Nadu Football Association and All India Football Federation (AIFF).[18]

Competitions edit

Men's edit

Women's edit

Teams edit

Tamil Nadu FA teams edit

Club League
Tamil Nadu men's football team Santosh Trophy
Tamil Nadu women's football team Senior Women's National Football Championship

Chennai Football Association edit

Chennai Football Association has 96 affiliated clubs and conducts about 450 league matches for its member clubs, dividing them to 4 senior divisions, apart from conducting league for the schools and colleges. St. Joseph's Group of Institutions was the principal sponsor for nine years.[19] Rohit Ramesh is the president of the Chennai Football Association.[20]

References edit

  1. ^ Kausik Bandyopadhyay (29 November 2020). Scoring Off the Field: Football Culture in Bengal, 1911–80. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000084054. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  2. ^ Football Association, Tamilnadu. "State Associations". Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  3. ^ "All India Football Federation – About AIFF – State Associations". AIFF. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  4. ^ V, Sriram (June 2014). "When football came to Madras". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  5. ^ Jitendran, Nikhil. "Chennai's football debt to the Madras Gymkhana Club". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  6. ^ Musings, Madras. "Snippets from the MUC's Centenary Souvenir".
  7. ^ "CFA Senior Division". The Away End. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  8. ^ Frederick, Prince (June 2011). "Memories of Madras - In a league of its own". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  9. ^ 4th Tamil Nadu State Ranking Tournament 2004 Archived 2 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine indianfootball.de. Retrieved 16 August 2021
  10. ^ 5th Tamil Nadu State Ranking Tournament 2005/06 Archived 2 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine indianfootball.de. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  11. ^ 6th Tamil Nadu State Ranking Tournament 2007 Archived 16 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine indianfootball.de. Retrieved 16 August 2021
  12. ^ Venkatesan, S. Prasanna (May 2018). "The lost glory of Chennai's football league". Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ K., Keerthivasan (April 2016). "Champions Trophy to be back in Chennai". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  14. ^ Naveen (20 March 2013). "Football in Chennai – On a slippery surface". www.sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  15. ^ Muralidharan, Ashwin. "All you need to know about the league structure in Tamil Nadu". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  16. ^ India regional tournaments 1997/98 Archived 23 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine Rsssf. Retrieved 16 August 2021
  17. ^ "India 2005 Regional Championships". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  18. ^ Matthews, Dominic. "Don Bosco – Fr. McFerran Trophy All India Football Tournament 2018". Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  19. ^ Venkatesan, Prasanna. "CFA looking for principal sponsor". Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  20. ^ Mukherjee, Soham. "Chennai City owner Rohit Ramesh outlines his plans for CFA Senior Division League". Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.

External links edit