SSC
Which is the oldest football competition in India?
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Answer: Option A — Durand Cup
Detailed Solution
The Durand Cup is the oldest football tournament in India and in Asia, and it is often described as one of the oldest club football competitions in the world. It was first held in 1888.
History of the Durand Cup:
It was started at Dagshai, near Shimla (now in Himachal Pradesh), by Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, who was then the Foreign Secretary of British India. Durand is also famous for drawing the Durand Line (1893), the border between British India and Afghanistan, now the boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The tournament was originally meant to keep British troops in India fit and was played among British army regiments. The first winner was the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
Mohammedan Sporting of Kolkata became the first Indian civilian team to win it, in 1940.
The tournament moved to Delhi in 1940, and since 2019 it has mainly been held in Kolkata, with some matches in other cities such as Guwahati, Imphal, Kokrajhar, Shillong and Jamshedpur.
It is organised by the Indian Army through the Durand Football Tournament Society.
The winning team receives three trophies: the Durand Cup (the original rolling trophy), the Shimla Trophy (first given by the people of Shimla in 1904) and the President's Cup (first presented by Dr Rajendra Prasad in 1956).
Mohun Bagan and East Bengal are the most successful clubs in the tournament's history.
Other old football tournaments in India:
- IFA Shield (1893), Kolkata: famous for Mohun Bagan's 1911 win.
- Rovers Cup (1891), Mumbai: discontinued after 2001.
- Santosh Trophy (1941): the national football championship between state teams.
Why not the other options?
- ✗The IFA Shield started in 1893.
- ✗The Rovers Cup started in 1891.
- ✗The Santosh Trophy started in 1941.
Quick tip
Remember: Durand Cup = 1888, Dagshai (Shimla), started by Mortimer Durand, oldest in Asia, organised by the Indian Army; Rovers Cup = 1891; IFA Shield = 1893; Santosh Trophy = 1941.
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Sports — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Sports, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers sports GK: major tournaments and their venues, trophies and cups associated with each sport, sports terms, the number of players in a team, sports awards in India, Olympic and Asian Games facts, and famous sportspersons and their achievements. Common questions ask which sport a trophy belongs to (such as the Durand Cup for football or the Ranji Trophy for cricket), which term is used in which sport, and where a tournament was held. Records and results change after every season, so pair static facts such as team sizes and terms with recent results from current affairs. Practise the sports questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.