Nearly six decades later, Hyderabad gears up to host Santosh Trophy

Hyderabad: After several decades, final rounds of the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy will be played in Hyderabad. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced that Hyderabad will host the finals rounds by the end of this year.

Nearly 57 years ago, the city of Nizams played a perfect host to the prestigious tournament. It was held in 1966-67 and Railways won the title clash against the Services team. Those days football game was a craze among the city residents.

The AIFF officials said the National Football Championship has been tentatively scheduled in the first week of December and the matches will be played at the GMC Balayogi Stadium in Gachibowli.

Services and Goa have reached the finals. Incidentally, both the teams were in finals last season too. The group stages will be played after Diwali in November.

Being a host association, Telangana will be given a direct entry to the final rounds and the winners of nine group stages will also compete in the finals.

For decades, Santosh Trophy has been serving as a talent search platform for Indian football team. Recent years saw states like Kerala, Punjab, and West Bengal taking home the coveted trophy. In the 2023-24 Santosh Trophy finals, Services defeated Goa by 1-0 to win the championship.

The state teams have been divided into 9 groups Santosh Trophy 2024:

Group A: Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab

Group B: Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi.

Group C: Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bengal, Bihar.

Group D: Assam, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Tripura.

Group E: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram.

Group F: Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha.

Group G: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Andaman & Nicobar.

Group H: Kerala, Pondicherry, Lakshadweep, Railways.

Group I: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Rajasthan.