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FD Senior Division League
Organising bodies	Football Delhi
Country	India
Number of clubs	11
Level on pyramid	6
Promotion to	Delhi Premier League
Relegation to	FD Senior Division League
Current champions	Delhi FC (1st title)
	Current: 2021–22 FD Senior Division

Delhi Premier League
Organising bodies	Football Delhi
Country	India
Number of clubs	11
Level on pyramid	5
Promotion to	I-League 3
Relegation to	FD Senior Division League
Current champions	Garhwal Heroes FC (1st title)
	Current: 2024–25 Delhi Premier League

Delhi Football League
Organising bodies	Football Delhi
Founded	1948; 77 years ago
Country	India
Leagues	Delhi Premier League ; FD Senior Division League ; A-Division League ; B-Division League ; C-Division League
Divisions	5
Number of clubs	80+ (overall)
Level on pyramid	5–9
Promotion to	Various
Relegation to	Various
Website	www.footballdelhi.com

The Delhi Football League is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian union territory of Delhi, organised by Football Delhi (FD) as part of the state leagues. Delhi Premier League is the top division, started in 1948 as DSA Senior Division.

History

The first parent body of Delhi football was formed in 1926, with professor Mohammed Zubair Qureishi as secretary. There was no proper local league but the clubs used to participate in private tournaments organised by sport enthusiasts. Due to the violence and upheaval caused by the Partition of India, the Delhi League was suspended after 1946. It resumed in 1948 and the oldest club in the capital Young Men has won it that year. From 1948 onwards, the Delhi League took a particular shape. It had three divisions. The top 10 teams played in the A division, on a double-leg basis, with all matches being held at the Ambedkar Stadium, earlier known as the Delhi Gate Stadium. The B and C division matches took place at either the nearby Crescent Ground or the President's Estate Ground. Except for transport allowance, kit and refreshment, there was no payment to the players. However, club officials would strive to get their top players jobs in leading public sector concerns like Delhi Audit, Northern Railway, State Bank of India, Central Secretariat Service, Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking (DESU), Food Corporation of India (FCI) and so on. A competitive institutional league was also held annually.^[1]

Structure

Delhi Football League
Tier	Division
1 _{(5 on Indian football pyramid)}	Delhi Premier League _{↑promote (to I-League 3) ↓relegate}
2 _{(6 on Indian football pyramid)}	FD Senior Division League _{↑promote ↓relegate}
3 _{(7 on Indian football Football pyramid)}	FD A-Division _{↑promote↓relegate}
4 _{(8 on Indian football Football pyramid)}	FD B-Division _{↑promote↓relegate}
5 _{(9 on Indian football pyramid)}	FD C-Division _↑promote

Delhi Premier League

Delhi Premier League, previously known as Football Delhi Senior Division League (FD Senior Division)^[2] and DSA Senior Division, is the top state-level football league in Delhi and level 5 of Indian football league system.^[3] It is also the highest level inter-city league played in the capital. Competition is conducted by Football Delhi,^[4] official governing body of Delhi region under AIFF. Most players from this league are selected to represent Delhi for Santosh Trophy.^{[citation needed]}

Season	Champions	Ref.
2022-2023	Vatika FC\|
2023-2024	Garhwal Heroes FC

FD Senior Division League

Football Delhi Senior Division League is the second tier of Delhi Football League system.

FD A-Division

FD A-Division
Organising bodies	Football Delhi
Country	India
Level on pyramid	7
Promotion to	FD Senior Division League
Relegation to	FD B-Division

Football Delhi A-Division is the third tier of Delhi Football League system.

FD B-Division

FD B-Division
Organising bodies	Football Delhi
Country	India
Level on pyramid	8
Promotion to	FD A-Division
Relegation to	FD C-Division

Football Delhi B-Division is the fourth tier of Delhi Football League system.

FD C-Division

FD C-Division
Organising bodies	Football Delhi
Country	India
Number of clubs	11
Level on pyramid	9
Promotion to	FD B-Division

Football Delhi C-Division is the fifth tier of Delhi Football League system.

Champions of the top-most division

The Delhi League was started in 1948, but has not been finished on some occasions. From 1985, a new format, Super League (two groups followed by knock-out semifinals and final), was adopted.^[5]^[6]

Year	Winner	Runners-up	Note
1948	Youngmen SC	Data not available
1949	Raisina Sporting
1950	Simla Youngs FC
1951	Youngmen SC
1952	Simla Youngs FC
1953	New Delhi Heroes FC
1954	New Delhi Heroes FC
1955	New Delhi Heroes FC
1956	New Delhi Heroes FC
1957	Youngmen SC
1958	New Delhi Heroes FC
1959	New Delhi Heroes FC
1960	City Club
1961	Raisina Sporting
1962	Raisina Sporting
1963	City Club
1964	City Club
1965	Youngmen SC
1966	President's Estate
1967	President's Estate
1969	Youngmen SC
1971	Indian Air Force
1972	Simla Youngs FC
1973	Simla Youngs FC
1975	Indian Air Force
1976	Simla Youngs FC
1985	Moonlight FC	Simla Youngs FC
1986	Garhwal Heroes	Youngsters FC
1987	None		Unfinished
1988	Shastri FC Moonlight FC		Joint winners
1989	Shastri FC Moonlight FC		Joint winners
1990	Moonlight FC
1991	Students Club	Simla Youngs FC
1992	Shastri FC	Special Area Games
1993	South India FC	Simla Youngs FC
1994	Shastri FC	Indian National FC
1995	Mughals SC	Shastri FC
1996	Shastri FC	Hindustan FC
1997	City Club	Indian Air Force
1998	Indian Air Force	Hindustan FC
1999	Indian National FC	Shastri FC
2000	Indian National FC	Hindustan FC
2001–02	Hindustan FC	Indian National FC
2002	Indian Air Force	Hindustan FC
2003	Indian Air Force	Tarun Sangha FC
2004	Indian Air Force, Palam	Indian Air Force
2005	Simla Youngs FC	Hindustan FC
2006–07	Indian Air Force	Indian National FC
2007–08	New Delhi Heroes FC	Indian National FC
2008–09	Indian National FC	Hindustan FC
2009	Hindustan FC Indian National FC		Joint winners
2011–12	Delhi United FC	Shahadra FC
2013	Garhwal Heroes FC	Goodwill FC
2013–14	Indian National FC	Garhwal Heroes FC
2018	Indian Air Force
2019	Garhwal FC	Indian Air Force
2020	Not held		due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Indian Air Force	Delhi FC
2021–22	Delhi FC	Hindustan FC
2022–23	Vatika FC	Delhi FC	^[7]
2023–24	Garhwal Heroes FC	Royal Rangers FC

References

^ Kapadia, Novy. "Delhi Football - A trip down memory lane". www.sportskeeda.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
^ "Senior Division | Football Delhi". Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
^ Choudhuri, Arunava. "Delhi Senior Division to kick-off July 30". arunfoot.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
^ "The history and the current status of football in Delhi". chaseyoursport.com. 29 April 2019. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
^ Chaudhuri, Arunava (2003). "India – List of Delhi League Champions". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
^ Chaudhuri, Arunava (2000). "List of Champions of the Delhi Football League (DSA Senior Division)". indianfootball.de. Indian Football Network. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
^ @FootballDelhi (26 September 2022). "𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒🏆 | VATIKA FC ARE THE CHAMPIONS DELHI!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022 – via Twitter.