A few books claim that football became popular in Jammu and Kashmir in the last decade of the 19th century when Tyndale Biscoe, founder of Mission School in Srinagar, brought a football with him from a trip to Mumbai. There was strong resentment among his students, the majority of whom were Brahmins, to play the new game as the ball was made from leather.
But Biscoe was determined to introduce the sport in the valley and hence ordered his teaching staff force the game on the students. In the sports period, the students would play under the watchful eyes of their teachers.
All hell broke loose when the ball struck the mouth of a Brahmin student and everybody stopped playing. Biscoe was in a fix and he suddenly ordered the child to be taken to the Jhelum river for a bath which would clean him of the impurities. The students were consoled by this trick and they got on with the game.
During the regime of Maharaja Hari Singh, the sport gained popularity across the valley as more schools and colleges began to introduce the game in their curriculum. Friends Club, J&K Police Club, Idgah Club, and Suliman Club of Dalgate became household names in the early part of the 20th century. Sri Pratap College was the first team from the valley to travel outside Kashmir to take part in a football tournament in Rawalpindi.
After the Independence, the Kashmir Olympic Association (KOA) took over as the governing body of football in the state. It was in 1964 that the J&K Football Association was formed which took over the reins from KOA and framed its own constitution to establish itself as the apex body of football in the state.
The recently concluded football season has been historic for Kashmir football as Real Kashmir FC beat Hindustan FC 3-2 and became the first club from Kashmir that will participate in the I-League next season.
State & District Leagues
The Premier Division of the Kashmir State League organised by J&K FA consists of 11 teams which might be increased to 14 next season. The two bottom-placed teams get relegated to the Super Division league whose top two teams gets promoted to the Premier Division.
The A-Division (third tier) consists of further 14 teams with the same rules of relegation and promotion applicable. The rest of the registered clubs of the state participate in the fourth-tier which is the B-Division. In the previous season, 74 teams participated in the lowest tier and they were divided into 12 pools. After the round-robin stage, the top-two teams from each pool progressed to the knock-out stage with the two finalists qualifying for the A-Division.
"The B-Division is one of the most fascinating tiers. There is cut-throat competition as most of the clubs are on the same level. The participation numbers soar high which proves that football is still the game that is in the hearts of the local people," said Bilal Ahmed Panjabi, assistant general secretary of J&KFA.
The State Championship is the premium knock-out football tournament of Jammu and Kashmir where all district champions including institutional teams take part. 32 teams participated in the previous edition of the tournament.
Every district has its own league-cum-knockout tournaments as well. Depending on the number of teams, the district association decides the number of tiers to be formed for its smooth functioning. The senior division is followed by the junior and the sub-junior divisions. The participating teams from each district are divided into pools and after the round-robin stage, the top teams progress into the knock-out stage.
"Around 2000 matches were played in the districts. The state finance minister gave us Rs 1 Cr to conduct district leagues. All clubs affiliated to J&KFA participated in it. Each club aer allowed to register 20 people," informed Panjabi.
Other Competitions
The Mufti Mohammad Sayeed (MMS) Memorial Tournament is another competition which is held under the banner of J&K FA and sponsored by J&K Sports Council. The tournament is played in three phases. In the first phase, all the district clubs play against each other in a league format. The champions from each district were then pitted against each other in Srinagar. The top four teams on the points table progressed to the next phase in the tournament, where they will be joined by the top eight teams of the Premier Division.
The third and final phase of the tournament will be played by dividing the 12 teams into two pools. The top two teams from each pool will play the final.
The Police Martyrs Memorial Football Tournament is a knock-out tournament organised by J&K FA in close collaboration with the J&K Police. All the district champions from Kashmir participate in this tournament along with all Premier Division clubs. Last year, some teams from Jammu also took part in the tournament which took the total tally to 24 teams.
The J&K Bank won the 15th Police Martyrs Memorial Football 2017 tournament by defeating Lone Star in a penalty shootout.
The CRPF Football Cup Tournament 2017 was organised by 21 Bn CRPF Srinagar Sector under Civic Action Program with support from J&K FA in which 48 teams participated from the districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal. Jahangir FC faced Novelty FC in the final where the former defeated the latter 5:4 in penalty shootout. The tournament is organised by the CRPF to bridge relations between the armed forces and the locals of Kashmir.
"It depends on the budget. If they (CRPF) have budget, they will go for Premier division teams only. If they have low budget, then they go for the B Division teams. It is good for B Division teams because they do not get much game time other than playing in the state league or some local seven-a-side football tournament," said Panjabi.
Youth Leagues
The J&KFA organises various youth annual leagues like the U12, U14, and U16 tournaments. All the age group tournaments are held in a knock-out format. It is mandatory for each district to have one U12 team and one U14 team.
The District Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) Srinagar, along with CRPF, organised a U14 football tournament where 32 boys and eight girls teams participated.
In the girls final, Khanams Public Sr. Secondary School defeated Mallinson Girl’s High School by 3-2 and won the trophy. In the boys final, Dr. AGM’s City School, Nowgam defeated Kashani Memorial Public School, Gulab Bagh by 3-1.
Several other youth tournaments are organised by various divisions of the CRPF in several districts to develop football at the grassroot level.
Srinagar has 34 football academies and the U-16 tournament is organised by pitting these academy teams in a league format where each team plays home and away against each opponent.
In April, the J&K State Sports Council (JKSSC) launched the first edition of the State Football Academy where 22 teams of 20 respective districts participated under the three age categories of U13, U15 and U18. The teams were divided into eight clusters and winner of each cluster will play in final round of the league.
Interestingly, the U18 teams J&K Bank, LoneStar Kashmir, and Real Kashmir are set to be inducted into the premier division league along with their senior teams.
"This year we are going to conduct a junior division league. Last year the U12 and U14 tournaments were conducted in a knock-out format but this year we have decided that we are going to conduct a proper league. We are also going to start the Baby Leagues as per directives from the AIFF," said Panjabi, detailing the plans of J&K FA to develop grassroots football.
Women's football structure
With the help of Kashmiri footballer Mehrajuddin Wadoo, the J&K SSC set up a women’s football team which participated in the Indian Women’s Premier Football League (IWL) last season.
The team was formed with a majority of local girls from the State from all three regions Kashmir, Jammu & Ladakh. The team underwent a coaching camp in Jammu before the tournament under head Coach Sajid Yousuf Dar. In their inaugural campaign, they won two and lost three.
The J&K SSC organized a two-day 7vs7 U12 Girls football tournament where 12 teams of various schools participated in the tournament which was played on a knockout basis.
But all these efforts remain disjointed and the state still lacks a proper women's football league.