When Chennai City FC were awarded a spot in the I-League in the 2017 edition, they became the first team from the state of Tamil Nadu in over a decade to play top-flight football. Indian Bank used to be a part of the National Football League (NFL) but in the I-League era, no club from the state had managed to qualify.
Now, with the emergence of two-time Indian Super League (ISL) champions Chennaiyin FC and Chennai City, who are still in the I-League, the footballing scenario in the state projects a positive outlook.
So what is the league structure like in Tamil Nadu? Interestingly, Tamil Nadu Football Association (TFA) does not have a state league. The major leagues in the state happen in districts like Chennai, Madurai etc.
History of CFA Senior Division!
Chennai is one of the few places in the state with a thriving district league. There are five divisions under the Chennai Football Association (CFA), with the CFA Senior Division being the top-most league, followed by four lower tiers.
The CFA Senior division has a rich history to it. It has been running for a long time (even before independence) under the stewardship of CFA and continues to be a credible platform for young footballers from the area.
In fact, the CFA Senior division is the only properly-organised league in the state. Even then, they have run into controversies like in the 2016 season where the eventual winners Chennai City FC were docked points for fielding ineligible players and the matter was then dragged into court. Interestingly, it is still unclear as to who were the champions in that edition.
Chennai City FC, who field their reserve team in the competition, did clinch the championship in 2017, however. The current champions are Indian Bank, a former NFL team, who bagged the 2018 title last week.
From around 32 districts in the state, a proper league only takes place in a few.
Format & Venue
There are 12 teams which participate in the CFA Senior Division. Four of them are private teams like Viva Chennai and Chennai City FC while the rest are institutional teams like the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) or the Indian Bank.
The teams play each other once in a round-robin league format and the side with the most points is declared the winner.
All the games are played at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Chennai, also known as the Marina Arena when it acts as the home for ISL side Chennaiyin FC.
The tournament is held in a very short of span of time, normally during the months of March and April every year.
District Leagues
Though it is mandatory for every district association under the TFA to conduct a league of its own, it happens regularly in only a few districts in the state like Chennai, Madurai etc.
There have been accusations that the TFA has very little role or control over the leagues in the state with no common league or competition being held. There used to be a Champions Trophy which featured the best six teams from Chennai's league and the best teams from other parts of the state. But the tournament has been long discontinued.
Even the CFA has come under fire in recent times for scheduling the CFA Senior Division games at 2:00 pm in the afternoon in the scorching heat of Chennai because it had to complete the tournament in a small window between when the ISL finished in mid-March to April 29th.
The CFA stated they were asked to complete the tournament before the said date by the TFA and had no choice but to go for such inhuman scheduling. However, many onlookers feel CFA should not make a mockery of the only real league in the state by adopting such haphazard measures. It is worth noting that the league has in the past produced players like Dhanpal Ganesh, Michael Soosairaj, Sinivasan Pandiyan etc who are all in the ISL bandwagon now.