The Subroto Cup International Football Tournament is the oldest inter-school competition held in the vibrant city of New Delhi. The Subroto Cup’s history dates back to the early 1958 and its inception started in 1960. The Subroto Cup bears the name of illustrious Indian Air Force Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee with the mission of nurturing the sports at the grassroots level across the Nation.
The Subroto Cup Mukherjee stands as the oldest Tournament for inter-school to draw young talents from diverse corners of Asia by allowing students to have competition through inter-school competition. In this article, we started going into detail about the history of the Subroto Cup and we listed the latest school that won the Subroto Cup.
The Journey of Subroto Cup
The Subroto Cup originated in 1958, the name of the Subroto Cup was conceived by the visionary mind of Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, then Chief of the Air Staff. The Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society was established in 1960, following his untimely demise in Tokyo.
The commencement of the Tournament was participated by 50 schools and the journey of The tournament started to gain momentum year by year. The tournament has been divided into two age categories since 1998: the sub-junior (under 14 years) and Junior (under 17 years). Now the tournament has included the girls into the campaign.
Structure of the Tournament.
The tournament was jointly organised by the Indian Air Force in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. While its early days saw the Durand football tournament committee at the helm, the Air Force Sports Control Board took the reins in 1994 and has continued to steer the course since then.
The tournament’s structure was started in the preliminary inter-school contests from various levels: sub-division, district, and division, and inter-school at the state level. The Champion at the state level paved the way to the pinnacle—the main Subroto Cup Tournament held in Delhi.
The Spirit of the Game:
The Subroto Cup was a grassroots level Tournament. The Tournament has been outlined accordingly with FIFA, as embraced by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Services Sports Control Board. Each league match extends for 30 minutes per half, with a 10-minute interval. In the event of a draw during knockout encounters, an extra time of 7 minutes per half, with a 1-minute pause, is granted. If both the teams still draw then the match will be decided by penalty shootout.
Where the Tournament was held?
The Tournament was held in the vibrant embrace of New Delhi, the Subroto Cup finds.
1. Ambedkar Stadium
2. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
3. Tejas Football Ground (Race Course)
4. Subroto Park
Global Competition
The Subroto Cup has reached the peak of competition as the tournament started drawing schools from across the globe. The Competition is becoming more competitive. In the last few years, we have seen schools abroad such as Brazil, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Nepal, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and more. In the year 1993, Uzbekistan’s Special Sports School became the first foreign team to clinch the final of the Tournament.
Guests and Unforgettable Moments:
As the year comes, the Subroto Cup has become wider as the Tournament has invited the school from abroad. The tournament is no longer limited to India. If we can recall back in 2015, the championship welcomed teams from Afghanistan for the first time, bringing both boys and girls to partake. A touch of football royalty graced the 56th edition as Brazilian legend Pele, after a hiatus of 38 years, took centre stage as the chief guest. The legacy continued in 2016 with icons Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos headlining the 57th edition.