Amazing facts and achievements: Indian Football

Some of the achievements amazing facts about Indian Football that not people are aware of: - 

• Football in India was spread during the days of the British Empire 
• The first recorded game in India took place between ‘Calcutta Club of Civilians' and ‘The Gentlemen of Barrackpore' in 1854
• Calcutta FC was the first club to be established in 1872.
• Mohun Bagan Athletic Club, West Bengal (1889) became the first Indian team to lift the IFA shield(Indian Football Association) in the year 1911 defeating Eastern Yorkshire Regiment with the final score of 2-1.
• The Indian Football Association (IFA) was established once again in Calcutta in 1893, but did not have a single Indian on its board until the 1930s.
• Indian national team qualified for the 1950 World Cup finals in Brazil, but could not appear as they still played bare feet at the time.
• The Indian team won gold medals in football at the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games, and finished fourth at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.
• In August 2007, Indian national team won the Nehru Cup for the first time in its history beating Syria 1-0.
• In August 2008, India defeated Tajikistan 4-1 to lift the AFC Challenge Cup and in turn qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.
• In 2009 August India again won the Nehru Cup beating Syria in penalty(6-5).
• India is ranked 135th according to FIFA rankings (November 2009).
• League football was being played in India, Calcutta long before Real Madrid or the world governing body Fifa even existed.