Women's football was introduced in India in the International Women's Year by
S.R. Zaidi. The Women's Football Federation of India was formed in 1975 and the first
national women's championships held during 1975/76 at the Central Sports Stadium, Lucknow.
Mr. Zaidi was also responsible for the introduction of junior nationals, zonal,
inter-zonal and Federation Cup tournaments for women in India.
The first national coaching camp preparatory to playing against Thailand was held at
Calcutta from 26 April to 8 May 1976 and to G.S. Bharati of Karnataka went the honour of
becoming the captain of the first national team. In 1977, a Swedish team played a series
of matches in India, followed in 1978 by an eight-match series by Tiversan, a team from
South England. While the Indian team's participation in the second Asian Confederation
tournament was cancelled due to non-availability of visa and non-clearance by the
government, the Women's Football Federation of India played host to the third Asian
Women's football championship in 1980 at Calicut. Six foreign and two Indian teams
participated in the tournament, which was won by China. Between 1970 and 1977, three
Indian players - Chitra Gangadharan, Nile Ghosh and Judy D'Silva - have earned the
distinction of representing all-Asian teams.
The following tournaments are a part of the annual football calendar: The Begum Hazrat
Trophy for the senior nationals (1975-76); the Sanjay Trophy for the junior nationals
(1980-81); Federation Cup (1979-80); the Kamala Nehru Trophy (1975-76); Inter-zonal
league; K.D. Singh Babu Trophy (1978-79); Champion vs Rest of India; Kittu Cup for the
sub-junior nationals and the Rajmani Devi Trophy (1978-79).
On the international scene, while the First Asian Cup was held in August 1975, the first
women's World Cup football championship for the M&M Trophy was held in China in 1991
and in the final USA beat Norway 2-1. |