where Football in India

Football in India has historically been among the top 3 most popular sport in terms of players participation and TV viewership, together with long time number one cricket and re-emerging  India's current top domestic football league is Indian Super League, formed with eight teams to promote Indian football in the country and world It was the second national football league, running parallel with the I-League, thus leaving India as one of the few countries with two fully football leagues.^[5] Also contested is Santosh Trophy, a knock-out competition between states (provinces) and government institutions 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was hosted by India in the month of October in 2017 and for the first time the country hosted a FIFA event. The tournament was touted as the most successful FIFA U-17 World Cup ever, with the attendance being a record 1,347,133 surpassing China's 1985 edition where it was 1,230,976. India is also going to host the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Owing to this, India also bid to host the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, but lost to Poland the origin of football in India can be traced back to century when the game was introduced by British soldiers. Initially, games were played between army teams. However, clubs were soon set up around the country. Calcutta FC was the first club to be established in 1872, though reports suggest that they were initially a rugby club and switched their attentions to football as late as 1894. Other early clubs were established in Calcutta around the 1890s. Calcutta, then capital of British India, soon became the hub of Indian football also started around this time. The Durand Cup and IFA Shield were both started in century the first Indian team to achieve success was Club, which won the Cup in 1892 was set up in what is now West Bengal in 1889. The club became famous in 1911 when it became the first Indian team to lift the IFA Shield, a tournament previously won only by British teams based in India. It defeated the East Yorkshire All India Football Federation, which runs the game in India, was formed in 1937, but took more than a decade to get affiliated with FIFA. India also insisted on playing barefoot when other nations were putting their boots on and the game was changing fast India never qualified for the Olympics after 1960.^[8] India did qualify for its first Asian Cup in 1964 but failed to capture the title. India's last important performance in an international games when it won the bronze medal by defeating Japan 1–0, however the Indian youth team jointly won the Youth Asian Cup with Iran in 1974, the first and only title for India at youth level. For the club football, 24 September 1977 was a golden day as managed to hold on for a memorable 2–2 draw at the legendary Eden Gardens stadium in Calcutta, against a Pele led New York Cosmos would have gone on and won the tie, had it not been for a controversial penalty awarded to the visitors that ensured the spoils were shared. The next described as India's very own national team qualified for the 1984 AFC Asian Cup for the first time since 1964, but failed to qualify for as they finished last in their group of five teams. After a golden phase in 50s and 60s, Indian football went through a barren phase in 70s, 80s and 90s, gradually losing its foothold as a top Asian team played their next official matches against United A