Santosh Trophy final round kicks off on March 1

Anil Datt

Ludhiana, February 27

Here is good news for the soccer fans of the region as Punjab hosts final round matches in the 69th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy. It is after a gap of four decades that Punjab will be organising this prestigious football tournament.

Five teams each from group A and B which have advanced into the final phase of this tournament, will slug it out for the coveted Santosh Trophy from March 1 to 15. Matches of Group A will be held at Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana. The Group B matches will be held at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium, Jalandhar. The two semi finals and the final are scheduled to be held in Ludhiana.

It was in years 1970 and then in 1974, Punjab played host and on both these occasions, Punjab had come out champions. In the finals, played at Jalandhar (1970), Punjab romped home victorious 3-1 against Mysore while in 1974, Punjab lads thrashed powerhouse, West Bengal 6-0 with the help of a hat-trick by Arjuna award winner, Inder Singh.

In the 1974 edition, Punjab had scored a record number of 46 goals in which alone, Inder Singh made a excellent contribution of 23 goals to help his side to lay its hands on winners’ trophy.

Last time, Punjab clinched the trophy in 2007 when in the final, played at Srinagar, they quelled a strong resistence from Services before wrapping up the cliff-hanger 1-0. Prior to this, Punjab reached finals in 2009 at Kolkata where they went down fighting 1-2 against West Bengal to finish as runners-up.

Besides, Punjab had emerged winners eight times and secured second position on six occasions during the course of this mega football tournament since 1941. West Bengal have won the title for a record 31 times besides finishing as runners up on 12 occasions.