Football is an outdoor game played between two teams with a ball on a pitch with goals at each end. Football is one of the most popular and simple games in the world. The game began in England in the 12^th century. With the growing popularity of the game, delegates from seven nations formed the Federation International de Foot Ball Association (FIFA) on May 21^st 1904. India has its own tradition and varieties of foot ball played in different areas of the country. But it was the British model of foot ball which came to be accepted in India from the earlier part of the 19^th century. The Association foot ball (soccer) is played by two teams, each of 11 players including the goal keeper, who attempt to get the ball into the opponents goal by kicking it. The first national trophy contested by six teams at its inception was founded by a Britisher, who was then India's Foreign Secretary, Sir Mortimer Durand at Army Establishments. Over the years, a number of clubs and tournaments proliferated all over the country, especially at Calcutta, Bombay, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Besides the National Championships, the I.F.A shield, the Durand, the DCM, the Rovers and the Nehru Tournaments; and for the juniors the Subroto Mukerjee and the Little Durand tournaments have given us talented footballers. India made the debut in Olympic Foot ball at the London games in 1948. India first won the foot ball gold at the inaugural Asiad in Delhi in 1951. Indian women also have ventured into the field of Foot ball with considerable success. They clinched the third place in the 1981 Asian Women's Cup Foot ball Championships staged in Hong Kong.