1996–97 Indian National Football League

Philips National League

Season	1996-97
Champions	JCT FC
Relegated	Kerala Police Mohammedan SC ITI (Indian Telephone Industries)
1996–97 Asian Club Championship	JCT FC
1997–98 →

1996 saw the first national football championship in India take place, known locally as the Philips National League.

12 teams took part in the competition that was played in two stages; a Group Stage featuring two groups of 6 teams and a Championship stage featuring the top four from each group.

The bottom two clubs in each group would not take part in the next edition, although Mohun Bagan would play the following season.

Group stage

• Top four advance to the Championship stage.
• Bottom two teams in each group automatically relegated

Group A

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Notes
1	JCT FC	5	3	2	0	9	3	11	Qualify for Championship stage
2	East Bengal	5	3	2	0	6	2	11	Qualify for Championship stage
3	Salgaocar SC	5	2	3	0	2	0	9	Qualify for Championship stage
4	Indian Bank	5	2	0	3	3	5	6	Qualify for Championship stage
5	Mohammedan SC	5	1	0	4	3	6	3	Relegated
6	ITI (Indian Telephone Industries)	5	0	1	4	3	10	1	Relegated

Group B

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Notes
1	Dempo SC	5	4	0	1	7	1	12	Qualify for Championship stage
2	Air India	5	3	1	1	7	6	10	Qualify for Championship stage
3	Churchill Brothers SC	5	2	1	2	7	6	7	Qualify for Championship stage
4	Mahindra United	5	2	1	2	6	7	7	Qualify for Championship stage
5	Mohun Bagan	5	1	3	1	6	5	6	Relegated
6	Kerala Police	5	0	0	5	3	11	0	Relegated

Championship Stage

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Notes
1	JCT FC	14	9	3	2	26	8	30	Champions
2	Churchill Brothers SC	14	8	5	1	20	10	29
3	East Bengal	14	7	4	3	19	11	25
4	Dempo SC	14	4	6	4	19	17	18
5	Indian Bank	14	3	6	5	14	18	15
6	Air India	14	3	6	5	11	16	15
7	Salgaocar SC	14	3	4	7	8	13	13
8	Mahindra United	14	1	0	13	10	34	3

Philips National League Champions
JCT FC 1st Title

1996-97 Season Role of Honour

Competition	Winner	Details
Indian National Football League	JCT FC	1st Championship
Federation Cup	East Bengal	Defeated Dempo SC 2:1
Super Cup	East Bengal	Defeated JCT FC 0:0 (4:2 Pens)
Santosh Trophy	Bengal	Defeated Goa 1:0
Governor's Gold Cup	Air India	Defeated Mohun Bagan 0:0 (4:3 Pens)
96th Rover's Cup	Salgaocar SC	Defeated Air India 1:0
102nd IFA Shield	JCT FC	Defeated Karkh Club (Iraq) 1:0
Bordoloi Cup	Mohun Bagan	Defeated East Bengal 2:1
5th Scissors Cup	Dempo SC	Defeated Indian Bank 1:0
McDowell's Cup	Mohun Bagan	Defeated East Bengal 2:0
Airlines Gold Cup	All Nepal FA XI	Defeated East Bengal 2:1

Continental Performances

1996–97 Asian Club Championship

First round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
JCT FC	2-2(4-2p)	New Road Team	1-1	1-1

Second round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
JCT FC	1-2	New Radiant	1-0	0-2