FAO League

The FAO League or FAO First Division League is the premier state level football league in Odisha. The league is organised by the Football Association of Odisha (FAO), the official football governing body of Odisha, India.[1]

FAO League
Organising bodyFootball Association of Odisha (FAO)
Founded2010
CountryIndia
ConfederationAll India Football Federation (AIFF)
Number of teams24
Level on pyramid3
Relegation toFAO 2nd Division League
International cup(s)Super Cup
Current championsOdisha Sports Hostel (1st title)
(2019)
Most championshipsSunrise Club
(4 titles)
TV partnersOdisha TV
2019

Since the inception of the FAO League, a total of five clubs have been crowned champions. Sunrise have won the most titles in league history, being crowned champions four times. Odisha Police have won the league twice whereas East Coast Railway, Odisha Sports Hostel, Radha Gobinda Club, and Radha Raman Club have won it once.

History

The FAO League was brought up as Siddhartha Odisha First Division League in the year 2010 as Odisha's premier level football league. The Football Association of Odisha introduced the league system to provide the footballing talents of the state, a platform, to showcase their abilities. The league system continued with the same format for seven years, until it got its much-needed revamp in 2018.

Format

In a total revamp of the league, the FAO League was converted from premier league of the state to second-highest level footballing league in the year 2018 as the premier state level football league was introduced by the Football Association of Odisha. The league system currently is a three-tier system consisting of Diamond, Gold' and Silver leagues. The top four teams of the Diamond League, the top three teams of Gold League and the winners of Silver League would be promoted to the FAO Super cup i.e. the premier level football league in Odisha.[2]

Qualification for Super Cup

From the 2017–18 season, after the release of revamped format, the top four teams from the Diamond, three from Gold and one from Silver are drawn amongst each other to compete in the FAO Super Cup i.e. an eight-team knockout tournament organised annually after the FAO League stage.[3]

Clubs

Diamond
  • Sunrise Club
  • Odisha Police
  • Sports Hostel
  • Rising Students Club
  • East Coast Railway
  • Radha Raman Club
  • Jay Durga Club
  • Young Utkal Club

Gold
  • Bidanasi Club
  • Rising Star Club
  • Rovers Club
  • Mangala Club
  • Radha Gobinda Club
  • Sunshine Club

Silver

Silver A

Silver B
  • Independent Club
  • Chauliaganj Club
  • Club N Club
  • Town Club
  • Royal Club

Venues
Venues of the FAO Football League

Bhubaneswar

Cuttack

Champions
Season Date Winner Score Runners–up Venue
2010 8 September East Coast Railway 2–2 (5–4 pen.) Rising Student's Club Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
2011 28 August Odisha Police 3–1 Radha Gobinda Club Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
2012 30 September Odisha Police 1–0 Jobra Durga Club Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
2013 28 July Radha Gobinda Club 3–0 Jobra Durga Club Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
2014 10 August Sunrise Club 1–0 East Coast Railway Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
2015 22 December Sunrise Club 1–0 Rising Student's Club Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
2016 10 August Sunrise Club 4–1 East Coast Railway Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
2017 17 September Radha Raman Club 2–1 Sunrise Club Barabati Stadium, Cuttack

League Championships
Season Date Winner Runners-Up Venue
2018 28 September Sunrise Club Odisha Police Barabati Stadium,Cuttack
2019 6 September Odisha Sports Hostel Rising Student's Club Barabati Stadium, Cuttack

Championships by team
Club Championships Runners-Up Winning Seasons
Sunrise Club 4 1 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
Odisha Police 2 1 2011, 2012
East Coast Railway 1 2 2010
Radha Gobinda Club 1 1 2013
Odisha Sports Hostel 1 0 2019
Radha Raman Club 1 0 2017
Rising Student's Club 0 3 —
Jobra Durga Club 0 2 —

FAO Second Division League
SeasonChampionRunners-Up
2010Kishore ClubTown Club
2011Yuva Vandhu Cultural Group (YVCG)Lalbagh Club
2012Town ClubRoyal Club
2013Jay Bharat Cultural ClubUday Club
2014Lalbagh ClubRoyal Club
2016Club 'N' ClubRoyal Club
2017Chauliaganj ClubRoyal Club
2018FAO XIEleven Gun Club

See also

References
  1. "FAO First Division League". Orisports. 28 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  2. "FAO restructures domestic football". Football Association of Odisha. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  3. "All you need to know about the football league structure in Odisha". Goal. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
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