The Bombay League, also known as the Harwood League, first began in 1902. The earliest editions were organised by Colonel J.G. Harwood (RAMC), who was also the founding president of the Western India Football Association (W.I.F.A.) founded in September 1902; however, this association dissolved and the Harwood league and Rovers tournament were organized by separate committees until 1911, when a second incarnation of the W.I.F.A. (with the same name) was formed to govern football in the region. Some modern sources suggest that the league only became named after Col. Harwood in later years, but newspaper reports from the period indicate otherwise; the league was referred to in the majority of reports as "The Harwood League" even from its first edition in 1902. As with all competitions in colonial India, the league was dominated by British army regimental teams in its first few decades. The first native Indian team to win the league was the Western India Automobile Association Staff team, in 1942.
In later years disputes developed between competing associations attempting to organise competitions in the Bombay region, and during the 1990s there were two competing leagues, only one of which retained the Harwood League name; the major clubs gravitated towards the other more prestigious league (further information is below). The two rival leagues were reunited in 2000.
Bombay was renamed Mumbai in 1996.
Year Winners 1902 Oxfordshire Light Infantry 1903 Royal Garrison Artillery 1904 Cheshire Regiment 1905 Yorkshire Regiment 1906 Royal Scots 1907 Royal Scots 1908 Royal Scots 1909 Gloucestershire Regiment 1910 Royal Garrison Artillery 1911 Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1912 Royal Army Temperance Association 1913 Sherwood Foresters 1914 Sherwood Foresters 1915 Royal Garrison Artillery 1916-20 [not held] 1921 King's Shropshire Light Infantry 1922 King's Shropshire Light Infantry 1923 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 1924 West Yorkshire Regiment 1925 West Yorkshire Regiment 1926 South Staffordshire Regiment 1927 Cheshire Regiment 1928 Royal Ulster Rifles 1929 Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1930 Duke of Wellington's Regiment 1931 Duke of Wellington's Regiment 1932 King's Own Scottish Borderers 1933 Royal Irish Fusiliers 1934 Royal Artillery (Colaba) 1935 Durham Light Infantry 1936 Durham Light Infantry 1937 Cheshire Regiment 1938 Cheshire Regiment 1939 South Lancashire Regiment 1940 Welch Regiment 1941 Y.M.C.A. 1942 Western India Automobile Association Staff 1943 Western India Automobile Association Staff 1944 Embarkation Headquarters 1945 Tata Sports Club 1946 Trades India Sports Club 1947 Trades India Sports Club 1948 Tata Sports Club 1949 Trades India Sports Club 1950 Tata Sports Club 1951 India Culture League 1952 India Culture League 1953 Tata Sports Club 1954 Indian Navy 1955 [abandonded] 1956 Burmah-Shell Sports Club 1957 Indian Navy 1958 Tata Sports Club 1959 Western Railway 1960 Tata Sports Club 1961 Tata Sports Club 1962 Western Railway 1963 Central Railway 1964 Tata Sports Club 1965 Central Railway 1966 Tata Sports Club 1967 Tata Sports Club 1968 Mafatlal Group 1969 Mafatlal Group 1970 Mahindra & Mahindra 1971 Mafatlal Group 1972 Mafatlal Group 1973 Tata Sports Club 1974/75 Tata Sports Club 1975/76 Mafatlal Group 1976 Mafatlal Group 1977 Orkay Mills 1978/79 Mafatlal Group 1979 Tata Sports Club 1980 Orkay Mills 1981 Century Rayon 1982 Mahindra & Mahindra 1983 Mafatlal Mills 1984 Mahindra & Mahindra 1985 Mahindra & Mahindra 1986 Bank of India 1987 Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) 1988 Orkay Mills 1989 Union Bank
From 1990-1999, two separate leagues ran in competition to each other. One league was organised by the Bombay District Football Association (B.D.F.A., later renamed M.D.F.A. when Bombay was renamed Mumbai), and the other league was organised by the W.I.F.A. The B.D.F.A. league retained the right to use the name "Harwood League". Over the next few years, the best teams migrated to the W.I.F.A. league.
Year Winners 1990 Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) 1991 United Boys (Sahar) 1992 Central Railway 1993 Oil & Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) 1994 Carmelites 1995 Central Railway 1996 Royal Caterers 1997 [abandoned] 1998 Village Amboli 1999 unknown * * the 1999 winner was either Holy Family, Chembur English, or Rhino.
Year Winners League Sponsor 1990 Bank of India Four Square Special (cigarettes) 1991 Central Bank Four Square Special (cigarettes) 1992 Air India Thums Up (cola) 1993 Bank of India Air India 1994 Air India Thums Up (cola) 1995 Mahindra & Mahindra Lotto (shoes) 1996 Air India 1997 Air India Gulf Oil 1998 Bengal Mumbai FC Gulf Oil 1999 Air India Gulf Oil
In 2000 the two leagues merged when the M.D.F.A. and the W.I.F.A. resolved their various disputes. The resultant league has since been run by the M.D.F.A. (affiliated to the W.I.F.A.), with the restored title of The Harwood League.
Year Winners 2000 Mahindra United 2001/02 Mahindra United 2002 Mahindra United 2003 Mahindra United 2004 Mahindra United 2005 Maharashtra State Police 2006/07 Mahindra United 2007/08 Mahindra United 2008/09 Mahindra United 2009/10 Air India 2010/11 Mumbai FC 2011/12 Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) 2012/13 not held 2013/14 Air India 2014/15 Air India 2015/16 Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) 2016/17 Air India 2017/18 Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) 2018/19 Mumbai Customs 2019/20 Karmatak Sporting Association 2020/21 cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic
Final Table: 1. Oxfords 12 10 2 0 47- 5 22 [Oxfordshire Light Infantry] 2. R.G.A. 12 9 3 0 44- 2 21 [Royal Garrison Artillery] 3. Bombay Rovers 12 6 3 3 24-18 15 4. Bombay Gymkhana 11 3 3 5 16-21 9 5. Telegraph Club 11 2 2 7 9-29 6 [Government Telegraph Recreation Club] 6. B.V.A. 10 2 0 8 10-35 4 [Bombay Volunteer Artillery] 7. H.M.S. Magdala 12 1 1 10 8-48 3 Results: 19-6-1902 Gymkhana 3-1 Telegraph 20-6-1902 B.V.A. 3-1 Magdala 23-6-1902 Oxfords 4-1 Gymkhana 24-6-1902 Gymkhana 2-2 Magdala 25-6-1902 Rovers 1-0 Telegraph 1-7-1902 Oxfords 3-1 B.V.A. 2-7-1902 R.G.A. 6-0 Magdala 2-7-1902 Rovers 1-1 Gymkhana 4-7-1902 R.G.A. 7-0 Telegraph 7-7-1902 Oxfords 3-1 Gymkhana 9-7-1902 R.G.A. 1-1 Rovers 11-7-1902 R.G.A. 4-1 B.V.A. 14-7-1902 Oxfords 6-0 Magdala 15-7-1902 R.G.A. 6-0 Gymkhana 17-7-1902 Telegraph 4-0 B.V.A. 19-7-1902 Rovers 6-1 Magdala 22-7-1902 Gymkhana 2-0 B.V.A. 23-7-1902 Oxfords 4-2 Rovers 24-7-1902 R.G.A. 4-0 Telegraph 27-7-1902 Gymkhana 1-1 Telegraph 28-7-1902 Oxfords 6-0 Magdala 29-7-1902 Gymkhana 5-0 Magdala 29-7-1902 R.G.A. 3-0 B.V.A. 30-7-1902 Rovers 1-1 Telegraph 1-8-1902 R.G.A. 5-0 Rovers 2-8-1902 Telegraph 2-1 Magdala 4-8-1902 Oxfords 8-0 B.V.A. 5-8-1902 R.G.A. 2-0 Gymkhana 6-8-1902 R.G.A. 6-0 Magdala 6-8-1902 Rovers 5-1 B.V.A. 7-8-1902 Oxfords 5-0 Telegraph 11-8-1902 Oxfords 3-0 Rovers 13-8-1902 Rovers 1-0 Gymkhana 14-8-1902 Magdala 1-0 Telegraph 15-8-1902 R.G.A. 0-0 Oxfords 15-8-1902 B.V.A. - Telegraph [apparently not played] 19-8-1902 B.V.A. 3-2 Magdala 20-8-1902 Rovers 3-0 Magdala 23-8-1902 R.G.A. 0-0 Oxfords 27-8-1902 Rovers 3-1 B.V.A. 28-8-1902 Oxfords 5-0 Telegraph ??-8-1902 B.V.A. - Gymkhana [apparently not played]
Prepared and maintained by Neil Morrison for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Neil Morrison
Last updated: 26 Jan 2021
(C) Copyright Neil Morrison and RSSSF 2012/21
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