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2023-07-21T17:54:30Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2020}}
{{short description|Women's football tournament in West Bengal, India}}
{{Infobox football league
| name = Calcutta Women's Football League
| logo =
| pixels =
| country =
| organiser = [[Indian Football Association]] (IFA)
| founded = {{start date and age|1993|df=y}}
| teams = 32
| promotion = IWL 2nd Division
| relegation =
| levels = 3
| domest_cup = [[Women's IFA Shield]]
| confed_cup =
| champions = [[East Bengal FC (women)|East Bengal]] (2nd title)
| most_successful_club = Income Tax<br />[[Sashastra Seema Bal|SSB Women]] (4 titles each)
| tv = IFA TV ([[Facebook]], [[YouTube]])
| season =
| current = [[2022–23 Calcutta Women's Football League|2022–23]]
| website =
}}

The '''Calcutta Women's Football League''', also known as the '''Kanyashree Cup''',<ref name="cwfl">{{Cite web|title=Calcutta Women's Football League|url=https://theawayend.co/calcutta-womens-football-league/|access-date=8 November 2022|website=The Away End}}</ref> is a women's [[association football|football]] league in the [[States and union territories of India|Indian state]] of [[West Bengal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ifawb.org/southern-samity-and-ssb-to-battle-for-top-honours/|title=Southern Samity and SSB to battle for top honours|website=ifawb.org|publisher=[[Indian Football Association]] (IFA)|date=17 March 2022|access-date=18 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718075904/https://ifawb.org/southern-samity-and-ssb-to-battle-for-top-honours/|archive-date=18 July 2022|location=Kolkata, West Bengal}}</ref> Founded in 1993, it is the oldest [[women's football (soccer)|women's football]] league in [[India]] and organised by [[Indian Football Association]] (IFA), the official football governing body in the state. The tournament is primarily participated by teams across [[Kolkata]].

==History==
The Calcutta Women's Football League was founded by Indian Football Association (IFA) in 1993 to introduce women's football in West Bengal in the lines of men's domestic football system.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thehardtackle.com/2011/indian-football-womens-football-in-india/ |title=Indian Football: This One Is For The Ladies |first=Sachin |last=Madaan |website=www.thehardtackle.com |publisher=The Hard Tackle |date=2011-07-23 |access-date=13 November 2012 |archive-date=22 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722091731/http://www.thehardtackle.com/2011/indian-football-womens-football-in-india/ }}</ref> The inaugural edition was won by an ''institutional team'' of [[Income Tax Department]] against Behala Aikya Sammilani. Due to lack of sufficient resources and reception towards women's football in the nation, the organising body either cancelled or organised the tournament in small scale for the following years, thereby leaving negligible data about the tournament during the period.

The popularity considerably rose when the two big clubs of Bengal—[[East Bengal Club|East Bengal]] and [[ATK Mohun Bagan FC|Mohun Bagan]]—formed their respective women's teams to participate in the competition. Both the teams would reach the finals for two consecutive years, with [[East Bengal Club (women)|East Bengal]] winning in 2001 and Mohun Bagan in 2002. But, considering no national level honours to fight for, the two clubs found it financially unprofitable to maintain a women's football division, thus East Bengal disbanded it in 2003 and Mohun Bagan in 2004. During this period, the only team to continue their dominance was Income Tax. After years of discontinuation of the competition, it was started once again in 2017. The following year was won by another institutional team – [[Sashastra Seema Bal]] (SSB). This was the first edition of Calcutta Women's Football League where the winner was given a chance to qualify for [[2018–19 Indian Women's League season|Indian Women's League]].

In [[2020 Kanyashree Cup|2020]] the tournament was renamed to '''Kanyashree Cup''' under the patronage of the state [[List of chief ministers of West Bengal|Chief Minister]] [[Mamata Banerjee]]. East Bengal once again formed its women's team to participate and reached the finals where they lost against SSB, who became the second team after Income Tax to win three consecutive finals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thebridge.in/after-several-years-east-bengal-forms-womens-team-mohun-bagan-not-enthusiastic-enough/|title=East Bengal forms women's team; Mohun Bagan 'not enthusiastic' enough|date=2019-10-25|website=The Bridge|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-12-30|archive-date=30 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230095005/https://thebridge.in/after-several-years-east-bengal-forms-womens-team-mohun-bagan-not-enthusiastic-enough/|url-status=live}}</ref> The 2021 edition did not take place due to [[COVID-19 pandemic]] and in the following edition, due to management disputes, East Bengal informed IFA about not participating. SSB continued their dominance by defeating the women's team of [[Southern Samity]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ifawb.org/ssb-women-lift-kanyashree-cup/|title=SSB Women lift Kanyashree Cup|website=ifawb.org|publisher=[[Indian Football Association]]|date=23 March 2022|access-date=18 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718074703/https://ifawb.org/ssb-women-lift-kanyashree-cup/|archive-date=18 July 2022|location=Kolkata, West Bengal}}</ref>

== Champions ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Season
!Champion
!Runners-up
|-
|1993
|[[Income Tax Department|Income Tax]]
|Behala Aikya Sammilani
|-
|1994
| colspan="2" rowspan="6" align=center| ''No data''
|-
|1995
|-
|1996
|-
|1997
|-
|1998
|-
|1999
|-
|2000
|Itika Memorial
|[[Income Tax Department|Income Tax]]
|-
|[[2001 Calcutta Women's Football League|2001]]
|[[East Bengal F.C. (women)|East Bengal]]
|[[Mohun Bagan AC (women)|Mohun Bagan]]
|-
|2002
|[[Mohun Bagan AC (women)|Mohun Bagan]]
|[[East Bengal F.C. (women)|East Bengal]]
|-
|2003
|[[Income Tax Department|Income Tax]]
|[[Mohun Bagan AC (women)|Mohun Bagan]]
|-
|2004
|[[Income Tax Department|Income Tax]]
|Sarojini Naidu Club
|-
|2005
|[[Income Tax Department|Income Tax]]
|Sarojini Naidu Club
|-
|2006
|Friends of the Stadium
|[[Income Tax Department|Income Tax]]
|-
|2007
| colspan="2" rowspan="7" align=center| ''No data''
|-
|2008
|-
|2009
|-
|2010
|-
|2011
|-
|2012
|-
|2013
|-
|2014
|colspan="2" rowspan="3" align=center| ''did not happen''
|-
|2015
|-
|2016
|-
|2017
|Taltala Dipti Sangha
|''No data''
|-
|2018
|[[Sashastra Seema Bal|SSB]]
|''No data''
|-
|2019
|[[Sashastra Seema Bal|SSB]]
|[[Sreebhumi FC|Sreebhumi]]
|-
|[[2020–21 Calcutta Women's Football League|2020–21]]
|[[Sashastra Seema Bal|SSB]]
|[[East Bengal FC (women)|East Bengal]]
|-
|[[2021–22 Calcutta Women's Football League|2021–22]]
|[[Sashastra Seema Bal|SSB]]
|[[Southern Samity]]
|-
|[[2022–23 Calcutta Women's Football League|2022–23]]
|[[East Bengal FC (women)|East Bengal]]
|[[Sreebhumi FC|Sreebhumi]]
|}

==See also==
*[[Women's football in India]]
*[[Football in India]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Calcutta Women's Football League}}
{{Football in India}}
{{Football in Kolkata}}

[[Category:Calcutta Women's Football League]]
[[Category:Women's football leagues in India]]
[[Category:Football in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Sports leagues established in 1993]]
[[Category:1993 establishments in West Bengal]]

Kanyashree Cup - Revision history

WikiDwarfBOT at 17:54, 21 July 2023