List of Pakistan football champions
The Pakistan football champions are the winners of the highest league in Pakistani football, which is currently the Pakistan Premier League.
Pakistan’s first football tournament began on May 28, 1948 as the National Football Championship, a knock-out competition, which remained as the top football competition in the country until 2004 with the introduction of the Pakistan Premier League. In 1979, a domestic cup was added to Pakistani football, known as the Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup.[1]
The 1948–49 Pakistan National Football League was the first season of the NFL and ended with Sindh Red being crowned champions. The National Football League era though saw Karachi based Pakistan Airlines with most championships, winning the competition nine times. The Pakistan Premier League era is different though as most of the champions of the league have come from Punjab side with Khan Research Laboratories from Rawalpindi winning the league five times.[2]
Currently, the team with the most championships in Pakistan Premier League is Khan Research Laboratories, who have won five championships in the league. However, Pakistan Airlines are the team with the most championships overall, winning National Football League nine times.[3]
Champions
- Bold indicates double winners – i.e. League and Domestic (National Challenge) Cup.
- Italic indicates team winning the season unbeaten – i.e. (invincible).
- Note: Various provinces (Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan, Punjab, East Pakistan), divisions (Karachi, Peshawar) or other clubs (Railways) entered teams under various names; all finalists listed can nevertheless be regarded as the 'first' team of the respective clubs with the exception of the 1948 losing finalists, Sindh Blue, who were the second-string team of Sindh.[3]
National Football Championship (1948–2003)
| Year | Champions (number of titles) | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Sindh Red (1) | Sindh Blue |
| 1950 | Balochistan Red (1) | Sindh |
| 1952 | Punjab (1) | NWFP |
| 1953 | Punjab (2) | NWFP Blue |
| 1954 | Punjab Blue (3) | Pakistan Railways |
| 1955 | Punjab (4) | NWFP |
| 1956 | Balochistan (2) | Railways White |
| 1957 | Punjab (5) | East Pakistan White |
| 1958 | Punjab Blue (6) | Pakistan Railways |
| 1959 | Balochistan (3) | East Pakistan |
| 1960 | East Pakistan (1) | Karachi White |
| 1961–62 | Dacca (1) | Karachi Blue |
| 1962 | Dacca (2) | Karachi |
| 1963 | Karachi (1) | Pakistan Railways |
| 1964–65 | Karachi (2) | Pakistan Railways |
| 1966 | Karachi (3) | Pakistan Railways |
| 1968 | Peshawar (1) | Lahore |
| 1969 | Pakistan Railways (1) | Karachi |
| 1969–70 | Chittagong (1) | Peshawar |
| 1971 | Pakistan Airlines (1) | Karachi |
| 1972 | Pakistan Airlines (2) | Peshawar White |
| 1973 | Karachi Yellow (4) | Rawalpindi |
| 1975 (I) | Pakistan Airlines (3) | Punjab A |
| 1975 (II) | Sindh Red (2) | Balochistan Red |
| 1976 | Pakistan Airlines (4) | Pakistan Railways |
| 1978 | Pakistan Airlines (5) | Sindh Red |
| 1979 | Karachi Red (5) | Pakistan Airlines |
| 1980 | Karachi Red (6) | Pakistan Army |
| 1981 | Pakistan Airlines (6) | Pakistan Air Force |
| 1982 | Habib Bank (1) | Pakistan Railways |
| 1983 | WAPDA (1) | Habib Bank |
| 1984 | Pakistan Railways (2) | WAPDA |
| 1985 | Quetta (1) | Pakistan Airlines |
| 1986 | Pakistan Air Force (1) | Pakistan Airlines |
| 1987 | Crescent Textiles Mills (1) | Karachi Port Trust |
| 1989 (I) | Punjab Red (7) | Pakistan Railways |
| 1989 (II) | Pakistan Airlines (7) | Sindh Government Press |
| 1990 | Punjab Red (8) | Pakistan Airlines |
| 1991 | WAPDA (2) | Habib Bank |
| 1992–93 | Pakistan Airlines (8) | Pakistan Army |
| 1993–94 | Pakistan Army (1) | WAPDA |
| 1994 | Crescent Textiles Mills (2) | WAPDA |
| 1995 | Pakistan Army (2) | Allied Bank |
| 1997 (I) | Allied Bank (1) | Pakistan Airlines |
| 1997 (II) | Pakistan Airlines (9) | Allied Bank |
| 1999 | Allied Bank (2) | Pakistan Navy |
| 2000 | Allied Bank (3) | Habib Bank |
| 2001 | WAPDA (3) | Khan Research Laboratories |
| 2003 | WAPDA (4) | Pakistan Army |
Pakistan Premier League (2004-present)
Total titles won
Teams in bold competed in the Premier League as of the 2018–19 season.
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pakistan Airlines1† | 9 | 5 | 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1989, 1992–93, 1997 |
| WAPDA | 8 | 5 | 1983, 1991, 2001, 2003, 2004-05, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11 |
| Punjab2 | 8 | 1 | 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1989, 1990 |
| Karachi3 | 6 | 5 | 1963, 1964–65, 1966, 1973, 1979, 1980 |
| Khan Research Laboratories | 5 | 2 | 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2018–19 |
| Pakistan Army | 4 | 8 | 1993–94, 1995, 2005-06, 2006–07 |
| Allied Bank† | 3 | 2 | 1997, 1999, 2000 |
| Balochistan4 | 3 | 1 | 1950, 1956, 1959 |
| Pakistan Railways | 2 | 9 | 1969, 1984 |
| Sindh5 | 2 | 2 | 1948, 1975 |
| Crescent Textiles Mills† | 2 | 0 | 1987, 1994 |
| Dacca | 2 | 0 | 1961–62, 1962 |
| Habib Bank† | 1 | 3 | 1982 |
| Pakistan Air Force | 1 | 3 | 1986 |
| K-Electric† | 1 | 2 | 2014–15 |
| East Pakistan | 1 | 2 | 1960 |
| Peshawar | 1 | 1 | 1968 |
| Chittagong | 1 | 0 | 1969–70 |
| Quetta | 1 | 0 | 1985 |
| NWFP | 0 | 3 | |
| Afghan Chaman | 0 | 1 | |
| Karachi Port Trust | 0 | 1 | |
| Lahore | 0 | 1 | |
| Pakistan Navy | 0 | 1 | |
| Sindh Government Press | 0 | 1 | |
| Sindh Blue | 0 | 1 |
Note: † represents dissolved teams.
Total titles won by provinces
Punjab has dominated the football league in Pakistan with a total of 31 league titles won between three cities; Faisalabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi. Sindh based Karachi and East Bengal based Dacca dominated the league from 1960 to 1965; Dacca winning consecutive titles from 1960-61 and 1961-62, and Karachi winning back to back three titles from 1962-63, 1963-64 and 1964-65.[1][2]
| Province | Number of titles | Clubs |
|---|---|---|
 Punjab | 32 | WAPDA (8), Punjab (8), Khan Research Laboratories (5), Pakistan Army (4), Allied Bank (3), Pakistan Railways (2), Crescent Textiles Mill (2) |
 Sindh | 19 | Pakistan Airlines (9), Karachi (6), Sindh (2), Habib Bank (1), K-Electric (1) |
 Balochistan | 4 | Balochistan (3), Quetta (1) |
 East Bengal (now Bangladesh) | 3 | Dacca (2), Chittagong (1) |
 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly NWFP) | 2 | Pakistan Air Force (1), Peshawar (1) |
By City / Town
| City / Town | Championships | Clubs |
|---|---|---|
| Lahore | 21 | WAPDA (8), Punjab (8), Allied Bank (3), Pakistan Railways (2) |
| Karachi | 19 | Pakistan Airlines (9), Karachi (6), Sindh (2), Habib Bank (1), K-Electric (1) |
| Rawalpindi | 9 | Khan Research Laboratories (5), Pakistan Army (4) |
| Quetta | 4 | Balochistan (3), Quetta (1) |
| Peshawar | 2 | Pakistan Air Force (1), Peshawar (1) |
| Dhaka | 2 | Dacca (2) |
| Faisalabad | 2 | Crescent Textile Mill (2) |
| Chittagong | 1 | Chittagong (1) |
Multiple trophy wins
Only three clubs have won double in Pakistan football.
| Team | Season | Trophies |
|---|---|---|
| Allied Bank Limited | 1998–99 | National Football League, PFF President's Cup |
| Crescent Textile Mills | 1986–87 | National League Football, President-PFF Cup |
| Khan Research Laboratories | 2009–10 | Pakistan Premier League, National Football Challenge Cup |
| 2011–12 | Pakistan Premier League, National Football Challenge Cup |
References
- ^ a b Ahsan, Ali (December 23, 2010). "A history of football in Pakistan — Part II". DAWN News. DAWN. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- ^ a b Ahsan, Ali (December 23, 2010). "A history of football in Pakistan — Part III". DAWN News. DAWN. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- ^ a b Ali Wahidi, Syed Akber (March 17, 2016). "Pakistan - List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
| |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National teams |
| ||||
| League competitions |
| ||||
| Cup competitions |
| ||||
| Defunct competitions |
| ||||
| Lists and categories | |||||
