Bengaluru, August 2: The 129th edition of the Durand Cup is set to take place from Friday (August 2) in Kolkata with Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting Club taking on each other at the Salt Lake Stadium.

The tournament, which will be held from August 2-24, is back with 16 teams in four groups, six from Indian Super League and six from I-League and four from the Defence services. The tournament winners will win a cash price of Rs 40 lakh. The runners-up will get Rs 20 lakh and the two semifinalists will collect Rs 5 lakh each.

The usual venue for the tournament had been Delhi but this time around, it is set to take place in three different parts of West Bengal – Kolkata, Siliguri and Kalyani.

History:

The Tournament is named after its founder, Sir Mortimer Durand, Foreign Secretary in charge of India from 1884 to 1894. The first competition was held back in 1888 co-hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) and Osians. It is regarded as the oldest football tournament in Asia and the third oldest football tournament in the world.

The Tournament was primarily a military only affair, open to the Army in India: the British Army, the regular Indian Army and other Indian military units. But post-independence it was revived as a tournament open for footballing sides and slowly it grew as one of the major cup competition in India.

Although, lately the hype regarding the competition faded away and it was last held in 2016 only. But now it has been brought back after talks between All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Football Sports Development Ltd (FSDL), who also looks to revive traditional football tournaments like IFA Shield in the future.

Previous Winners:

In 2016, Army Green won the trophy by beating Neroca FC via a shoot-out. The most successful teams in the tournaments are Kolkata giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan who have won it 16 titles each.

UPDATE FIXTURE OF DURAND CUP 2019 pic.twitter.com/uhVDegtp7T

— Mohun bagan Forum - Born to rule (@Mohunbagan5) July 26, 2019

Participating Teams:

Group A

Bengaluru FC, East Bengal, Jamshedpur FC, Army Red

Group B

Mohun Bagan, Navy, Mohammedan Sporting Club, ATK

Group C

Chennai City FC, Real Kashmir FC, FC Goa, Army Green

Group D

Gokulam Kerala FC, Chennaiyin FC, TRAU FC, Air Force

Every team will be allowed a minimum of 22 players in the squad while they are allowed a max 27 for a team. However, only four foreigners will be allowed in the team and only three can be named in the starting line-up.

Each top side from every group will progress into the semi-finals. The winner of Group A will face the winner of Group D while the winner of Group B will face the winner of Group C in the semi-final.