1996 saw the first national football championship in India take place, known locally as the Philips National League.

12 teams took part in the competition that was played in two stages; a Group Stage featuring two groups of 6 teams and a Championship stage featuring the top four from each group.

The bottom two clubs in each group would not take part in the next edition, although Mohun Bagan would play the following season.

Group stage

• Top four advance to the Championship stage.
• Bottom two teams in each group automatically relegated

Group A

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Notes
1	JCT FC	5	3	2	0	9	3	11	Qualify for Championship stage
2	East Bengal East Bengal Club Kingfisher East Bengal Football Club are an Indian professional football club based at Kolkata. They are known to be one of the best footballing sides in India. They have won the most IFA Shields in Indian Football and are tied for the most National Football League and Durand Cup championships with...	5	3	2	0	6	2	11	Qualify for Championship stage
3	Salgaocar SC	5	2	3	0	2	0	9	Qualify for Championship stage
4	Indian Bank	5	2	0	3	3	5	6	Qualify for Championship stage
5	Mohammedan SC Mohammedan Sporting Club (Kolkata) Mohammedan Sporting Club, founded in 1891 at Kolkata, is one of the oldest and leading football clubs in India. The club currently plays in the second division of I-League and premier division of CFL....	5	1	0	4	3	6	3	Relegated
6	ITI (Indian Telephone Industries)	5	0	1	4	3	10	1	Relegated

Group B

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Notes
1	Dempo SC	5	4	0	1	7	1	12	Qualify for Championship stage
2	Air India Air India (football club) Air India FC, is an Indian professional football club founded in 1952, based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. They are sponsored by Air India under the management of T.K. Singh and have enjoyed some success in the Maharashtrian Football and the NFL India. They play in the I-League and Mumbai Super Division...	5	3	1	1	7	6	10	Qualify for Championship stage
3	Churchill Brothers SC	5	2	1	2	7	6	7	Qualify for Championship stage
4	Mahindra United Mahindra United Mahindra United Football Club was a professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Their home ground was the Cooperage Ground in Mumbai...	5	2	1	2	6	7	7	Qualify for Championship stage
5	Mohun Bagan	5	1	3	1	6	5	6	Relegated
6	Kerala Police	5	0	0	5	3	11	0	Relegated

Championship Stage

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Notes
1	JCT FC	14	9	3	2	26	8	30	Champions
2	Churchill Brothers SC	14	8	5	1	20	10	29
3	East Bengal East Bengal Club Kingfisher East Bengal Football Club are an Indian professional football club based at Kolkata. They are known to be one of the best footballing sides in India. They have won the most IFA Shields in Indian Football and are tied for the most National Football League and Durand Cup championships with...	14	7	4	3	19	11	25
4	Dempo SC	14	4	6	4	19	17	18
5	Indian Bank	14	3	6	5	14	18	15
6	Air India Air India (football club) Air India FC, is an Indian professional football club founded in 1952, based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. They are sponsored by Air India under the management of T.K. Singh and have enjoyed some success in the Maharashtrian Football and the NFL India. They play in the I-League and Mumbai Super Division...	14	3	6	5	11	16	15
7	Salgaocar SC	14	3	4	7	8	13	13
8	Mahindra United Mahindra United Mahindra United Football Club was a professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Their home ground was the Cooperage Ground in Mumbai...	14	1	0	13	10	34	3

Philips National League Champions
JCT FC 1st Title

1996-97 Season Role of Honour

Competition	Winner	Details
Indian National Football League	JCT FC	1st Championship
Federation Cup Federation Cup (India) The Federation Cup is an annual knockout style club football tournament in India. It has started in 1977. From its inception till I-League has been started in 1997 , it was the most prestigious national level club football tournament in India...	East Bengal East Bengal Club Kingfisher East Bengal Football Club are an Indian professional football club based at Kolkata. They are known to be one of the best footballing sides in India. They have won the most IFA Shields in Indian Football and are tied for the most National Football League and Durand Cup championships with...	Defeated Dempo SC 2:1
Super Cup	East Bengal East Bengal Club Kingfisher East Bengal Football Club are an Indian professional football club based at Kolkata. They are known to be one of the best footballing sides in India. They have won the most IFA Shields in Indian Football and are tied for the most National Football League and Durand Cup championships with...	Defeated JCT FC 0:0 (4:2 Pens)
Santosh Trophy Santosh Trophy Santosh Trophy is an annual Indian football tournament which is contested by states and government institutions. The first winners were Bengal, who also lead the all-time winners list with 31 titles till date....	Bengal East Bengal Club Kingfisher East Bengal Football Club are an Indian professional football club based at Kolkata. They are known to be one of the best footballing sides in India. They have won the most IFA Shields in Indian Football and are tied for the most National Football League and Durand Cup championships with...	Defeated Goa 1:0
Governor's Gold Cup	Air India Air India (football club) Air India FC, is an Indian professional football club founded in 1952, based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. They are sponsored by Air India under the management of T.K. Singh and have enjoyed some success in the Maharashtrian Football and the NFL India. They play in the I-League and Mumbai Super Division...	Defeated Mohun Bagan 0:0 (4:3 Pens)
96th Rover's Cup	Salgaocar SC	Defeated Air India Air India (football club) Air India FC, is an Indian professional football club founded in 1952, based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. They are sponsored by Air India under the management of T.K. Singh and have enjoyed some success in the Maharashtrian Football and the NFL India. They play in the I-League and Mumbai Super Division...  1:0
102nd IFA Shield IFA Shield The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association. It is the fourth oldest club cup competition in the world after the English and Scottish FA cup's and the Durand Cup.-Results of IFA Shield:...	JCT FC	Defeated Karkh Club (Iraq) 1:0
Bordoloi Cup	Mohun Bagan	Defeated East Bengal East Bengal Club Kingfisher East Bengal Football Club are an Indian professional football club based at Kolkata. They are known to be one of the best footballing sides in India. They have won the most IFA Shields in Indian Football and are tied for the most National Football League and Durand Cup championships with...  2:1
5th Scissors Cup	Dempo SC	Defeated Indian Bank 1:0
McDowell's Cup	Mohun Bagan	Defeated East Bengal East Bengal Club Kingfisher East Bengal Football Club are an Indian professional football club based at Kolkata. They are known to be one of the best footballing sides in India. They have won the most IFA Shields in Indian Football and are tied for the most National Football League and Durand Cup championships with...  2:0
Airlines Gold Cup	All Nepal FA XI	Defeated East Bengal East Bengal Club Kingfisher East Bengal Football Club are an Indian professional football club based at Kolkata. They are known to be one of the best footballing sides in India. They have won the most IFA Shields in Indian Football and are tied for the most National Football League and Durand Cup championships with...  2:1

First round

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Second round

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