1945–46 Santosh Trophy

1945–46 Santosh Trophy
National Football Championship
Tournament details
Country	India
Dates	30 September – 11 October 1945
Teams	10
Final positions
Champions	Bengal (2nd title)
Runner-up	Bombay
Tournament statistics
Matches played	9
Goals scored	31 (3.44 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Fred Pugsley (9 goals)
	← 1944–45 1946–47 → 60 minute matches

The 1945–46 Santosh Trophy was the third edition of the Santosh Trophy, the main State competition for football in India. It was held in Bombay. Bengal defeated Bombay 2–0 in the final.^[2]

Fred Pugsley, an Anglo-Burmese footballer who had moved to India temporarily during the war, scored seven goals in Bengal's win over Rajputana. This is a record in Santosh Trophy that was later equalled by Inder Singh in 1974-75 Jalandhar nationals.

Western India Football Association (WIFA) renamed itself as Bombay just before the tournament.

Matches

30 September 1945 ^[3]

Delhi	2–1	Madras
Rammohan Rao 5' (o.g.) Rabbani 8'		Arnikandasami 3'

Referee: S.C. Ghosh

1 October 1945 ^[4]

Mysore	1–0	United Provinces
Ahmed 7'

Referee: Jayram

2 October 1945 ^[4]

Bombay	4–0	N.W.I.F.A
Arnold Tipple Cocklin

Referee: Atkinson

Bombay led 2–0 at half time

4 October 1945 ^[5]

Bengal	7–0	Rajputana
Pugsley

Referee: Atkinson

Bengal led by five goals at half-time. The tournament schedule was adjusted because Bengal arrived a day late.

6 October 1945 ^[6]

Hyderabad	1–0	Mysore
Mahmood 22'

Referee: Atkinson

Moin of Hyderabad was sent off 13 minutes from the end.

7 October 1945 ^[7]

Bombay	3–0	Dacca
Cocklin Tipple

Referee: S.C.Ghosh

Semifinal

8 October 1945 ^[8]

Bengal	5–0	Hyderabad
Ghosh Pugsley S. Nandy Apparao

Referee: Gopalan

9 October 1945 ^[9]

Bombay	3–2	Delhi
Thomas Dhakuram		Yusuf Roshan Ali

Referee: S.C. Ghosh

Bombay led 2–0 at half time.

Final

11 October 1945 ^[10]

Bengal	2–0	Bombay
Rabi Das 5' S. Nandy

Cooperage Ground, Bombay

Referee: Atkinson

Bengal scored their goals in the 5th minute of both halves. Das scored from a cross by Pugsley. Nandy was assisted by S. Ghosh in the second goal. The trophy was presented by Justice Kama.

Squads

Bengal : Ismail; S Das and Taj Mohammed; D. Chandra, T. Aao and Mahabir Prasad; Rabi Das, Apparao, Pugsley, S. Ghosh and S. Nandy (captain)
Bombay : Sanjiva; D.M. Mandon (captain) and Papen; Arnold, Robinson and Govind; Vandockum, Tipple, Cocklin, McCall and Dhakuram^[10] Also : Shetty
Delhi : Osman; S.M. Bhukari and Rahmat; Bashir, Afzal and S. A. Hashmi; Yusuf, Roshan Ali, Buland Akhtar, Atma Ram and M.P. Khan.^[9] Also : Mahmud (defender), Hasan (mid), Habib, Rabbani, M. Faiyaz (forwards)^[3]
Dacca : G Burton; D. Dutta and Shaheb Ali; H Mitra, S Guha and R Sen; S Bose, A Roy, P Mukerjee, A Rachia and A Das
Hyderabad : Eeriah; Sher Khan and Fruvall; Hadi, Jamal and Noor; S Susay, A Susay, Shamsher, Azeem and Mahmood. Also Moin
N.W.I.F.A : Yacoob; Ibrar Hussain and Saeed; Yoya Jan, Golam Mohammad and Arshad; Akbarjan, Gilbert, Rahim, Ataullah and Amjad
Mysore : Bama; Palladi and Jayram; Baseer, S. Mohiuddin and Sumugan; Borolingam, Karim, Nanjunda, Ahmed and Raman; Also : Shanmugam
United Provinces : Arthur; Kazim and Rajaram; Wajihul, Aziz and Mahabir; Kullu, Abid, Furhat, Mahmud and Qader ^[4]
Madras : S. Moni; Rammohan Rao and K. Mani; A. D. Parthasarathy, Jaganathan and Murugesan; Arnikandasami, Ganesan, Vishwesara Rao, Hanumantha Rao and Thangaraj^[3]

The day after the final, a match was played between All India and Europeans.

Indian XI : Osman (Delhi); Taj Mohammed, and Papen (Bombay); Shanmugham (Mysore), T. Ao (Bengal) and Mahabir Prasad (Bengal); S. Nandy (Bengal), Apparao (Bengal), Rabi Das (Bengal), Raman (Mysore) and Dhakuram (Bombay)

Reserves : Ismail (Bengal), S. Das (Bengal), D. Chandra (Bengal), A. Rudra (Dacca) and Thomas (Bombay)

Europeans : Lambert (CMP), Hamilton (Navy) and Tipple (RAF) and Arnold (Navy), Robinson (Embarkation Headquarters (EHQ)) and Airog (Navy); Shanks (RAF), Gallacher (CMP), Cocklin (Navy), McCall (EHQ) and Sutton (CMP) ^[10]