The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the sport's governing body in India. Before the starting of the first national club league, the National Football League in 1996, the Santosh Trophy was considered the top domestic honour in India. Many players who have represented India internationally, played and gained honour while playing in the Santosh Trophy. The tournament is held every year with 37 teams, who are divided into five zones, must play in the qualifying round and progress into the tournament proper. The current champions are Kerala, who won t