JCT FC

Jagatjit Cotton & Textile Football Club (formerly known as JCT Mills FC; abbreviated as both JCT FC, or simply JCT) was an Indian professional football club based in Phagwara, Punjab. Founded in 1971, the club was sponsored by Jagatjit Cotton and Textile Mills under the leadership of Samir Thapar and participated in the National Football League which was later renamed I-League. They also participated in Punjab State Super Football League under licence from Punjab Football Association. The club was disbanded in 2011. Nicknamed "the millmen", JCT have won many tournaments and brought laurels to the State of Punjab. They won the inaugural edition of the National Football League in 1996. They were one of the benchmark teams in North Punjab along with Border Security Force and Punjab Police, winning prestigious state level tournaments. It was the first team from India to sign a foreign coach and the first team outside of Calcutta to win the IFA Shield, second oldest football tournament in India. JCT's corporate team also took part in All India Public Sector tournaments. In 2011, JCT emerged as sixth ranked Indian team, and 957 universally, in the international rankings of clubs during the first ten years of the 21st century (2001–2010), issued by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics. History Jagatjit Cotton, Sahil Bagga and Textile Mills constituted the football club in March 1971. However, the club got recognition from 1974 onwards when several players joined the club from the Leaders Club of Jalandhar. Included among these players was Inder Singh, who captained the India national team in previous years, won the Arjuna Award in 1969, and managed the club until 2001. The Leader Club, started by Lala Dwarka Das Sehgal had played a major role in popularizing football in Northern India in the 1960s and 1970s. After the end of Leaders Club era, JCT Mills have since taken the mantle and become the biggest and most successful football club in this part of India. In 1983, British coach Bob Bootland took charge of JCT and guided the team winning the Durand Cup same year.