History of The League
Prime minister Padam Shamsher started the Ram Janaki Football tournament in 1947 with the objective of solidifying the increasing public interest in football. After the establishment of democracy in 1950, the Nepali Police Force had initial successes, enjoying consecutive hat-trick wins and monopolizing the trophy for several years. The Nepal Football Association received the trophy from them, continuing the tournament in remembrance of national martyrs. The trophy is presented today to the winners of the "Martyr’s Memorial League Tournament".
RCT won the trophy three subsequent times (1971-73). 1973 saw the formation of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), and the tournament continued under new authority, although there have been periodic stoppages due to financial and other reasons. (For instance, the political and economic turmoil of the 1990s stopped the tournament for several years.) League president, Ganesh Thapa, at one time revived ANFA (in 1995), but could not continue it for long. Complying with other football power nation rules, Nepal made ANFA its base for selecting the national teams, although the league still struggled to continue going into the 21st century.
Following a hiatus from 2006–2009, the league has now joined Europe; South America; America; Japan; and Korea in developing their professional football force into one of the finest leagues.
Read more about this topic: Martyr's Memorial A-Division League
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