Football in India
National Football League, established in 1996 by governing body All India Football Federation (AIFF) was the first "semi-professional" football league in India. 
The League was renamed and restructured and the I-League was founded in 2006 after India's former top league the National Football League disbanded in a successful effort aimed at increasing the game in India. Links with clubs that were not in the I-League were maintained, and each season the bottom two clubs are relegated from the I-League and replaced by two from the I-League 2nd Division. The I-League is currently contested between 11 clubs. The Kolkata Derby in the I League (and other tournaments) played between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal is one of the most fierce rivalries in the world (featured in FIFA website) and one of the oldest derbies in the world (90 years). An average 80, 000 to 100, 000 supporters throng the stadium in this special fixture.
2014 ISL Inaugural Domestic Draft
The 2014 ISL Inaugural Domestic Draft was the first ever draft from the Indian Super League, the new franchise domestic football league in India. The draft featured eighty-four Indian domestic players. They were drafted by six out of the eight franchises featured in the Indian Super League to form the domestic core of the teams. NorthEast United FC and Goa were the two non-participating teams as they selected their Indian players from both I-League teams, Dempo and Shillong Lajong respectively. Forty of the eighty-four players up for selection have either played for the India national team or have attended a camp for the national team.