#2 JCT FC
The owners of JCT FC decided there wasn’t enough interest surrounding Indian football and decided to disband the club following the 2010-11 season after they were relegated but retained their academy programme for young players.
It was a sad day when the club from Punjab which has been around since 1971 exited the I-League but they will always be remembered for being the inaugural champions of the National Football League in 1996-97 (back when the I-League was known as NFL).
They were the first-ever national champions and their star player Baichung Bhutia was the highest scorer with 14 goals that season. The Punjab club sealed their title victory after they beat Dempo SC 4-1 and topped the league by one point above second-placed Churchill Brothers.
