The Pakistan football champions are the winners of the highest league in Pakistani football, which is currently the Pakistan Premier League.
Pakistan’s first football tournament began on May 28, 1948 as the National Football Championship, a knock-out competition, which remained as the top football competition in the country until 2004 with the introduction of the Pakistan Premier League. In 1979, a domestic cup was added to Pakistani football, known as the National Challenge Cup.
The 1948 National Football Championship was the first season and ended with Sindh Red being crowned champions. The National Football Championship era though saw Karachi based Pakistan Airlines with most championships, winning the competition nine times. The Pakistan Premier League has been dominated by Khan Research Laboratories from Rawalpindi winning the league five times.
Currently, the team with the most championships in Pakistan Premier League is Khan Research Laboratories, who have won five championships in the league. However, Pakistan Airlines are the team with the most championships overall, winning National Football Championship nine times.
Champions Bold indicates double winners – i.e. League and Domestic (National Challenge) Cup. Italic indicates team winning the season unbeaten – i.e. (invincible). Note: Various provinces (Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan, Punjab, East Pakistan), divisions (Karachi, Peshawar) or other clubs (Railways) entered teams under various names; all finalists listed can nevertheless be regarded as the 'first' team of the respective clubs with the exception of the 1948 losing finalists, Sindh Blue, who were the second-string team of Sindh.
National Football Championship (1948–2003) YearChampions(number of titles)Runners-up 1948 Sindh Red (1) Sindh Blue1950 Balochistan Red (1) Sindh 1952 Punjab (1) NWFP 1953 Punjab (2) NWFP Blue 1954 Punjab Blue (3) Pakistan Railways 1955 Punjab (4) NWFP 1956 Balochistan (2) Railways White 1957 Punjab (5) East Pakistan White 1958 Punjab Blue (6) Pakistan Railways 1959 Balochistan (3) East Pakistan 1960 East Pakistan (1) Karachi White 1961–62 Dacca Division (1) Karachi Blue 1962 Dacca Division (2) Karachi Division 1963 Karachi Division (1) Pakistan Railways 1964–65 Karachi Division (2) Pakistan Railways 1966 Karachi Division (3) Pakistan Railways 1968 Peshawar Division (1) Lahore Division 1969 Pakistan Railways (1) Karachi Division 1969–70 Chittagong Division (1) Peshawar Division 1971 Pakistan Airlines (1) Karachi Division 1972 Pakistan Airlines (2) Peshawar White 1973 Karachi Yellow (4) Rawalpindi Division 1975 (I) Pakistan Airlines (3) Punjab A 1975 (II) Sindh Red (2) Balochistan Red 1976 Pakistan Airlines (4) Pakistan Railways 1978 Pakistan Airlines (5) Sindh Red 1979 Karachi Red (5) Pakistan Airlines 1980 Karachi Red (6) Pakistan Army 1981 Pakistan Airlines (6) Pakistan Air Force 1982 Habib Bank (1) Pakistan Railways 1983 WAPDA (1) Habib Bank 1984 Pakistan Railways (2) WAPDA 1985 Quetta Division (1) Pakistan Airlines 1986 Pakistan Air Force (1) Pakistan Airlines 1987 Crescent Textile Mills (1) Karachi Port Trust 1989 (I) Punjab Red (7) Pakistan Railways 1989 (II) Pakistan Airlines (7) Sindh Government Press 1990 Punjab Red (8) Pakistan Airlines 1991 WAPDA (2) Habib Bank 1992–93 Pakistan Airlines (8) Pakistan Army 1993–94 Pakistan Army (1) WAPDA 1994 Crescent Textile Mills (2) WAPDA 1995 Pakistan Army (2) Allied Bank 1997 (I) Allied Bank (1) Pakistan Airlines 1997 (II) Pakistan Airlines (9) Allied Bank 1999 Allied Bank (2) Pakistan Navy 2000 Allied Bank (3) Habib Bank 2001 WAPDA (3) Khan Research Laboratories 2003 WAPDA (4) Pakistan Army
Pakistan Premier League (2004-present) YearChampions (number of titles)PointsRunners-upPointsThird placePointsTop goalscorerGoals 2004 WAPDA (1) 74 Pakistan Army 74 Khan Research Laboratories 73 Arif Mehmood (WAPDA) 20 2005 Pakistan Army (1) 51 WAPDA 45 Khan Research Laboratories 41 Imran Hussain (Pakistan Army) 21 2006–07 Pakistan Army (2) 49 WAPDA (2) 44 Khan Research Laboratories 44 Arif Mehmood (WAPDA) 20 2007–08 WAPDA (2) 58 Pakistan Army 57 Khan Research Laboratories 53 Arif Mehmood (WAPDA) 21 2008 WAPDA (3) 54 Pakistan Army 50 Khan Research Laboratories 47 Muhammad Rasool (Khan Research Laboratories) 22 2009 Khan Research Laboratories (1) 60 Pakistan Army 60 WAPDA 57 Arif Mehmood (WAPDA) 20 2010 WAPDA (4) 67 Khan Research Laboratories 58 PIA 57 Arif Mehmood (WAPDA) 21 2011 Khan Research Laboratories (2) 77 Afghan 57 Pakistan Army 57 Jadid Khan Pathan (Afghan Chaman) 22 2012–13 Khan Research Laboratories (3) 71 K-Electric 62 Muslim 62 Kaleemullah Khan (Khan Research Laboratories) 35 2013–14 Khan Research Laboratories (4) 66 K-Electric 64 WAPDA 63 Kaleemullah Khan (Khan Research Laboratories) 18 2014–15 K-Electric (1) 48 Pakistan Army 45 Air Force 42 Muhammad Rasool (K-Electric) 22 2018–19 Khan Research Laboratories (5) 51 Air Force 51 Sui Southern Gas 50 Ansar Abbas (Pakistan Army) 15
Total titles won Teams in bold competed in the Premier League as of the 2018–19 season.
Club Winners Runners-up Winning seasonsPakistan Airlines† 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1989, 1992–93, 1997WAPDA 1983, 1991, 2001, 2003, 2004-05, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11 Punjab 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1989, 1990 Karachi Division 1963, 1964–65, 1966, 1973, 1979, 1980Khan Research Laboratories 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2018–19Pakistan Army 1993–94, 1995, 2005-06, 2006–07 Allied Bank† 1997, 1999, 2000 Balochistan 1950, 1956, 1959Pakistan Railways 1969, 1984 Sindh 1948, 1975 Crescent Textile Mills† 1987, 1994 Dacca Division 1961–62, 1962 Habib Bank† 1982 Pakistan Air Force 1986K-Electric† 2014–15 East Pakistan 1960 Peshawar Division 1968 Chittagong Division 1969–70 Quetta Division 1985 NWFP Afghan Chaman Karachi Port Trust Lahore Division Pakistan Navy Sindh Government Press Sindh BlueKarachi01
Note: † represents dissolved teams.
Total titles won by provinces Punjab has dominated the football league in Pakistan with a total of 31 league titles won between three cities; Faisalabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi. Sindh based Karachi and East Bengal based Dacca dominated the league from 1960 to 1965; Dacca winning consecutive titles from 1960-61 and 1961-62, and Karachi winning back to back three titles from 1962-63, 1963-64 and 1964-65. ProvinceNumber of titlesClubs Punjab WAPDA (8), Punjab (8), Khan Research Laboratories (5), Pakistan Army (4), Allied Bank (3), Pakistan Railways (2), Crescent Textile Mills (2) Sindh Pakistan Airlines (9), Karachi Division (6), Sindh (2), Habib Bank (1), K-Electric (1) Balochistan Balochistan (3), Quetta Division (1) East Bengal (now Bangladesh) Dacca Division (2), Chittagong Division (1) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly NWFP) Pakistan Air Force (1), Peshawar Division (1)
By City / Town City / Town Championships Clubs Lahore WAPDA (8), Punjab (8), Allied Bank (3), Pakistan Railways (2) Karachi Pakistan Airlines (9), Karachi Division (6), Sindh (2), Habib Bank (1), K-Electric (1) Rawalpindi Khan Research Laboratories (5), Pakistan Army (4) Quetta Balochistan (3), Quetta Division (1) Peshawar Pakistan Air Force (1), Peshawar Division (1) Dhaka Dacca Division (2) Faisalabad Crescent Textile Mills (2) Chittagong Chittagong Division (1)
Multiple trophy wins Only three clubs have won double in Pakistan football. Team Season Trophies Allied Bank 1999 National Football Championship, President PFF Cup Crescent Textile Mills 1987 National Football Championship, President PFF Cup Khan Research Laboratories 2009–10 Pakistan Premier League, National Football Challenge Cup 2011–12 Pakistan Premier League, National Football Challenge Cup
References