1945–46 Santosh Trophy

The 1945–46 Santosh Trophy was the third edition of the Santosh Trophy, the main State competition for football in India. It was held in Bombay. Bengal defeated Bombay 2–0 in the final.

Fred Pugsley, an Anglo-Burmese footballer who had moved to India temporarily during the war, scored seven goals in Bengal's win over Rajputana. This is a record in Santosh Trophy that was later equalled by Inder Singh in 1974-75 Jalandhar nationals.

Western India Football Association (WIFA) renamed itself as Bombay just before the tournament.

Matches
Bombay led 2–0 at half time

Bengal led by five goals at half-time. The tournament schedule was adjusted because Bengal arrived a day late.

Moin of Hyderabad was sent off 13 minutes from the end.

Semifinal
Bombay led 2–0 at half time.

Final
Bengal scored their goals in the 5th minute of both halves. Das scored from a cross by Pugsley. Nandy was assisted by S. Ghosh in the second goal. The trophy was presented by Justice Kama.

Squads

 * Bengal : Ismail; S Das and Taj Mohammed; D. Chandra, T. Aao and Mahabir Prasad; Rabi Das, Apparao, Pugsley, S. Ghosh and S. Nandy (captain)
 * Bombay : Sanjiva; D.M. Mandon (captain) and Papen; Arnold, Robinson and Govind; Vandockum, Tipple, Cocklin, McCall and Dhakuram Also : Shetty
 * Delhi : Osman; S.M. Bhukari and Rahmat; Bashir, Afzal and S. A. Hashmi; Yusuf, Roshan Ali, Buland Akhtar, Atma Ram and M.P. Khan. Also : Mahmud (defender), Hasan (mid), Habib, Rabbani, M. Faiyaz (forwards)
 * Dacca : G Burton; D. Dutta and Saheball; H Mitra, S Guha and R Sen; S Bose, A Roy, P Mukerjee, A Rachia and A Das
 * Hyderabad : Eeriah; Sher Khan and Fruvall; Hadi, Jamal and Noor; S Susay, A Susay, Shamsher, Azeem and Mahmood. Also Moin
 * N.W.I.F.A : Yacoob; Ibrar Hussain and Saeed; Yoya Jan, Golam Mohammad and Arshad; Akbarjan, Gilbert, Rahim, Ataullah and Amjad
 * Mysore : Bama; Palladi and Jayram; Baseer, S. Mohiuddin and Sumugan; Borolingam, Karim, Nanjunda, Ahmed and Raman; Also : Shanmugam
 * United Provinces : Arthur; Kazim and Rajaram; Wajihul, Aziz and Mahabir; Kullu, Abid, Furhat, Mahmud and Qader
 * Madras : S. Moni; Rammohan Rao and K. Mani; A. D. Parthasarathy, Jaganathan and Murugesan; Arnikandasami, Ganesan, Vishwesara Rao, Hanumantha Rao and Thangaraj

The day after the final, a match was played between All India and Europeans.


 * Indian XI : Osman (Delhi); Taj Mohammed, and Papen (Bombay); Shanmugham (Mysore), T. Ao (Bengal) and Mahabir Prasad (Bengal); S. Nandy (Bengal), Apparao (Bengal), Rabi Das (Bengal), Raman (Mysore) and Dhakuram (Bombay)
 * Reserves : Ismail (Bengal), S. Das (Bengal), D. Chandra (Bengal), A. Rudra (Dacca) and Thomas (Bombay)


 * Europeans : Lambert (CMP), Hamilton (Navy) and Tipple (RAF) and Arnold (Navy), Robinson (Embarkation Headquarters (EHQ)) and Airog (Navy); Shanks (RAF), Gallacher (CMP), Cocklin (Navy), McCall (EHQ) and Sutton (CMP)