Reports: Indian Women's League to be staged in Bengaluru from January 24

The fourth edition of the Indian Women's Football League is all set to be held next month in Bengaluru. According to reports, the twelve-team event will be staged from January 24 with all games being held at the Bangalore Football Stadium.

Women's Football India (Twitter handle - @WomensFootieIND) shared a Twitter post confirming the same.

History of the Indian Women's League

The top division women's professional football league in India kick-started in October 2016, with three seasons being held since then. The Indian Women's League (IWL) is recognized and hosted by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

The first edition saw six teams fighting it out in a round-robin format with the top four sides making the next stage. Eastern Sporting Union won the inaugural tournament, defeating Rising Student's Club 3-0. The next season, the two sides again faced off in the summit clash, but this time, it was Rising Student's Club who got the better of Eastern Sporting, defeating them 5-4 on penalty after the game had ended at a scoreline of 1-1.

The 2018-19 edition saw 12 teams, namely, Rising Student's Club, Manipur Police Sports Club, Gokulam Kerala FC, Sethu FC, FC Alakhpura, Bangalore United FC, Hans Women's FC, Baroda Football Academy, Central SSB, Women's Football Team, SAI-STC Cuttack, Panjim Footballers and FC Kolhapur City take part. Sethu FC were declared the winners after they got the better of Manipur Police SC 3-1 in the finals.

Ngangom Bala Devi is the most successful footballer in the IWL, with 38 goals - more than double the number of goals scored than the second-placed Kamala Devi, who has 17 goals. Bala Devi has been the highest goal-scorer in the last two editions of the tournament, netting 12 in 2017-18 while playing for Kryphsa FC, and then following it up with 26 last year while playing for Manipur Police SC.