NorthEast United FC on Saturday made history when they won the Durand Cup for the second year running, becoming the only team other than East Bengal to win the trophy in back to back tournaments. Last year they had defeated Mohun Bagan Super Giant on penalties and this year, they thrashed Diamond Harbour FC 6-1.
Owner John Abraham was delighted with his team, saying that they will try and make it a habit to win the tournament every year. “To become the first team to win the Durand Cup back-to-back after 1991 is a great honour, a great achievement. I would like to believe that we’re going to make this a habit and win it every year,” Abraham said in a video uploaded on the NEUFC X account.
“The Durand Cup is a very, very prestigious tournament for us. Being Indian, it’s very very important to us and to the fabric of NorthEast United FC and I would like to thank the entire management, I would like to thank the coach, the entire coaching staff, the entire training staff and most of all I’d like to thank every single player and every person that has helped us put this team together and get us in to finally see us as back-to-back champions of the Durand Cup. I think NorthEast United FC are a very resilient club. I personally run this club with a lot of passion that I feel. Times are tough, but we’ve held out. We’ve proved that we’re here to stay,” he added.
“To win back-to-back Durand Cups is a great honour and achievement!”
The boss expresses his thoughts on our historic triumph…♥️🤍🖤#StrongerAsOne #8States1United #134theditionofindianoildurandcup pic.twitter.com/gyWpdD0sF3— NorthEast United FC (@NEUtdFC) August 24, 2025
Abraham also said that they wanted to contribute to the Indian footballing ecosystem.
“We’ve proved that we want to be important contributors to the Indian footballing ecosystem, and we want to get stars out of India for the world to see. We want to make India proud, and we want to do that from NorthEast United FC, and this journey wouldn’t have been possible without everyone who’s contributed to this process. So thank you, everyone who’s associated with the club,” he said.
How NEUFC won their second Durand title in a row
NorthEast United came in the final match against minnows Diamond Harbour as heavy favourites and they wasted little time to assert their dominance. Asheer Akhtar struck first in the 30th minute before Parthib Gogoi doubled the defending champions’ lead right at the stroke of half time.
In the second half, Thoi Singh snatched a third in the 50th minute before Diamond Harbour got a sliver of hope when Luka Majcen headed one in the 68th minute to make it 3-1. NEUFC though switched gears as Jairo Samperio’s 81st minute goal opened the floodgates with Andy Rodriguez and Alaaeddine Ajaraie added two more in the 85th minute and 90+3 mins respectively.
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