Salgaocar Sports Club dominance on the Goan football scene was such during this era that it saw 8 Goa League titles being added to the trophy cabinet. The first of which came in 1981-82 which was followed by 1982-83, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1988-89, 1990-91, 1992-93, 1994-95.

1982-83 Salgaocar team that were crowned Goa League Champions 

 Some of the other tournaments won during this era include the 1981-82 TFA shield in Trichy as joint winners with Cochin Port Trust, 1983-84 Nehru Gold Cup in Hyderabad beating Punjab Police 1-0 in the finals, the 1987-88 Sait Nagjee Memorial in Khozikhode beating Dhaka Mohammedans 1-0 and became the first Goan team to win the trophy, the 1987-88 Bandodkar Gold Trophy with a fluent 4-0 win against Mahindras, the 1990-91 Naidunia trophy beating BSF 1-0 and 1991-92 Bandodkar Gold Trophy beating MPT 1-0.

 This period also saw Salgaocar Sports Club finally win the Mumbai Rovers Cup with a 1-0 win against Dempo in 1989-90 thanks to an opportunistic strike by Bruno Coutinho in the 36^th minute of play. Earlier in 1985-86, the title had come close but for an unfortunate 2-0 defeat in the finals to Mohun Bagan.

 Salgaocar team walking out to the ground in the 1985-86 finals against Mohun Bagan

 

The Victory Motorcade after winning the 1989-90 Rovers Cup title

Then Sports Minister Mr. Monte Cruz welcoming the Salgaocar team on its arrival after emerging triumphs in the 1989-90 Rovers Cup.

However, the highlight of this era had to be the five Federation Cup finals that Salgaocar Sports Club reached, four of which were in a row, and two of which saw they emerge victorious.

In 1985, Salgaocar Sports Club came very close to making the finals of the Federation Cup at Bangalore, however, Mohun Bagan proved to be the nemesis as Salgaocar Sports Club lost in the semi-finals on tie-breaker after squandering a 3-1 lead.

In 1987/88, Salgaocar became the first Goan team to reach the finals of the Federation Cup after managing to put it across Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) 3-1 on aggregate in the double leg semi-finals. However, Mohun Bagan proved to be the nemesis once again as Salgaocar Sports Club faltered to a 2-0 defeat in Cuttack.  The Salgaocar team consisted of players such as Brahmanand, Mariano Dias, Norbert Gonsalves, Hercules Gomes, Johnny Pereira, Savio Madeira, Lawrence Gomes, Cyril Dias, Ignatius Dias and Bento Andrew.

The disappointments of 1985 and 1987 however were soon to be forgotten. Salgaocar Sports Club rewrote the history books in 1988/89 by becoming the first Goan team to win the Federation Cup and thus making people sit up and take notice of the abundant football talent Goa was blessed with.

The team is awarded a warm welcome on its arrival after lifting the Federation Cup in 1989

 

Federation Cup 1989 Victory Motorcade

In the semi-finals against East Bengal, a 2 goal deficit in penalties was not enough to deter the Goan side who came back strongly to place the game 3-3 after the regulatory 5 kicks. In the tie-breaker, Hercules Gomes, Valentine Ezuego, Norbert Gonsalves and Derrick Pereira converted their kicks to send Salgaocar SC through to the finals with a 5-4 win.

In the finals against a strong Border Security Force at New Delhi, the score line was deadlocked at 0-0 for a full 90 minutes. On into extra time, a beautiful pass by Nigerian import Valentine Ezeugo found Mario Soares, incidentally the youngest member of the team, who latched onto it and slotted it past a hapless BSF keeper to send the Champaign corks popping off. The victorious team consisted of stalwarts such as Brahmanand, Hercules Gomes, Norbert Gonsalves, Derrick Pereira, Johnny Pereira, Savio Madeira, Lawrence Gomes, Koshgavar, Bento Andrew, Mario Soares and Valentine Ezuego.

By virtue of winning the Federation Cup, Salgaocar Sports Club were crowned as the Champion Club of India and represented India at the Asian Club Championships in 1989-90 at Muscat. Prior to that, Salgaocar Sports Club made a stop-over at Bahrain for the Rashid Trophy where they played a couple of friendly matches against Bahrain U21. After drawing the first match 0-0, Salgaocar Sports Club lost the second match to Bahrain U21 4-2. At the Asian Club Championships in Muscat, they beat Kathmandu S.C (Nepal) 3-0, drew with Punjab (Pakistan) 0-0, before losing 3-1 to Fanja Club (Oman).

The 1989/90 transfer window saw Salgaocar Sports Club lose as many as 7 players, 5 of them to local rivals MRF. That notwithstanding, Salgaocar Sports Club came triumphs over MRF when they clashed with them in the quarter final league match of the Federation Cup thanks to a Bruno Coutinho goal.

After making the finals of the two previous editions, a hat-trick of Federation Cup final appearances was on the cards. Mohun Bagan, a team that had turned out to be the nemesis of Salgaocar Sports Club in earlier editions and a team Salgaocar Sports Club had never beaten stood between a third straight final appearance. The semi-finals lived up to its billing of a possible thriller. Mohun Bagan took the lead in the first half of extra time only for Ignatius Dias to restore parity immediately. With the score level at 1-1 at the start of the second half of extra time, Bento Andrews stole the honours with a cracker of a goal. A second title triumph was within sniffing distance.

Eager to retain the trophy, a determined Salgaocar Sports Club put it past Mohammedan Sporting 2-0 in the finals at Coimbatore thanks to goals by Bruno Coutinho and Valentine Ezuego. Brahmanand, Roque Carneiro, Norbert Gonsalves, Johnny Pereira, M Babu, Lawrence Gomes, Bento Andrew, Bruno Coutinho, Valentine Ezuego, Ignatius Dias and Jude Fernandes were part of the winning squad.

Football runs in the blood of the Salgaocar's. A young Mr. Vivek Salgaocar celebrating the 1990 Federation Cup truimph with Mr. Henry Britto.

A second victory in the Federation Cup saw Salgaocar Sports Club once again represent India as its Champion Club for the Asian Club Championships in Dhaka. Drawn with Lagoons (Maldives) and Dhaka Mohammedans (Bangladesh), Salgaocar Sports Club trounced Lagoons 3-0, but were unfortunate to lose to Dhaka Mohammedans 2-1.

On the occasion of the 100^th Birth Anniversary of India’s first Prime Minister Mr. Jawaharal Nehru, the Nehru Centenary Cup was organized. Salgaocar Sports Club, who in 1962 were the guests of the late Mr. Nehru at his official residence at 7 Race Course Road, was the only Goan team that was invited. Clubbed alongside with East Bengal, Olimpia (Paraguay) and Lyngby (Denmark), Salgaocar Sports Club lost 6-0 to Olimpia, 3-0 to Lyngby before holding East Bengal to a goalless draw.

 

The Captains of Salgaocar SC and Lyngby (Denmark) exchanging mementos prior to kick-off 

After achieving a hat-trick of Federation Cup final appearances, Salgaocar Sports Club almost made it a hat-trick of Federation Cup titles in 1990/91. After beating star studded East Bengal 3-2 in the Semi-finals with goals coming from Bruno, Savio and Lawrence, Salgaocar Sports Club lost to Kerela Police 2-1 in the finals. Santan Colaco netted the lone Salgaocar goal in Trissur.

 Salgaocar Team for the 1990/91 Federation Cup at Trissur

Three years later, in 1994, Goa played host to the Federation Cup. Egged on by their passionate and loyal fans, Salgaocar Sports Club made it to the finals against Mohun Bagan. The match ended deadlocked at 0-0 forcing extra-time. In the resultant tie-breaker, Mohun Bagan converted all their 3 shots whilst Salgaocar failed to convert any much to the disappointment of their supporters who had come in large numbers.

 Federation Cup 1994 Finals at Nehru Stadium Fatorda.

A truly momentous era for Salgaocar Sports Club which saw them firmly establish themselves as a force to reckon with in Indian football. Their exploits in the Federation Cup went a long way into shattering the stronghold of the Kolkotta teams and made everyone sit up and take notice of the abundance of talent that the tiny state of Goa was blessed with.