Formation and journey During the finals of the Meghalaya Invitation Cup in 1982, two football enthusiasts Shri Kitdor Syiem and Shri P. D. Sawyan saddened by the continuous failure of the Shillong teams to make it to the final stages of the tournament formed a football club to reverse the trend. Together with a group of friends and supporters, they commissioned a semi-professional club in 1983, aptly called
Lajong Football Club ( 'Our own' or 'Of the people'). The club was also known as the
Lajong Sports Social and Cultural Club. In 1983, the club played in the 3rd Division of the Shillong Sports Association League and was the champion, being promoted to the 2nd Division. It was only in 1989 that Lajong FC finally annexed the championship for the first time. Shillong Lajong gained promotion for the
2009–10 season, and then appointed former
Salgaocar and
East Bengal coach
Stanley Rozario for their first season in then India's top flight. They played their first match in I-League in 2009 and lost to
JCT FC 1–5. In their first ever home match, they defeated
Air India 3–0 in front of 30,000 people. In their second home match, they lost to
Mohun Bagan 2–1, again in front of a home crowd of about 30,000. At the end of the I-League season, Shillong was relegated to the 2nd division, after finishing in last place.
2010–present In the
2009–10 Indian Federation Cup, Shillong Lajong reached to the final but lost to
East Bengal in penalty-shootout. The club reached semi-finals of the
Bordoloi Trophy in 2010. For the 2011 season, Shillong Lajong managed by
Pradhyum Reddy, participated in the I-League 2nd Division. They ended one-year stint in the I-League 2nd Division with a 1–0 victory over
Mohammedan Sporting on 13 May 2011, after which they got promoted back to the I-League, and appointed
Scottish manager
Desmond Bulpin. The club clinched Mizoram Independence Day Cup title in that season, defeating Royal Wahingdoh in final. In September 2012, Shillong Lajong created history defeating
A-League club
Wellington Phoenix 3–2 in the North-East Super Series Championship final. as the head coach of Shillong Lajong in 2014 In June 2013, the club roped former
Trinidadian international
Cornell Glen who represented his country at the
2006 FIFA World Cup. Thus he became club's first ever World Cup player. In the
2013–14 I-League, on 22 September, Lajong thrashed
Dempo by 3–0. In 2014–15 season, they ended up in ninth position, in which Glen scored 16 goals and finished as second highest goal scorer. with Shillong Lajong in an I-League match at the
Cooperage Ground in 2015. In regional stages, Shillong achieved success and emerged as champions of Shillong Premier League in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. They also emerged champions of the
Bodousa Cup in 2016 defeating
Assam State Electricity Board SC by 2–0. In the same year, the club won Meghalaya Invitation Football Tournament. In 2017 edition of state league, Shillong Lajong didn't appear in the semi-finals. Ahead of the
2017–18 I-League season, the club built a strong squad, signing
Lawrence Doe,
Abdoulaye Koffi,
Daniel Odafin,
Saihou Jagne and Asian quota player
Oh Joo-ho from
South Korea. In 2018 edition of Shillong Premier League, they secured runners-up position, losing the final to
Langsning.
Alison Kharsyntiew was appointed as interim head coach for the
Super Cup, following the dismissal of
Bobby Nongbet. He succeeded
Thangboi Singto, who managed the club from 2013 to 2017. Nongbet's first game in charge was on 4 April 2018 against
Indian Super League side
Pune City. Despite going down by two goals early in the match, Shillong Lajong came back to win the match 3–2. Going into the
2018–19 season, Kharsyntiew was announced as the club's head coach. His first league match in charge was on 28 October 2018 against Aizawl. A brace from
Naorem Mahesh Singh saw Shillong Lajong win 2–1. The 2018–19 season was not suitable for Shillong Lajong as they were relegated from the league, after suffering a 1–4 defeat at the hands of former champions Aizawl in the last match. In that season, Lajong fielded an all Indian squad and appointed
Spaniard José Carlos Hevia as technical director and head of youth development. At the end of the league, Lajong remained at the bottom of the 11-team table, with 11 points from 19 matches. They won league's Fair Play Award. In
2019 Shillong Premier League, they again emerged champions with 27 points in 12 matches. Shillong Lajong then became a regular participant in the newly formed
Meghalaya State League, since 2017. They club later clinched second edition of Meghalaya State League, defeating arch-rivals
Rangdajied United. In 2021, the club participated in the
Shirui Lily Cup in
Manipur, organized by the Ukhrul District Sports Association, from 22 November to 4 December. They won the 29th edition of the tournament by defeating
KLASA 4–3 in the final. On 21 May 2023, Shillong Lajong defeated
Bengaluru United by 2–1 at the
2022–23 I-League 2 to secure promotion to the
2023–24 I-League, thereby securing promotion into
India's second tier after a gap of 4 years. As the league began in November, the club kicked-off their campaign with an 1–1 draw against
Mohammedan Sporting in Kolkata. Shillong Lajong gained their first victory on 19 November, beating
Gokulam Kerala 3–1 in home. Their campaign concluded with 31 points in the eighth position as the league season came to an end in April 2024. The club took part in
2024 Durand Cup with their arch-rival
Rangdajied United. In that tournament, Shillong Lajong stunned everyone winning the quarter-final match against defending champions
East Bengal by 2–1, in which Marcos Rudwere Silva and Figo Syndai scored both the goals for the club. They later faced
NorthEast United in semi-final, which turned out as Northeast derby, suffered a 3–0 defeat. In March 2025, the club clinch Shillong Premier League title. In the 2024–25 I-League season, club's Brazilian striker
Douglas Tardin netted two hat-tricks in their 5–0 win against
Sporting Bengaluru and 5–5 tie with
Sreenidi Deccan. In that season, Shillong Lajong ended their league campaign with eighth place finish securing 28 points. ==Crest, colours & kits==