East Bengal Ultras

East Bengal Ultras
Nickname বাঙাল ব্রিগেড - Bangal Brigade
Established 2013
Type Supporters' group
Club East Bengal FC
Location Kolkata, West Bengal
Stadium Salt Lake Stadium
East Bengal Ground
Barasat Stadium
Kanchenjunga Stadium
Colors Red and Gold

East Bengal Ultras (Bengali: ইস্ট বেঙ্গল আল্ট্রাস) is the vocal supporters' movement for East Bengal of the I-League. Founded in 2013, it was the first ever ultras group in Indian football and revolutionised the Indian football fan movement.

Support

East Bengal is one of India’s oldest and most successful football clubs and has multiple international trophies to their name. In 1970, when they defeated PAS Club of Iran in the IFA Shield final, over 80,000 fans lit up flaming torches and held it up as a sign of their victory and dominance. Since then the fans have followed the tradition of lighting up the torches in the terraces.
East Bengal FC has numerous fan clubs, but the concept of founding an Ultras section is, however, pretty new. Among the fan clubs, East Bengal Real Power is the most active one. East Bengal Ultras has helped to amass all the fan clubs under one roof and raises the decibel level together from the stands.

Initial Days: 2013-2016


East Bengal Ultras first made their appearance in an away game in 2013 at Bengaluru. It was a group of few boys chanting slogans continuously for 90 Minutes which brought a revolution in Fans Culture in India and especially in Kolkata.
The East Bengal Ultras, also known as The Bangal Brigade has come a long way since then. They started with smoke shows in the 2015 CFL Kolkata Derby which they won by 4-0. They made the right noise by their first big Tifo in the 2016 Kolkata Derby at the Salt Lake Stadium. It was a large East Bengal Jersey which had the number 12 printed on the back, which indicated as the fans being the 12th man of the club. The Tifo became very popular as it was something very unique and seen for the first time in Indian Football.
They surged ahead with colourful mosaic shows against Bengaluru FC and Salgaocar F.C. in the Barasat Stadium in the 2015-16 I-League, thus adding another feather into their cap by adding series of firsts in the fans culture of India.

East Bengal Ultras created history in the 2016 CFL Opener in the Kalyani Stadium with India’s first ever 3D Tifo which had an East Bengal player holding the CFL Trophy in the backdrop of the Kolkata Skyline with a written slogan as ‘Kolkata Amader’ which simply means ‘Kolkata is Ours’ due to their commanding display in the Calcutta Football League.

Growth of Ultras Culture: 2017-

EB Ultras CFL

East Bengal Ultras started the 2016-17 I-League campaign with newly introduced two pole flags and scarf show against Aizawl FC.
The first big thing of 2017 was the brilliant smoke show and another 3D Tifo against Bengaluru FC which attracted foreign sports medias such as Copa90, Football Fans Asia and Exhale Sports due to a never-seen atmosphere in Indian Football. The entire stadium was filled in red and yellow smokes.
East Bengal Ultras not only has created an intimidating Atmosphere in the senior team matches but also in Youth Derbies. The Ultras activities performed during the U18 and U16 Derbies against fierce rivals Mohun Bagan makes them the special lot among other fans forums.

The Bangal Brigade pulled off something exceptional in a Calcutta Football League game played between East Bengal and Aryan Club on 18th August 2018.
Scores of pyros were lit just at the end of the game which resulted in one of the finest scenes ever witnessed on the stands in India. Fans singing at top of their voices caught all the attention of the rival fans and the players and made it a special occasion. A powerful corteo to the venue was accompanied by a smoke show at the start of the game. This was the perfect opportunity for a non-Indian football fan to get the hype and the passion surrounding the beautiful game in India.

Chants and Slogans

লড়েছি অনেক যুদ্ধ, মিলিয়ে কাঁধে কাঁধ
জাকার্তা থেকে জম্মু,করেছি বাজিমাৎ
দুচোখে ভরা স্বপ্ন,বুকেতে দাবানল
লড়াইয়ের রূপকথা,ও আমার ইস্টবেঙ্গল

— Adopted from "Un giorno all'improvviso"

লেসলি ক্লডিয়াসে,
ঐ যে মশাল জ্বলছে
দেখো আগুয়ান,
সবার প্রিয়..
বাঙাল ব্রিগেড!

The Bangal Brigade has always been very vocal since its initiation and one thing that the East Bengal Ultras has brought to Indian Football was Football Chanting. The infamous abusive Indian football crowd was long-standing and it needed to be eradicated so as to bring positiveness from the stands and the sense of belonging to the players and team throughout the 90 minutes.

কলকাতার একটাই দল
নাম আমাদের ইস্ট বেঙ্গল

Amra Korbo Sringojoy[1] and Haat e Moshal, Buk e Barood; Amra Holam, Lal Holud were one of the initial chants and slogans that echoed through the stands. Since then, a number of chants and slogans have been adopted, modified and re-structured based on the highs and lows of East Bengal FC and which is sung by everyone on matchdays.

The East Bengal Ultras comes up with new tunes and chants every year, adapting tunes from Ultras in Europe and South America. Dale Cavese was one of the most famous tunes that became popular for the East Bengal Ultras. Allez Allez Allez sung by Liverpool FC fans which was itself adapted from Un giorno all'improvviso sang by the S.S.C. Napoli fans was adopted into Bengali and became an instant hit among the Red and Gold Brigade.

Recognition

  • In February 2016, Ultras-Tifo[2] made a match report on the Ultras activities performed during an I-League game between East Bengal and Salgaocar FC.[3]
  • In February 2017, the famous UK Media outlet Copa90[4] featured the East Bengal Ultras and mentioned them as one of the top 5 Ultras in Asia.[5]
  • On December 2017, Football Fans Asia[6] documented the East Bengal Ultras for its growing popularity of Ultras Movement in India.[7]
  • In August 2018, Ultras-Tifo featured the East Bengal Ultras for their grand Pyro show against Aryans SC in the Calcutta Football League.[8]
  • In August 2018, Copa90 made a short video on East Bengal Ultras for their grand Pyro show against Aryans SC.[9]

References

  1. ↑ https://soundcloud.com/eastbengalultras
  2. ↑ http://www.ultras-tifo.net/
  3. ↑ http://www.ultras-tifo.net/match-reports/4100-east-bengal-salgaocar-21022016.html
  4. ↑ https://copa90.com/
  5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYGtVJ9ElTM
  6. ↑ http://www.footballfansasia.com/
  7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EibLFclMQI
  8. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/ultrastifo/photos/a.176821197465/10155595795257466/?type=3&theater
  9. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/COPA90/videos/1812684838807897/

See also

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

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