East Bengal F.C.

On 28 July 1920, Mohun Bagan was scheduled to play Jorabagan in the Coochbehar Cup. Jorabagan sent out their starting eleven but with the notable exclusion of defender Sailesh Bose, who was dropped from the squad for reasons not disclosed. The vice-president of Jorabagan, Suresh Chandra Chaudhuri, asked for Bose to be included in the line-up but it went in vain. Chaudhuri left the club due to this and along with Raja Manmatha Nath Chaudhuri, Ramesh Chandra Sen, and Aurobinda Ghosh, and formed East Bengal, as a Sports and Cultural association, in Jorabagan home of Suresh Chandra on 1 August 1920; 99 years ago. It was named East Bengal since the founders hailed from the eastern region of Bengal.[2][3][4] Nagen Kali, M. Talukdar, B. Sen, N. Gossain, Goshto Paul (On loan from Mohun Bagan), P. Bardhan, S. Das, S. Tagore, J. Mukherjee, Ramesh Chandra Sen, S. Bose, C. Bose, A. Roy and A. Bannerjee were part of the first team.[5]

East Bengal FC players and officials in 1921.

The club then participated in their maiden tournament in the same month of their formation in the Hercules Cup which was a 6-a-side tournament. On 11 August 1920, the club played their first match against Metropolitan College, where East Bengal won 4-0.East Bengal won the tournament. After the tournament, the club became affiliated with the Indian Football Association (IFA). The club then entered league play in the IFA Second Division. The club finished in third place in the first season in the Second Division. East Bengal first-ever clashed against Mohun Bagan on 8 August 1921 in Cooch Behar Cup semi-final match which ended in a goalless draw. It was an unofficial derby at that time.[2][6]

In 1924 the club won the Second Division to gain promotion to the IFA First Division after finishing in second place to Cameroons 'B'. Due to Cameroons 'A' being in the First Division already the 'B' team could not gain promotion and thus East Bengal was next in line for promotion. However, more controversy arose since IFA allowed only two Indian based clubs in the IFA First Division (back then the IFA was British organization), and previously deprived clubs like Kumarti and Town from entering First Division. During the governing body meeting of IFA, the nine British clubs approved of allowing East Bengal, but ironically two Indian clubs, Mohun Bagan and Aryan opposed it. Although, East Bengal's efforts led to abolition of the oppressive Indian club limit rule.[2][7]

It took the club till 1942 to win their first IFA First Division title. Then in 1943, the club won their first IFA Shield. The club then achieved the double in 1945 by winning both the Calcutta Football League (CFL) and IFA Shield. In 1948, East Bengal became the first team to defeat any foreign club on home soil. They won 2–0 against the visiting Chinese Olympic XI.[8] East Bengal won the first treble in 1949 season, by winning Calcutta League,[9] IFA Shield, Rover's Cup. The club then went on to win the 1949 Rovers Cup and the Durand Cup in 1951. Within that time the club also won three straight IFA Shields (1949, 1950, 1951). The English F.A. 1951–52 annual almanac adjudged East Bengal as the best club in Asia.[10] On being recommended by then President of India Late Rajendra Prasad, the club was invited by Romania Youth Festival Committee in 1953 They also partook in a tour to the Soviet Union the same year, where they were heavily defeated by Soviet side by a margin of 13–1. Again the club won Rovers Cup several times during this era (1962, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975) as well as Durand Cup in (1952, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1978). The club stunned everyone by winning the 1970 IFA Shield against PAS Club of Iran by 1–0. Later the club won 1973 IFA Shield by winning against Pyongyang City SC of North Korea[11][12][13]

East Bengal won the Calcutta Football League for six straight years from 1970 to 1975.[11] In the '70s decade, East Bengal won against their arch-rivals, Mohun Bagan, multiple times including a record margin of 5–0 in history of Kolkata Derby, in 1975.[14]

The club won Federation Cup in 1980 and again in 1985. They also became the first Indian club to play in the newly redone Asian Club Championship in 1985–86.[11] The club then won their first treble in 1990 by winning the IFA Shield, Rovers Cup, and Durand Cup in one season. The club also won the Stafford Cup (1986), McDowell's Cup (1995, 1997). In 1993, East Bengal FC won its first-ever international title i.e. Wai Wai Cup in Nepal. The club also won Federation Cup, IFA Shield, Calcutta Football League, Durand Cup and Rovers Cup, several times during this period.[15] In 1996 the club became the founding members of the first nationwide football league in India, the National Football League.[10][16]

In 1984, Dipak Das came into the club and revamped it. He brought in professionalism and converted the football department into a private limited company. He also roped sponsorship from local brands and companies like Khadims. In 1998, Dipak Das collaborated with Vijay Mallya's United Breweries Group which then formed a new Private Limited Company, with 50-50 shareholding, called "United East Bengal Football Team Private Limited" and corporatised the football team, which was the first time in the country, and renamed itself as Kingfisher East Bengal FC.[17][13]

The club then entered the 21st century in style winning the 2000–01 National Football League season. Then they became the first club to win back to back titles after winning the 2002–03 and 2003–04 versions of the league. The club then went on to win the Federation Cup again in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012. They also won the Indian Super Cup in 2006 and 2011.[18] The club won the third international trophy in 2003 ASEAN Club Championship, in Jakarta, Indonesia, and East Bengal is still the only Indian football team to win any major trophy at an outside the country.[10][19] The club was invited to the tournament by Leicester City, celebrating their 120th Anniversary. In 2004, Leicester City also had partnerships with the East Bengal.[20][21] Then FIFA president, Joseph Blatter visited the club tent on 15th April, 2007. After a year, East Bengal became the first Indian football team to win against a West Asian team, Al Wihdat SC of Jordan in foreign soil.[15]

Mawia

Mehtab

Borja

Samad

Manoj

Didika

Rohlupuia

Brandon

Abhijit

Boithang

Colado

Lineup against Army Red in Durand Cup. The first match of centenary season.

East Bengal also made the record number appearance of 8 times (between 2004 and 2015) in AFC Cup among any Indian football club.[22][23] The club went in the semi-finals of 2013 AFC Cup where they lost against Kuwait SC of Kuwait.[24] The club has the achievement of winning the Calcutta Football League title 8 consecutive times from 2010 to 2017 breaking their previous record of 6 times during 1970s.[11][25] Following the exit of Kingfisher from the club, Quess Corp signed an agreement with the East Bengal Club and acquired 70% stakes of the club in July 2018, The football team was renamed as Quess East Bengal FC.[26][27]

On 1 August 2019 the club entered its 100th establishment year. A centenary celebration logo was introduced. Torch rallies and events were organised and were attended by former players, coaches, presidents etc. The centenary kit was unveiled, which was inspired from the 1925-26 season kit. The club participated in Durand Cup, Calcutta Football League and I-League, and played the first match and won against Army Red in Durand Cup.[28][29][30]

2019-20 season away Kolkata Derby in Salt Lake Stadium

Unlike East Bengal, the crosstown rival Mohun Bagan is mainly supported by the native populace of current state West Bengal. The Kolkata Derby as its name taken from the Old Firm Derby between Celtic F.C. and Rangers F.C. dates back to the 1920s. After Indian independence and partition of Bengal, the huge influx of immigrant population from the eastern part of Bengal led to a socio-economic crisis in the state. Leading to rivalries in jobs, business, schools and even on the football pitch, among the immigrants and native population. This rivalry became a fierce one and the Kolkata Derby grew in popularity and reached its peak during the 1960s and 1970s which still is very much popular today with almost 100 thousand spectators fill-up the Salt Lake Stadium for the derbies.[36] The Kolkata Derby has a record of 134,000 spectators, the most attended sporting event in India.[37][38]

Salt Lake stadium

The Salt Lake Stadium, also known as Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), is a multi-purpose stadium in Kolkata, built in 1984. The stadium is the second largest non-auto racing stadium in the world and the largest in India. It is currently used for mainly football matches. The stadium includes a unique running track, long jump track, electronic scoreboard, natural turf, floodlighting arrangement, air-conditioned VIP restroom and Conference Hall along with Medical Room & Doping Control Room. The Salt Lake Stadium hosts the home games of East Bengal in I-League and AFC Cup. The total capacity of the stadium is 85,000.[41]

East Bengal Ground

The East Bengal Ground is located in Kolkata, India and is the home ground of the club. The stadium lies on the Maidan (Kolkata) area on the northern side of Fort William and near the Eden Gardens. This stadium is currently used mostly for matches of Calcutta Football League, academy teams and women's team. The total capacity of the stadium is 23,500. [41]

Barasat Stadium is also used by the club for some of its regional matches, especially in cases where the Salt Lake Stadium or East Bengal Ground cannot be used for any reason.[42]

Kanchenjunga Stadium, a multipurpose stadium based in Siliguri has also been used several times to host football matches for the club.[43] It also hosted the 2012 Federation Cup.

In recent past, Kalyani Stadium, situated on the outskirts of Kolkata at Kalyani was used by East Bengal as their home turf during the 2019–20 I-League.[44]

The team trains and practices in one of VYBK practice grounds.[45]

As of 22 February 2020[46]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 2 DF Asheer Akhtar 4 DF Johnny Acosta 6 DF Gurwinder Singh 7 MF Abhijit Sarkar (on loan from Chennaiyin FC) 8 MF Jaime Santos Colado 9 MF Boithang Haokip 11 MF Pintu Mahata 14 MF Naorem Tondomba Singh 15 DF Abhash Thapa (on loan from Hyderabad FC) 16 MF Kassim Aidara (vice-captain) 17 FW Edmund Lalrindika (on loan from Bengaluru FC) 18 FW Marcos de la Espada MF Eugeneson Lyngdoh MF Ricky Shabong DF Mohammed Irshad

No. Position Player 20 MF Lalrindika Ralte (captain) 23 MF Juan Mera 24 MF Víctor Pérez Alonso 25 DF Samad Ali Mallick 26 FW Bidyashagar Singh 27 DF Abhishek Ambekar 28 DF Monotosh Chakladar 29 DF Mehtab Singh 30 MF Brandon Vanlalremdika 32 GK Mirshad Michu 38 MF Prakash Sarkar 40 GK Rakshit Dagar 41 DF Manoj Mohammed 43 MF PC Rohlupuia MF Sehnaj Singh FW Harmanpreet Singh DF Novin Gurung

As of matches played 9 March 2020

ASEAN Club Championship

• Champions (1): 2003

National Football League

• Champions (3): 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04

Federation Cup

• Champions (8): 1978, 1980, 1985, 1996, 2007, 2009–10, 2010, 2012

Indian Super Cup

• Champions (3): 1997, 2006, 2011

Calcutta Football League

• Champions (record) (39):'1942, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1961, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18

IFA Shield

• Champions (record) (29): 1943, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1958, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2018

Durand Cup

• Champions (record) (16): 1951, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1970, 1972,1978, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2002, 2004

Rovers Cup

• Champions (10): 1949, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1980, 1990, 1994

D.C.M Trophy

• Champions (7): 1950, 1952, 1957, 1960, 1973, 1974, 1983

Bordoloi Trophy

• Champions (5): 1968, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1992

Sait Nagjee Football Tournament

• Champions (2): 1968, 1986

All Airlines Gold Cup

• Champions (7): 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001

The women's football team was formed in 2001, but it was disbanded in 2003. It won the Calcutta Women's Football League title in its inaugural season and came runner's up in 2002.[55] In the centenary year, the women's team was relaunched.[56][57]

The East Bengal Club Cricket team participates in various tournaments of varying age groups conducted by the Cricket Association of Bengal. Currently it participates in the CAB First Division League, CAB Senior Knockout, CAB Super League and JC Mukherjee Trophy. The team plays its home matches mostly at the Eden Gardens and Jadavpur University Campus Ground. They have won around 60 major state-level trophies so far.[58] Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Ajay Jadeja, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sourav Ganguly have also played in the team.[15]

East Bengal has an athletics team, which is affiliated West Bengal Athletic Association, and participates in various tournaments in West Bengal.[59] The club also organises Annual Athletic meet at the club ground.[60]

This department started after the Independence of India. The club is affiliated to Bengal Hockey Association and participated in BHA First Division hockey league and Beighton Cup. They have won 13 trophies. The team was disbanded in 2000.[61]