East Bengal: A Journey Through the Ages

Nearly ninety years ago, a rich industrialist protested against petty jingoism – and thus a football club was born. Today, that uncertain toddler towers above all in India’s football landscape.

As Ramchandra Guha points out in several of his works, the Bengali mindset, with its pronounced proclivity towards subtler things in life, was expected to be inclined towards cricket in the pre-independence era. However, cricket’s appeal was largely limited to the Bengali aristocrats of Calcutta. For the common man, the game that ignited his imagination was always football. Football was a proxy for the war against the British, an idea that was sparked off by Mohun Bagan's historic success in the 1911 I.F.A. Shield final against their mighty British opponents. 

Expectedly, the native Indians did not enjoy the same privileges as the British, both within and outside the football arena.

The I.F.A. Governing body permitted only two Indian clubs in the First Division of the Calcutta League. Indian clubs like Kumartuli were denied promotion in spite of triumphing in the Second Division. The other significant tournaments in Bengal were Coochbehar Cup and the Trades Cup, of which the former played a significant role in the formation of East Bengal Club.

Compiled by: Ranadurjay Talukdar