East Bengal is Ruling Indian Football for 92 Years

Wesnesday,  August 01, 2012 Report by Rajarshi Ghosh

It is the 93rd Foundation Day of our “East Bengal Club”. It is 92 long years that the name East Bengal is present in the history of Indian Football. These 90 years saw a numerous occasions East Bengal Club created history. The Club has a Rich History and Strong Football Tradition with enormous Fan Base around the World.

Foundation of East Bengal Club :

On 1st August 1920 Suresh Chandra Chaudhuri along with Raja Manmatha Nath Chaudhuri, Bose, Ramesh Chandra (Nasha) Sen and Aurobinda Ghosh established a new Club “East Bengal Club”. That was the Historic Day for Indian Football. That was the day when Bengal, India and the World came to know that one Club came into the picture who would rule the Indian Football.

Fan Club – EAST BENGAL the Real POWER :

When a new club is born, his supporters also come to the stage. Now regarding fans and supporters, one thing must be mentioned over here. East Bengal Club’s fans are always very aggressive and sporting. As the club has created many histories in Indian Football, their fans went one step ahead. The fans created Asia’s first online community for fans of a football club on 15th November 2006, one online community that dreams to be the best ONLINE Community of the World in the arena of Football. Nearly 20,000 Football crazy fans are the strength of this community. This Community has not only created wave in India but spread across the United States and England. They all belong to one common feelings and that is EAST BENGAL. Now these crazy fans decided to make a Real Life Community. Thus East Bengal the Real POWER came into picture. This is the fan club of East Bengal Club, who cheers his team where ever the team goes. Now, EAST BENGAL the Real POWER prides in itself to take hundreds of supporters to the derby wearing the Red and Gold jersey and cheering the team with full force. From Drums to Chants, EAST BENGAL the Real POWER has brought in every flavour of football that a fan from Kolkata can dream of. Other than cheering the team from the stand, East Bengal the Real POWER also has their own Website which always gives updatednews of East Bengal Club.

Success in Indian Football :

If we want to go into the details journey of our Club’s Rich History then it will be difficult to end the script because the history of achievement of East Bengal can be compared with an Ocean, where the end is not possible to visualize. 

East Bengal started the successful journey on the very first month of their establishment when they won the seven-a-side Hercules Cup. That was the start and it is still on. If we get into the history of any other club of India then we will find that no club has ever won a tournament in the same month of their establishment. 
Nothing came on a platter for East Bengal Club which only steeled their character and made them even more determined to stand out among the many. East Bengal Club got the affiliation of Indian Football Association in face of some harsh opposition, sadly though, from other Indian Clubs of Calcutta --Mohun Bagan and Aryans. Gradually by impression of their performance, East Bengal Club came into limelight and ultimately got the first flavor of the Calcutta I.F.A. League by winning in the year 1942 and Shield by winning in the year 1943. The Club again won the I.F.A. Shield, Calcutta 1st Division league in the year 1945. In 1945 at only 25 years of club’s age East Bengal Club Got the First Double as an Indian club in Indian Football. 

The club's maiden League triumph was achieved in 1942. In the very next year they lifted the I.F.A. Shield. Thereafter the club went on to win other trophies - Rover's Cup (1949), D.C.M. (1950), Durand Cup (1951) Federation Cup (1978) and the National League (2000-01).

Records and new milestones became a regular ally of the club. In 1945 not only did the club achieve the Double, winning both League and Shield but also recorded their highest margin of victory when they thrashed B.B.C.I. Railway 11-0 in a Rovers Cup tie. Pagsley the Club's Anglo Burmese Centre Forward scored eight goals in the same tie setting up a record for maximum number of goals scored by an individual player in a match. Club's Nayar's record of scoring 36 goals in the 1946 I.F.A. League is still unbroken. 

The club's historic triumph of winning the I.F.A. Shield three years in a row (1949-51) as the first Indian team earned them the unique distinction of being adjudged the best soccer club by the English F.A. annual almanac of 1951-52. The club also has the record on winning IFA League for six years in a row, IFA Shield for five years in a row, first and only team to win back-to-back National League.

Triple Crown :

East Bengal is the only Club to win twice Triple Crown in the History of Indian Football. First was in the year 1972 when the club won IFA Shield, Durand Cup and Rovers Cup. The same feat was repeated in the year 1990. 

International Success :

East Bengal has a glorious past record against the foreign clubs. In 1970, East Bengal created a history by defeating Pas Club(Iran) 1-0 in IFA Shield final. It was the first victory of an Indian club over foreign team since the independence. Since then East Bengal have become the symbolic of the nation in any field of sport. Club's performance in the Asian Club Competition has also been satisfactory. Noteworthy was their triumph over Al Jawra (Iraq) 6-2, in 1993. It is the only club in India to participate in Asian Club Championship/AFC Cup 10 times.

In 1951 East Bengal was invited to tour Soviet Union and Romania as the first Indian Club. After East Bengal defeated the Chinese Olympic XI-2-0  in 1948 the club acquired a rich heritage of performing well against foreign club sides. In 1951 they defeated F.C. Gotheburg (Sweden) 1-0. 

Victory against Pong Yong City Club in 1973 IFA Shield Final, victory against Bangkok Port Authority in 1974 and 1975 DCM Trophy, again against the same opponent in 1978 Bordoloi Trophy, victory against Cho Huang Bank of South Korea in 1974 DCM Trophy, victory against South Korea XI and against Bangkok Bank in IFA Shield are some of the major victory for the Club. 

In 2003 July, East Bengal created sensation not only in India but in the whole continent also when they won LG ASEAN Cup from Jakarta beating BEC Tero Sasana in the finals.

In 1993 East Bengal won Wai-Wai Cup and in 2004 won the San Miguel International Cup at Nepal. 

Renowned Players :

Several renowned players of India played in Red & Gold jersey. Many foreign players who had successful stint at India had also played in Red & Gold Jersey. Among them some are Mona Dutta, Nepal Chakraborty, Surja Chakraborty, Haran Saha, Dulal Guha Thakurta, Mohammed Salim, Murgesh, Somana, Lakshminarayan, Majid, Apparao, Pagsley, Byomkesh Bose, P. Venkatesh, Sunil Ghosh, S.Nayyar, Paritosh Chakraborty, PBA Saleh, Masood Fakri, T. Balaram, Taj Mohammed, K.P.Dhanraj, Ahmed Khan, Minilal Ghatak, S.Roy-Paltu, Kittu, Gokul, Sanat Sett, Moosa, Hassan, Ram Bahadur, Aroon Ghosh, Sukumar Samajpati, Peter Thangaraj, Prasanta Sinha, Chandan Bannerjee, Ashim Moulik, Syed Naeemuddin, Parimal Dey, Md. Habib, Santo Mitra, Shyam Thapa, Sudhir Karmakar, Subhash Bhowmick, Samaresh Chowdhury, Shyamal Ghosh, Ashokelal Banerjee, Gautam Sarkar, Surajit Sengupta, Bhaskar Ganguly, Monoranjan Bhattacharya, Prasanta Banerjee, Harjinder Singh, Majid Bishkar, Jamshed Nassiri, Sudip Chatterjee, Alok Mukherjee, Tarun Dey, Krishanu Dey, Bikash Panji, Emeka Ezeugo, Balai Mukherjee, Cheema Okeri, Swarup Das, John Devine, Bhaichung Bhutia, Tushar Rakshit, Kuljit Singh, Samuel Omollo, Carlton Chapman, Dipak Mondal, Suley Musah, Surkumar Singh, Alvito D'Cunha, Muttah Suresh, Subrata Pal, Mike Okoro, Douglas Da Silva. 

The Golden Decade – 1970s

1970s is considered as the Golden Decade of East Bengal Club. East Bengal was almost unbeaten in Indian Club Football at that decade. The Calcutta Football League was won on 6 consecutive occasions from 1970 to 1975; the I.F.A. Shield on 5 consecutive occasions from 1972 to 1976. A crucial match in that era was the final of the IFA Shield in 1970, when East Bengal clashed against Pas Club of Iran. Iran was a formidable force in world football and the Pas Club team had several world cuppers. Through an inspiring performance, East Bengal defeated Pas Club 1-0, possibly the most significant win against a foreign opposition in the club’s victory. The peak of the glory which every East Bengal supporter loves to recount is the 1975 IFA Shield final against Mohun Bagan. In the most one-sided derby ever between these two clubs, East Bengal steamrolled their way to a 5-0 victory. 

Three Important Officials :

From the beginning a number of officials have managed the club. Out of everyone three officials have made a mark. Mr. J.C. Guha, Dr. Nripen Das, Mr. Dipak (Paltu) Das, have left an indelible mark in the club's affairs. Shri J.C. Guha, from 1948 to 1969, made a significant contribution in making the club a premier organization not only in India but also abroad. It was during his tenure that the club won a number of trophies and dished out outstanding soccer both at home and abroad. In 1951 the club also pioneered in raising funds for Prime Minister's Relief Fund by playing a number of exhibition ties. 

Next it was Dr. Nirpen Das, from 1970 to 1978, a renowned surgeon in whose period the club won the laurels and completely dominated the Indian Soccer scene.

Finally it was Dipak (Paltu) Das from 1984 to 2000, who gave a new dimension to the club by bringing in professionalism and the sponsors and finally converted the football section into a private limited company.

Collaboration with Leicester City :

East Bengal also has a multi-collaborative tie-in with Leicester City FC, UK for an exchange program with junior footballers, in respect to coaching techniques, sports science, and other developmental programs.

Private Limited Company :

In 1998, the name of the club was changed from the East Bengal Club to the Kingfisher East Bengal Football Club as United Breweries obtained a 50% stake in the club. Within the constitution of the club a Private Limited Company was formed covering the affairs of the football team under the name and style of "United East Bengal Football Team Private Limited”. 

Honours :

Though Mohun Bagan won IFA Shield in 1911 as the first Indian Club to win the tournament, however, East Bengal Club, Establishing 9 years after Mohun Bagan’s triumph won the IFA Shield for record 27 times. East Bengal also have won the IFA League maximum times (33 Times).

Following are some of the Major Event’s Performance of East Bengal Club: