Shree Suresh Chandra Chowdhury collaborated with the well-known soccer player Shailesh Bose and Dr. Ramesh Chandra (Nasa) Sen, who were restricted from being a part of the Jorabagan Club as they were “Bangals”. To beat the preventions form the player positions of the Jorabagan team, they together incepted the East Bengal Club on 1st August 1920.
Post the inception, the pressing requirement of a jersey was taken into consideration. During that phase, attractive jerseys were landed by ships from England, which then cost around Rs. 20 to 25 per set. Suresh Chowdhury and Arobindo Ghosh walked in Esplanade to search for a jersey for the team but nothing seemed to please them. After an extensive hunt, they finally entered a departmental store, titled as Whiteaway LandLaw, where a Red and Gold shaded jersey grabbed their attention. They were taken aback by the bright and attractive colour combination of the jersey to an extent that Suresh Chowdhury went on finalizing that jersey for East Bengal at that very moment against an amount 4 times (Rs. 80) higher than compared to others.
In September 1920, the first-ever Club meeting was held at the residence of Shri Tarit Bhusan Ray, the then Ray Bahadur of Kumartuli, which holds a great historical value. Every attendee of the meeting had their origins across the Padma River, and all were a victim of insult, neglect and disregard and were deprived and looked down upon by the “Ghotis”.
Shri Tarit Bhushan Ray was not known by all only because he was the son of the entitled Kundu dynasty of Bhagyakul in Dhaka district but also was because he was a renowned solicitor and attorney of Calcutta High Court. A meeting took place at his home on the Northern end of the famous Kumartuli Park. The agenda of the meeting was to name the East Bengal Club under formal proceedings, decide on the organizational programs, form the club committee, arrange for a ground of their own to play and practice for the division match, etc. The attendees of the meeting were Sardarjanan Roy, Nandlal Roy, Banwarilal Roy, Shailesh Basu, Tahidbhushan Roy, Nani Lal Roy, Suresh Chowdhury and Arvind Ghosh.
Above: Prafulla Mitra, Prafulla Chatterjee, Bhola Sen.
Standing: Yogesh Talukder, Bhanu Duttaray, Suren Thakur, BK Roy, Shailesh Basu, Nepal Chakraborty, Vijayhari Sen, Jitu Mukherjee, Nani Gosai, D Roy, Deben Pal.
Sitting on the chair: Suresh Chowdhury (founder), Shashi Das, Banwarilal Roy, Roy Bahadur Tadibhushan Roy (editor), Nasa Sen (captain), Prashant Bardhan (co-captain), Dhira Mitra.
Sitting down: Mani Talukdar , Nagen Kali.
1924 will always be a remarkable year in the history of the East Bengal Club. This very year, Hemang Bose and Mona Dutta played radiantly, and helped the East Bengal Club win the second division jointly with the Cameroons B team. Nonetheless, IFA even after the win denied promoting East Bengal to the First Division. Constant efforts by Tarit Bhushan Ray and Suresh Chowdhury made IFA give up and allowed the East Bengal club to play in the First Division. Suresh Chowdhury has a massive contribution in earning the recognition of the club, which can never be denied or fathomed.
East Bengal club takes an initiative to build a statue of Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee in the year 1924. At that time Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee was the Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University. His immense personality and independent spirit became a reason for the British rulers to worry about. Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee deceased on 25th May, 1924. In his memory, Manmatha Roy Chowdhury – the then President of the club, coined the thought of establishing a bronze statue of Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee.
He acquired a part of a ground in Esplanade. In an attempt to raise funds for building the statue, he organized for a match through which he procured Rs. 2000. Post this event, East Bengal Club, against the will of the British rulers and obstructions, established the statue of Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee. The statue still reigns in front of the Victoria House, Esplanade.
24th May, 1925, East Bengal club got enrolled for the IFA Derby match against Mohun Bagan. East Bengal was then a new kid in the block, inaugurated in 1920, participates in the 1st game of the Calcutta League. Against East Bengal Club was Mohun Bagan who was ahead from the former in terms of age and experience. However, the excitement of the supporters both the teams was heightened and filled the ground with cheers. The encounter of both teams in the first half made the game delightful. When Surya Chakraborty’s shot got resisted, Nepal Chakravarty took the shot and defeated the Mohun Bagan goalkeeper – Bhaduri, and makes a goal. East Bengal defeat Mohun Bagan and won the first half of Calcutta League against a single goal.
The then team of East Bengal Club for the match:
P. Das. P. Chatterjee, S. Ganguly, Haran Saha, Nani Gosain, B. Sen, Surya Chakraborty, H. Bose, M. Dutta, Nepal Chakravarty, M. Mallik
Standing (from the left): P. Majumdar, Biharilal, Surya Chakroborty, Salim, Nani Gosain and Dulal
Sitting (from the left): Noor Mohammad, K. Ganguly, Moni Talukdar (Captain), Jalil and D. Ghosh
Sitting on the ground (from the left): Majid, Ramiz
On the ground (from the left): Moni Talukdar (Captain) and Nidhu Mazumdar
On the chair (from the left): K. Ganguly, Ramiz, D.L. Sen, Jalil and Noor Mohammad (Sr.)
At the back (from the left): Noni Gosain, A. Bose, Salim, Majid, Dulal and Babulal
Standing: Dulal, G. Basak, Biharilal, Moni Talukdar, S. Banerjee, Heera Das
Sitting: K. Ganguly (Captain), Majid, Noor Mohammad, Surya Charoborty, M. Dutta Roy, S. Mitra
At the back: Murgesh, Kauzar, Badal, Paresh Majumdar, Kamal Ganguly
In the middle: Lakshminarayan, Promod Dasgupta, Dulal (Captain), Majid, K. Prasad
On the front: Akhtar, Padma Banerjee, Karim
At the back row: Noni Gosain, Jeetu Mukherjee, Suresh Chowdhury, Surya Chakroborty, Hemanga Basu, Dheera Mitra, Bhola Sen, Suren Thakur
Sitting on the ground: Majid, Prafulla Chatterjee, Purna Das, Mona Mallik, A. Ghosh
At the back (from the left): B. Sen, P. Dasgupta, P. Banerjee, Samad, R. Majumdar and B. Sen (Bird)
On the ground (from the left): D. Banerjee, Rajat Ali, Murgesh, Lakshminarayana and A. Nandi
At the back row: Rupa Bhattacharjee, Suhash Chatterjee, Rakhal Majumdar, K. Dutta, Karim, Lakshminarayan
Seated at the front: Biren Sen, Ajit Nandy, Promod Dasgupta (Captain), Murgesh, Nidhu Mazumdar
Upper row: Sunil Ghosh, Amin, Murgesh, Abu Ganguly, Hali Hossain
Middle row (seated): Ghiasuddin, Ajit Nandy (Captain), Lakshminarayan, Norasamoser Jang (Prince of Nepal), Haran Saha (Football Secretary), Promod Dasgupta, Rakhal Majumdar
On ground (seated): Somana, K. Dutta, V. Shah, Appa Rao
The club’s Maiden League was won in the year 1942.
On ground (from the left): M. Mitra, Appa Rao, A. Mukherjee
On the chair (from the left): P. Dasgupta, N. Sen (Football Secretary), Somana (Captain), J. C. Guha (Assistant Secretary), S. Ghosh, J Seal (Trainer), Ghiasuddin
Front row (standing): P. Chakroborty, R. Majumdar, F. Singha, K. Sen, R. Dey, Amin
Back row (standing): S. Chatterjee, J. Bose, Sushil Chatterjee, N. Roy, S. Dutta
The East Bengal Club came into the spotlight and achieved the ultimate recognition after winning the Calcutta IFA shield in the year 1943.
Seated (from the left): F. Singha, S. Ghosh, P. Chakroborty, N. Roy
Standing (first row - from the left): Arokiraj, Somana, R. Majumdar (Captain), G. Das (Football Secretary), Appa Rao, P. Dasgupta, S. Chatterjee
Standing (last row - from the left): A. Mukherjee, A. Nandy, S. Talukdar, D. Sen
Reaching milestones and creating new records became an “everyday thing” for the East Bengal Club. In 1945, the East Bengal Club secured the Double Crown after winning the Calcutta Football League and IFA Shield.
Seated (from the left): J. N. Sengupta, S. Ghosh (Football Secretary), J. C. Gupta (General Secretary), P. Chakroborty (Captain), A. Mukherjee, I. B. Sen (Vice President), S. Dutta (Assistant Secretary), Noni Gosain
Standing (front row from the left): J. Seal, A. Nandy, S. Ghosh, S. Roy Chowdhury, Somana, Sunil Ghosh, Pagsley, S. Chatterjee, N. Guha, N. Roy, M. Goswami, S. Sen, R. Poddar, S. Bose, R. Banerjee
Standing (back row from the left): Kaiser, S. Talukdar, F. Singha, Nayar, Appa Rao, P. Dasgupta, Saley, T. Kar, D. Chanda
Front row: Appa Rao, S. Ghosh (Football Secretary), P. Chakroborty (Captain), A. Mukherjee, Pagsley, Sunil Ghosh
Back row: Nayar, Mahabir, Kizer, D. Chanda, Titu Kar, N. Guha
P. Mustafi, P. Chakroborty, D. Pal, Nogen Roy, Kaijar, D. Guha, Titu Kar, Appa Rao, Bikash Dasgupta, Sunil Ghosh, Saley
East Bengal: S. Mukherjee, Byomkesh Bose, Rakhal Majumdar, D. Chanda (Captain), Ajit Kashi Mitra, Venkatesh, Appa Rao, S. Mustafi, Sunil Ghosh, Saley
Goal by Appa Rao and Saley
On the ground (from the left): Venkatesh, S. Mukherjee, M. Ghatak, G. Sen
On the chair (from the left): D. Chanda, Appa Rao, Kaiser (Captain), G. N. Sengupta (general Secretary), L. Talukdar (Football Secretary), Saley, Taj Mohammad, P. Dasgupta
Standing (from the left): Dhanraj, K. Sen, K. Mitra, S. Chatterjee, Ahmed Khan, Aabid, B. Bose
Ahmed Khan, Appa Rao, Saley, Dhanraj, Venkatesh
East Bengal Team: M. Ghotok, N. Guha, Rakhal Majumdar, D. Chanda, Biren Roy, Gokul, Venkatesh, Appa Rao, Dhanraj, Ahmed, Saley (Captain)
Sitted on the ground (from the left): S. Roy, G. Das
On the chair (from the left): Dhanraj, R. Majumdar, Saley (Captain), Dr. B. Basu, R. Poddar, Appa Rao, B. Bose
Standing (from the left): Kaiser, N. Guho, Gokul, Aabid, K. Sen, M. Ghotok, Ahmed, Sailen Roy, Venkatesh, D. Chanda, B. Roy
In Delhi for the special exhibit match
From the left: M Ghotok, J.C. Guha, Ansari, A.C. Talukdar, R. Poddar, Dr. Katju, B. Bose, Dhanraj, Saley, Appa Rao, Ahmed, Venkatesh, Chandan Singha, S. Roy, Gokul, N.K. Roy
The goal was scored by P B A Saley.
In picture – The players of East Bengal and Goteborg Football club
East Bengal Team: M. Ghotok, B. Basu (Captain), Ansari, Gokul, Chandan Singha, S. Roy, Venkatesh, Appa Rao, Dhanraj, Ahmed Khan, Saley
President Dr. Rajendra Prasad with the 1951 Durand Cup winner – East Bengal Team.
1952 East Bengal team: M. Ghotok, B. Basu, P. Kumar, S. Mallik, Gokul, Chandan Singha, S. Roy, Ashim Mukherjee, B. Guha, Venkatesh (Captain), Appa Rao, Dhanraj, Ahmed Khan, Saley, Masud Fakrhri, Ramana, Nishit Biswas
East Bengal Club stands the only Indian club to be invited by the committee of the Romania Youth Festival to participate in their football tournament at Bucharest in the year 1953. The then President of India, Late Dr. Rajendra Prasad, recommended the East Bengal Club as the best Indian football club.
At the back (from the left): Dr. Dasgupta, Appa Rao, Dr. P. Kumar, M. Fakhri, Niyaz Ali, J.C. Guha (Manager), Venkatesh, Ahmed Khan, Gokul, Dorailingum, Saley, M. Ghotok
On the ground: A. Dutta, Thangaraj, B. Roy, Kittu, A. Mukherjee, Alagariswami
Russia tour – 21st August, 1953. Moscow Dynamo Stadium – East Bengal match with the Russian Torpedo Dynamo team. The game draws with a score board of 3-3. For East Bengal Thangraj goals 1 ball while Venkatesh goals 2 balls.
Some moments of the matches played by East Bengal in 1953 at Kiev and the capital of Georgia- Tiflis
The goal was scored by East Bengal Club Footballer Narayan.
Front row (seated): Dhanraj, Narayan, Ram Bahadur, Moosa,
Middle row (seated): M. Bose, Bir Bahadur, Gyan Shnakar Sengupta (secretory), C.M. Saha (treasurer), Ahmed, B. Bose
Back row (standing): Tapan Chowdhury, Nilesh Sarkar, Subhasish Guha, S. Seth, Balaram, Chitta Chanda, Hasan
Mr. Govinda, Mr. Inam-ur-Rahaman, Mr. Joginder Singh, Mr. Gurbux Singh, Mr. Shibaji Pawar and Mr. Mohammed Sayeed, the ex-Hockey stars of India who donned the colour of our club and also the Hockey team.
In the IFA Shield final, East Bengal Club defeated BNR to stand the champion with the goal being scored by Parimal Dey.
Standing (from the left): Abjal, P. Dey, B. Debnath, S. Mitra, P. Singha, Thangaraj, Santh Seth, S. Samajpati, Nayeem, K.B. Sharma, G.K. Singh
On the chair (from the left): Ram Bahadur, K. Sen (Football Secretary), Chandan Banerjee (Captain), Randeb Chowdhury (President), J.C. Guha (General Secretary), P.K. Sen (Assistant Secretary)
On the ground (from the left): S. Bhattacharjee, A. Bose, B. Dey, Shyam Thapa, S. Das, Habib
At the 1969 IFA Shield finale - Chief Minister Ajay Banerjee with the East Bengal Team: Peter Thangraj, Ashok Lal Banerjee, Shanta Mitra, Kalon Guha, Sudhir Karmakar, Samad Khan
25th December, 1969 – At the Rover’s Cup finale East Bengal stands the champion by defeating Mohun Bagan with 3-0 Goals.
Goals made by: Subhash Bhowmick -2 and Kajal Mukherjee - 1
Between the year 1970 and 1978, it was Dr. Nripen Das – a renowned surgeon, during whose reign the club won the Laurels and subjugated the Soccer scene of India.
The club strikes a historic achievement by defeating the PAS Club (Iran) with 1-0 goals in the IFA Shield finals 1970. The defeat was secured by an entitled player Parimal Dey. This victory was the first ever win of the Indian club over the foreign team post-independence. More than 80,000 supporters who had inundated the Eden Gardens celebrated the club’s triumph with lit torches (as the symbol of the club). Since then, lit torches were accepted as the symbol of the nation’s triumph in every sport domain.
Furthermore, the East Bengal club made an exceptional record of winning the Calcutta Football League for six continuous years from 1970 to 1975. They also secured the IFA Shield, Rovers Cup and the Durand Cup in 1972. East Bengal is entitled as the only club to win the famous Indian ‘Treble’ (IFA Shield, Durand Cup and Rovers Cup in a single session simultaneously) for two years – 1972 and 1990.
Eminent Indian footballers like Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Subhas Bhowmick, Bhaichung Bhutia, Sudhir Karmakar, Sudip Chatterjee, Bhaskar Ganguly, Krishanu Dey and several other players who represented India in the International Football Tournaments on behalf of the club throughout the period. Besides, exceptional players like Sammy Omollo, Majid Bishkar, Julian Camino, Emeka Ezeugo, Cheema Okorie, Monem Munna, and John Devine also reigned the club’s colour during the period.
Bhaichung Bhutia – an iconic Indian footballer, started his career with the East Bengal Club and later went on to play as a professional footballer in England as an Indian footballer.
Within this period two of the officials contributed and supported the team while leaving an incredible mark on several affairs of the club.
East Bengal club defeats Mohun Bagan by 2-0 goals and stands out as the Durand Cup champion
In the above picture: President V.V. Giri along with the Durand Champion East Bengal club
Year 1970: In the IFA shield match East Bengal Club stands the winner after striking a goal defeating Iran’s PAS Club with a score board of 1-0 respectively. Parimal Dey strikes the goal on behalf of East Bengal
Officials and players of the East Bengal Club after winning 3 trophies at the club’s golden jubilee year
At the undefeatable League Champion Super Cup match East Bengal defeats Mohun Bagan by 1-0 goals and stands the undefeatable League champion.
Goal made by Swapan Sengupta.
Calcutta League champion – The East Bengal Club
Rover’s champion – The East Bengal Club: In the finals, East Bengal defeats Tata Sports and stands the winner by 3-2 goals
East Bengal Club – The IFA Shield champion: East Bengal defeats Pyongyang City Club of North Korea by 3-1 goals. Two East Bengal players, named, Akbar and Subhash Bhowmick strikes the 2 and 1 goals respectively.
30th September, 1975 – East Bengal Club defeats Mohun Bagan by 5-0 goals and stands the Shield champion in the IFA Finals.
Goals struck by: Surjit, Shyam (2 goals), Ranjit, Subhankar
At the back row: Dipu Ghosh, Proshanto Banerjee, Ranjit Mukherjee, Shyamal Ghosh, Amal Dutta (Coach), Ramen Bhattacharjee, Johor Das, Bolai Chakraborty, Manoranjan Bhattacharjee, Satyajit Mitra
At the front row: Bimal Das, Ulganathan, Ratan Dutta, Samaresh Chaudhury, Santosh Bose, Surajit Sengupta, Chinmoy Chatterjee, Bhaskar Ganguly, Ratan Bhattacharya, Shaymal Banerjee, Mihir Bose
The East Bengal Club secures the Federation Cup for the year 1978, 1980, 1985 and 1996. They were also the first Indian club to represent the country for the Asian Cup Championship finals in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) in the year 1985-1986 post winning the preliminary round in Colombo. They maintained their ritual of winning the Triple Crown (Shield, Durand and Rovers) again in 1990. East Bengal Club also secured their victory in the International tournament Wai Wai Cup at Nepal in the year 1993. The club has represented India in the Asian Club tournament several times. The club’s players also have performed satisfactorily well in the Asian Club Competition. Their victory over Al Jawra (Iraq) by 6-2 goals in the year 1993 was highly notable.
Dipak Das, being amongst several affairs, realized the requirement for considerable funds for a smooth running of other several affairs of the club as the source from private donation and club membership were being limited. He initially arranged for controlled sponsorship from various local brands / companies. However, his primary success was to smudge into a partnership with Dr. Vijay Mallya’s United Breweries Group in 1998, which revamped the club. Within the constitution of the club a Private Limited Company was structured that would cover all the affairs of the football team under the title of “United East Bengal Football Team Private Limited."
At the Calcutta League Derby – East Bengal player Shabbir Ali with Mohun Bagan players Shibaji Banerjee, Pratam Chowdhury, Subrata Bhatterjee
At the Federation Cup tournament, for the first time, East Bengal stands the champion jointly with the Mohun Bagan team
The Durand Cup champion – In the finals East Bengals holds the trophy after striking off Mohun Bagan by 3-0 goals.
East Bengal players - Mihir Bose, Surjit Sengupta, Tapan Das strikes 1 goal each to stand out as the winner.
Bordoloi Trophy Champion: East Bengal defeats the Bangkok Port Authority by 4-2 goals in the finals. Mihir Bose and Surjit Sengupta strikes 2 goals each on behalf of East Bengal Club.
Mr. Sachin Tendulkar, Mr. Kapil Dev, Mr. Navjot Singh Sidhu, Mr. Ajay Jadeja, along with the iconic Bengal cricketer Mr. Sourav Ganguly played for a couple of years on behalf of the East Bengal Club for the cricket team.
IFA Shield champion – East Bengal club stands champion jointly with Mohun Bagan
Darjeeling Gold Cup champion – East Bengal stands the winner
Stafford Cup champion – Trophy won by East Bengal club
Calcutta Football League Champion
Durand Cup champion (East Bengal jointly stands the winner with Mohun Bagan)
Darjeeling Gold Cup champion: (East Bengal and Mohun Bagan stands the winner jointly)
At the back row: Prashanta Banerjee, Chinmoy Chatterjee, Arup Das, Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Mani Dey (physio), Amal Raj (captain), Tapas Chakravarty, Subir Sarkar, Mihir Bose, Bhaskar Ganguly
At the front row: Tapan Das, Kartick Sett, Balai Mukherjee, Farid, Shankar Baba, Tarun Dey, Swapan Routh, Krishnagopal Chaudhury
IFA shield champion (East Bengal Club jointly stands the winner with Aryan club)
D.C.M Trophy champion (East Bengal club defeats Mohammedan Sporting by 1-0 goals)
Goalkeeper - Bhaskar Ganguly, Tapas Chakravarty and Bijon Chakravarty
Back - Chinmoy Chatterjee, Manoranjan, Aloke, Balai Mukherjee, Tarun Dey, Sanjib Bhattacharya, Pulak Biswas and Aloke Saha
Half-back - Prashanta Banerjee, Swapan Routh, Debashis Misra
Forward – Mihir (captain), Narinder Gurung, Pradip Talukdar, Pranab Bose, Kartick Sett, Krisnagopal, Arup Das, Tapan Das, Debashis Roy and Thapa
It was Mr. Dipak (Paltu) Das (1984-2000) who shaped the club and brought in professionalism along with several sponsors and converted the football section into a private limited company.
IFA Shield Champion East Bengal strikes-off Mohun Bagan by 1-0 goals)
Sanjay Gandhi Gold Cup Champion
Goalkeeper - Bhaskar Ganguly (captain), Tapas Chakravarty and Bijan Chakravarty
Back - Samir Chaudhury, Chinmoy, Manoranjan, Tarun, Debdyuti Debnath, Aloke Mukherjee, Aloke Saha, Balai Mukherjee and Raghu Nandy
Half-back - Sudip Chatterjee, Gautam Sarkar, Sunirmal Chakravarty and Sanjib Chakravarty
Forward - Biswajit Bhattacharya, Debashis Roy, Mihir Bose, Kartick Sett, Pradip Ghosh, Narinder Gurung, Monojit Das, Ganesh Thapa, Shyam Thapa and Denis Williamson
Federation Cup champion, East Bengal defeats Mohun Bagan by 1-0 goals (goal by Jamshed Nassiri)
Calcutta Football League Champion
Daarjeeling Gold Cup Champion
At the back row: Sunirmal Chakravarty, Monojit Das, Chinmoy Chatterjee, Sandip Munshi , Sudip Chatterjee, Majid Khan, Tarun Dey, Shyam Thapa (coach), Jamshed Nassiri, Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Biswajit Bhattacharya, Krishanu Dey, Bikash Panji, Debashis Roy, Kamal Ghosh, P.K.Banerjee (T.D)
At the front row: Bijan Chakravarty, Aloke Mukherjee, Debdyuti Debnath, Kabir Bose, Bhaskar Ganguly, Aloke Saha, Subimal Chowdhury, Samir Chaudhury, Balai Mukherjee, Aslam
IFA Shield Champion
(East Bengal Club breaks the tie-breaker match after defeating Mohun Bagan by 4-2 goals)
Seth Nagji Football Tournament Champion
(East Bengal Club qualifies for the finals after defeating Kerala XI)
Stafford Cup Tournament Champion
Goalkeeper - Bhaskar Ganguly, Bijan Chakravarty, Sumit Mukherjee and Sekhar Saha
Back - Balai Mukherjee, Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Tarun Dey (captain), Samir Chaudhuri, Ujjal Chakravarty, Aloke Saha, Supriya Chakravarty, Sanjib Bhattacharya, Mushir Ahmed, Kabir Bose, Chinmoy Chatterjee, Joydeb Chakravarty
Half-back - Bikash Panji, Sudip Chatterjee, Sunirmal Chakravarty, Sudip Das, Santos, Charles Apu, Amit Mazumdar and Wasim
Forward - Emeka Ejuego, Chibuzor, Biswajit Bhattacharya, Krishnagopal Chaudhury, Biswajit Das, Monojit Das, Krishanu Dey, Ranjit Karmakar, Abid Iman, Aslam and Bibhas Modak
Calcutta Football League Champion
All Airlines Gold Cup Champion
(East Bengal defeats Mohammedan Sporting Club by 1-0 goals)
Goalkeeper - Bhaskar Ganguly, Biswajit Das, Sumit Mukherjee and Nihar Deb
Back - Balai, Manoranjan, Devine, Tarun, Aloke Saha (captain), Johnny, Kabir Bose, Joydeb, Aniruddha Koley and Samir
Half- back - Bikash Panji, Sudip Chatterjee, Sunirmal Chakravarty, Sudip Das, Samad, Sanjib Bhattacharya and Biman Ghosh
Forward - Cheema, Krishanu Dey, Sukhen Sengupta, Ranjit Karmakar, Kartick Sett, Debashis Deb, Biswajit Bhattacharya and Ganesh Thapa
Calcutta Football League Champion
All Airlines Gold Cup Champion
(East Bengal Club defeats Mohammedan Sporting by 4-1 goals)
Calcutta Football League Champion
Durand Cup Champion
(East Bengal Club defeats Mohun Bagan by 3-1 goals in the tie-breaker match)
S.S.S Trophy Champion
Goalkeeper - Bhaskar Ganguly, Atanu Bhattacharya and Sudipta Chakravarty
Back - Krishnendu Roy, Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Tarun Dey, Swarup Das, Kabir Bose, Moidul Islam, Debashis Konar, Aniruddha Koley, Saibal Chatterjee and William
Half-back - Bikash Panji, Sunirmal Chakravarty, Yashpal, Madan Lal, Arup Manna, Debashis Sarkar and Uttam Ghosh
Forward - Krishanu Dey (captain), Kuljit Singh, Cheema Okorie, Kartick Sett, Sandip Munshi, Ranjit Saha and Babu Mani
IFA Shield Champion
East Bengal Club defeats Mohammedan Sporting by 1-0
Durand Cup Champion
East Bengal Club defeats Mahindra and Mahindra by 3-2 goals
Rover’s Cup Champion
East Bengal Club strikes off Mahindra and Mahindra by 1-0 goal. Goal driven by Mastan Ahmed
All Airlines Gold Cup Champion
East Bengal defeats Mohammedan Sporting by 1-0 goals
The tri-trophy winner – East Bengal team
At the back row: Tarun Dey, Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Atanu Bhattacharya, Sudip Chatterjee, Kuljit Singha, Krishanu Dey, Priyagopal Goswami, Sudipta Chakravarty and Kartick Sett
At the front row: Babu Mani, Aniruddha Koley, Bikash Panji, Ilyas Pasha, Debashis Sarkar, Sankar Sadhu and Sunirmal Chakravarty
Calcutta League Champion
IFA Shield Champion
(East Bengal Club defeats Army XI by 3-1 goals)
Durand Cup Champion
(East Bengal strikes-off Border Security Force by 5-3 goals)
SSS Trophy Champion
Goalkeeper - Debashis Mukherjee, Bhaskar, Sudipta Chakravarty and Bhuban Chatterjee
Back - Pasha, Krishnendu, Tarun, Swarup, Mastan Ahmed, Aloke Mukherjee, Swapan Bose, Swapan Pal, Munna, Steven Alan and Balai Mukherjee
Half-back - Bikash Panji (captain), Prashanta Banerjee, Moidul, Shankar Sadhu, Sukhen, Subir Sinha, Ujjal Biswas, Prodyut Sarkar, Amit Das, Tushar Rakshit, Rumi and Edmonds
Forward - Babu Mani, Krishanu, Kuljit Singh, Darbara Singh, Ghouse, Ranjit Saha, Maguire, Pradip Talukdar, Sandip Munshi, Subir Sarkar, Kartick Sett, Pronob Mondal, Amitava Biswas, Rupak Chaudh
Bordoloi Trophy Champion
(East Bengal beats Abahani Krira Chakra of Bangladesh by 1-0 goals)
All Airlines Gold Cup Champion
(East Bengal Club strikes-out Mohun Bagan by 1-0 goals)
ATPA Shield Chapmion(Assam Tea Planters' Association Shield)
Y. Y. Cup International Football Tournament Champion - East Bengal Club defeated Nepal's RCT Club scoring 1-0 in the final match on 15th June, 1993, and Suman Anjan of RCT scored a suicide goal
Kolkata Football League Champion
Durand Cup Champion - East Bengal Club defeated PSEB scoring 1-0
Kalinga Cup Champion - East Bengal Club defeated Mohanbagan 2-0, with Shishir Ghosh scoring two goals
Goalkeepers - Sumit Mukherjee, Arpan Dey, Tanumoy Bose, Raju Ganguly, Sudipta Chakraborty
Back-Swaroop Das, Tarun Deo, Ilias Pasha (captain), Amitabh Chand, Alok Das, Mastan Ahmed, Kabir Bose, Proloy Saha, Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Monem Munna
Halfback - Sujit Dutt, Tussar Rakshit, Debashish Mishra, Tapan Das, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Joseph, Ajay Singh, Saravanan, Akil Ansari
Forward - Baichung Bhutia, Carlton Chapman, Kiran Khonsai, Shishi Ghosh, Sanjay Midi, Pranab Mondal, Kumaresh Bhawal, Manoj Ghosh, Ganesh Thapa
Goalkeeper - Sumit Mukherjee, Atanu Bhattacharya, Arpan Dey
Back-Ilias Pasha, Swarup Das (captain), Tarun Dey, Achint Bellel, Subir Ghosh, Dulal Biswas, Proloy Saha, Satyajit Baidya, Debashish Pal Chowdhury, Murshid Ali, Aslam Parvez
Halfback - Bikash Panj, Tussar Rakshit, Sujit Dutt, Ohidul Islam, Ajay Singh
Forward - Baichung Bhutia, Krishanu Dey, Shishi Ghosh, P Manoharan, Sanjay Midi, Kiran Khonsai, Abid Hossain, Subir Chakraborty, Kishore Mukherjee
Kolkata Football League Champion
IFA Shield Champion - East Bengal Club defeats Dhaka Mohammedan scoring 3-1 in tiebreaker
Durand Cup Champion - East Bengal Club defeats Tata Football Academy scoring 4-3 in tiebreaker
All-Airlines Gold Cup Champion - East Bengal Club defeats Mohanbagan scoring 2-0
McDowells Cup Champion
East Bengal Club defeated Dempo SC scoring 2-1 goals, with Tussar scoring 1 goal, and Ramon Vijayan scoring 1 golden goal
Hemant Dora, Ramon Bijan, Toussef Jamal, Amit Das, Ranjan Deo, Prashant Chakraborty, Debjit Ghosh, Basudev Mondal, Subir Ghosh, Hamid Ansari, Ilias Pasha, Debashish Pal Chowdhury
On 13th July 1997, East Bengal Club defeated Mohanbagan scoring 4-1 goals in the Federation Cup semifinal match. While Baichung Bhutia and Nazimul Haque scored 3 and 1 goal, respectively, for East Bengal, the match was witnessed by a record attendance of 1,31,781 people at Kolkata's Yuva Bharati Krirangan.
Sitting: Soso, Omelo, Noushad, Falguni, Renedy, Amitabh, Bizen
Standing: Baichung, Dulal, Manoharan, Marcello, Kalyan, Devnarayan, Debashish Pal, Tushar, Nazimul, Rajnarayan, Pasha, Frankie Barreto
First Row: Akshay, Gopal, Falguni, sanatan Singha, Ranjan De, Bijen, Anit
Second Row: Mani Deo, Sheikh Sanjeev, Debabrata Sarkar, Ratan Singh, Musa, Jackson, Subhash Chakraborty, Chapman, Swapan Ball, Subhash Bhowmik (Coach), Tushar
The first Indian National League champions of East Bengal Club
Kolkata Football League Champion
IFA Shield Champion - East Bengal defeats Mohanbagan scoring 4-1 goals in tiebreaker
McDowells Cup Champion - East Bengal Club defeats Mohanbagan scoring 1-0 goals
Indian National League Champion | Kolkata Football League Champion
IFA Shield Champion - East Bengal Club defeats Churchill Brothers 5-4 in tiebreaker
Durand Cup Champion - East Bengal Club defeats Army XI scoring 3-0 goals
Independence Day Cup Champion - East Bengal Club defeats Oil India Limited, Dhuliajan scoring 2-0 goals
Standing: Gilmour, Trijit, Surya, Jiten Rai, Tulunga, Arun, Alvito, Musa, Shashthi, Raju Singh, Subhas, Soumitra, Amjad, Satish Kumar, Koustabh
Sitting: Sandeep, Snow, Douglas, Okoro, Subhash Bhowmick (coach), Anit (captain), Deepak, Shankar, Venkatesh, Chandan, Arpan
On 26th July, 2003 – The Kingfisher East Bengal engraved a golden chapter in the Indian football history by standing out as the first Indian football club to win the prestigious International tournament – ASEAN Cup at Jakarta, Indonesia. It was indeed a historic and prestigious moment for the Kingfisher East Bengal and also made India proud by the startling achievement.
ASEAN Cup Champion - East Bengal Club defeated Thailand Bake Tero Sassana Club by 3-0, in the final match of Asean Cup, in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, on July 26, 2003
Mike Okorow, Baichung Bhutia and Alvito scored 1 goal each.
Indian National League Champion
Kolkata Football League Champion
Standing: Hemant, Surkumar, Surja, Sujoy, Subhashis, Mahesh, Kuluthungan, Sandeep, Tulunga, Suresh, Alvito, Shashti, Anit, Jr., Kevin, Shailen
Sitting: Devjit, Sanghar, Dipankar, Okoro, Subhash Bhowmik (coach), Deepak, Basan, Baichung, Chandan
In 2004, the tournament by Leicester City Football Club of England invited the Kingfisher East Bengal to celebrate LCFC’s 120th Anniversary. This invitation to the House of Commons and a welcome by the then Deputy Prime Minister Mr. John Prescott was much an honour for the Kingfisher East Bengal.
Front row: Swapan Ball, Deepak, Devjit, Baichung, Sambandan (captain), McNight, Subhash Bhowmik (coach), Bikash Panji (assistant), Dipankar, Douglas, Bijen, Shantiranjan Dasgupta
Second Row: Habibur, Akshay, Selwyn, Nitin Pradhan, Madhav, Shailen, Luis Aniata, Climax, Alvito, Bhola Prasad, Chandan
Third Row: Sun, Tulunga, Sandeep, Gurpreet, Amar Dev, Subhashis, Rajat, Sujoy, Nabi, Prashant, Syed Hossain, Shashti
On the 15th of April 2007, the then FIFA President Mr. Joseph S. Blatter, on his historic and official visit to the Club visited the East Bengal Club Tent to discover India’s pride – the East Bengal Club, where the tradition of football stands concrete along with a fan base than is enormous and much supportive.
June 2007 – the Club’s U-15 football team got qualified for the Manchester United Premier Cup World Finals that was to be held in August 2007. In the World Finals the U-15 team was praised by the England Legend – Sir Bobby Charton owing to their exceptional performance. The England legend quoted “I saw a few matches, including one featuring this Indian side. They had certain handicaps but what struck me was their stomach for fighting, which was astounding. It was really impressive to see how eager they were for a fight."
It was said that if inspiration was required, it should be imparted from colours of red and gold that roared on the fields of Jordan on 2nd April, 2008. Kingfisher East Bengal’s triumph that day over Al Wihdat, Jordan was the first victory by an Indian club in West Asia.
The club was honoured with the Federation Cup in 2007, 2009, 2010 & 2012 and secured the Super Cup in 2006 & 2011. They also won the IFA Shield three times in a row for the year 2000, 2001, 2002 and the Durand Cup two times in a row 2002 and 2004.
During the last quarter of 2012, the east Bengal Club again created a history – the Kingfisher East Bengal was the first Indian team to qualify for the honourable AFC Cup for a continuous 4 times in a row – 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. The club gave a tough competition to the opponents and secured its position in the semi-finals of the reputed AFC Cup in 2013. However, unfortunately they could not defeat Kuwait SC of Kuwait and lost the match.
The club creates an Indian Football record by winning the title of the Calcutta Football League for consecutive 8 years from 2010 to 2017.
Sitting in front: Alvito
Second Row: Gurpreet, Dipankar, Admilson, Abdul Samad
Third Row: Gopal Das, Nabi, Jayant, Hardeep Saini
Fourth Row: Bolaji, Marlankey, Debabrata, Asim, Mehrajuddin, Subrata, Subrata Bhattacharya (coach), Suresh, Madhav, Soumik, Dipendu.
Sitting in front: Anupam, Abhijit Sarkar
Second Row: Baichung, Renedy, Mehtab, Soumik, Nabi (captain), Santosh Bhattacharya (Football Secretary), Rider (Coach), Alvito, Avro, Atanu, Yakubu
Third Row: Swapan Ball (Manager), Tushar, Priyant, Mehraj, Mitrovich, Wasim, Debabrata Sarkar, Sanju, Govind, Khabra, Saheb Ali, Subhash Singh, Nirmal, Okpara, Hammond, Saikat, Gautam, Mumtaz, Bikhhai, Jibon, Santu, Budhiram, Paibang, Abhijit, Robin
First row: Rajiv Ghosh, Sanju, Nirmal, Baljit, Nawab, Sushant, Mehtab, Bhasam
Second Row: Bakhokai, Rabindar, Tolgay, Sushil Kumar, Surjit, Pen
Third Row: Rajesh, Beach, Santos, Robin, Okpara, Sunil, Mehrajuddin, Raju, Soumik (captain)
Fourth Row: Gopal Das, Morgan (coach), Raju, Gurbindar, Kazi, Sandeep, Nasim, Jayant, Avro, Atanu, Robin Das
Sitting in front: Devjit, Budhiram, Subodh, Mehlab, Charan, Saikat, Bikokhai, Lane, Robert, Sandip
Second row: Gurbinder, Khabra, Bhasom, Paite, Rabindar, Sanju, Pen, Sushant
Third row: Swapan Bail, Atanu, Sunil, Gao, Sunil Tagore, Nawab, Tolge, Ranjan Chowdhury (As. Coach), Jayant, Deepak, Okpara, Robin, Alvito, Morgan (Coach), Saunak, Rajesh, Raju, Rabindranath, Gopal
Forwards: Khabra, Mehtab, Sanju, Pradhan (captain), Dika, Penn
Forward: Kevin, Lobo, Vasum, Dika, Nawab, Mehtab, Hossain (captain)
Back: Moga, Arnav, Soumik, Chidi, Okpara, Gurpreet
Dika, Khabar, Baljit Singh, Saini, Raju Gaikowad, Chidi
Front: Abhijit, Rafiq, Tuunga, Mehtab, Robert
Back : Gurbinder, Deepak, Mandal, Ranti, Raju, Gaikwad, Susak, Doodoo
Bartos, Khabar (captain), Doodoo, Runty
First Row: Ralte, Jitin, Tulunga, Kevin Lobo, Jagannath, Avinash, Sanju, Rafiq, Abhinav Bagh, Belo Razak, Vikas Jairo, Mehtab Hossain, Robert, Nikhil Pujari, Du Dong, Joakim
Second row: Avro, Raju, Rajesh, Divyendu, Narayan, Deepak, Sabith, Arnav, Prallad, Omleo, Samad, Kaushik, Prahlad, Gautam Roy, Sanjay Madhi, Biswajit Bhattacharya (coach), Gurbinder (captain), Shenaz, Mendy, Khabar, Runty, Soumik, Rehanes, Barrelo, Robin, Shaunak
Front : Whedson, Nikhil Pujari, Dika, Mehtab, Hossain, Narayan Das, Plaza
Back : Gurbinder, Rahul Banke, Robin Singh, Bukiana, Rehenes
First row: Arnav (captain), Plaza, Vidyasagar, Surabuddin, Tanmay, Gabriel, Khalova, Rahul Ghosh
Second Row: Katsumi, Charles, Brendan, Rafiq, Kaushik, Al Amana, Bazi, Yami Third Row: Prakash Sarkar, Ubed, Mehtab Singh, Costa, Deepak, Jabi Justin, Suher, Gurbinder, Mirshad
Fourth Row: Divyendu, Raju, Shaunak, Danmaya, Rajesh, Kevin Lobo, Robin, Luis Barreto
Fifth Row: Khalid Jamil (coach), Siddiqui, Garcia, Salamranjan, Eduardo, Ranjan Chowdhury, Samad
5th July, 2018 – the East Bengal Club signed an agreement with the Quess Corp Ltd. which leads to the structuring of new entity entitled “Quess East Bengal FC Pvt. Ltd. “ or QEBFC to assist in the development of the brand and also to contribute to the development of the sport in the country.
The Red and Gold journey that started in the 1920s, continues its legacy for almost a century and its future yet appears bright and successful. The club aspires to acquire new heights and landmarks, thus making the Indian Football proud.
And now, this very website which was developed to be the voice of the club, the life, struggle and achievements of the players and a platform for supporters to share their opinion and suggestions for the East Bengal Club.
Colado, Borah, Kassem, Dagger, Joby Justin, Johnny Acosta, Kamalpreet, Tony Dovale, Dika, Chlova, Danmaya, Samad (Captain), Enrique
