East Bengal
A flight of fantasy Birth of East Bengal Club in 1920 was as dramatic as its rollercoaster ride for the last eight decades.
In the early part of twentieth century, football had been a popular sport among the Bengali youth - even more after Mohun Bagan's historic success in the 1911 I.F.A. Shield final. But "natives", as the Indians were hailed in those days, did not have the same privilege of the British and I.F.A. Governing body rules permitted only two Indian clubs in the First Divisions of the League. Indian clubs like Kumartuli (1917, 1918 and 1919) and Town were denied promotion in spite of topping the Second Division. Natives had to appease their appetite by playing in Coochbehar Cup and Trades Cup and it was the former tourney, which played a significant role in the formation of East Bengal Club.
On a humid afternoon on July 28, 1920 Mohun Bagan was scheduled to clash with Jorabagan in a Coochbehar Cup tie. The later took the field minus their star halfback Sailesh Bose, dropped for some unknown reason. Jora bagan's Club's Vice- President and Industrialist Suresh Chandra Chaudhuri pleaded for Bose's inclusion with the club authorities but it fell on deaf ears. A visibly annoyed Chaudhuri immediately severed all connections with his old club and formed a new one along with Raja Manmatha Nath Chaudhuri, Bose, Ramesh Chandra (Nasha) Sen and Aurobinda Ghosh. The new club established on 1st August 1920 was christened East Bengal as the founders hailed from that region of Bengal.
Incidentally Manmatha Nath Chaudhuri was the Maharaja of Santosh, now in Bangladesh, after whom the Santosh trophy is titled.
Thereafter the founders debated intensely over the choice of colours for the club jersey. After a long search they opted for a red and golden colour shirt hanging impressively at the Whiteway Ladel Department Store at Chowringhee. These colours became permanently associated with the club.
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 (then run by the British) in face of some grim opposition, sadly though, from other Indian Clubs of Calcutta --Mohun Bagan and Aryans. Gradually by dint of their performance, East Bengal Club came into limelight and ultimately got the first flavor of the Calcutta I.F.A. Shield by winning in the year 1943. The Club again won the I.F.A. Shield, Calcutta 1st Division league in the year 1945.
The club played its maiden tournament in the same month of its establishment i.e. August 1920. The tourney was Hercules Cup, a seven-a-side competition that the club won without any Herculean effort. The club set up its first managing committee with Prof. S. Roy, Principal of Vidyasagar College who assumed the post of the President.
East Bengal never looked back after that. It did not believe in rising like a meteor, but dazzled like a sun in a blaze of glory, rewriting soccer history in the country over and over again.
Winning the ASEAN Cup in Jakarta in 2003, remaining undefeated for eight international games at a stretch and being the first team to win the coveted National Football League in back-to-back years (2000-2001 & 2002-2003) are just some of the moments to savour.
East Bengal Club is the only club in India who was invited by Romania Youth Festival Committee to participate in their football tournament at Bucharest in the year 1953. The club was recommended the best football club of India by the then President of India, Late Dr. Rajendra Prasad. East Bengal was the first club in India to represent the country in the Asian Club Cup football tournament.
It has represented India in Asian Club tournaments eight times. Masood Fakri, a player of East Bengal Club was the first Asian footballer to play professional football in England. After that Bhaichung Bhutia of the same club played professional football in England as the first Indian footballer. Apart from winning ASEAN Club Cup in 2003 the club also won the Wai Wai Cup at Nepal in 1993.
Great Indian footballers like Ahmed Khan, Byomkesh Bose, Appa Rao, Salleh, P. Venkatesh, Taj Mohammed, Balaram, Sanat Sett, Prasanta Sinha, Arun Ghosh, Md. Habib, Syed Nayeemuddin, Subhas Bhowmick, Sudhir Karmakar, Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Bhaskar Ganguly, Krishanu Dey and many others who represented the country in Olympic and in other International Football Tournaments played for the club for years.
East Bengal club defeated Pas Club of Iran in 1970, Piyong Young Club of Korea in 1973 in the I.F.A. Shield final, Dok-Ro-Gang Club of Korea in the final D.C.M. football tournament held at New Delhi in 1973 and Port Authority Club of Thailand in the final of Bordoloi Trophy in Guwahati (Assam) in the year 1978. The club has a very good track record of defeating foreign teams.
 | East Bengal entered the I.F.A. League's Second Division in the place of Tajhat Club. Mr. Suresh Chaudhuri used the good office of Raja Gopal Roy, Tajhat Club's owner, to secure the club's entry. East Bengal immediately made their impact by not only securing the third position in the Second Division but also went down fighting to Dalhousie A.C., a first division club, in the third round of I.F.A. Shield, only after the fourth meeting, under controversial circumstances. |
| Mr. Suresh Chaudhuri |
The club's officials thereafter started hunting for a ground and soon found out that Mohun Bagan's partner in their ground was one National A.C. with root in Behala; it was already defunct and Bagan was having the use of the whole ground. East Bengal took up their claim with the authorities and despite their rival's protests became co-sharer of the ground in 1922. In those days the goal posts were placed East-West and East Bengal took possession of the half towards the Red Road.
1924 was an eventful year in the history of the club. Not only did they become Joint Champions of the Second Division but also the club contributed in a large measure by raising funds for setting up the statue of Sir Asutosh Mukherjee in front of C.E.S.C. office at Chowringhee.
As mentioned, East Bengal was jointly tied at the top spot of the 2nd Division along with Cameroons "B"; but as the Cameroon's "A" team was already playing in the First Division, the mantle of promotion fell on East Bengal. Still the club's elevation was not as smooth as the I.F.A. Governing Body rules permitted only two Indians teams in the elite division and Mohun Bagan and Aryans already filled up the bill. It called for a change of rules and in the following Governing Body meeting, those who opposed the club's promotion were ironically the Indian teams Mohun Bagan and Aryans again.
The remaining nine British Clubs conveyed their approval. Majority prevailed and East Bengal embarked upon their campaign in the Premier Division. The rule restricting the promotion of Indian Clubs was abolished due to the club's efforts. They had achieved what other Indian clubs, namely, Kumartuli and Town had failed earlier. East Bengal soon became a leading club of the country. Throngs of fans and supporters started rallying behind the club. Their numbers swelled after the partition when bulk of refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan identified with East Bengal in their pursuit of an identity.
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). They also became the first Indian club to represent the country in the finals of Asian Cup Championship in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) in 1985-86 after their triumph in the preliminary round in Colombo.
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. This honour paved the way for invitation being accorded to the club to tour Soviet Union and Romania as the first Indian football team. Further laurels awaited the club when they established the unique record of winning the Calcutta Football League six years in a row 1970-1975. They also won the League with I.F.A. Shield, Rovers Cup, and Durand Cup in 1972. They repeated the feat of winning the Triple Crown (Shield, Durand, Rovers) again in 1990.
Ever since East Bengal defeated the Chinese Olympic XI-2-0 (Scorer - Appa Rao and Saley) 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 (Scorer Saleh) and in 1956 an IFA XI comprising of players mainly from the Club defeated Chinese Olympic XI 3-1 (Scorer - Moosa, Kittu & P.K.Banerjee). Their performance against foreign clubs even in domestic tournaments has been creditable.
Their most outstanding achievement has been their historic victory over PAS Club (Iran) 1-0 in the I.F.A. Shield final 1970. Parimal Dey scored the winning goal at the last minute. Over 80,000 supporters who had thronged the Eden Gardens that afternoon heralded the club's triumph by lighting torches (the club's symbol). Since then the torches have become symbolic with the triumph 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. From the inception a number of officials have managed the club competently three people, Mr. J.C. Guha, Dr. Nripen Das, Mr. Dipak (Paltu) Das, have left an indelible mark in the club's affairs.
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| Shri J.C. Guha | Dr. Nirpen Das | Dipak (Paltu) Das |
Shri J.C. Guha (1948-69) 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. Then it was Dr. Nirpen Das (1970-78) a renowned surgeon in whose period the club won the laurels and completely dominated the Indian Soccer scene. Finally it was Dipak (Paltu) Das (1984-2000) 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.
Das after being at the helm of affairs soon realized the need for large funds for running the club affairs as the sources from private donation and club membership were being restricted. He initially roped in limited sponsorship from local brands/ companies but his major success was going into partnership with Dr. Vijay Mallaya's United Breweries Group in 1998, which gave a new facelift to 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." Mr. Paltu Das became the Managing Director of the Company till his sad demise in March 2001.
Through corporatisation and judicious management of funds, the team now named "Kingfisher East Bengal" achieved many firsts among India's Football Club scenario. Along with a fully functional gymnasium for the players and better working conditions for various office bearers, the club also started its own website to appraise its millions of supporters of the activities and achievements.
Mr. Kapil Dev, Mr. Sachin Tendulkar, Mr. Ajay Jadeja, Mr. Navjot Suingh Sidhu, and last but not the least Captain of India Cricket India Team, Mr. Sourav Ganguly played for the club for a couple of years. Mr. Inam-ur-Rahaman, Mr. Gurbux Singh, Mr. Joginder Singh, Mr. Shibaji Power, Mr. Govinda and Mr. Mohammed Sayeed. Ex-Hockey Stars of our country donned the colour of our club as well.
To quench the appetite of football fans to identify with the team, Kingfisher East Bengal had launched a number of merchandising items, which took Calcutta by storm during the Durga Puja celebrations since 2001.
And now this website which is the voice of the club, the soul baring of the players and the platform for the supporters to raise their opinion and file in their suggestions - for East Bengal knows vox populi; vox dei.
