East Bengal FC

East Bengal FC, commonly referred to as East Bengal is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of the Indian football league system. They are one of the most successful clubs in India, having won three National League titles in addition to forty State League titles. The club has enjoyed significant success in domestic cup competitions and International tournaments as well, including Federation Cup and Super Cup trophies, making it one of the most decorated football clubs in India.

It is one of the big three clubs of Kolkata, and participates in the well-renowned Kolkata derby against its eternal rivals Mohun Bagan. The club also plays in the mini Kolkata derby with Mohammedan.

Founded in August 1920, the club became affiliated with the Indian Football Association in 1922 and initially played in the Calcutta Football League Second Division before earning promotion to the First Division in 1924. East Bengal won its first First Division league title in 1942 and has since won it a record 40 times with generous help from different quarters. The club was a founding member of the National Football League, the first nation-wide football league in India in 1996, which it has won 3 times since. They have also won 9 National Cup titles — the Federation Cup 8 times and the Super Cup once. The club has also won several other trophies, including the Durand Cup 16 times, the Indian Super Cup a record 3 times, the IFA Shield a record 29 times, the Rovers Cup 10 times and the Calcutta Football League a record 40 times, the DCM Trophy a record 7 times, the Darjeeling Gold Cup a record 5 times and the McDowell's Cup a record 3 times. East Bengal won an international club trophy, in the form of ASEAN Club Championship.

On 28 July 1920, Jorabagan was scheduled to play against Mohun Bagan 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 undisclosed reasons. The then vice-president of Jorabagan, Suresh Chandra Chaudhuri, asked in vain for Bose to be included in the line-up. When his request was not welcomed, Chaudhuri left the club along with Raja Manmatha Nath Chaudhuri, Ramesh Chandra Sen, and Aurobinda Ghosh. They formed East Bengal as a Sports and Cultural Association in the neighbourhood of Jorabagan on 1 August 1920. The name East Bengal was chosen for the newly formed club as the founders hailed from the eastern region of Bengal. Sarada Ranjan Ray took on the role of becoming the first president of this newly formed club while Suresh Chandra Chowdhury and Tarit Bhusan Roy were declared to be the first joint secretaries of the club. Soon after, 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 announced to be the members of the first team squad by the board.

In the same month of its formation, the club participated in its maiden tournament in, the Hercules Cup, a seven-a-side tournament. On 11 August 1920, the club played their first match in the tournament and in their history against Metropolitan College, which they went on to win 4–0. East Bengal went on to win the tournament, announcing the arrival of a club that would break many records in the future. The club also won Khagendra Shield in 1921. Following this, the club became affiliated with the Indian Football Association (IFA) and entered the IFA Second Division replacing Tajhat Football Club who withdrew from the 2nd Division League. The club finished placing third in their maiden season in the league. The first match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan took place on 8 August 1921 in the Cooch Behar Cup semi-final match, which didn't turn in the favour of either of the teams as it ended in a goalless draw. It was an unofficial derby at that time.

In 1924, the club won the Second Division and gained promotion to the IFA First Division after finishing in second place to Cameroons 'B' after paying a hefty sum. As Cameroons 'A' team was already in the First Division the 'B' team could not gain promotion to the same league. East Bengal was next in line for promotion. However, more controversy arose since the IFA allowed only two Indian-based clubs in the IFA First Division at a time (at that time, the IFA was a British organization). This rule had previously deprived clubs like Kumartuli and Town from entering the First Division. During a governing body meeting of the IFA, the nine British clubs approved East Bengal's promotion to the First Division. Ironically, the two Indian clubs, Mohun Bagan and Aryan, opposed it. East Bengal's efforts led to the abolition of the oppressive Indian club limit rule.

In 1925, East Bengal made its IFA First Division debut, and Mona Dutta became the maiden goalscorer for the club in the league. On 28 May 1925, the first official Kolkata Derby was played, where Nepal Chakraborty scored the only goal for East Bengal.

The club did not win their first IFA First Division title until 1942. East Bengal won their first IFA Shield in 1943. They 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 a foreign club on home soil. They won 2–0 against the visiting Chinese Olympic XI. East Bengal won their first treble in the 1949 season, by winning the Calcutta League, the IFA Shield and the Rovers Cup, becoming the first Indian club to do so. The club went on to win the 1949 Rovers Cup and the Durand Cup in 1951. That period saw the rise of the Pancha Pandavas. The five players, P. B. A. Saleh, Ahmed Khan, P. Venkatesh, Appa Rao, and K. P. Dhanaraj played together at the club from 1949 to 1953. The club also won its first DCM Trophy in 1950. The club also won three straight IFA Shields in 1949, 1950, and 1951. The English Football Association 1951–52 annual almanac adjudged East Bengal as the best club in Asia. On being recommended by the president of India, Rajendra Prasad, the club was invited by the Romania Youth Festival Committee in 1953 to participate in a football tournament. They also partook in a tour of the Soviet Union the same year. They were defeated by Soviet side by a margin of 13–1. Apart from football, East Bengal also won the Beighton Cup hockey tournament for the first time in 1957 and the Bengal Hockey Association league in 1960. Again the club won the Rovers Cup several times during this era—1962, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975—as well as the Durand Cup in 1952, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1970, 1972 and 1978. The club also won its first Sait Nagjee football tournament and Bordoloi Trophy in 1968. The club stunned everyone by winning the 1970 IFA Shield against PAS Club of Iran by a score of 1–0, in front of 60,000 supporters at the Eden Gardens. Later, the club won the 1973 IFA Shield by defeating Pyongyang City SC of North Korea. In 1978, East Bengal won its first Federation Cup title. The club became joint winners in cricket with Mohun Bagan of Cricket Association of Bengal senior league and senior-division knockout tournament.