East Bengal, one of India's most successful football clubs completes 100 years on August 1. Here are the key milestones in its history.
1920
East Bengal is established on August 1, with Sarada Ranjan Roy as its first president and Suresh Chandra Chowdhury and Tarit Bhusan Roy as joint secretaries.
1921
Wins its first trophy – the Khagendra Shield – and makes its debut in the Calcutta Football League’s (CFL) second division.
1924
Joint winner of the CFL second division with 37 points in 24 matches.
1925
Makes its CFL first division debut. Mona Dutta becomes East Bengal’s first goalscorer in the league.
Wins the first Calcutta derby against Mohun Bagan in the CFL courtesy a Nepal Chakraborty goal.
1928
Is relegated to CFL second division.
1931
Returns to CFL first division.
1936
Beats Mohun Bagan 4-0 in CFL derby – the biggest margin in the tournament’s history. (It repeated the feat in 2015.)
1942
After five unsuccessful attempts (runner-up in 1932, 1933, 1935, 1937 and 1941), East Bengal finally becomes CFL first division champion for the first time. Captain Somana top-scores with 26 goals. (He holds the record for most goals scored for East Bengal in CFL history with 85.)
1943
Wins the IFA Shield for the first time under the leadership of Rakhal Majumder, with Somana netting 11 goals. Somana also becomes the first East Bengal player to score 100 goals.
1945
Wins the CFL and IFA Shield double for the first time with Paritosh Chakraborty as captain. Burmese footballer Fred Pugsley is the top-scorer with 21 goals.
Defeats BCLI Railway 11-0 in the Rovers Cup – still the biggest victory for East Bengal in competitive football. Pugsley’s eight goals are still the highest individual tally in a match in Indian football.
1946
On the way to the league title under the captaincy of Appa Rao, Swami Nayar scores 36 goals, which is still the most in a season in CFL history.
1949
Wins the treble of the CFL, IFA Shield and Rovers Cup for the first time.
Defeats Calcutta Garrison 10-0 – East Bengal’s biggest winning margin in the CFL.
1950
Rise of the Pancha Pandava. The five greats – P. B. A. Saleh, Ahmed Khan, K. P. Dhanaraj, Appa Rao and P. Venkatesh – played together at East Bengal for five years from 1949 to 1953, and all five captained the team in different years. Dhanaraj scored maximum number of goals – 126 – for the club.
Wins the DCM Trophy for the first time, along with CFL and IFA Shield.
1951
Wins the IFA Shield for the third consecutive time. Also lifts the Durand Cup.
1952
Wins the CFL and DCM Trophy. Also wins the Durand Cup for the second straight time.
1953
End of the Pancha Pandava era.
Under the leadership of Ahmed Khan, becomes the first Indian team to tour Europe.
Placed fourth in a Romanian youth football competition.
1956
Wins Durand Cup for the third time.
1957
Wins the Beighton Cup hockey tournament for the first time.
1960
Becomes Bengal Hockey Association league champion for the first time.
1961
Wins CFL title after nine years under captaincy of Tulsidas Balaram, who top-scores with 23 goals.
1963
Sri Lanka’s Selim Noor scores in his very first match for East Bengal – the return game of the CFL derby that East Bengal won 2-0.
1966
Wins the CFL-IFA Shield double for the fifth time.
1967
Wins the first-ever CFL derby played at Eden Gardens 2-1.
1968
Wins the Sait Nagjee football tournament and Bordoloi Trophy each for the first time.
1970
Defeats Iranian club PAS Tehran courtesy a last-minute goal by Parimal Dey to win the IFA Shield.
1972
Wins the first triple crown in Indian football history – IFA Shield, Durand Cup and Rovers Cup (jointly won).
Wins the CFL title without conceding a single goal.
Wins a total of five trophies with an unbeaten record in the season under the captaincy of Sudhir Karmakar and coaching of Pradip Banerjee.
1973
Defeats Pyongyang City of North Korea to win the IFA Shield.
Wins a total of five trophies – CFL, IFA Shield, Rovers Cup, DCM Trophy and Bordoloi Trophy.
1975
Lifts the CFL title for the sixth consecutive time, winning every game in 1975.
Defeats Mohun Bagan 5-0 in the IFA Shield final – the biggest victory margin in derby history.
Wins both the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) senior league and senior-division knockout tournament jointly with Mohun Bagan.
1976
Wins the IFA Shield for the fifth consecutive time.
1977
Wins all its matches on its way to the CFL title.
1978
Wins the Federation Cup for the first time (jointly with Mohun Bagan).
1980
Majid Bishkar and Jamshid Nassiri play for East Bengal for the first time. Joint winner of the Federation Cup (with Mohun Bagan) and Rovers Cup (with Mohammedan Sporting).
1984
Defeats Mohun Bagan 1-0 in the first-ever derby at the Salt Lake Stadium, with Kartik Sett scoring the only goal.
1985
Wins the Federation Cup individually for the first time.
Top its group in the Asian Club Championship, scoring 20 goals and conceding none in five games in Sri Lanka.
1990
Under the coaching of Naeemuddin, wins the triple crown of Indian football for the second time.
1991
Becomes CFL champions for the second time without conceding a goal.
Wins the Durand Cup for the third time in a row.
1993
Becomes champion of the Wai Wai Cup, played in Nepal.
1995
Wins the CFL, IFA Shield, Durand Cup and All Airlines Gold Cup.
1997
Bhaichung Bhutia scores the only Federation Cup derby hat-trick in a 4-1 semifinal win over Mohun Bagan in front of 1.31 lakh spectators at the Salt Lake Stadium.
2000-01
Wins the National Football League (NFL) title for the first time.
2002-03
Wins its second NFL title.
2003
Wins the ASEAN Club Championship in Jakarta. Bhutia scores five goals in a 6-0 win over Philippine Army in the tournament – the only hat-trick by an Indian in international club football.
2003-04
Wins the NFL title for the third time.
2004
Lifts its 16th Durand Cup.
2004-2005
Wins the San Miguel International Cup in Nepal.
2010
Wins the CFL title for the first of eight consecutive times.
2011
Defeats HAL 8-1 – East Bengal’s biggest victory margin in NFL/I-League competition.
2012
Lifts eighth Federation Cup title.
2013
Reaches the semifinals of the AFC Cup.
2016
Becomes CFL champion by winning all its matches for the third time (after 1975 and ’77.)
2017
Wins its eighth consecutive CFL title, breaking its own record of six between 1970 and ’75.
(Compiled by: Hari Prasad Chattopadhyay)
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