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Happy Birthday East Bengal ! Five famous feats of the Red & Gold brigade

August 01 2018
XtraTime

XtraTime Web Desk: It has been a long journey for the famous Red and Gold brigade in Indian football. Quite  a few institutions have lasted for such a long time in Indian sports history and of them has to be East Bengal.





The “Bangal” club is one of the pioneers of the country’s football and ever since has dazzled us by their emphatic display of play and also by the presence of innumerable legends who have donned the prestigious jersey with pride. Fast forward to this day on 1st August 2018, East Bengal will be celebrating their 99th Foundation day. So on this historic date, let’s look back at East Bengal’s five famous achievements in their 99 year rich history:


  1. The first ever Kolkata derby was played for the first time in 1925, where East Bengal won the match by a solitary goal recording the first ever victory of the prestigious Kolkata Derby. Nepal Chakraborty was the lone scorer from that game becoming the first footballer to score in the Derby. Till now East Bengal leads 127-118.
  2. The highest margin of win in the Kolkata Derby is the famous 5-0 victory of East Bengal on 30th September, 1975 in the IFA Shield Final. But it is unknown to many that Shyam Thapa had missed a penalty for the Red and Gold in that match. Had he scored from the spot in the 11th minute, it would have been a worse humiliation for their neighbours, Mohun Bagan. Ashok Banerjee was the skipper of the winning side. Scores were Surajit Sengupta, Shyam Thapa with a brace, Ranjit Mukherjee and Subhankar Sanyal.
  3. The ASEAN Club Championship truimph in 2003 has to be their biggest ever achievement till date. With the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia, Mike Okoro, Sulley Musah, Douglas and spearheaded by coach Subhash Bhowmick, they did the unthinkable by becoming the first Indian club to win a continental trophy by beating then AFC Champions League Finalists, BEC Tero Sasana in the Final.
  4. Another feather to their cap was reaching the coveted AFC Cup semi final stage in 2013. They lost to Kuwaiti club, Al Kuwaiti 7-2 on aggregate over two legs.
  5. East Bengal is the only club from West Bengal to win the the Calcutta Football League, 8 years in a row and the streak is till on since 2010.