Mohun Bagan A.C.
Full name | Mohun Bagan Athletic Club | ||
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Nickname(s) | The Mariners | ||
Founded | 1889 | as Mohun Bagan Sporting Club||
Ground |
Salt Lake Stadium (CFL) Barasat Stadium (I-League) Mohun Bagan Ground (local) | ||
Capacity |
68,000 22,000 22,000 | ||
President | Swapan Sadhan Bose | ||
Head coach | Sanjoy Sen | ||
League | I-League | ||
2014–15 | I-League, 1st | ||
Website | Club home page | ||
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Mohun Bagan Athletic Club (English pronunciation: /mohon begən/) (Bengali : মোহন বাগান) is a professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Established in 1889, it is the oldest football club in India.[1] The club plays in the I-League, the top-flight domestic league of Indian football. One of the most decorated clubs in Indian football, Mohun Bagan were awarded the distinction of being the National Club of India by former Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi as well as by AIFF in 1989. This was during the clubs centenary celebration in commemoration of the club's famous victory over East Yorkshire Regiment during the 1911 IFA Shield Final, becoming the first Indian club to defeat a British club in the process and also contribute to the Indian independence movement.[2]
Mohun Bagan is the winner of four national league titles and has also won thirteen Federation Cup championships.[3] This makes Mohun Bagan the most successful professional club in India. The club has also won several other accolades, including the Durand Cup, IFA Shield, and the Calcutta Football League.[4]Till 2015 Mohun Bagan has won 246 trophies, which is highest by any Indian club.
The club currently contest in the Kolkata Derby with long-time rivals East Bengal.[5]
History
Mohun Bagan was established in 1889 and the team won its first trophy in 1904,[6] when they won Coochbehar Cup.[7] In 1905 Mohun Bagan reached the final of Gladstone Cup which was held in Chinsurah in which they defeated the reigning IFA Shield winners Dalhousie 6-1.
In 1911 Mohun Bagan created history by becoming the first Indian club to win the IFA Shield after defeating East Yorkshire Regiment 2–1. Most Mohun Bagan players played barefeet while East Yorkshire Regiment played with proper footballing equipment.[8][9]
Mohun Bagan played their first match in first division of Calcutta Football League on May 15, 1915 against Calcutta Club.[10] In 1939 Mohun Bagan won their first ever Calcutta Football League title. Mohun Bagan got an incredible success during 1933 to 1939 wherein they won 29 trophies. During that phase out of 23 derbies, they beat East Bengal 12 times (including 1 walk over win), 10 drawn matches and lost only 1 derby. It was surely a golden period of a Mohun Bagan Club.
In 1947 Mohun Bagan became the first Indian club to win the IFA Shield after independence.[11] In 1954 the Green & Maroons became the first club to clinch the double crown of Calcutta after winning the IFA Shield and Calcutta Football League. In 1977 Mohun Bagan became the first ever Indian football club to win the triple crown (IFA Shield, Durand Cup and Rovers Cup) in the same year.[11]
In 1977 Mohun Bagan played a friendly match against the famous North American Soccer League club New York Cosmos which featured Pelé.[12] The match, which took place at Eden Gardens, had a match attendance of 80,000 and ended in a 2-2 draw.
In 1981 Mohun Bagan won their first standalone Federation Cup title after beating Mohammedan 2–0.[13]
In 1998 Mohun Bagan won the treble by winning the IFA Shield, Federation Cup and the National Football League for the first time.[14] In 2007 Mohun Bagan won their first Indian Super Cup by defeating Dempo S.C. by a score of 4-0.[15] Then one year later in 2008 Mohun Bagan players got the opportunity to play against German international, Oliver Kahn in his official testimonial for FC Bayern Munich.[15] Along with Kahn, stars like Ze Roberto were present in the Bayern team.[15] The match was played on May 27, 2008 at Salt Lake Stadium.
On 31 May 2015, they claimed their fourth I-League title after a 1-1 draw with Bengaluru FC, in the league's final match. Mohun Bagan became the first Indian club to qualify to the second round of AFC Champions League qualifiers by defeating Singapore club Tampines Rovers on 27th January, 2016.[16]
Colours
The colours of Mohun Bagan AC have always been green and maroon. In recent times they have also included white stripes. It is from their history of the colour of their kits that they are also known as the "Sabooj Maroon Brigade" ("Green and Maroon Brigade")
The current home jersey has green and white stripes on light maroon jersey. The shorts are white with stripes of maroon and green. The socks have white bands on maroon.
The current away jersey comprises green and maroon vertical lines on a white kit. The shorts are same as the home kit. The socks are all white.
Kit History
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Stadiums
Salt Lake Stadium : Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan
The Salt Lake Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kolkata, West Bengal. The stadium is the second largest non-auto racing stadium in the world and the largest in India. It is currently used for mainly football matches. The stadium was built in 1984 and holds 150,000 people and has three tiers
The stadium includes a unique running track, electronic scoreboard, natural turf, floodlighting arrangement, air conditioned VIP rest room and Conference Hall along with Medical Room & Doping Control Room.[17] Other features of the stadium are boxes for TV along with several platforms for TV cameras, press boxes, air conditioned player's changing rooms.
The Salt Lake Stadium hosts the home games of Mohun Bagan in I-League.
Mohun Bagan Ground
The Mohun Bagan Ground is another stadium in Kolkata, India. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Mohun Bagan in Calcutta Football League matches. The stadium holds 22,000 people. The stadium is currently undergoing modernisation with new bucket seats and other players and supporter friendly amenities being developed. This is the only club stadium in Kolkata which has flood lights in place to facilitate evening kickoffs. But the floodlights are defective since many years and are no more in use.[18]
Barasat Stadium
Mohun Bagan also plays a few of its matches in this stadium if the other two stadiums are not ready for match. This stadium isn't that much prolific but has got flood lights to support play in low light.
Supporters
Mohun Bagan have historically enjoyed the privilege of possessing the biggest fan base in India and one of the biggest, globally. The fans known as Mariners have the distinction of the highest attendance in I league matches. There are several fan clubs dedicated to Mohun Bagan in different parts of India.
As per official statistics, Mohun Bagan had the highest average attendance in 2013-14 season. AIFF reported an average home crowd of 17,068,[19] In the 2014-15 I-League season, their vocal support in away matches in Pune, Mumbai as well as Bangalore was a phenomenon previously unseen in Indian football. The Economic Times, a leading Indian newspaper, reported that the club had an average attendance of over 35,000 in their home matches, possibly an I-League record. Over 21,000 attended the league decider between Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC in Bangalore, of this ".. over 8,000 were away fans, travelling from as far as Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune to watch the game," noted Sunando Dhar, chief executive officer of the I-League in the same article.[20] Their royally grand reception, when by some estimates, over 200,000 fans gathered to greet the I League 2014-15 clinching squad (on their way back to Kolkata from Bengaluru) has been dubbed as "legendary" "unparalleled" and "surreal" by the Press as well as football historians.[21]
Mohun Bagan fans have also provided financial help to the club during times of struggles. In early 2000s, a Mohun Bagan fan mortgaged his house to raise funds for signing Brazilian superstar Jose Ramirez Barreto[22] while in 2013 another fan donated his entire monthly salary to the club.[23]
Celebrity Mohun Bagan fans include Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Kazi Nazrul Islam,[24] Hemendra Kumar Ray,[25] Manna Dey,[26] Jyoti Basu,[27] R. D. Burman,[28] Sourav Ganguly,[29] Amitabh Bachchan,[30] Satyajit Ray, Uttam Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty,[31] Shakti Chattopadhyay, Srijit Mukherji and Babul Supriyo.
Kolkata Derby
Kolkata Derby is the football match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal F.C.. The two clubs currently meet at least 3 times a year, 2 in I-League and once in state league-CFL each. and more often if the clubs meet in other competitions like Federation Cup, IFA Shield, Durand Cup etc. between the two teams started from 1925 and features in the FIFA's classic derby list.[32] The matches witness large audience attendance and rivalry between patrons. Till 23rd Jan 2016, 341 derbies got played, out of which Mohun Bagan won 106 matches, drawn 112 matches and lost 123 matches. Mohun Bagan has several milestones in this derby like scoring the fastest goal (24th July 1976, a 17 second goal from Md Akbar), 3 hat tricks ( Amiyo Deb, Asit Ganguly and Chiddi), winning 2 consecutive derbies in 2 consecutive days (7th Aug and 8th Aug 1935 ), losing only 1 derby in 7 years ( 1933 to 39). Big margin victory recorded in this match for Mohun Bagan are in Darbhanga Shield 4-1 (5th Sept 1934, Amiyo Deb scored all the 4 goals), Raja Memorial Shield 4-0 (6th Aug 1936, Asit Ganguly scored a hattrick), and I league 5-3 (25th Oct 2009, Chiddi scored 4 goals). Over and above this there are innumerable occasions wherein Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal by clear 3 goals margin. Mohun Bagan also had a keen rivalry with Mohammedan SC till 2000s but the importance of this match has fizzled out in past one and half decades.
Players
First-team squad
- As of 9 January 2016[33]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Current technical staff
- As of 21 July 2015[34]
Position | Name |
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Chief Coach | Sanjoy Sen |
Assistant Coach | Sankarlal Chakraborty |
Goalkeeping Coach | Arpan Dey |
Physical Trainer | Djair Miranda Garcia |
Physiotherapist | Abhinandan Chatterjee |
Club Doctor | Dr. Protim Ray |
Team Manager | Satyajit Chatterjee |
Source: mohunbaganac.com
Management
Board members
Office | Name |
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Hon. Secretary | Anjan Mitra |
Hon. Asst. General Secretary | Srinjoy Bose |
Hon. Treasurer | Madan Dutta |
Hon. Finance Secretary | Debasish Dutta |
Football Secretary | Satyajit Chatterjee |
Hockey Secretary | Kashinath Das |
Tennis Secretary | Uttam Kumar Saha |
Ground Secretary | Swapan Banerjee |
Cricket Secretary | Samrat Bhowmick |
Source: mohunbaganac.com
(As of 24 June 2015)
Honours
- As of 31 May 2015
Till 2015 Mohun Bagan has won 246 trophies, which is highest by any Indian Club. The AIFF run trophies which Mohun Bagan has won are -
- National Football League (until 2006)
- Winners (13): 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2008
- Runners-up (5): 1997, 1983, 1985, 2004, 2010
- Winners (2): 2007, 2009
- Runners-up (2): 1998, 1999
- As of 25 January 2016
References
- ↑ "AFC Champions League 2016 Kicks Off in India". The Asian Football Confederation. 27 January 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ↑ "Photo Gallery". 29 July 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ↑ "13 times Federation Cup Champions McDowell's Mohun Bagan". Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ↑ Kapadia, Novy (7 June 2015). "Mohun Bagan: Blaze of Glory". Indian Express. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ↑ Choudhury, Angikaar (8 September 2015). "The East Bengal-Mohun Bagan derby: The rivalry that divides Kolkata". Scroll. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ↑ "Mohun Bagan History - Century of Celebration". www.mohunbaganac.com. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ↑ "FIRST STEP TOWARDS SUCCESS : 1904–1910". Sabuj Maroon Swapno. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
- ↑ "India - List of IFA Shield Finals". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
- ↑ "CREATION OF HISTORY : MOHUN BAGAN THE CHAMPION OF 1911 IFA SHIELD". Sabuj Maroon Swapno. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
- ↑ "SILVER AND GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATION : 1912–1946". Sabuj Maroon Swapno. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- 1 2 "NATION WIDE SUCCESS AND DIAMOND JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS : 1947–1960". Sabuj Maroon Swapno. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ↑ "MEMORABLE PERFORMANCES AND HISTORICAL MATCH AGAINST PELE : 1965–1977". Sabuj Maroon Swapno. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ↑ "India - List of Federation Cup Winners". RSSSF. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ↑ "GOLDEN ERA OF THE CLUB AND CENTENARY YEAR CELEBRATION : 1978–1999". Sabuj Maroon Swapno. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- 1 2 3 "THE NEW MILLENIUM AND THE BRAZILIAN MAGIC : 2000–2009". Sabuj Maroon Swapno. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/Mohun-Bagan-create-history-beat-Tampines-Rovers-in-AFC-Champions-League-qualifiers/articleshow/50746911.cms
- ↑ "SALT LAKE STADIUM". West Bengal Sports Department. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ↑ "Mohun Bagan - About the Club". Sabuj Maroon Swapno. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ↑ "Attendance figures of Airtel I-League 2013-14". AIFF. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "Average rating for the I-League rises 6% in 2015 compared with the last edition". Economic Times. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "Mohun Bagan greeted to a grand reception by the Supporters". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "Indian Football: Jose Barreto and Mohun Bagan, end of an era". Thehardtackle.com. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "No 1 Mariner-Lieutenant Colonel Avishek Mukherjee, who contributed his one month salary". MohunBaganAC.com. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "The bhadralok goes to war". Telegraph India. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ http://www.anandabazar.com/supplementary/patrika/hemendra-kumar-roy-was-a-football-lover-and-die-heart-fan-of-mohun-bagan-1.278986#
- ↑ Choudhury, Subhadeep (24 October 2014). "Manna Dey, the golden voice, goes silent at 94". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "Jyoti Basu: A die hard Mohun Bagan supporter". Times of India. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "And then there is silence...". Panchamonline.com. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "As a young boy it was all about watching football: Sourav". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "I have always been a Mohun Bagan supporter says Amitabh Bacchan". Times of India. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "I am the chosen one". Telegraph India. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "India's all-consuming rivalry". FIFA.com. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ http://www.mohunbaganac.com/team
- ↑ "COACHING STAFF". Mohun Bagan AC. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
External links
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