Mohun Bagan A.C.


Mohun Bagan Athletic Club, commonly known as Mohun Bagan, is a major Indian multi-sport club based in the Kolkata, India. Founded in 1889 as Mohun Bagan Sporting Club, the club's football section is one of the oldest football clubs in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment in the 1911 IFA Shield final. This victory made Mohun Bagan the first all-Indian side to win a championship over a British side and was a major moment during India's push for independence.
They have won the top-flight league a record 5 times, the National Football League three times and the I-League twice. They are the most successful team of India in the history of the Federation Cup, having won the championship a record 14 times. The club has also won several other trophies, including the Durand Cup, IFA Shield, and the Calcutta Football League. In total, the club has won 253 trophies. The club contests the Kolkata Derby with long-time rivals East Bengal. The first derby match was played on 8 August 1921. Mohun Bagan was inducted into the Club of Pioneers, a network of the oldest existing football clubs in each country, on 29 July 2019 as the club celebrated its 130th year in existence.

History

Mohun Bagan Athletic Club, founded 15 August 1889, is an Indian sports club best known for its association football team, one of the oldest football clubs in Asia.
Mohun Bagan was established in 1889 by three famous aristocratic Bengali families of North Kolkata. Bhupendra Nath Bose was the first president of the club. The team won its first trophy in 1904, when they won the Coochbehar Cup. In 1905 Mohun Bagan reached the finals of the Gladstone Cup which was held in Chinsurah where they defeated the reigning IFA Shield champions 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 on 29 July. Most Mohun Bagan players played bare feet while East Yorkshire Regiment played with proper footballing equipment. This win was considered a landmark victory in the Indian freedom struggle.
Mohun Bagan played their first match in first division of Calcutta Football League on 15 May 1915 against Calcutta Club. In 1939 Mohun Bagan won their first Calcutta Football League title. Mohun Bagan got incredible success from 1933 to 1939 where they won 29 trophies. During that phase, out of 23 derbies, they beat East Bengal 12 times, drew 10 matches and lost only once to their archrivals. It was a golden period in the history of the club.
In 1947, Mohun Bagan became the first Indian club to win the IFA Shield post independence. In 1954 the Green & Maroons became the first club ever to clinch the double crown of Kolkata — the IFA Shield and Calcutta Football League. In 1977 Mohun Bagan became the first Indian football club ever to win the triple crown in the same year.
In 1977, Mohun Bagan played a friendly match against the famous North American Soccer League club New York Cosmos which featured the legendary Brazilian footballer, Pelé. The match, which took place at Eden Gardens, had a match attendance of 80,000 and ended in a 2–2 draw.
In the 1978 IFA Shield Final, Mohun Bagan were up against FC Ararat Yerevan of Soviet Union. The match ended 2-2 and both the clubs were declared winners. Thus, the club became the first Indian team, post-independence, to win the IFA Shield while competing against a non-Asian side in the final.
In 1981 Mohun Bagan won their first standalone Federation Cup title after beating Mohammedan 2–0.
Mohun Bagan celebrated their 100th anniversary in 1989. A grand torch rally was held on this occasion. The rally started from Basu Bati in North Kolkata and covered several important places in Mohun Bagan’s history before finally reaching the Mohun Bagan Ground.Then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi arrived for the celebrations on his speech referred to Mohun Bagan as "National Club of India". Fittingly, Mohun Bagan won IFA Shield on their 100th year by defeating T.F.A in the final by a solitary goal. Mohun Bagan became the first club to be honoured by a postage stamp from the Indian Government on their centenary year.
In 1989 Calcutta League Mohun Bagan picked up a dominant 2-0 victory in the derby.Sisir Ghosh scored a brace and could have become the third player to score a hattrick in the derby but this third goal was dubiously cancelled by the referee.
In 1998 Mohun Bagan won the treble by winning the IFA Shield, Federation Cup and the National Football League for the first time in one football season. In 2007 Mohun Bagan won their first Indian Super Cup title by defeating Dempo by a score of 4–0. A year later in 2008 Mohun Bagan players got the opportunity to play against German international, Oliver Kahn in his official testimonial for Bayern Munich. Along with Kahn, stars like Ze Roberto and Toni Kroos were also present in the Bayern team. The match was played on 27 May 2008 at the Salt Lake Stadium.
On 31 May 2015, Mohun Bagan claimed their first 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 when they defeated Singapore based club Tampines Rovers on 27 January 2016. Mohun Bagan recorded the biggest margin of victory by an Indian club in an AFC Cup away match when they defeated Hong Kong based club South China 4–0 in Hong Kong on 9 March 2016.
On 28 September 2018, Mohun Bagan 'Legends' hosted the FC Barcelona 'Legends' side at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.

Mohun Bagan Football Club (India) Private Limited

Mohun Bagan Football Club Private Limited was registered as a separate legal entity on 31 July 2017. Mohun Bagan Football Club was a legal entity created for football activities of Mohun Bagan Athletic Club.

ATK Mohun Bagan Private Limited

Mohun Bagan and ATK had decided to merge its football division back in January 2020 that would help Mohun Bagan enter the ISL and AFC Cup from the 2020-21 season, under the name of ATK Mohun Bagan. On 16 January 2020, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, bought majority of shares of Mohun Bagan Football Club. It was announced that brands and footballing rights of Mohun Bagan Football Club Private Limited would be transferred to the new company to field football team in the ISL having the name as ATK Mohun Bagan Football Club. The new corporate entity was scheduled to launch on 1 June 2020 but due to COVID-19 pandemic it was postponed and officially came into existence on 10 July 2020.
The club is owned by a consortium known as ATK Mohun Bagan Private Limited. RPSG Group founder Sanjiv Goenka is the principal owner of the organization while former India cricketer Sourav Ganguly and businessman Utsav Parekh are co-owners. They own 80% of the shares while Mohun Bagan Football Club also acts a co-owner, owning 20% of the organization.

Rivalries

Mohun Bagan's biggest rivalry is with city rivals East Bengal and is popularly known as the Kolkata Derby. Mohun Bagan also had an intense rivalry with Mohammedan SC but the importance of this match has fizzled out in past two decades due to the fact that the teams only meet once a year in the Calcutta Football League.

Kolkata Derby

or the Boro Match is a football match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. The two clubs currently meet at least 3 times a year, twice in I-League and once in the Calcutta Football League. Till January 2020, 370 matches have been played between the two teams out of which Mohun Bagan has won 120 matches and East Bengal have won 129 times and rest of the matches ended in draws. The first match between the sides was played on 8 August 1921 in the Coochbehar Cup and the semifinal match ended in a 0–0 draw. Mohun Bagan won the replayed semifinal 3-0. The first derby goal ever scored was scored in that match by Rabi Ganguly and the other two goals were scored by Poltu Dasgupta and Abhilash Ghosh. The first CFL match between the sides was played on 28 May 1925 in CFL where East Bengal beat Mohun Bagan 1–0. Mohun Bagan holds the record of scoring the fastest goal in a derby. They have the record of winning 2 consecutive derbies in 2 consecutive days and had the unique distinction of losing only 1 derby in a span of 7 years. A few notable victories include the Darbhanga Shield match on 5 September 1934, when Bagan won 4–1, and a 5–3 win in an I-League encounter on 25 October 2009. They have won several derbies scoring 4 goals against East Bengal. One such instance was in Raja Memorial Shield final played on 6 August 1937 in the common ground of both the clubs, where Bagan beat East Bengal 4-0 and Asit Ganguly scored 3 goals in that match.

Colours and crests

Colours

The colours of Mohun Bagan have traditionally been green and maroon. In recent times though the club has used a more white dominant away kit for use in away matches.

These are the traditionally used home and away jerseys of Mohun Bagan. The designing of the kit has varied and different designs are used every season now but the dominant colours remain the same.

Crests

The current crest of the club is circular in shape and consists of a sailing country boat painted in green and maroon colours. The boat, perhaps signifies the club's place of establishment; northern Kolkata, on the banks of the Ganges. In fact the city was the capital and prime trade center of British India and the main mode of transportation was through the waterways. The initial crest of the club however consisted of the picture of a royal bengal tiger amidst a dense jungle.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Stadiums

Salt Lake Stadium

Salt Lake Stadium or Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan is a multipurpose stadium in Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal, with a current capacity of 85,000.
Before its renovation in 2011, it was the second largest football stadium in the world, having a seating capacity of 120,000. Prior to the construction and opening of Rungrado May Day Stadium in 1989, it was the largest football stadium in the world. Reportedly, a total of 85,000 bucket seats was installed in the stadium before the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in India.
The record attendance of 131,000 was set in 1997 in a Kolkata Derby match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal when they clashed in a Federation Cup semi-final match.
The stadium is situated approximately 10 kilometres to the east of the Kolkata downtown. The roof is made of metal tubes and aluminum sheets and concrete. The stadium was inaugurated in January 1984. There are two electronic score boards and control rooms. The lighting is uniformly distributed to facilitate night kick-offs. There are special arrangements for TV broadcasting.
The stadium covers an area of 76.40 acres. The stadium has a unique synthetic track for athletic meets. It has a main football arena measuring 105m x 70m, It also houses electronics scoreboards, elevators, VIP enclosures, peripheral floodlighting arrangement from the roof-top, air-conditioned VIP rest room, conference hall and much more. The stadium has its own water arrangements and standby diesel generation sets.
The Salt Lake Stadium hosted the home games of Mohun Bagan in I-League. It is also an AFC accredited stadium and thus suitable for hosting Mohun Bagan's matches in AFC competitions.

Mohun Bagan Ground

The Mohun Bagan Ground is a football stadium located in the maidan region of central Kolkata, just opposite to the Eden Gardens stadium. The stadium is owned by Mohun Bagan who currently use the stadium as a training ground, Although this season the ground had been used for a few of their I-League matches as well. The office and club tent of Mohun Bagan are adjacent to the stadium.
This ground is mainly used by Mohun Bagan for Calcutta Football League matches against smaller and local Kolkata sides. The stadium has galleries on three sides and a rampart on the fourth side. The north side gallery is the member's gallery and is the most modern gallery of the stadium, having bucket seats installed. The east side and south side galleries are still made of a temporary wooden structure and are designated for non-member supporters. Just adjacent the stadium, the club tent and main office are located. The club tent consists of a beautiful lawn, with benches known as the Mohun Bagan lawn.
In 1977 Mohun Bagan became the first club in maidan to have floodlights installed in their stadium. The floodlights operated till the mid-1990s, after which they became fully dysfunctional. The lights were later repaired and renovated and were inaugurated on 25 February 2016 with an IFA Shield match between Mohun Bagan U19s and DSK Liverpool academy.
From the 2016–17 season, Mohun Bagan has decided to pitch for hosting I-League matches at their home club ground, especially with modern facilities like bucket seats and properly functional floodlight towers.

Barasat Stadium

The Barasat District Sports Stadium, also known as Vidyasagar Krirangan, is a football stadium located in Barasat city, on the outskirts of Kolkata, West Bengal. It is used mostly for Calcutta Football League matches featuring local Kolkata sides. It is also used for several district-level, state-level and, infrequently, national level tournaments. The stadium currently holds around 22,000 spectators, has 4 floodlight towers and different air conditioned function and changing rooms. The artificial turf at the stadium has achieved a two-star rating from FIFA.
Since the 2014–15 till the 2015–16 season, the stadium has hosted the home matches of Mohun Bagan in the I-League as the Salt Lake Stadium was being renovated and reconstructed for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Supporters

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. Mohun Bagan had the highest average attendance in the 2013-14 season. AIFF reported an average home crowd of 17,068. In the 2014-15 I-League season, their vocal support in away matches in Pune, Mumbai and Bengaluru 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 of the 2014-15 I-League between Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC in Bengaluru, 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. Their grand reception when, by some estimates, over 200,000 fans gathered to greet the 2014-15 I-League clinching squad has been dubbed as "legendary" "unparalleled" and "surreal" by the press as well as football historians.
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. In 2013 another fan donated his entire monthly salary to the club.
Celebrity Mohun Bagan fans include Hemendra Kumar Ray, Manna Dey, Jyoti Basu, R. D. Burman, Sourav Ganguly, Amitabh Bachchan, Uttam Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, and many more.

Notable players

Top scorers in National League/I-League

Top scorers in Calcutta League

RankingNationalityNameYearsGoals
1Chuni Goswami1954-1968145
2Sisir Ghosh1985-1992, 1995-199667
3Manas Bhattacharya1977-1980, 1982-1984,1986- 198864
4Nanda Ray Chowdhury1935-194363
5Ashok Chatterjee1961-1968, 197258
6Subhash Bhowmick1970-1972, 1976-197858
7José Ramirez Barreto1999-2004, 2006-201257
8Keshto Pal1954-195957
9Samar Banerjee1952-195955
10Shyam Thapa1977-198355
11Mohammad Akbar1976-197851
12Pungab Kannan1966-1968, 1971, 1973-197551

Source: Ei Samay
Mohun Bagan Day has been celebrated since 2001 on 29 July each year in honour of Mohun Bagan's victory over East Yorkshire Regiment in the 1911 IFA Shield Final.

Mohun Bagan Ratna

Mohun Bagan Ratna is an award presented each year on Mohun Bagan Day to outstanding former players. The first recipient was former captain Sailen Manna.

Players

Last I League squad

Previous technical staff

Management

Recent seasons

The club's competitive record since the 1997–98 season are listed below.

Honours

, the following honours are only the AIFF run national titles that Mohun Bagan have won.

Local