Kolkata Derby

Origins

Mohun Bagan is one of the oldest existing club of India having been established in 1889 in the city, then known under its anglicized name, Calcutta and till date one of the two most successful clubs in India, the other being East Bengal. The significant British influence in what was, until 1911, the nation's capital, ensured the game flourished, drawing players from other regions, and it is against this backdrop in which today's rivalry took root.

In 1920, the Jora Bagan club took field against Mohun Bagan who chose play without their star halfback Sailesh Bose, much to the chagrin of club vice-president Suresh Chandra Chaudhuri. Such was the industrialist's displeasure, he decided to form a new club and East Bengal was born. As Chaudhuri and his co-founders hailed from eastern part of Bengal, essentially now modern-day Bangladesh, the club became an identity for the people who migrated from that region during the partition of Bengal. This resulted in the clubs being backed by two different socioeconomic groups, although this has largely changed over period of time. The first ever clash happened on 8 August 1921 in Cooch Behar Cup semifinal which ended in a goalless draw. Mohun Bagan would win the following replayed match on 10 August 1921 by defeating East Bengal 3–0, courtesy to the goals from Rabi Ganguly, Poltu Dasgupta and Abhilash Ghosh. But the first official meeting is considered to be the CFL match-up held on 28 May 1925 at the Calcutta Football Ground (now Mohun Bagan Ground) where East Bengal won 1–0 with the help of a solitary goal from Nepal Chakraborty.

Due to a lack of proper maintenance and restoration of data, after many pieces of research, the overall matches including competitive, walkovers and friendly matches data have been retrieved as far as possible. Though the data is just an approximation, as of 11 January 2025, it is believed that the tally of overall meetings stands at 401 matches up till now, where East Bengal have been triumphant 137 times while Mohun Bagan 135 times, which also includes walkover wins.

Colours

Traditional

Current

History

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 on 10 August 1921 which was the first-ever win in this historic derby. Rabi Ganguly scored the first-ever derby goal in that match, and the other two goals were scored by Poltu Dasgupta and Abhilash Ghosh.

The first official match between the sides was played on 28 May 1925 in CFL, where East Bengal beat Mohun Bagan 1–0 with the help of a solitary goal from Nepal Chakraborty.

Mohun Bagan holds the record of scoring the fastest goal in a derby (24 July 1976, a 17-second goal from Md Akbar of Mohun Bagan). They have the record of winning two consecutive derbies on two successive days (7 and 8 August 1935) and had the unique distinction of losing only one derby in 7 years (1933 to 1939). During this phase, they won 29 trophies. Out of 23 derbies they won 12, drew 10 and lost only 1 against their arch-rivals. It was a golden period in the history of the club.

A few notable victories include the Darbhanga Shield match on 5 September 1934, when Mohun Bagan won 4–1 (Amiya Deb scored all four goals). Another memorable instance where they scored four goals against was in Raja Memorial Shield final played on 6 August 1937 at the common ground of both the clubs (Eden Gardens Stadium), where Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal 4–0 and Asit Ganguly scored three goals in that match.

The 1960s proved a golden period for Mohun Bagan and it concluded in perfect fashion for the Mariners. Having already won the league, Mohun Bagan then did the double, defeating their rivals on their own ground in the IFA Shield final. The 3–1 victory credited to the then revolutionary 4–2–4 formation employed by innovative coach Amal Dutta.

The wheel eventually turned, and the 1970s was East Bengal's decade. The Red and Gold Brigade remained undefeated in the Derbies for 1932 days. In fact, they lost only one derby (that too outside Kolkata) in six years (1970 to 1975) which culminated in a 5–0 IFA Shield win over their great rivals. The Red and Golds won with a record 5–0 scoreline and, with it, a record of five consecutive Shield victories. Such was the ignominy surrounding the heavy defeat that several Mohun Bagan players spent the night holed up on a boat in the Ganges trying to escape the wrath of shell-shocked supporters. Umakanto Palodhi, an ardent Mohun Bagan fan, committed suicide. He wrote in his suicide note that in his next life he will born as a Mohun Bagan footballer and will take revenge of that 0–5 defeat.

On 16 August 1980, 16 football fans died due to stampede and riot inside the Eden Gardens stadium, Kolkata on the occasion of a Kolkata Derby match in the Calcutta Football League. It is now remembered as Football Lover's Day.

The most memorable derby on many accounts took place in 1997 at the semi-final of the Federation Cup, when a remarkable crowd of 1,31,781 – a record attendance for any sport in India – filled a heaving Salt Lake Stadium. India's most recognizable footballer, Baichung Bhutia, took centre stage, scoring a hat-trick as East Bengal triumphed 4–1.

On 25 October 2009, Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal 5–3 with Chidi Edeh scoring a hat-trick for Bagan (4 goals) in an I-League encounter.

On 6 September 2015, another memorable derby took place when East Bengal FC equaled the record for the highest margin of victory in a Calcutta Football League Derby as they triumphed 4–0 against Mohun Bagan. South Korean forward Do Dong-hyun scored a free-kick brace while Mohammed Rafique and Rahul Bheke scored the other two as the Red and Gold brigade matched their own record which they set back on 23 May 1936, when they defeated the Green and Maroons by the similar 4–0 scoreline with goals from Laxminarayan, K. Prasad, Murgesh and Majid.

On 29 January 2022, in an ISL derby Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal 3–1 scores with a hat-trick from Kiyan Nassiri, son of former East Bengal player Jamshid Nassiri, and became the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the derby. East Bengal lost six consecutive derbies since 2019.

On 25 February 2023, Mohun Bagan made the record of winning back to back eight consecutive derbies— one in the Durand Cup, one in the I-League and six in the ISL (From 19 January 2020).

First official derby

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Statistics

Trophy counts

Major and Minor Honours (International, National and State)

This following table includes only those titles recognised and organised by the AFC, AFF, AIFF, IFA and other associations:

Kolkata Derby matches

Recent match results

The records of the meetings between the sides since 2009 have been listed below.

References

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