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| Full name | East Bengal Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Red and Gold
Brigade Bangal Brigade Torch Bearers |
| Founded | August 1, 1920 |
| President | Murari Lal Lohia |
| Website | eastbengalclub |
| Active departments of East Bengal | ||||||||||||||||||
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East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (Bengali pronunciation: [ˈi:st ˌbenˈɡɔːl]), is an Indian professional multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of the Indian football.[1] It is one of the most successful football clubs in the country. The club has other departments for women's football, men's and women's cricket, field hockey, athletics and eSports.
East Bengal was founded on 1 August 1920. It first started with just its men's football department but soon expanded into other sports such as hockey after 1947 and cricket in the 1970s. The women's football team was started in 2001.
East Bengal is one of the most widely supported sports clubs in Asia. The club is mainly supported by the Bangals, i.e., the immigrant population from the eastern region of Bengal, who were forced to leave their homes (modern-day Bangladesh) during the partition of 1947.[2] For those people, East Bengal Club became a source of identity and hope. The huge influx of dispossessed into the state led to a socio-economic crisis.[3] This led to rivalries among the immigrant and native population of West Bengal, popularly named as Bangal (বাঙাল) in every sphere of life, from jobs to schools and even on football, cricket and hockey pitches. As a result, East Bengal has a long-standing rivalry with its cross-town competitors Mohun Bagan, which is mainly supported by the native population, named popularly as Ghoti (ঘটি), with whom it competes in the Kolkata derby, Asia's biggest sports rivalry. East Bengal also shares a local rivalry with another Kolkata club, Mohammedan. The club dons the iconic red and golden yellow colours, which give it the nickname of Red and Gold Brigade and Laal Holud (লাল হলুদ).The fans of the club are also collectively called the Torchbearers
- ^ "FOOTBALL IN BENGAL". ifawb.com. The Indian Football Association (West Bengal). Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ Majumdar, Boria, Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (1 February 2006). Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation. New Delhi: Penguin India. ISBN 9780670058747. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Wadwha, Arjun (19 May 2008). "History of Football in India". thesportscampus.com. TheSportsCampus. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2014.