Kolkata Derby

Kolkata Derby

Salt Lake Stadium on a matchday of Kolkata Derby
Other names	Boro Match (Big Match)
Location	Kolkata, West Bengal
Teams	ATK Mohun Bagan (as Mohun Bagan till 2019–20) East Bengal
First meeting	Mohun Bagan 0–0 East Bengal Cooch Behar Cup (8 August 1921)[1]
Latest meeting	East Bengal 0–3 ATK Mohun Bagan 2021–22 Indian Super League (27 November 2021)
Broadcasters	Star Sports (Indian Super League)
Stadiums	Eden Gardens East Bengal Ground Mohun Bagan Ground Salt Lake Stadium Kanchenjunga Stadium
Statistics
Meetings total	Total: 373 Competitive: 325[2]
Top scorer	Bhaichung Bhutia (19)
All-time series	East Bengal: 129 Mohun Bagan (now ATK Mohun Bagan): 123 Drawn: 121 Competitive: East Bengal: 121 Mohun Bagan (now ATK Mohun Bagan): 93 Drawn: 111
Largest victory	East Bengal 5–0 Mohun Bagan 29 September 1975 (IFA Shield Final)
East Bengal ATK Mohun Bagan[3] VYBK Location of the two teams in Kolkata, as well as Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan where they usually play

Kolkata Derby, locally known as "Boro Match" (or 'Big Match' in Bengali), is the football match in Kolkata, between East Bengal and ATK Mohun Bagan (Mohun Bagan till 2019–20). In January 2020, Kolkata based Indian Super League club ATK with the football department of Mohun Bagan merged to become ATK Mohun Bagan.^[4] The rivalry between these two teams is almost 100 years old, and the matches witnessed large audience attendance and rivalry between patrons. It is considered to be one of the biggest Asian footballing rivalry. The first match was played on 8 August 1921 in Coochbehar Cup and latest match of this historical derby was played on 19 February 2021 in ISL. The Kolkata Derby is considered to be greatest derby in Asian Football and also one of the biggest derbies in the world.^[5]

The two clubs meet at least 3 times a year, twice in the Indian Super League and once in the Calcutta Football League. Often these two clubs met in other competitions like the Federation Cup, IFA Shield, Durand Cup etc.

Both teams have huge and dedicated fan bases around the world. Both clubs represent a specific class of Bengali people, Mohun Bagan represented people existing in the western part of Bengal (known as Ghotis), while East Bengal is primarily supported by people hailing from the eastern part of pre-independence Bengal province (known as Bangals). Culturally, this derby is very similar to the Scottish Professional Football League's Old Firm derby, since a majority of the Mohun Bagan supporters represent the 'nativist' population (similar to Rangers) and a majority of the East Bengal fans represent the 'immigrant' population (similar to Celtic).^[6][7]

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 Club. 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.^[8] 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 East Bengal, essentially now modern-day Bangladesh, the club is now generally supported by people who migrated from that region. 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 Aug 1921 in Cooch behar cup which ended in a goalless draw. Mohun Bagan won the replayed semi final on 10 Aug 1921 by defeating East Bengal 3–0. The goal scorers were Rabi Ganguly, Paltu Dasgupta and Abhilash Ghosh. The first ever league meeting happened on 28 May 1925 in the Calcutta Football League at the Mohun Bagan Ground where East Bengal won 1–0 with the help of a solitary goal from Nepal Chakraborty.

Due to lack of proper maintenance and restoration of data, after many researches, the overall matches including competitive, walk overs and friendlies matches data have been retrieved as far as possible. Though the data is just an approximation, as of 27 November 2021, it is believed that the tally of overall meetings stands at 372 matches up till now, where East Bengal have been triumphant 129 times while Mohun Bagan 122 times, which also includes a walkover.^[2]

Colours

The traditional kit worn by the Mohun Bagan

The traditional kit worn by the East Bengal

Current colours

ATK Mohun Bagan

East Bengal

Brief history of the Derby

News report, by The Statesman, of first official Kolkata Derby, that took place on 28th May, 1925.

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.^[a] 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.^[9] 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.^[10]

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.

The tables turned again. Mohun Bagan won 8 derbies in a row scoring 16 goals in total thus humiliating the red and golds. The most memorable derby on many accounts took place in 1997 at the semi-final of the Federation Cup, when a remarkable crowd of 131,781^[11] – 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 FC triumphed 4–1. In 2009, Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal 5–3 with Chidi Edeh scoring a hat-trick for Bagan.

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.

First official derby

Purna Prafulla Santosh Nani Bijay Haran Surya Hemanga Nepal Mana Mona GK Purna Das DF Prafulla Chatterjee DF Santosh Ganguly MF Bijay Hari Sen MF Haran Saha MF Nani Gosai ST Surya Chakravarty ST Hemanga Bose ST Mona Dutta ST Nepal Chakravarty ST Mana Mallick Captain Mona Dutta

Nripen Gostho R.Das Sudhangshu Tarak Balai M. Ghosh Rabi Umapati Poltu Khetra GK Nripen Bhaduri DF Gostho Pal DF R.Das MF Tarak Sur MF Balai Chatterjee MF Sudhangshu Bose ST M. Ghosh ST Rabi Ganguly ST Poltu Das Gupta ST Umapati Kumar ST Khetra Bose Captain Gostho Pal

Statistics

Trophy counts

Major Honours (National and international)

This following table includes only those titles recognised and organised by the AIFF and AFC:^[12][13]

Recent results of Kolkata Derby

The records of the meetings between the sides since 2014 have been listed below.

• Since 2014, 23 matches have been played between the teams where:

1. Mohun Bagan (now ATK Mohun Bagan) won: 12
2. East Bengal won: 6 (including 2016 CFL walkover)
3. 7 matches were draws.

• Highest scorer in a single match — Chidi Edeh (Mohun Bagan), scored 4 goals in 2009.

Head-to-head ranking in National Football League/I-League and Indian Super League

1996–97 to 2020–21

Note: Red & Gold refers to East Bengal, while Green & White refers to Mohun Bagan and ATK Mohun Bagan

See also

• South Indian Derby
• List of association football club rivalries in Asia and Oceania
• List of association football rivalries

Notes

References