The East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan rivalry is a symbolic tussle between two very similar, yet different, ways of life. Football is being the escape for everyone during any turmoil. Hence the popularity of this game was immense from pre-independence in India.
In 1911, Mohun Bagan AC won the Historic IFA shield as they defeated the British Army East Yorkshire Regiment 2–1 on 29 July. Most Mohun Bagan players played bare feet, while the East Yorkshire Regiment played with proper football equipment.
On 28 July 1920, Jorabagan Club was scheduled to play against Mohun Bagan in the Coochbehar Cup. Jorabagan, dropped notable defender Sailesh Bose from the squad. The then vice-president of Jorabagan, Suresh Chandra Chaudhuri, requested to include Sailesh Bose in the line-up. However, his request was ignored. Hence, on 1st August 1920 Suresh Chandra Chaudhuri along with Raja Manmatha Nath Chaudhuri, Bose, Ramesh Chandra (Nasha) Sen and Aurobinda Ghosh established “East Bengal Club”.
Thus the new era of Indian football started, one of the oldest rivalries in football – East Bengal v Mohun Bagan.
2021 happens to be the 100th year of World’s one of the oldest derby, Kolkata Derby, as on 8th August 1920, for the first time, both the teams played in Coochbehar cup semifinal which ended in a goalless draw.
The Boro Match always remained special. Politicians, businessman, sports persons from different sectors, people from entertainment world, homemakers, Red & Gold and Green & Maroon fans all over the world will skip their most important work, so that they do not miss a single exiting moment of the match.
The Kolkata Derby has been an eternal rivalry between the two oldest clubs in Indian football—Mohun Bagan and East Bengal—and has been featured on the list of FIFA’s Classic Rivalries. It is considers in the same vein as the El Clasico (Barcelona vs Real Madrid), North West Derby (Manchester United vs Liverpool), the Old Firm derby (Rangers vs Celtics), the Merseyside Derby (Liverpool vs Everton), the Milan Derby (AC Milan vs Inter Milan).
No celebration is complete without good food. Thus, East Bengal fan relishes the Ilish (Hilsa fish) while Mohun Bagan fans celebrate with Chingri (Prawns).
Both the teams have gone through ups and downs in different decades. 1960s were golden era for Mohun Bagan while 1970s was East Bengal’s decade. In fact during that period, East Bengal was undefeated in derby for 1932 days. Again in 1980s we saw domination of Mohun Bagan while 1990s was for East Bengal. However, post 2000 football has changed a lot and decade domination was not experienced by any side any more.
On 29th September 1975 in IFA Shield Finals East Bengal Club defeated Mohun Bagan 5-0 on the Mohun Bagan home ground. Surajit Sengupta, Shyam Thapa, Ranjit Mukherjee, Shyam Thapa, Subhankar Sanyal scored the goals.
16 August 1980 has been marked as Football Lovers Day, 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 most memorable derby on many accounts took place in 1997 which is also known as Diamond match, at the semi-final of the Federation Cup, when a remarkable crowd of 131,781 watched the match at Salt Lake Stadium. Baichung Bhutia scored a hat-trick as East Bengal won 4–1.
In 2009, Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal 5–3 with Chidi Edeh scoring a hat-trick for Green & Maroon.
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 two goals from free-kick 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 head to head East Bengal have a slight edge of 129 wins. Mohun Bagan has won 121 times. On 121 occasions match remained draw.
First Clash in Major Tournaments:
Calcutta Football League (1925) – East Bengal won 1-0
IFA Shield (1944) – East Bengal won 1-0
Durand Cup (1957) – Draw
Rovers Cup (1960) – East Bengal won 2-1
Federation Cup (1978) – Draw
I-League – Mohun Bagan won 2-1
Top Scorers in Derby:
Bhaichung Bhutia – 19 Goals (13 for East Bengal & 6 for Mohun Bagan)
José Ramirez Barreto – 17 Goals (Mohun Bagan)
Chima Okorie – 16 Goals (10 for East Bengal & 6 for Mohun Bagan)
