Kolkata Derby

Kolkata Derby

The Salt Lake Stadium hosts most of the meetings between the two sides
Location	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Teams	East Bengal Mohun Bagan
First meeting	East Bengal 0—0Mohun Bagan (8th August 1921)
Statistics
Meetings total	362
Most wins	East Bengal (127)
All-time series	East Bengal leads 127-116-119 (W–L–D)
Largest victory	East Bengal 5–0 Mohun Bagan (30 September 1975)

Kolkata Derby, locally known as Boro (means big in Bengali) match, is the football match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. The rivalry between these two teams is almost 100 years old, and features in the FIFA's classic derby list. The matches witness large audience attendance and rivalry between patrons.

The two clubs currently meet at least 3 times a year, twice in the I-League and once in the Calcutta Football League. Often these two clubs meet in other competitions like the Federation Cup, the IFA Shield, the 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 represents 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 Scottish Premier League's Old Firm derby, since a majority of the Mohun Bagan supporters represent the 'nativist' population (similar to Rangers FC) and a majority of the East Bengal fans represent the 'immigrant' population (similar to Celtic FC). However, many people having origin in Bangladesh also support Mohun Bagan as it is the oldest football club in India. Similarly, some people of West Bengal origin support East Bengal considering it is football club of India. So there is an existence of cross-ethnic support base.

Origins

Further information: Football in Kolkata

Mohun Bagan is oldest existing club of India having been established in 1889 in the city, then known under its anglicized name, Calcutta and till date the most successful club in India. 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 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 Kolkata Derby took place in 8th Aug 1921 in the semi final of cooch behar cup which ended in a goalless draw . In the replayed match, which happened on 10th Aug 1921, Mohun bagan beat East Bengal by 3 goals to nil.

Facts and figures

Though exact figures are disputed, the Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal clash reaches a historic milestone of over 350 derby matches. Till now, the Kolkata rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan have played 362 matches against each other. This data is including competitive, friendlies and walk over matches. East Bengal has won 127 matches, Mohun Bagan has won 116 matches and 119 matches ended in a draw.

Indian international Baichung Bhutia has tallied the most goals in derby matches (19 goals – 13 for EB and 6 for MB), with the diminutive forward transcending the city’s football divide by representing both clubs. His hat-trick in the famous 1997 derby (on behalf of East Bengal) made him the third player to make it and Nigerian Edeh Chidi (on behalf of Mohun Bagan) in 2009, who became the fourth player to score a hat trick in the Kolkata derby. Amiyo Deb is the first footballer to score a hat trick cum 4 goals in this derby in Darbhanga Shield on 5th Sept 1934 and Mohun Bagan won the match 4–1. The fastest goal in a derby was scored by Mohammed Akbar. On 24 July 1976 Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal 1–0 with a goal scored in 17 seconds by Mohammed Akbar.

Tales of derbies past

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. They lost only one derby 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.

The most memorable derby on many accounts took place in 1997 at the semi-final of the Federation Cup, when a remarkable crowd of 131,000 – 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 in the semi-final of the Federation Cup.

In 2009, Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal 5–3 with Chidi Edeh scoring a hat-trick for Bagan. In their 2015 meeting in Calcutta Football League, East Bengal outplayed Bagan 4–0. The most recent derby held in Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri on 12 February 2017 ended in a goalless draw.

Comparison of trophies in different tournaments

Competition	Mohun Bagan won	East Bengal won
National Football League / I-League	4	3
Federation Cup	14	8
Durand Cup	16	16
Indian Super Cup	2	3
Rovers Cup	14	10
Calcutta Football League	29	38
IFA Shield	22	28
All Airlines Gold Cup	8	7
Bordoloi Trophy	7	4

Mohun bagan (including preindependence trophies)251, East Bengal(including preindependence trophies) 151