History of Mohun Bagan A.C.

Template:New unreviewed article Football was introduced to India by British soldiers in the mid-nineteenth century. It spread because of the efforts of Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari. In 1888 the Durand Cup was founded by then India's Foreign Secretary, Mortimer Durand at Simla, India. In 1893 the IFA Shield was started as Calcutta, then capital of British India, soon became the hub of Indian football.

Origin And Early History (1889-1900)

During the late 1800s the Indian independence movement was well into its beginning and the widespread rebellion of the Indian nationalists fired the imagination of all the Indians in the country and to help the movement, three families Bose family (of Shyam Pukur), Mitra Family (of Faria Pukur) and the Sen Family (of Bagh Bazar) founded Mohun Bagan under the name Mohun Bagan Sporting Club on 15 August 1889. Mohun Bagan’s first president was the eminent lawyer Bhupendra Nath Bose, a member one of the three founding families. Bose was also an important player in the Indian revolutionary movement and would become the president of Indian National Congress in 1914. The first meeting of the club was presided by Bhupendra Nath Bose himself and was held in 14, Balaram Ghosh Street of North Kolkata. The meeting featured some of the most famous people from the cream of Bengali society, including names like Jyotindra Nath Basu, Sir Bhupendra Nath Mitra, Girin Basu, Roybahadur Chunilal Basu, Dr.Manindra Nath Basu, Durga Charan Laha (Maharaja of Shyam Pukur), Rajendra Bhup Bahadur (Maharaja of Coochbehar) and Sir Rajendra Nath Mukhopadhyay. Situated in Faria Pukur Street, "Mohun Bagan Villa" the famous marble palace owned by Kirti Mitra of the Mitra family, served as the first ground, also inspiring name of the newly formed club.

Mohun Bagan Sporting club played their first football match in Mohun Bagan Villa ground against Eden Hindu Hostel the team list read - Girin Basu, Pramatha Nath Chattopadhyay, Sachin Bandhyopadhyay, Ram Goswami, Sarat Mitra, Hem Nath Sen, Nalin Basu, Upen Ghosh, Manindra Nath Basu, Manilal Sen, Manomoham Pandey, Probhas Mitra. Manilal Sen, the first captain of Mohun Bagan's football team, was a member of the founding Sen family and was also an accomplished cricketer. Right before the one year anniversary of the club professor F.J. Rhow asked whether the club had organized any rifle shooting or angling or other related activities and when the answer to that question was negative it was suggested that the club be renamed from Sporting to Athletic. The officials agreed and the club was officially renamed as Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. By 1891 the club management had understood that their original ground was perhaps too small to play football and shifted their base to Shyam Pukur, aided by the Maharaja of Shyam Pukur.

Four years after their birth, Mohun Bagan participated in their first tournament – the 1893 edition of Coochbehar Cup, making their debut against "C Company of Sussex Regiment". For rest of 1890s the club continued to participate in numerous local tournaments, with little success. After the Calcutta Corporation opened the public square known as Shyam Square, the club was allotted space there along with Aryans and Baghbazar Club. Thus Shyam Square became the third ground for Mohun Bagan (1895–1900).