Eastern Railway FC

Eastern Railway Football Club (formerly known as both East Bengal Railway FC and Eastern Bengal Railway FC)[1][2][3] is an Indian institutional multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Widely known for the association football team, the club was incorporated in 1882, and currently competing in CFL Premier Division B.[4][5]

Eastern Railway
Full nameEastern Railway Football Club
Nickname(s)The Railwaymen
Founded1882 (1882) (as East Bengal Railway Sports Club)
GroundEastern Railway Stadium, Kanchrapara
OwnerEastern Railways
LeagueCalcutta Premier Division B

Eastern Railway previously participated and achieved success in the highest division of Calcutta Football League.[6][7][8][9]

History

Foundation and early history

Founded as "Eastern Bengal Railway Sports Club" in 1882, Eastern Railway began its journey as the recreational arm of Eastern Bengal Railway, and was operated predominantly by the British railwaymen and officials.[10] In 1890s, they first participated in second division of Calcutta Football League, and soon emerged as one of the dark horses in the competition after gaining promotion to first division in 1913.[10] It was a trend that only 'white-skinned' players were allowed to don in club jerseys; Churchill, D'Silva, Joe Galbraith, and Curvy brothers were notable players at that time.[10] In mid-1920s, Indians have been allowed to play in the club.[10] After becoming fully Indian club, Eastern Railway emerged as one of the strongest sides of the CFL with players including Jamini Bandyopadhyay, Bechu Dutta, Pakhi Sen, Tulsi Das, Mohini Bandyopadhyay and later Sahu Mewalal, Santosh Nandy, Ajit Nandy, Neelu Mukhopadhyay, and Karuna Majumder.[10] They reached final of Durand Cup in 1927.[10][11]

The club later appeared in many top tournaments in India like the IFA Shield – where they won the then top tournament in 1944. The club later won All-India Railway Championship thrice.[12]

Post-independence era

The best ever success achieved by Eastern Railway is winning the prestigious Calcutta Football League title in 1958 under coaching of Bagha Some, and became the first team outside the Big Three of Kolkata to do so.[13][14] The club later won several nationwide trophies in the late 1950s and 60s, including Madhya Pradesh Gold Cup, Kalinga Cup, Kumar Mangalam Challenge Trophy and others.[10] In 1967, they won Bordoloi Trophy.[15] Eastern Railway was relegated from the CFL super division in 1985 after gaining thirteenth position.[16]

In 2005, the club clinched Trades Cup title with win against Wari AC in final.[17] In 2007, they reached the final of prestigious Trades Cup, but was defeated by then I-League side Chirag United 3–1.[18] In 2010s, Kazam Analytics Limited was roped in as club's principal sponsor.[10]

Notable players
Nikhil Nandy (in right), member of the Eastern Railway's 1958 Calcutta Football League winning team.

The club has been represented by many former India members including Syed Abdus Samad,[19][20] Santosh Nandy,[2] Sahu Mewalal,[21][22][23] Pradip Kumar Banerjee,[24][25][26] Pradyut Barman,[27] Kajal Mukherjee,[28] Parimal Dey, Prasanta Sinha,[29] Nikhil Nandy.[27] Legendary Indian football coach Sushil Bhattacharya played for the club from 1950 to 1956, and later became coach of the team.[27][30]

Other notable players include N Majumder and Bimal Kar, who emerged top scorers of the IFA Calcutta Football League representing Eastern Railway in 1939, 1943 and '44 respectively; while Mewalal became top scorer in 1949, '51 and '54.[10]

Honours

League

Cup

Other departments

Field hockey

Eastern Railway has its field hockey team that competed in both the prestigious Beighton Cup and Calcutta Hockey League.[50][51] They clinched Beighton Cup title in 1929.[52] Legendary Indian footballer Shanti Mullick appeared with the club's women's hockey team.[53][54]

Cricket

In Eastern Railway, men's cricket has been practiced, and it is affiliated with the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).[56][57] It participates in regional tournaments such as First Division League, and J.C. Mukherjee T-20 Trophy.[58]

Volleyball

Eastern Railway's volleyball section (consisting both men's and women's teams) participates in the West Bengal State Senior Volleyball Championship and Khelo India Volleyball League.[59] They have won both the 2021 and 2022 editions of the State Senior Volleyball Club Championship.[60]

See also

References
  1. "Player: Sheoo Mewalal". ifawb.com. Kolkata: Indian Football Association. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  2. Das, G. C. (14 September 2008). "Indian Legendary Football Players Profile: SANTOSH NANDY". www.kolkatafootball.com. Kolkata Football. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  3. Rahim (24 May 2020). "Remembering Sheoo Mewalal: A Thousand Goals in Apathy". theawayend.co. Flying Goalie. The Away End. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  4. "IFA CFL 2022 PREMIER DIVISION – B: ALL RESULTS". kolkatafootball.com. Kolkata: KolkataFootball. 29 September 2022. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  5. "Club info and matches: Eastern Railway FC". BeSoccer.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  6. Bobrowsky, Josef (22 March 2002). "India tournaments 1991 – Calcutta Premier League". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 7 July 2003. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  7. Bobrowsky, Josef; King, Ian (6 December 2006). "India 1993 – Regional Leagues: Calcutta Premier League". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  8. Chaudhuri, Arunava; Jönsson, Mikael; Bobrowsky, Josef (13 February 2014). "India 1996/97 – List of Champions: Calcutta Super Division League". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022.
  9. "IFAWB Clubs: Men's Division — CFL". ifawb.org. Indian Football Association. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  10. Karmakar, Rajat (21 December 2013). "ইস্টার্ন রেলওয়ে ফুটবল ক্লাব — ১৪১ বছরের পুরনো একটি ক্লাবের ইতিহাস ও ঐতিহ্য" [Eastern Railway Football Club — History and heritage of a 141-year-old club]. archives.anandabazar.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Anandabazar Patrika. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  11. Chaudhuri, Arunava. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Durand Cup". Indian Football. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  12. Nasar, S. A. (2020). "SAMAD: FOOTBALL WIZARD OF INDIA". Booksie. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  13. "Eastern Railway Sports Club". Kolkata Footballs. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  14. Chakraborty, Debojyoti (29 August 2017). "WHEN EASTERN RAILWAY RAN ON FULL STEAM (1958)". goaldentimes.org. Goalden Times. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  15. Chaudhuri, Arunava. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Bordoloi Trophy". indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  16. King, Ian; Morrison, Neil; Veroeveren, Piet; Cruickshank, Mark (30 May 2013). "India 1985 – Regional Leagues: Calcutta League". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022.
  17. Chaudhuri, Arunava (2005). ""Khadims" Traders Cup 2005: from 1. upto 18. July 2005 across West Bengal". indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  18. Chaudhuri, Arunava (2007). ""Celebration" Trades Cup 2007". indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  19. Islam, Sirajul (2012). "Samad, Syed Abdus". In Islam, Sirajul; Haider, Mohammad (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  20. Haider, Rajib (10 June 2014). "আমাদেরও ছিল এক ফুটবল জাদুকর" [We also had a football wizard]. www.prothomalo.com (in Bengali). Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  21. "Sahu Mewalal passes away". Telegraph India. Archived from the original on 30 December 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  22. "Remembering India's most prolific centre forward — Sahoo Mewalal". sportskeeda.com. 30 October 2012. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  23. "Indian Legend Sahu Mewalal Passes Away". www.goal.com. Goal. 28 December 2008. Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  24. "Indian football legend PK Banerjee dies aged 83". India Today. 20 March 2020. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  25. "P. K. Banerjee Profile — Indian Football Player Pradip Kumar Banerjee Biography — Information on PK Banerjee Indian Footballer". www.iloveindia.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  26. "Legends of Indian Football – "Hall of Fame": P.K. Banerjee". www.indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  27. Mitra, Atanu (19 July 2015). "Legendary Indian coach Sushil Bhattacharya passes away". www.goal.com. Kolkata: Goal. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  28. "Indian Football "HALL OF FAME": KAJAL MUKHERJEE". indianfootball.de. IndianFootball. 2005. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  29. Roy, Gautam; Ball, Swapan (2007). "East Bengal Football Club – Famous Players". www.eastbengalfootballclub.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  30. "East Bengal Club, India – Records, Funs and Facts". eastbengalclubrecords.wordpress.com. East Bengal Club. 24 November 2014. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  31. Atsushi Fujioka, Arunava Chaudhuri (1996). "India - List of Calcutta/Kolkata League Champions". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  32. Sengupta, Somnath (8 March 2011). "The Glorious History Of IFA Shield". thehardtackle.com. The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  33. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the IFA-Shield". indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  34. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Durand Cup". Indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  35. List of Durand Cup tournament winners and runner-ups Archived 29 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  36. Morrison, Neil (2002). "India – List of Rovers Cup Finals". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  37. Chittu Shetty (11 August 2019). "Why this would be the right time to bring back 'Rovers Cup'". footballcounter.com. Football Counter. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  38. List of winners and runners-ups of the DCM Trophy Archived 23 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  39. Raunak, Majumdar (31 May 2019). "The DCM Trophy- Oldest Indian Tournament with International Exposure". chaseyoursport.com. Chase Your Sport. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  40. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Bordoloi Trophy". indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  41. Chaudhuri, Arunava. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Sait Nagjee Trophy". www.indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  42. "Sait Nagjee Trophy". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  43. Schöggl, Hans (2014). "India — List of Trades Cup Winners". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  44. Chaudhuri, Arunava (2004). ""Khadims" Traders Cup 2004". indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  45. Kumar Shil, Amrita (15 May 2022). "Football Culture in Princely State of Cooch Behar" (PDF). JHSR Journal of Historical Study and Search. 2. ISSN 2583-0198. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  46. Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2008). "Football in Bengali culture and society: a study in the social history of football in Bengal 1911–1980". Shodhganga. University of Calcutta. hdl:10603/174532. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  47. "Kolkatafootball.com, 14th darjeeling gold cup 2014". www.kolkatafootball.com. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  48. "DFA Udaipur enter finals of the MKM National Football Tournament for the first time in 43 years". udaipurtimes.com. Udaipur Times. 29 January 2023. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  49. "জয়ী ইস্টার্ন রেল" [Eastern Railway wins]. anandabazar.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Anandabazar Patrika. 21 July 2015. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  50. Mills, Megan S. (2001). "A most remarkable community: Anglo-Indian contributions to sport in India". Contemporary South Asia. Routledge. 10:2 (2): 223–236. doi:10.1080/09584930120083828. S2CID 145742265. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022. (Published online: "Routledge Contemporary South Asia"; 1 July 2010).
  51. Roy, Mohit (31 January 2023). "আমরা হকিতেও ছিলাম, পেট্রোরসায়ন শিল্পেও ছিলাম — সবই এখন অতীত" [We were in hockey, we were in the petrochemical industry — all in the past]. anandabazar.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Anandabazar Patrika. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  52. "Beighton Cup Winners and Runners-Up (1895—2019)". www.hockeybengal.org. Kolkata: Hockey Bengal. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  53. Bontra, Soumya (7 February 2022). "'Who will tell our story?': Shanti Mullick, the woman who took India to two AFC Cup finals". The Bridge. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  54. Shreekumar, S.S. (2020). The Best way forward: for India's Football. HSRA. ISBN 978-81-947216-9-7. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  55. "BIRTH AND EVOLUTION OF CALCUTTA HOCKEY LEAGUE COMPETITION (1905)". www.hockeybengal.org. Kolkata: Hockey Bengal. 2022. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  56. "The Cricket Association of Bengal: First Division Clubs". cricketassociationofbengal.com. Kolkata: Cricket Association of Bengal. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  57. Early History of Bengal Cricket leading to the formation of the Cricket Association of Bengal in 1928. Archived 23 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine. The Cricket Association Of Bengal (CAB). Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  58. "First Division". Cricket Association of Bengal. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  59. "জয়ী ইস্টার্ন রেল" [Eastern Railway wins]. anandabazar.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Anandabazar Patrika. 16 December 2022. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  60. "রাজ্য ভলিতে সেরা ইস্টার্ন রেল ও বৈষ্ণবঘাটা উদয় সংঘ" [Eastern Rail and Vaishnavaghata Uday Sangh best in state volley]. kolkataprimetime.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Kolkata Prime Time Sports. 11 January 2021. Archived from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.

Further reading

Bibliography

Others

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.