Aryan Football Club (also known as both Aryans and Aryan; formerly Techno Aryan FC for sponsorship reasons) is an Indian professional multi-sports club based in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, known predominantly for its association football section. The club competes in the Calcutta Football League, oldest league in Asia. Founded in 1884 as "Aryan Sports Club", it started playing football some years later, making it one of Asia's oldest football clubs. It plays home matches at the East Bengal-Aryan Ground.

History

Formation and journey (1884–1930)

During the age of associations of

Bengali nationalism Bengali nationalism (, ) is a form of ethnic nationalism that focuses on Bengalis as a single ethnicity by rejecting imposition of other languages and cultures while promoting its own in Bengal. Bengalis speak the Bengali language and mos ...

in late 19th century, Sir Dukhiram Majumder, Kalicharan Mitra, Manmatha Ganguly were the pupils of Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari, who practiced and popularized football. Majumder founded a sporting organization named "Students Union" in Mohun Bagan Villa. When the organization discontinued due to disagreements over wearing boots, Majumder went on to form Aryans Club in

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

Durga Charan Laha's Telipara field in Shyampukur. Before the advent of

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

and Mohammedan Sporting, it was Aryan (then known as ''Aryans Club'') and Mohun Bagan, who enjoyed an elite status among Indian football clubs. Founded in 1884 as a multi-sports club, association football was introduced in Aryan few years later and thus it became one of the oldest football clubs in India. Dukhiram Majumder (1875–1929) became father figure of Aryans during the pre-independence era, regarded as first coach of India who brought up and guided players like Syed Abdus Samad, Gostha Pal, Shibdas Bhaduri and others. Forming a coaching institute within the club, he managed the team throughout his life. It was Majumder, who started Aryan's famous policy of bringing up unknown yet talented footballers. In 1914, the

Indian Football Association The Indian Football Association, abbreviated as IFA, is the organisation that administers football in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the oldest football association in India and was founded in 1893. Among the founders was former Engli ...

(IFA) permitted only two native clubs in the CFL Second Division; It Aryan one of them. In that season, Mohun Bagan earned promotion to the Premier Division but Aryan was promoted to the top division two years later. Syed Abdus Samad joined Aryans in 1915. Under Majumdar's coaching, Aryan achieved fourth place in 1920–21 Calcutta Football League and reached the semi-finals of Rovers Cup in 1928. Legendary footballers Balaidas Chatterjee and Karuna Bhattacharya appeared with Aryan at that time.

1930–1960

While Aryan didn't enjoy the same degree of success as Mohun Bagan, they did perform well in patches. The club participated consecutively in the Calcutta Football League with their rivals, and Mohammed Salim ( first Indian footballer who played for an overseas club) was one of the legendary players who appeared with Aryan in 1933–34. In the mid-1930s, Dukhiram's nephew Santosh Kumar "Chone" Majumder became head coach of the club. One of Aryan's greatest moments came in 1940, that year, they won

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, and was named after the association. The IFA Shield to ...

defeating Mohun Bagan 4–1, one of India's premier tournaments. They became only the 3rd Indian run club to win the prestigious title. Moreover, they crushed Mohun Bagan 4–1 in the final. In the 40s, Alil Dey and Modassar Yasin Ali Khan from

Tangail Tangail (, ) is a city of Tangail District in central Bangladesh. A significant city in Bangladesh, Tangail lies on the bank of the Louhajang River, northwest of Dhaka, the nation's capital. Etymology ''Tangail'' originates from the Beng ...

, became two of the earliest known Bangladeshi footballers to play for the club. Sheeo Mewalal Indian football player 1950s

Aryan enjoyed another spell of success in mid-1950s, reaching the final of IFA Shield in 1955 and 1956 with an ageing Sahu Mewalal in their ranks, who scored multiple hat-tricks for the team. He also emerged as top scorer of CFL in 1949, 1951, 1953, 1954, and 1958. Before or after gaining independence from the

British raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, Aryan participated in every Calcutta Football League editions (until the formation of Premier Division B), which is Asia's oldest football league. During that time, legendary players from Bengal including Sanat Seth have appeared with the club colours.

1960–1980

As the years progressed they gradually lost their status as a top club, instead Aryan became the breeding ground of some of the most famous players in Kolkata maidan. Players like Pradip Kumar Banerjee, Prasun Banerjee, Sanat Seth, Pradyut Barman, Goutam Sarkar, Jahar Das, and Sudhir Karmakar started out in Aryan, before moving on to the bigger clubs. Balai Dey, the only footballer who represented the two nations

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in international football, appeared with Aryan in 1967. Other than another IFA Shield win in 1983 (title shared with East Bengal), Aryan didn't achieve a lot of success in modern era. On the morning of 5 August 1971, the

Naxalite Naxalism is the communist ideology of the Naxalites or Naxals, a grouping of political and insurgent groups from India. It is influenced by Maoist political sentiment and ideology. Inspired by Maoism, Charu Majumdar wrote the Historic Eight ...

intellectual and poet

Saroj Dutta Saroj Dutta (March 13, 1914 – August 5, 1971) popularly known comrade SD, was an Indian communist intellectual and poet, active in the Naxalite movement in West Bengal in the 1960s. He was the first West Bengal state secretary of Communist Pa ...

was killed by the police in the grounds of the Aryan club on the Calcutta maidan. In 1975, Aryan emerged champion of Sir Churachand Singh Memorial Football Tournament defeating Rajasthan Club.

1990–present

In 1998, Aryan reached the final of All Airlines Gold Cup but lost 4–3 to

in penalty-shootout. They again finished on second position in 2010. In 2019, the club tent in Kolkata Maidan was refurbished. In June 2023, the Indian Football Association (IFA) announced the merger of both Premier Division A and B of the Calcutta Football League (CFL) ahead of its 125th edition, in which Aryan was included in Group II. In a match of that league season on 19 July, Aryan striker Saikat Sarkar scored a stunning goal from side volley against Calcutta Customs; soon the IFA sent clippings of that goal to the

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

for Puskás Award.

Home ground

Aryan FC plays most of their home matches of Calcutta Premier Division at the East Bengal Ground, which is located in

Kolkata Maidan Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

area and has a capacity of 23,500 spectators. East_Bengal_Ground_layout

The stadium is officially known as East Bengal–Aryan Ground, having Aryan AC gallery in its northeastern part. EB-Ground

Sponsorship

The club is currently being sponsored by the Techno India Group, which is a group of

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

and

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

colleges, public schools. JIS University is the shirt sponsor. The club also acquired service of Trak-Only as their main shirt sponsor.

Current squad

Notable players

''The players below, had '' senior/youth international cap(s)'' for their respective countries, or, have appeared in domestic league matches representing Aryan FC (years in brackets indicate their spells at the club).'' * Syed Abdus Samad (1913) * Balaidas Chatterjee (1927–1930) * Karuna Bhattacharya (1928–1930) * Osman Jan (1930s) * Mohammed Salim (1933–34) * Sahu Mewalal (1945–46; 1956–57) * Amal Dutta (1950s) * Sanat Seth (1951–52) * Pradyut Barman (1951–52) * Pradip Kumar Banerjee (1955–1967) * Tarapada Ray (1956–57) * Balai Dey (1967) * Prasun Banerjee (1970s) * Gautam Sarkar (1970s) * Charles Efemena (2010–2012) * Bello Razaq (2018–19) * Orok Essien (2018–2019; 2021) * Alfred Jaryan (2021–2023)

Managerial history

* Dukhiram Majumder (?–1928) * Santosh "Chone" Majumder (1930s) * Dasu Mitra (1953–1955) * Amal Dutta (1960–1962) * Raghu Nandi (2010–2012) * Raju Ekka (2014–2017) * Rajdeep Nandi (2018–present)

Honours

League

* CFL Second Division **Champions (2): 1991, 1996–97

Cup

Fourth oldest football tournament, organized by the IFA ( W.B.), and played between the local clubs of

and other invited ones. **Champions (2): 1940, 1983 **Runners-up (2): 1955, 1956 * Trades Cup **Champions (1): 1913 * Cooch Behar Cup **Champions (5): 1908, 1910, 1932, 1933, 1934 * Bordoloi Trophy **Champions (2): 1965, 1966 * All Airlines Gold Cup **Runners-up (2): 1998, 2010 * Churachand Singh Trophy **Champions (1): 1975 * Lal Bahadur Shastri Cup **Champions (1): 1978 * Rovers Cup **Runners-up (1): 1950 *Independence Day Cup (WB) **Runners-up (1): 1999 *Manik Upadhayay Memorial Trophy **Runners-up (1): 2022 *Naihati Gold Cup **Runners-up (1): 2023

Other departments

Cricket

;Men's cricket The men's

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

section of Aryan is affiliated with the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). The club also participates in First Division League, J.C. Mukherjee T-20 Trophy, P. Sen Trophy and other regional tournaments. Noted among players of Aryan, was Bidhu Mukherji, who was part of the India team that toured

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1911. ;Women's cricket The club operates women's cricket team, that usually takes part in CAB Women's Club T20 League annually. In 2025 season, they achieved runners-up position in the league, losing the final match to Mohammedan Sporting.

Men's hockey

Aryan formerly had a men's

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

section, which was affiliated to the Bengal Hockey Association (BHA), and participated in multiple nationwide tournaments including Beighton Cup. The team was once one of the powerful teams from Bengal, with having players from Engineering institution of the Jadavpur University. One of the notable players of the club is Ali Iqtidar Shah Dara, who represented both India and Pakistan at international level and appeared at the

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

and

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

Academy and youth football

In 2019, Aryan's 19 men's team participated in Zee Bangla Football League, a regional franchise-based league that featured teams like Mohun Bagan,

, and Mohammedan.

Footnotes

References

General sources

Bibliography

* * * *Dutta, P. L., ''Memoir of 'Father of Indian Football' Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary'' (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1944) (hereafter Memoir) * * * *Ghosh, Saurindra Kumar. ''Krira Samrat Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary 1869–1940'' (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1963) (hereafter Krira Samrat). *Roselli, John. ''Self Image of Effeteness: Physical Education and Nationalism in Nineteenth Century Bengal''. Past & Present (journal). 86 (February 1980). p. 121–48. *Sinha, Mrinalini. ''Colonial Masculinity, The Manly Englishman and the Effeminate Bengali in the Late Nineteenth Century'' (

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Manchester University Press Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England, and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with t ...

, 1995). *Chatterjee, Partha. ''The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and Post-colonial Histories'' (Calcutta:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1995). *Mason, ''Football on the Maidan'', p. 144; Dimeo, ''Football and Politics in Bengal'', p. 62. * * * * *
''From recreation to competition: Early history of Indian football''
. pp. 124–141. Published online: 6 Aug 2006. ''www.tandfonline.com''. Retrieved 30 June 2021. * * * * * *