Eastern Railway Football Club (formerly known as both East Bengal Railway FC and Eastern Bengal Railway FC) is an Indian institutional 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 ...

. The club was incorporated in 1882. Its widely known

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team has mostly competed in CFL Premier Division B. Eastern Railway previously achieved more success in the highest division of the Calcutta Football League.

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 The Eastern Bengal Railway (full name: "Eastern Bengal Railway Company"; shortened EBR) was one of the pioneering railway companies that operated from 1857 to 1942, in the Bengal and Assam provinces of British India (now part of Bangladesh Railw ...

, and was operated predominantly by the British railwaymen and officials. In 1890s, they first participated in second division of the Calcutta Football League, and soon emerged as one of the dark horses in the competition, after gaining promotion to first division in 1913. 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. In mid-1920s, Indians have been allowed to play in the club. 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. They reached final of

Durand Cup The Durand Cup (also called the IndianOil Durand Cup Powered by Coal India Limited for sponsorship reasons) is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hosted by the ...

in 1927. The club later appeared in many top national tournaments like the

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 ...

, where they won the then top tournament in 1944. The club later won All-India Railway Championship thrice.

Post-independence era

After Indian independence in 1947, Eastern Railway managed to reach final of

Rovers Cup The Rovers Cup was an annual football tournament held in India, organized by the Western India Football Association. Incorporated in 1890, it was the third oldest tournament in India after Trades Cup. History Rovers Cup was incorporated by s ...

in 1949 but lost 3–0 to

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 ...

in title decider. The club (then known as "East Indian Railway Accounts") later finished as runners-up in

DCM Trophy The Delhi Cloth Mills Trophy, known simply as D.C.M. Trophy, was an invitational football tournament in India. It was held annually in New Delhi and was organised by the Delhi Cloth Mills tournament committee. It was India's first football tourn ...

too, twice in 1953 and 1957. In 1958, they again failed clinching title, beaten by Andhra Pradesh Police Club in final of Sait Nagjee Trophy in Kerala. After multiple runner-up finishes, best ever success achieved by Eastern Railway came into reality in 1958, when they won prestigious Calcutta Football League title under coaching of Bagha Shome, and became the first team outside the " Big Three" of Kolkata to do so. 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. In 1967, they won Bordoloi Trophy. Club former player and captain P. K. Banerjee managed Eastern Railway in 1971–72, before moving to the Kolkata giants

as head coach. The club was relegated from the CFL super division in 1985 after gaining thirteenth position.

2000–present

In 2002, Eastern Railway toured to Nepal and participated in Birthday Cup, organized by the

All Nepal Football Association The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) (Nepali language, Nepali: अखिल नेपाल फुटबल संघ (एन्फा)) is the governing body of football in Nepal. It is responsible for the Nepal national football team, men's ...

, in which they reached semi-final. In 2005, the club clinched Trades Cup title with win against Wari AC in final. In 2007, they reached the final of prestigious Trades Cup, but was defeated by then

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

side Chirag United 3–1. Nirmalendu Debnath managed the club in 2010. In 2010s, Kazam Analytics Limited was roped in as club's principal sponsor. In June 2023, 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) made an announcement that the merger of both Premier Division A and B of the Calcutta Football League was done ahead of its 125th edition, in which Eastern Railway was allowed to compete in group B. Prasanta Chakraborty managed the club in their first four league matches, until resigning after a 5–1 defeat to

on 27 July.

Ownership

Notable players

The club has been represented by many former

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 ...

members including Syed Abdus Samad, Santosh Nandy, Sahu Mewalal, Sanat Seth, Pradip Kumar Banerjee, Pradyut Barman, Kajal Mukherjee, Parimal Dey, Prasanta Sinha, Nikhil Nandy, Anil Nandy, Prabir Majumdar, and Asim Moulick. Legendary Indian football coach Sushil Bhattacharya played for the club from 1950 to 1956, and later became coach of the team. 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.

Honours

League

* Calcutta Football League **Champions (1): 1958

Cup

;International * Mahendra Gold Cup **Runners-up (1): 2004 ;Domestic *

**Champions (1): 1944 **Runners-up (1): 1957 *

**Runners-up (1): 1927 *

**Runners-up (1): 1949 *

**Runners-up (2): 1953, 1957 * Bordoloi Trophy **Champions (1): 1967 **Runners-up (1): 1968 * Sait Nagjee Football Tournament **Runners-up (1): 1958 * Trades Cup **Champions (3): 1910, 1924, 2005 **Runners-up (2): 2004, 2007 * Cooch Behar Cup **Champions (1): 1930 * Darjeeling Gold Cup **Champions (1): 1978 * Mohan Kumar Mangalam Football Tournament **Champions (1): 1980 *All-India Inter-Railway Trophy **Champions (4): 1994, 1999, 2003–04, 2005 *Vivekananda Gold Cup **Champions (1): 2015 *All-India RPF Football Championship **Champions (1): 2017

Other departments

Field hockey

Eastern Railway has its

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 ...

team that competed in both the prestigious Beighton Cup and Calcutta Hockey League. They clinched Beighton Cup title in 1929. One of the club's famous players is Richard Carr, who represented India at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

in Los Angeles and won gold medal. Legendary Indian footballer Shanti Mullick appeared with the club's women's hockey team. ;Honours * Beighton Cup **Champions (2): 1922, 1929 **Runners-up (1): 1934 * Calcutta Hockey League **Champions (3): 1982, 2017, 2018

Cricket

In Eastern Railway, 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 ...

has been practiced, and it is affiliated with the

Cricket Association of Bengal The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) is the governing body for cricket in the Indian state of West Bengal. It owns the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata, where its headquarters are located. CAB is a full member of the Board of Control for Cr ...

(CAB). It participates in regional tournaments such as First Division League, J.C. Mukherjee T-20 Trophy and P. Sen Memorial Trophy.

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. They have won both the 2021 and 2022 editions of the State Senior Volleyball Club Championship. ;Honours *WB State Senior Volleyball Club Championship **Champions (2): 2021, 2022

Basketball

Eastern Railway operates both men's and women's basketball teams. ;Honours *Federation Cup Women's Basketball Championship **Champions (1): 2019 *All-India Railway Women's Basketball Championship **Champions (3): 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22 *All-India Balkar Singh Cheema Memorial Championship **Champions (1): 2022–23 *Carmel Trophy Women's Basketball Championship **Runners-up (1): 2023

Tennis

Eastern Railway has tennis department and the club is an affiliated member of the Bengal Tennis Association (BTA).

References

General sources Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * * * Further reading * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Eastern Railway FC
at Soccerway
Eastern Railway FC
at BeSoccer {{West Bengal Sports Association football clubs established in 1882 Football clubs in Kolkata 1882 establishments in India Railway association football clubs in India