History

Mohun Bagan Sporting Club, as it was initially known was founded on 15th August 1889. The club's first meeting was held at 14, Balaram Ghosh Street in Kolkata and included several high profile individuals including Bhupendranath Basu who waslater to become the President of the Indian National Congress. The club's first secretary was Jatindranath Basu.

The club's first ground was at the famous marble palace, known as Mohun Bagan Villa. It was situated at Fariapukur Street, in northern Kolkata. Not sufficiently large enough as football field, it is believed that Mohun Bagan played their first ever match on this very ground against the students of Eden Hindu hostel.The club's membership requirements at this time stipulated that the management required students to join with permission from their parents, and special attention was given to etiquette and education. Shortly before the club's first anniversary, students of Presidency College, who were also the members of Mohun Bagan, invited their professor, the famous grammatologist Prof. F.J. Rhow to visit.

Rhow pointed out that due to a lack of facilities for sports such as shooting and angling, the word 'Athletic' would be more appropriate. Thus, the club came to be known as "Mohun Bagan Athletic Club". The 2nd anniversary assembly was presided by Sir Thomas Holland who was later appointed as a member of Governor General Council.

In 1891, the benevolence of the Maharaja of Shyampukur, Durga Charan Laha saw the club's ground relocated to his grounds at Shyampukur. Later, with the assistance of Mr. Harry Lee, the chairman of Kolkata Corporation, the club's ground moved to Shyam Square which it now shared with the Aryans Club and Bagbazar Club.

Mohun Bagan's first tournament was the Coochbehar Cup, which was held in 1893. Mohun Bagan's first opponent team was a European team, the 'C' Company of Sussex Regiment.

The first sport to be played is reported to be football, but other games were soon introduced to the club. This included hockey, tennis, badminton and athletics. Cricket was introduced to the club's schedule in the 1900s. The annual athletics event at the club is held with great pomp and show.

The biggest event in the club calendar is the Mohun Bagan Day. This is held on July 29, which is the day the football team lifted the IFA Shield for the first time in 1911. The prestigious Mohun Bagan Ratna award is given to former greats of the club at this event. The club has many famous players who have worn the prestigious Green & Maroon jersey. These players have not only successfully represented the team, but also the Indian national football team.

A postage stamp was issued by the Government of India in 1989 during the club's centenary year to commemorate the 1911 victory of the team. Mohun Bagan's fans are proud of the fact that this has been the only postage stamp created in India for a club.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Mohun Bagan Athletic Club was established in the year 1889. It is the first ever-Indian Club to have won the IFA Shield defeating East Yorkshire Regiment by 2-1 on 29th July 1911 to create history and make the whole world sit up and take notice of the Indian struggle for freedom against imperial Britain. The Government of India released a postage stamp in 1989 to commemorate the famous victory and to honour the Club and it's Immortal Eleven for the fight for an oppressed country. This is the only postage stamp in India based on a Club. The Club was also declared as the “National Soccer Club of India”.

The Green & Maroon Brigade has a rich cultural and sporting heritage and million of dedicated fans spread all over the globe. In fact our Club is the only Indian side to have played against legendary footballer Pele. The match against Cosmos was played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 24th September 1977 and ended in a 2-2 draw. In 1990 another famous footballer Roger Milla came to Kolkata with the Cameroon Team to participate in a match against the Club. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club has won every single major domestic tournament played in India many times over. It won the Federation Cup in December 2006 at Kolkata to be crowned as the Champion Club of India.

It is the only Club in India to run a residential Football Academy (Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy at Durgapur)

The Senior Football Team also participated this year in two Exhibition matches organized by the Ministry of Sports, Republic of Mauritius and the Mauritius Football Association to commemorate the 40th Independence Anniversary of the nation. In the first match played on 11th March 2008, the Madagascar National Team beat Mohun Bagan by 2-0. In the next match played on 14th March 2008, Mohun Bagan held the Mauritius National Team to a 2-2 draw after leading 2-1.

The Senior Team also participated in a friendly exhibition match against a giant of world football, namely FC Bayern Munich of Germany on 27th May 2008 at Kolkata. A record 1,30,000 people came to the stadium and the match was telecast live by three TV channels simultaneously in India. Besides the match was also beamed in Europe. All this is a first ever in Indian Sports anywhere, anytime. This was also legendary Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn’s farewell match. The Team lost 0-3 but an experienced side lacking start players away on national duty put up a brave fight and won the hearts of the football fans.

Our U-12 Team won the Sahara Nursery Football League tournament organized by IFA(WB) without losing a single match. This team then went on to win the Yakult Danone Nations cup tournament organized by AIFF at Delhi and thereby earned the right to represent India in the tournament proper being held from 5th to 7th September 2008 at Paris, France alongwith 39 other countries from all over the world.

Coach : Karim Benchfaria
Players to be watched this season :
Bhaichung Bhutia,Jose Barretto ,Deepak Mondal,NS Manju,Mohan Raj.

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ACHIEVEMENTS

Tournaments Won	Winning years
National Football League (3 Times)	1997/98,1999/2000, 2001/02
Federation Cup(12 Times)	1978, 1980,1981, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2001,2006
Super Cup(1 Time)	2007
Calcutta Super/Premier Division League (27 Times)	1944, 1951,1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1976, 1978,1979, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2005,2007
IFA Shield(24 times)	1911, 1947,1948, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1989, 1998, 1999, 2003
Durand Cup (16 Times)	1953, 1959,1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1994, 2000
Rovers Cup(14 Times)	1955, 1966,1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1992, 2000
Sikkim Governer's Gold Cup (9Times)	1984, 1985,1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2001
Bordoloi Trophy (7 Times)	1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1996, 2001
Airlines Gold Cup (7 Times)	1989, 1991, 1993, 2000, 2002, 2004,2005
Nagjee Trophy(2 Times)	1978, 1981
McDowell's Cup(1 Time)	1996
DCM Trophy	1997