East Bengal Ultras


East Bengal Ultras, also known as Bangal Brigade, is the vocal supporters' movement for Indian club, East Bengal FC, which competes in I-League, one among the two co-existing premier football leagues in India. Founded in 2013, it was the first ever Ultras group in Indian football and revolutionised the Indian football fan movement. They are the first supporters' group in India to organise a pyro-show on-field and first in South Asia to organise a live chant show, named Tunes of Colony, in 2019. Currently, they have around 25 chants and slogans.
East Bengal Ultras are known for making some of the largest unique tifos. In 2019-20 I-League season, they set a record for the biggest tifo——in Indian football history, and broke the previous record of which had also been set by the East Bengal Ultras.

Supported club

East Bengal is one of India's oldest and most successful football clubs and has won multiple international trophies. In 1970, when they defeated Iran's PAS Tehran Football Club in the IFA Shield final, over 80,000 East Bengal fans lit torches and held them up as a sign of their victory and dominance. Since then the fans have followed the tradition of lighting up the torches in the terraces.

Initial years: 2013–2016

In 2013, East Bengal Ultras made their first appearance in an away game against Bengaluru FC in Bengaluru. They introduced smoke shows in the 2015 Calcutta Football League Kolkata Derby, which East Bengal won by a score of 4–0. They made the first and big Tifo in the 2016 Kolkata Derby at the Salt Lake Stadium in Bidhannagar. It had the shape of a large East Bengal Jersey which had the number 12 printed on the back, indicating the fans were the club's 'twelfth man'. It was unique and was the first time something like this had been seen in Indian Football. This tifo became very popular.
In the 2015–16 I-League East Bengal Ultras presented colourful mosaic shows at matches against Bengaluru FC and Salgaocar FC in the Barasat Stadium. These were firsts in India's fan culture. East Bengal Ultras created history in the 2016 CFL opening match in the Kalyani Stadium, where they displayed South Asia’s first ever 3D tifo which had an East Bengal player holding the CFL Trophy with the backdrop of the Kolkata Skyline and a written slogan— Kolkata Amader —due to their commanding display in the Calcutta Football League.

Growth of ultras culture: 2017–present

East Bengal Ultras introduced pole flags and a scarf show against Aizawl FC in 2016–17 I-League campaign. The first big tifo of 2017 was another 3D tifo against Bengaluru FC. These attracted coverage by foreign sports media such as Copa90, Ultras-tifo, Football Fans Asia, 11 Freunde, Exhale Sports and ultras groups of various football clubs as they created a never-before-seen atmosphere in Indian Football. The entire stadium was filled with red and yellow smoke. East Bengal Ultras have also backed the youth team of the club. The ultras activities performed during the U18 and U16 derbies against fierce rivals Mohun Bagan prompted a lot of discussion on fan forums. The ultras group started with around 10 people and by 2019, they expanded to thousands, along with 100 to 150 core members.

Pyro show

At an 18 August 2018 CFL game played between East Bengal and Aryan F.C. scores of pyros were lit at the end of the game. Fans sang in their loudest voices and caught the attention of the rival fans and players. A powerful corteo to the venue was accompanied by a smoke show at the start of the game. It was the first and largest pyro-show in Indian football.

Tunes of Colony

To celebrate the club's centenary year, the Ultras came up with an event called 'Tunes of Colony' on 31 July 2019. It was organised at the Sovabazar Natmandir temple, and was the first-ever chant-based musical show in Indian and South Asian Football. The event was a hit among the East Bengal fans.

Tifos

The 2018–19 saw East Bengal FC defeat their arch rivals winning both Kolkata Derbies in the I-League. The East Bengal Ultras won the fan battles. On 16 December 2018, in the Home Derby, the Bangal Brigade unfurled a gigantic tifo depicting a classic jibe between the fans of both clubs. This tifo became an instant hit among the fans and was even covered by BBC.
On 27 January 2019, in the return Derby, East Bengal Ultras put on display the 2nd largest tifo in Indian football. This was covered by sports media like Ultras-tifo. Around in size, it depicted the struggles their ancestors faced during the Partition of India showing how the East Bengal Club became an inspiration for their daily struggle in life. The fans also put on a smoke show before the match.
East Bengal Ultras unveiled a huge banner at the FIFA world cup Qualifiers match against Bangladesh. It portrayed the front page of The Times of India after India won the 2011 ICC World Cup. The banner displayed the message—"Dream Comes True!". Apart from that they supported the Indian team for whole 90 minutes with continuous chanting and Viking Claps even after the match finished in a draw.
On 4 December 2019, in the match against Real Kashmir, the first game of 2019-20 I-League campaign at the Kalyani Stadium, East Bengal Ultras presented a tifo—the largest in Indian Football so far. It was presented in the form of a book showing five major achievements in the history of East Bengal. In December 2019, the USA-based media outlet The18 featured the East Bengal Ultras and showcased their "History Book" tifo.

Controversy

The East Bengal Ultras caused a controversy in January 2020, when during the 2019-20 I-League first leg Kolkata Derby match, they unfurled a tifo which had statements regarding the National Register of Citizens. There was a banner written in Bengali that said, "We bought the land with our Blood, and not with Papers". The official statement from the Ultras group was that the tifo was an answer to the racist jibes from their arch-rival fans. However, the incident led to political groups making an issue of the situation and stirred up in controversy within the Ultras group.

Chants and slogans

East Bengal Ultras has always been very vocal since its inception. One thing that the East Bengal Ultras have brought to Indian Football is football chanting. The infamous abusive Kolkata football crowd needed to be eradicated so as to bring positiveness from the stands and the sense of belonging to the players and team throughout the 90 minutes.
Amra Korbo Sringojoy and Haat e Moshal, Buk e Barood; Amra Holam, Lal Holud was one of the initial chants that echoed through the stands. Since then, a number of chants and slogans have been adopted, modified and re-structured based on the highs and lows of the East Bengal FC. These are sung by everyone on match days. The East Bengal Ultras come up with new tunes and chants every year, adapting tunes from Ultras in Europe and South America. "Dale Cavese" was one of the most famous tunes that became popular with the East Bengal Ultras. "Allez Allez Allez" sung by Liverpool FC fans, which was itself adapted from "Un giorno all'improvviso" sung by the S.S.C. Napoli fans, was adopted into Bengali and became an instant hit among the Red and Gold Brigade.