Kolkata Derby


Kolkata Derby, locally known as "Boro Match" , is the football match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. The rivalry between these two teams is almost 100 years old, and the matches witnessed large audience attendance and rivalry between patrons. It is considered to be one of, if not the biggest Asian footballing rivalry. The first match was played on 8 August 1921 in Coochbehar Cup and last match of this historical derby was played on 19 January 2020 in I-League. Recently Mohun Bagan got merged with another Kolkata based Indian Super League club ATK.
The two clubs met at least 3 times a year, twice in the I-League and once in the Calcutta Football League. Often these two clubs met in other competitions like the Federation Cup, the IFA Shield, the Durand Cup etc.
Both teams have huge and dedicated fan bases around the world. Both clubs represent a specific class of Bengali people, Mohun Bagan represented people existing in the western part of Bengal, while East Bengal is primarily supported by people hailing from the eastern part of pre-independence Bengal province.
Culturally, this derby is very similar to the Scottish Professional Football League's Old Firm derby, since a majority of the Mohun Bagan supporters represent the 'nativist' population and a majority of the East Bengal fans represent the 'immigrant' population. However, some people having Bangladeshi origin also support Mohun Bagan. Similarly, some people of Bengali origin support East Bengal.

Origins

is one of the oldest existing club of India having been established in 1889 in the city, then known under its anglicized name, Calcutta and till date one of the two most successful clubs in India, the other being East Bengal Club. The significant British influence in what was, until 1911, the nation's capital, ensured the game flourished, drawing players from other regions, and it is against this backdrop in which today's rivalry took root.
In 1920, the Jora Bagan club took field against Mohun Bagan who chose play without their star halfback Sailesh Bose, much to the chagrin of club vice-president Suresh Chandra Chaudhuri. Such was the industrialist's displeasure, he decided to form a new club and East Bengal FC was born. As Chaudhuri and his co-founders hailed from East Bengal, essentially now modern-day Bangladesh, the club is now generally supported by people who migrated from that region. This resulted in the clubs being backed by two different socioeconomic groups, although this has largely changed over period of time.The first ever clash happened on 8 Aug 1921 in Cooch behar cup which ended in a goalless draw. Mohun Bagan won the replayed semi final on 10 Aug 1921 by defeating East Bengal 3-0. The goal scorers were Rabi Ganguly, Paltu Dasgupta and Abhilash Ghosh.
The first ever league meeting happened on 28 May 1925 in the Calcutta Football League at the Mohun Bagan Ground where East Bengal won 1-0 with the help of a solitary goal from Nepal Chakraborty.
After many research, the overall matches including competitive, walk overs and friendlies matches data have been retrieved as far as possible. Though the data is just an approximation, it is believed that the tally of overall meetings stands at 367 matches up till now, where East Bengal have been triumphant 129 times while Mohun Bagan 118 times.
a Including: walkovers, competitive matches.

Colours


Brief history of the Derby

The 1960s proved a golden period for Mohun Bagan and it concluded in perfect fashion for the Mariners. Having already won the league, Mohun Bagan then did the double, defeating their rivals on their own ground in the IFA Shield final. The 3–1 victory credited to the then revolutionary 4–2–4 formation employed by innovative coach Amal Dutta.The wheel eventually turned, and the 1970s was East Bengal's decade. The Red and Gold Brigade remained undefeated in the Derbies for 1932 days. Infact, They lost only one derby in six years which culminated in a 5–0 IFA Shield win over their great rivals. The Red and Golds won with a record 5–0 scoreline and, with it, a record of five consecutive Shield victories. Such was the ignominy surrounding the heavy defeat that several Mohun Bagan players spent the night holed up on a boat in the Ganges trying to escape the wrath of shell-shocked supporters. Umakanto Palodhi, an ardent Mohun Bagan fan, committed suicide. He wrote in his suicide note that in his next life he will born as a Mohun Bagan footballer and will take revenge of that 0–5 defeat.
On 16 August 1980, 16 football fans died due to stampede and riot inside the Eden Gardens stadium, Kolkata on the occasion of a Kolkata Derby match in the Calcutta Football League.
The tables turned again. Mohun Bagan won 8 derbies in a row scoring 16 goals in total thus humiliating the red and golds. The most memorable derby on many accounts took place in 1997 at the semi-final of the Federation Cup, when a remarkable crowd of 131,000 – a record attendance for any sport in India – filled a heaving Salt Lake Stadium. India's most recognizable footballer, Baichung Bhutia, took centre stage, scoring a hat-trick as East Bengal FC triumphed 4–1. In 2009, Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal 5–3 with Chidi Edeh scoring a hat-trick for Bagan.
On 6 September 2015, another memorable derby took place when East Bengal FC equaled the record for the highest margin of victory in a Calcutta Football League Derby as they triumphed 4-0 against Mohun Bagan. South Korean forward Do Dong-hyun scored a free-kick brace while Mohammed Rafique and Rahul Bheke scored the other two as the Red and Gold brigade matched their own record which they set back on 23 May 1936, when they defeated the Green and Maroons by the similar 4-0 scoreline with goals from Laxminarayan, K. Prasad, Murgesh and Majid.

First official derby

Statistics

Trophy counts of and

CompetitionMohun Bagan Runners-UpEast Bengal Runners-Up
National Football League / I-League46
Federation Cup68
Durand Cup1110
Indian Super Cup22
Rovers Cup104
Calcutta Football LeagueUnaccountedUnaccounted
IFA Shield1912
All Airlines Gold Cup53
Bordoloi Trophy13
Sikkim Gold Cup21

Recent records of Kolkata Derby

The records of the meetings between the sides since 2014 have been listed below.

Head-to-head ranking in National Football League/I-League (1996–97 to 2019-20)

Note
Red & Gold refers to East Bengal, while Green & White refers to Mohun Bagan
Mohun Bagan got relegated in the first season, but was given backdoor entry by then AIFF president Priya Ranjan Dashmunshi.
Only Championship Stage matches taken into account.

Note(s)

On 7 September 2016, a match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal was turned into a walkover win for East Bengal after Bagan decided not to field a team for this game as they claimed their team should've got some time to practise on the pitch which they weren't allowed to, and hence East Bengal was awarded 3 goals and walkover victory.