Origin and history of Mohun Bagan football club

The Mariners are widely regarded as one of the biggest and oldest clubs not only in India but worldwide.

Mohun Bagan are an institution that is synonymous with Indian football. In more than one way, the Mariners have acted as a heartbeat for Indian football and played a key role in the popularization of the sport in India.

The Kolkata heavyweights boast one of the largest and most passionate fanbases in Indian football and a rich history full of success and memories. Here we look at how Mohun Bagan has grown as a football club and an icon of the sport in the country, over the years, in chronological order.

Origin of Mohun Bagan (1889-1900)

At a period when football in India was mostly dominated by teams consisting of the British Armed Forces regiments’ teams, Mohun Bagan was created to give an identity to the aspiring local footballers in Kolkata. On 15 August 1889, the club was founded with prominent lawyer Bhupendra Nath Bose being the founding president and Jyotindra Nath Bose being the first secretary.

Mohun Bagan played their first official match in 1889 when they lost 0-1 to the Hindu Hostel team. The club normally played at a local level for years to come before they participated in their first tournament in the 1893 Coochbehar Cup. Unfortunately, they couldn’t match up to the strength of the British teams or other teams like the Aryan club, suffering an early elimination from the cup.

Revolution under Sailen Basu and iconic 1911 IFA Shield success (1900-1911)

Mohun Bagan faced a lot of ridicule for underperforming in competitions like the Coochbehar Cup and the Trades Cup. But then a major change was inspired by the appointment of Sailen Basu, who was a Subedar-major in the army.

He also started signing more players who could play wearing boots than barefoot, sparking a change in their approach and form. Under Basu’s guidance, Mohun Bagan clinched their first-ever title win by winning the 1904 Coochbehar Cup. They also defended the title successfully in 1905, beating IFA Shield champions Dalhousie in the final in that edition.

Mohun Bagan also won the Coochbehar Cup in 1907 as well as the Trades Cup in 1906, 1907, and 1908. Apart from the success on the field, Basu also played a vital role in getting Mohun Bagan their training premises. Thanks to his hard work, the Mohun Bagan club tent was formed in the Maidan area of Kolkata and the membership fees for fans were also increased.

The Mariners struggled for titles from 1908-1910 but then experienced the ultimate Euphoria in an iconic moment in their history in 1911. They produced an amazing outing in the IFA Shield and defeated prominent professional teams like Calcutta Rangers club, Rifle Brigade, and Middlesex Regiment to reach the final.

Playing in front of an 80,000-strong crowd, Mohun Bagan defeated the East Yorkshire Regiment team by producing an amazing 2-1 comeback win thanks to goals from captain Shibdas Bhaduri and Abhilash Ghosh. They became the first native Indian team to lift the IFA Shield title and their victory became not only a source of pride, but one of belief that inspired Indians to be able to fight back and vanquish the British.

Pre-Independence success after IFA Shield win (1911-1945)

The 1911 IFA Shield victory helped the Mariners gain a huge increase in popularity and confidence levels to compete for top honors in Indian football. They would stay among the premier all-Indian sides going forward after that, excelling in cup competitions and often ousting the British teams.

In 1921, the Mariners’ legendary rivalry with East Bengal was also created. They played the first Kolkata Derby in the semi-final of the 1921 Coochbehar Cup, with the match ending in a 0-0 draw. However, Mohun Bagan won the replay before going on to clinch the Coochbehar Cup.

From after their IFA Shield win in 1911 until India’s Independence in 1945, Mohun Bagan won 11 Coochbehar Cup titles. They also won the Trades Cup five times. In 1939, the Mariners also won the Calcutta Football League (CFL) title for the first time. They also won the league title two more times before independence to remain one of the most dominant teams in the country.

Post-Independence Years (1945-1960)

The initial post-independence years were a bit rough on Mohun Bagan. They couldn’t win the Calcutta Football League title in the 1940s after claiming it in 1944 and only won two IFA Shield titles the first five years after independence.

But the 1950s sparked a new dawn for the Mariners. With quality players like Sailen Manna, Abhay Ghosh, Runu Guha Thakurta, and Talimeran Aao, their resurgence began in 1951 when they won the CFL title after a seven-year wait. The Mariners also won the Durand Cup for the first time in 1953.

In the 1950s, they won the Durand Cup title twice, the CFL championship five times, and the IFA Shield on three occasions too. In 1954 and 1956, they clinched the CFL and IFA Shield double and also the CFL and Durand Cup double in 1959.

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Golden Years (1960-1965)

The 1960s began in blistering fashion for Mohun Bagan. After having created one of their strongest squads ever, the Mariners won the domestic treble in 1960 by clinching the CFL, IFA Shield, and Durand Cup in the same year.

They won the IFA Shield in 1961 and 1962 as well as the Durand Cup title in 1963 and 1964. In fact, from 1960 to 1965, the Mariners won 12 major trophies—excluding the Coochbehar Cup. During these years, they were blessed with iconic players like Chuni Goswami, T Abdul Rahman, Jarnail Singh, and Isaiah Arumainayigam.

Shaky years post Golden Generation (1965-1975)

Despite their dominance in the first five years of the 1960s, Mohun Bagan endured a bit of a slump because of the aging legs of their impressive squad. They couldn’t win the Durand Cup in the decade that followed after the 1965 win and also failed to win the CFL for four years after 1965.

They only won the IFA Shield title twice from 1965-1968. The year 1969, however, proved to be a prolific one for the Mariners as they won the CFL and IFA Shield titles double in the same year. But things started stuttering after that.

For the first three years of the 1970s, Mohun Bagan could not win any major trophies. To make things worse, they didn’t win a Kolkata Derby against East Bengal from 1969-1974. Their worst nightmare came true in the 1975 IFA Shield final when they suffered a 0-5 loss to their archrivals, and players had to hide in a boat in the Ganges to save themselves from the furious fans.

Revival under PK Banerjee and the famous Pele-Cosmos showdown (1975-1980)

The latter part of the 1970s sparked a revival for Mohun Bagan, with President Dhiren Dey working hard to create another strong squad after the 1975 IFA Shield setback. He brought in PK Banerjee as the new manager of the club, something which sparked a change in the tides in Kolkata and Indian Football as a whole.

In 1977, Mohun Bagan became the first Indian side to win the Triple Crown by claiming the IFA Shield, Durand Cup, and Rovers Cup in the same year. That year is also famous for their match against Cosmos FC, which featured Brazilian icon Pele. Mohun Bagan held their own to scratch out a 2-2 draw against Pele’s side, showing just how strong the team was.

In 1978, they won their first-ever Federation Cup as well as the IFA Shield and CFL title. In 1979, they won the CFL, IFA Shield, and Durand Cup treble to showcase their domination in Indian football and against East Bengal too. The likes of Subrata Bhattacharya, Shyam Thapa, Mohammed Habib, and Gautam Sarkar all played vital roles in maintaining their dominance.

Continued dominance in the 1980s (1980-1990)

Mohun Bagan continued to stamp their authority as one of India’s premier clubs by maintaining their title-run heading to the 1980s. Even though Indian football had a few setbacks, and the Indian national team had a bit of a gloomy period, the Mariners could not be stopped from winning trophies and asserting their authority.

In the 1980s decade, they won 14 major trophies – which included five Federation Cup titles, including in three straight years from 1980-1982. 1989 was an especially memorable year for Mohun Bagan, as they celebrated their centenary year (100 years) as a football club. In that same year, the Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, gave a speech at the centenary celebrations in the Mohun Bagan ground and dubbed them as the ‘national club of India’. Mohun Bagan were even etched into the postage stamp by the Indian government, becoming the first club to be blessed with this achievement.

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Introduction of foreign players and commercialization (1990-2000)

The Mariners began the 1990s decade pretty well by claiming the CFL title in 1990, winning it after a four-year gap. But in 1991, the Mohun Bagan management decided to take a bold step and break a club ‘tradition’ of sorts by introducing foreign players into the squad.

In 1991, they were able to convince former East Bengal forward Chima Okorie to join their club alongside Nigerian striker Bernard Oparanozie. That almost resulted in instant success and 1992, the Mariners won the CFL, Federation Cup, and Rovers Cup treble. Chima scored over 100 goals for the club in his three years with them. Mohun Bagan won the Federation Cup, Durand Cup, and CFL treble in 1994 too, and the Federation Cup, IFA Shield double in 1998.

They won 12 trophies (including the Rovers Cup) in the 1990s, but a major change took place in 1998 as the club officials struck a deal with Vijay Mallya-owned United Breweries Group, agreeing to sell 50% of the stake of their football division, thus becoming a corporate-backed club. As a result, their name was also changed to McDowell’s Mohun Bagan.

That same year, they also won their first-ever National Football League (NFL) title as well as the IFA Shield and Federation Cup double. They won the NFL title again in the 1999-2000 season and ended the 1990s decade by clinching the 1999 IFA Shield championship. In 1999, Mohun Bagan also signed striker Jose Ramirez Barretto – who would go on to become one of their most iconic strikers ever.

Topsy-turvy initial decades of the 21st century (2000-2020)

Mohun Bagan’s journey in the first two decades of the 21st century was filled with ups and downs. They began the century by clinching the NFL title in 2000 and also won it in the 2001-02 season, but their national dominance was halted after that. Post winning the Durand Cup in 2000, the Mariners wouldn’t be able to clinch that title for decades to come.

Even though Mohun Bagan won four CFL titles from 2001-2009, that trophy started losing its prestige as Indian football grew and expanded, with more prominence being given to the national competitions. In the first decade of the 21st century, the Mariners won six prominent trophies and things would get a bit awry after 2010.

But through the first decade, one player that always kept them in the fight and became a club legend was Barreto. In his first stint (1999-2004), he scored over 130 goals for the Mariners. He returned to the club in 2006 and scored over 100 goals in the next six years too. The Brazilian scored 94 goals in the NFL/I-League for them, a record that is yet to be ousted.

The Mariners kept fighting for the I-League (which was restructured from the NFL) and won the title in the 2014-15 campaign, ending a 13-year drought from the national championship. From 2010-2020, the Mariners won two league titles and just a single Federation Cup.

RPSG takeover and ISL introduction (2020-present)

By 2020, it was clear that the Indian Super League (ISL) would be the top division of Indian football and Mohun Bagan did not want to keep playing in the second division. As a result, in January 2020, the Sanjiv Goenka-owned RPSG group acquired the football division of Mohun Bagan and renamed the club to ATK Mohun Bagan FC – which would start playing in the ISL from the 2020-21 season.

Their first season in the ISL was quite exciting, but the Mariners came up short as Mumbai City FC beat them to the trophy. They came second in the league stages and lost to the Islanders in the ISL playoffs final too. In the 2021-22 season, Mohun Bagan finished third in the league stages in the ISL and were knocked out of the semi-finals in the playoffs.

But in 2022-23 campaign, they were finally able to achieve some glory. The Mariners fought their way to win the ISL playoffs title under Juan Ferrando, defeating Bengaluru FC in the final. Exactly after that final, the club owner Sanjiv Goenka revealed that the club’s name would be changed to Mohun Bagan Super Giant from the 2023-23 season after years of protests from supporters to remove the ‘ATK’ branding from the club.

Mohun Bagan began their ‘new era’ in the 2023-24 campaign in blistering fashion. Despite a dramatic campaign, they won the ISL league championship – resulting in their first major league title win since the 2019-20 I-League championship. The Mariners also won the 2023 Durand Cup, putting an end to a 23-year drought to that title.

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