Which coaches have won National League titles with East Bengal FC?

East Bengal FC lifted the ISL 2025-26 title

East Bengal FC ended a 22-year-long wait to finally win another national league title after they clinched the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) title on the final day of the tournament. With a thrilling 2- 1 comeback win over Inter Kashi, the Torchbearers reached the pinnacle of Indian football once again to end Mohun Bagan SG’s run of winning the last two ISL titles.

A lot of credit absolutely goes to head coach Oscar Bruzon, who worked hard in building a championship-winning squad and had them playing entertaining, attacking football all season long. East Bengal were able to win the ISL title on the superiority of goal difference and goals scored, as they netted more goals than any other club in the 2025-26 ISL title.

Even though they had to work really hard and wait until the last minute to win the title, the fact that East Bengal won their first league title after 22 years gets the proverbial camel off their back.

It also now includes Oscar Bruzon in an exclusive club of East Bengal coaches to have guided the club to a national top division title.

Here, we look at which coaches have won national league titles with the Torchbearers.

Monoranjan Bhattacharya (2000-01 National Football League)

A bona fide Indian football legend, Monoranjan Bhattacharya enjoyed success with East Bengal as a player and manager. In his time with the Torchbearers in the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, he won the Calcutta Football League title six times, the Federation Cup thrice, and the Durand Cup four times. The sturdy defender would also win the South Asian Games gold medal twice with the Indian football team in the 1980s.

After retiring from football in 1993, Bhattacharya immediately started working on gaining his coaching qualifications. In 1996, he would get his first breakthrough as the East Bengal coach, spending two years with them and helping them win the 1996 Federation Cup.

He was brought back for a second stint in 2000, something which turned out to be prolific for the club. Monoranjan guided East Bengal to dominate the 2000-01 National Football League in what was a tight title race with Mohun Bagan.

The Torchbearers, however, ultimately won the title on the final day by piping the Mariners to the title by only a single point. Thus, Monoranjan became the first manager to help East Bengal win a major national league title – something that will help his name stay in a special place in club history.

Subhash Bhowmick (2002-03, 2003-04 National Football League)

Subhash Bhowmick’s devotion to East Bengal club can never be doubted, and his contributions for the club as a player and manager gained him utmost praise. The striker played for both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan in his career, winning the majority of his trophies with the Torchbearers. After the end of a prolific playing career, Bhowmick also started working towards his aspirations to become a football coach.

He was the East Bengal manager from 1992-2000, but his major achievements would come in his second stint. Bhowmick was able to help East Bengal win the 2002-03 National Football League title, finishing the campaign five points ahead of second-place Salgaocer. That campaign itself was an amazing one for the Red & Gold Brigade, who won the CFL, Durand Cup and IFA Shield titles.

Later in 2003, they’d also win the ASEAN Championship under Bhowmick. However, they weren’t done with that. East Bengal were able to retain their NFL title in the 2003-04 campaign, finishing four points ahead of Dempo to win back-to-back titles.

Bhowmick remains the only manager in East Bengal to guide them to two consecutive major league titles.

Oscar Bruzon (2025-26 Indian Super League)

After Bhowmick helped East Bengal win their second straight national football league title in 2004, it seems as though some bad luck was placed on the club. The Torchbearers kept fighting hard to win the major league title after the creation of the I-League in 2007.

However, during their 13-year stay in the I-League, they failed to win the title even once – despite fighting hard in a few title races. They joined the ISL from 2020, acquiring one manager after another and making a wholesale changes in their first five years – only to fail to win the title and mostly gain bottom-half finishes. Then, Oscar Bruzon arrived in 2024.

The Spaniard wasn’t able to do all that much in his first season, as East Bengal finished the 2024-25 ISL campaign in ninth position, eight points adrift of a playoff spot. However, Bruzon overhauled the squad with some major changes in the 2025 summer window – letting unnecessary players leave and bringing in some really quality domestic and foreign players. Thus, East Bengal created a strong squad for the 2025-26 ISL – which only began in February (2026).

However, the Red & Gold Brigade ended up the strongest in this reduced league, as they fought hard with Mohun Bagan, Mumbai City and Jamshedpur FC in the title race.

Ultimately, East Bengal were able to win the league title on the last day with a win over Inter Kashi – ousting their rivals to the trophy!

Bruzon has become the first foreign coach in East Bengal history to win a national league title and help the Torchbearers win their first ISL title as well!

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