East Bengal appoint Stephen Constantine as new head coach

The tactician will take the reigns of the team for the 2022-23 season.

Former Indian national football team head coach Stephen Constantine has been appointed as the head coach of Emami East Bengal. Most recently, Constantine was the head coach of Cypriot club Pafos and beat off competition from former Mumbai City manager Jorge Costa. 

East Bengal’s announcement on the appointment said, "Emami Group and East Bengal Club are delighted to announce that the former India national team head coach, Stephen Constantine has been appointed as our Head Coach for the 2022-23 football season." The Englishman also put out a Tweet conveying his excitement.

About the Coach

Born in London, 59-year-old Stephen Constantine saw his playing career cut short cruelly with a serious knee injury. He had to retire from playing football at the age of 26 after having represented American clubs Pennsylvania Stoners and New York Pancyprian-Freedoms. 

His extensive managerial experience has seen him oversee operations in nine different countries. He began his coaching career in the United States and Cyprus before coaching the Nepalese national team between 1999 and 2001, where he was awarded a medal by the King of Nepal. He coached India for the first time between 2002 and 2005 and then was Milwall’s first-team coach in 2006. 

Constantine was named the Malawi national team’s manager in 2007 and then went on to coach the Sudan national team in 2009. He went back to coaching clubs in the Cypriot domestic leagues till 2013, taking charge of APEP, Nea Salamis Famagusta and Ethnikos Achna. During his next stint as the assistant manager of Greek club Apollon Smyrni, Constantine setup the British Coaches Abroad Association in November 2013. 

He returned to coaching national teams, starting with the Rwandan national team in May 2014 and taking them to their highest FIFA ranking of 68. Constantine came back at the helm of the Indian national team between 2015 to 2019. When he took over, India was ranked 173 in the world. Constantine kick-started the revival with the SAFF Championship victory and a subsequent 13-game unbeaten run. He helped India achieve a ranking of 97 in December 2018. 

East Bengal’s preparations for ISL 2022-23

After a frustrating start to the pre-season and even having to contend with a transfer ban, last ISL season’s basement dwellers finally have some positive news to look forward to. The club will sign an agreement with investors Emami on August 2nd. The AIFF revoked the club’s transfer ban on July 22nd and since then, EB have made moves to sign Ivan Gonzalez, Mobashir Rahman, Mohammed Rakip, Suryash Jaiswal, Dip Saha, Aditya Patra, Nabi Hussain Khan. The Red and Gold Brigade have also been linked to Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan and Jobby Justin. 

This will be the first time Stephen Constantine coaches an Indian club. While most other teams have already made multiple signings and boast of nearly completed squads, East Bengal will look to scrape together what’s left and hope for a revival under a legendary coach. 

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