Bhawanipore FC

Main entrance of the Bhawanipore Football Club tent in Kolkata Maidan, West Bengal.

Bhawanipore Football Club was founded in 1910 by Nani Mitra in Bhowanipore, Kolkata.[12] After the independence of India, Robi Das became the first ever footballer from Bhawanipore who represented India in men's tournament at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.[13] The club in 1948, reached the final of IFA Shield and finished as runner-up after a 2–1 defeat to Mohun Bagan.[14][15][16] In January 2012, they were officially certified by the All India Football Federation to participate in the I-League 2nd Division, the second tier of football in India.[10][17] After playing 6 games during the season Bhawanipore ended in 6th place out of 7 in Group C and thus failed to move to the Final half. They have also participated in domestic tournaments such as IFA Shield,[18] and Durand Cup. In the 1960s, Bhawanipore have gone through rivalries with two of India's most successful clubs Mohun Bagan and East Bengal in CFL.[19] Notable Bengali footballers Asim Moulick and Parimal Dey appeared with the club in 1971.[20]

In 2013, Bhawanipore clinched the Bordoloi Trophy, defeating Aizawl 1–0.[21] They achieved third place in the 2013 I-League 2nd Division.[22] In next season, the club participated in 2014 I-League 2nd Division and moved to the final round of I-League qualifiers,[23] and achieved second place with 17 points in 8 matches.[24][25][26][27] In May 2018, they officially announced that legendary defender Subrata Bhattacharya was appointed as new head coach.[28][29]

In the 2019–20 I-League 2nd Division, Bhawanipore participated and made it to the final round of I-League qualifiers.[30] Sankarlal Chakraborty was appointed as head coach and they signed who foreign players; Liberian Ansumana Kromah and Ghanaian Philip Adjah.[31][32] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, usual final round format was scrapped off. It was decided that the final round of the league will be rescheduled into a new format and all the non-reserve teams from the preliminary stage will automatically progress to this round. It was officially named as I-League Qualifiers.[33] The teams from the preliminary round were scheduled to play in a round-robin format in two venues, at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata and Kalyani Stadium in Kalyani, near Kolkata to advance to the 2020–21 I-League.[34][35][36][37] Bhawanipore finished on the second position of the league table at the end of I-League qualifiers, with 9 points in 4 matches.[38][39] In 2022 Calcutta Premier Division, Bhawanipore as group champion, qualified to "super six" round and finished as runner-up, behind Mohammedan Sporting.[40][41] In June 2023, the Indian Football Association made an announcement that the merger of both Premier Division A and B of the Calcutta Football League have done ahead of its 125th edition, in which Bhawanipore was allowed to compete in Group II.[42][43][44][45] The club later qualified for CFL "Super Six" round.[46]

In 2012, Sangbad Pratidin became a premium sponsor of the club and they were also affiliated with Mohun Bagan AC.[47] Sangbad Pratidin Bhawanipore Football Club Private Limited was incorporated on 22 December 2011. Its last annual general meet (AGM) happened on 29 September 2017.[47] Its current board members and directors are Ashok Kumar Tiwari and Arun Sengupta.

An outside view of Kalyani Stadium

Bhawanipore Football Club currently plays at the 20,000 seater Kalyani Municipal Corporation Stadium in Kalyani. They also use Rabindra Sarobar Stadium for some of their home matches.[48]

Football is pretty famous in Bhawanipore. A club recognised Bhowanipore fan club by the name West Bengal Palace, has been in support since 2019. The Kalyani Municipal Corporation Stadium main galleries have seen an average attendance of 20,000. The players and the coach have often acknowledged the fans' support in the success and called them The 12th Man.

Bhawanipore has the rivalries with other two Calcutta Football League sides Kalighat Milan Sangha and Tollygunge Agragami FC, which is often referred to as the "South Kolkata Derby".[50]

Key

• Tms. = Number of teams
• Pos. = Position in league
• Attendance/G = Average league attendance

• Football in Kolkata
• List of football clubs in Kolkata

Cited sources

Bibliography

• Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
• Majumdar, B. (2006). "Cricket in colonial Bengal (1880–1947): A lost history of nationalism". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 23 (6): 960–990. doi:10.1080/09523360600802562. S2CID 216152701.
• Martinez, Dolores; Mukharji, Projit B (2009). Football: From England to the World: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-88353-6. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022.
• Dineo, Paul; Mills, James (2001). Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora. London, United Kingdom: Frank Cass Publishers. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7146-8170-2. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022.
• Nath, Nirmal (2011). History of Indian Football: Upto 2009–10. Readers Service. ISBN 9788187891963. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022.
• "Triumphs and Disasters: The Story of Indian Football, 1889—2000" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
• Majumdar, Boria; Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). A Social History Of Indian Football: Striving To Score. Routledge. ISBN 9780415348355. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021.
• Basu, Jaydeep (2003). Stories from Indian Football. UBS Publishers' Distributors. ISBN 9788174764546. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022.

Further reading

• Sarkhel, Ujjal (9 August 2016). "Mohammedan SC suffers first loss; go down 1–2 to Tollygunge". Kolkata: Thif-Live.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
• "আই লিগের দ্বিতীয় ডিভিশনে ভবানীপুরের দূর্গ সামলাবেন শিল্টন" [Shilton will handle Bhawanipur's fortress in the second division of I-League]. bangla.hindustantimes.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Hindustan Times Bengali. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
• Ganguly, Abhishek (14 April 2014). "Wahingdoh ready to make presence felt". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Kolkata: The Times of India. TNN. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
• Majumdar, Debabrata (4 August 2016). "East Bengal beat Bhawanipore to start Calcutta Football League campaign". The Home of Indian Football Live. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
• "আর্জেন্টাইন কোচ ছাঁটাই, বেঙ্গালুরুর ক্লাবে হেডস্যার হয়ে ফিরছেন শঙ্করলাল" [Argentine coach sacked, Sankarlal is back as heqd coach, this time with Bengaluru United]. thewall.in (in Bengali). Kolkata: The Wall Bureau News. 3 August 2023. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
• "I-League – Squad: Bhawanipore Football Club". I-League.org. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.

• Bhawanipore FC on Facebook
• Bhawanipore FC at Soccerway
• Bhawanipore FC at the-aiff.com