East Bengal Ground

Coordinates: 22°33′34″N 88°20′38″E / 22.559479°N 88.343854°E / 22.559479; 88.343854
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

East Bengal Ground
Mohun Bagan
(1915–1963)

The East Bengal Ground, also known as East Bengal–Aryan Ground,[4] is the home stadium of East Bengal[5] and Aryan. The stadium has a capacity of 23,500 people. It is one of the venues for Calcutta Football League.

The stadium lies in the

Kolkata Maidan area on the northern side of Fort William and near the Eden Gardens cricket stadium. The Esplanade metro station on the North-South Corridor of the Kolkata Metro
is also nearby.

History

When

East Bengal Club started playing in the Calcutta Football League Second Division. Most of the matches were held at the Calcutta FC
Ground.

East Bengal Ground gallery

After the 1923 season,

Aryan F.C.
started sharing the club ground since then.

About

East Bengal Ground in 2019 during Calcutta Football League
East Bengal ground members gallery

The East Bengal Ground has galleries on three sides. The west side is the member's gallery with modern facilities like bucket seats and elevators installed. The half of west side is also shared with

East Bengal F.C. plays. The east side and north side galleries are still made of a temporary wooden and steel structure and are designated for non-member supporters. The playing pitch is about 100 metres x 60 metres in dimension. Just adjacent the stadium, below the member's gallery is the club tent and the main office located. In 2014, the club tent opened its own cafe lounge for the fans, just beside the members' gallery.[7]

Renovations

First Renovation in 1996

On 12 July 1996, the new Club Office or "Tent", which is popularly known in Kolkata maidan, was inaugurated by the oldest member of the East Bengal Club. The then club secretary Mr. Dipak "Poltu" Das gave the honour to Mr. Shankar Pillai (popularly known as Shankar Mali) who was the oldest groundsman and caretaker of the club, to inaugurate the new club tent in the presence of club legends like Ahmed Khan and Byomkesh Bose.

The club ground was renovated and a new office was setup at the place where it is currently situated. The playing field was relaid North to South and the new fans gallery was constructed.

Second Renovation post 2016

In 2016, renovations were done at the ground with entire playing field being relaid and galleries being renovated with member's gallery being filled in with Red and Gold bucket seats. Elevators were installed and the commentary box was modernised. The playing turf was relaid and drainage was improved for the ground. East Bengal FC officials informed the AIFF that they wanted to host I-League matches at the club ground after the heavy renovations.[8]

East Bengal Ground in August 2022

In 2018,

Tollygunge Agragami in the season opener, which was however abandoned due to heavy rains as the match was tied 1–1 at half time.[10]


A panorama of East Bengal Ground from East side gallery showing the members gallery and north gallery during 2019 Calcutta Football League

In 2023, East Bengal built a luxurious VVIP lounge at the East Bengal Ground and named it after Krishanu Dey.[11]

Other uses

East Bengal Ground layout

East Bengal Ground hosted numerous other matches of IFA Shield, Calcutta Football League,[12] and various under-aged league matches. It also hosted a number of matches for the 2019 Durand Cup.

In 1984, it served as the practice ground for the Argentina football team who came in to play for the 1984 Nehru Cup.

Non-sporting events

References

  1. ^ "East Bengal Ground - SC East Bengal Stadium Guide". Football Tripper. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Home Ground". East Bengal FC. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Aryan Club". ifawb.org. Indian Football Association West Bengal. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  4. ^ "CALCUTTA FOOTBALL LEAGUE – OFFICER'S CHOICE BLUE TO BE THE TITLE SPONSOR". Football News India. Kolkata. 4 August 2015. Archived from the original on 10 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  5. ^ "CFL 2019: Al Amna shines in defeat as East Bengal edge past Southern Samity 2-1". Goal.com. 5 September 2019. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  6. ^ "History". East Bengal FC. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Slice of Heaven opens East Bengal Cafe Lounge in Kolkata". Retail 4 Growth. 2 September 2014. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  8. ^ "East Bengal inform AIFF: 'Interested to play I-League matches at home ground'". Goal.com. 9 September 2017. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  9. ^ "CM inaugurates floodlights at East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting Club grounds". Millennium Post. 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Match called off after downpour". The Telegraph. 4 August 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  11. ^ "কৃশানু দে'কে বিশেষ শ্রদ্ধা ইস্টবেঙ্গলের, বড় চমকের অপেক্ষা সমর্থকদের জন্য!" [Special tribute to Krishanu Dey of East Bengal, big surprise for the fans!]. eisamay.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Ei Samay. 22 June 2023. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  12. ^ "East Bengal held by Aryans in a goalless draw". goal.com. Goal. 11 August 2015. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  13. ^ "Dilwale East Bengal let SRK host event at their ground for free". The Fan Garage. 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  14. ^ "WWE champion Del Rio shares stage with East Bengal players". Xtra Time. 7 July 2016. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  15. ^ "Manchester United in Kolkata: #ILOVEUNITED party". Sportskeeda. 10 December 2016. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  16. ^ "Manchester United Trio Enthralls Fans at East Bengal Ground". Xtra Time. 11 December 2016. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  17. ^ "LaLiga comes to India's football headland Kolkata". La Liga. 3 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.

Bibliography

External links