The 2003–04 season was East Bengal Football Club's 8th season in the National Football League, and also marked the club's 84th season. East Bengal successfully defended their league title from the previous season, competing in the 2003-04 NFL. They have also won the 2003 Calcutta Football League and the 2003 ASEAN Club Championship. They became runners-up in the 2003 Super Cup, 2003 Durand Cup and 2003 IFA Shield.
| 2003–04 season | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Dr Pranab Dasgupta |
| Manager | Subhash Bhowmick |
| Ground | Salt Lake Stadium |
| National Football League | Champions[1] |
| Calcutta Premier Division | Champions[2] |
| Federation Cup | Quarter-finals[3] |
| Super Cup | Runners-up[4] |
| ASEAN Cup | Champions |
| Durand Cup | Runners-up[5] |
| IFA Shield | Runners-up[6] |
First-team squad edit
East Bengal FC squad for the 2003–04 season.[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
- Coach:
Subhash Bhowmick[7] - Physical trainer:
Kevin Jackson - Team doctor: Dr. S R Dasgupta
- Team manager: Swapan Ball
Stadiums edit
Kingfisher East Bengal F.C. have been using both the Salt Lake Stadium and the East Bengal Ground sense Salt Lake Stadium opened in 1984. As of today the Salt Lake Stadium is used for East Bengal's I-League, AFC Cup, and Federation Cup games. The East Bengal Ground is used for the Calcutta Football League matches.
Competitions edit
Overall edit
| Competition | First match | Last match | Final Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calcutta Football League | 20 June 2003 | 2 November 2003 | Champions |
| ASEAN Cup | 14 July 2003 | 26 July 2003 | Champions |
| Federation Cup | 31 July 2003 | 4 August 2003 | Quarter Finals |
| IFA Shield | 20 September 2003 | 28 September 2003 | Runners-up |
| Durand Cup | 4 November 2003 | 10 November 2003 | Runners-up |
| Super Cup | 14 November 2003 | Runners-up | |
| National Football League | 30 November 2003 | 12 May 2004 | Champions |
Matches edit
Win Draw Loss
Calcutta Football League edit
| 20 June 2003 1 | East Bengal | 4–1 | Eastern Railway F.C. | Kolkata |
Surkumar Singh  1', 81'Debjit Ghosh 38'Bhaichung Bhutia 41' |
Henry Odogo 62' |
Stadium: East Bengal Ground |
| 23 June 2003 2 | East Bengal | 3–0 | West Bengal Police | Kolkata |
| Bhaichung Bhutia 15' Alvito D'Cunha 35', 89' |
Stadium: East Bengal Ground |
| 30 June 2003 3 | East Bengal | 3–0 | Wari AC | Kolkata |
| Suley Musah 52', 68', 80' |
Stadium: East Bengal Ground |
| 2 July 2003 4 | East Bengal | 3–0 | Mohammedan AC | Kolkata |
| Bhaichung Bhutia 42', 71' Alvito D'Cunha 77' |
Stadium: East Bengal Ground |
| 5 July 2003 5 | East Bengal | 3–0 | Mohun Bagan | Kolkata |
| Suley Musah 23' Bhaichung Bhutia 68', 83' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 11 August 2003 6 | East Bengal | 2–1 | Everready Association | Kolkata |
| Douglas De Silva 37' Bhaichung Bhutia 70' |
Ernest Jeremiah 47' |
Stadium: East Bengal Ground |
| 16 August 2003 7 | East Bengal | 2–0 | Tollygunge Agragami | Kolkata |
| Bhaichung Bhutia 78', 79' |
Stadium: East Bengal Ground |
| 19 August 2003 8 | East Bengal | 5–0 | Bharati Sangha | Kolkata |
| Mike Okoro 9', 71' Suley Musah 30', 40'Malsawmtluanga 60' |
Stadium: East Bengal Ground |
| 23 August 2003 9 | East Bengal | 4–1 | Mohammedan Sporting | Kolkata |
| Mike Okoro 36', 40' Bijen Singh 67'Surkumar Singh 86' |
Dipendu Biswas 83' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 25 August 2003 10 | East Bengal | 4–0 | Railway F.C. | Kolkata |
| Mike Okoro 3', 13', 22' Malsawmtluanga 29' |
Stadium: East Bengal Ground |
| 28 August 2003 11 | East Bengal | 3–0 | Calcutta Port Trust | Kolkata |
| Suley Musah Mike Okoro 45'Kulothungan |
Stadium: East Bengal Ground |
| 4 September 2003 Championship Group | East Bengal | 0–0 | Mohun Bagan | Kolkata |
| Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 7 September 2003 Championship Group | East Bengal | 1–2 | Mohammedan Sporting | Kolkata |
| Mike Okoro 51' |
Sheikh Sanjib 49' Abdul Rauf Khan 87' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 10 September 2003 Championship Group | East Bengal | 2–2 | Everready Association | Kolkata |
| Suley Musah 40' Mike Okoro 85' |
Eugene Gray 44' Ernest Jeremiah 88' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 13 September 2003 Championship Group | East Bengal | 2–0 | Mohammedan A.C. | Kolkata |
| Bijen Singh 51' Sashti Duley 86' |
Stadium: East Bengal Ground |
| 16 September 2003 Championship Group | East Bengal | 2–1 | Tollygunge Agragami | Kolkata |
| Kulothungan 37' Raman Vijayan 66' |
Manik Barman 73' |
Stadium: East Bengal Ground |
| 2 November 2003 Championship final | East Bengal | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) | Mohun Bagan | Kolkata |
| Suley Musah 60' |
Ashim Biswas 23' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
ASEAN Club Championship edit
The ASEAN Club Championship is a friendly international football competition between domestic champion clubs sides run by the ASEAN Football Federation.[8] Formerly known as the LG Cup, sponsored by LG Electronics. LG described the competition as a "social marketing experiment". Qualification to the competition was for champions clubs from AFF-affiliated countries only, plus the champions from India in 2003.[9][10] After winning the 2002–03 National Football League, East Bengal was invited to the inaugural 2003 ASEAN Club Championship held at Jakarta, Indonesia.[11] Top clubs from South-East Asia participated in the tournament which included the favourites BEC Tero Sasana from Thailand who already reached the 2002–03 AFC Champions League Finals. The star-studded team consisted of Golden Ball winner of 2002–03 AFC Champions League: Therdsak Chaiman. Other top teams like 2002 Malaysia Super League Champions Perak FC and Liga Indonesia 2002 Champions Petrokimia Putra participated in the tournament.[12]
East Bengal was grouped alongside BEC Tero Sasana and Philippine Army in Group D. They lost the first match against the favourites BEC Tero Sasana 1–0, courtesy of a solitary goal from Therdsak Chaiman. The Red and Gold brigade bounced back in style as they defeated the Philippine Army 6–0, with Bhaichung Bhutia scoring all 6 goals, becoming the only Indian player to score a double hattrick in an International game to date.[13] In the Quarter Finals, East Bengal faced Persita Tangerang of Indonesia. Goals from Bhaichung and Bijen Singh ensured a 2–1 win for the Kolkata side. Bhaichung was again on the scoresheet when East Bengal faced Petrokimia Putra in the Semi-Final. The score was 1–1 after 120 minutes and the Red and Golds won 7–6 in the shootout. On 26 July 2003, East Bengal made history as they defeated the favourites BEC Tero Sasana 3–1 with goals from Mike Okoro, Bhaichung and Alvito D'Cunha, hence becoming the first Indian club to win a top-level officially recognised tournament in foreign soil.[14] Bhaichung became the top scorer of the tournament with nine goals. Sandip Nandy was adjudged as the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament.[11]
Group stage edit
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 BEC Tero Sasana
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 6 |
 East Bengal
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 3 |
 Philippine Army
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 |
Source: RSSSF
Bracket edit
| Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Final | ||||||||
| 20 July 2003 | ||||||||||
 Petrokimia Putra (a.e.t.) | 3 | |||||||||
| 24 July 2003 | ||||||||||
 Singapore AF | 2 | |||||||||
| Petrokimia Putra | 1 (6) | |||||||||
| 21 July 2003 | ||||||||||
| East Bengal | 1 (7) | |||||||||
| Persita Tangerang | 1 | |||||||||
| 26 July 2003 | ||||||||||
| East Bengal | 2 | |||||||||
| East Bengal | 3 | |||||||||
| 20 July 2003 | ||||||||||
| BEC Tero Sasana | 1 | |||||||||
 Perak | 2 | |||||||||
| 24 July 2003 | ||||||||||
 Samart United | 0 | |||||||||
| Perak | 1 | |||||||||
| 21 July 2003 | ||||||||||
| BEC Tero Sasana | 3 | Third place | ||||||||
| BEC Tero Sasana | 2 | |||||||||
| 26 July 2003 | ||||||||||
 Hoàng Anh Gia Lai | 1 | |||||||||
| Petrokimia Putra | 3 | |||||||||
| Perak | 0 | |||||||||
Matches edit
Win Draw Loss
| 14 July 2003 Group stage | BEC Tero Sasana | 1–0 | East Bengal | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Therdsak Chaiman 85' |
Stadium: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium |
| 16 July 2003 Group stage | East Bengal | 6–0 | Philippine Army | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Baichung Bhutia 20' (pen), 50', 53', 70', 75', 88' |
Stadium: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium |
| 21 July 2003 Quarter-final | Persita Tangerang | 1–2 | East Bengal | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Ilham Jayakesuma 62' |
Baichung Bhutia 53' Bijen Singh 76' |
Stadium: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium |
| 24 July 2003 Semi-final | Petrokimia Putra | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (6–7 p) | East Bengal | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Jaenal Ichwan 23' |
Report | Baichung Bhutia 58' |
Stadium: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium | |
| Penalties | ||||
|
||||
| 26 July 2003 Final | East Bengal | 3–1 | BEC Tero Sasana | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Mike Okoro 20' Baichung Bhutia 46' Alvito D'Cunha 69' |
Panai Kongprapun 58' |
Stadium: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium Referee: Jimmy Napitupulu (Indonesia) |
Federation Cup edit
| 31 July 2003 Round of 16 | East Bengal | 5–0 | HAL | Kolkata |
| Bijen Singh 4', 31' Chandan Das 58', 83'Dipankar Roy 68' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 4 August 2003 Quarter Final | East Bengal | 0–1 | Vasco S.C. | Kolkata |
| Sushanth Mathew 85' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
IFA Shield edit
| 20 September 2003 Group stage | East Bengal | 1–0 | Eastern Railway F.C. | Siliguri |
| Bijen Singh 8' |
Stadium: Kanchenjunga Stadium |
| 22 September 2003 Group stage | East Bengal | 9–0 | Wari AC | Siliguri |
| Dipankar Roy 9', 26', 35', 42' Bijen Singh 21', 40'Kulothungan 46'Douglas De Silva 75'Malsawmtluanga 81' |
Stadium: Kanchenjunga Stadium |
| 26 September 2003 Semi Final | East Bengal | 2–0 | Everready Association | Kolkata |
| Douglas De Silva 29' Dipankar Roy 55' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 28 September 2003 Final | East Bengal | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–5 p) | Mohun Bagan | Kolkata |
| Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | ||||
| Penalties | ||||
|
|
|||
Durand Cup edit
| 4 November 2003 Group stage | East Bengal | 3–2 | Indian Bank | Delhi |
| Bhaichung Bhutia 16', 49' Mike Okoro 80' |
Mahendra Mani 2' Syed Shabir Pasha 84' |
Stadium: Ambedkar Stadium |
| 6 November 2003 Group stage | East Bengal | 3–0 | Dempo | Delhi |
| Mike Okoro 51' Malsawmtluanga 82'Kulothungan 90' |
Stadium: Ambedkar Stadium |
| 8 November 2003 Semi Final | East Bengal | 3–0 | Air India | Delhi |
| Malsawmtluanga 22' Chandan Das 36'Mike Okoro 59' |
Stadium: Ambedkar Stadium |
| 10 November 2003 Final | East Bengal | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p) | Salgaocar | Delhi |
| Mahesh Gawli 62' |
Tomba Singh 59' |
Stadium: Ambedkar Stadium | ||
| Penalties | ||||
|
|
|||
Super Cup edit
| 14 November 2003 Super Cup | East Bengal | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p) | Mahindra United | Kolkata |
| Suley Musah 19' |
Felix Aboagye 45' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | ||
| Penalties | ||||
|
|
|||
National Football League edit
| 30 November 2003 1 | Salgaocar | 2–1 | East Bengal | Goa |
| Felix Ibrebru 24' Micky Fernandes 29' |
Douglas De Silva 38' |
Stadium: Fatorda Stadium |
| 4 December 2003 2 | Vasco | 1–1 | East Bengal | Goa |
| Amaechi 82' |
Dipankar Roy 83' |
Stadium: Fatorda Stadium |
| 9 December 2003 3 | JCT Mills | 0–0 | East Bengal | Ludhiana |
| Stadium: Guru Nanak Stadium |
| 16 December 2003 4 | East Bengal | 2–1 | Churchill Brothers | Kolkata |
| Cristiano Júnior 45' Bhaichung Bhutia 90' |
Yusif Yakubu 4' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 20 December 2003 5 | East Bengal | 1–0 | Tollygunge Agragami | Kolkata |
| Cristiano Júnior 1' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 27 December 2003 6 | Dempo | 3–2 | East Bengal | Goa |
| Stanley Colaco 8' Sunday Seah 25'Nacimento Silveira 75' |
Cristiano Júnior 1' Bhaichung Bhutia 7' |
Stadium: Fatorda Stadium |
| 31 December 2003 7 | Mahindra United | 0–1 | East Bengal | Mumbai |
| Cristiano Júnior 68' |
Stadium: Cooperage Ground |
| 8 January 2004 8 | East Bengal | 2–0 | Sporting Clube de Goa | Kolkata |
| Bhaichung Bhutia 38' Cristiano Júnior 73' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 12 January 2004 9 | Indian Bank | 1–1 | East Bengal | Chennai |
| Kamaldeen Fuard 25' |
Cristiano Júnior 22' |
Stadium: JL Nehru Stadium |
| 16 January 2004 10 | East Bengal | 4–0 | Mohammedan Sporting | Kolkata |
| Alvito D'Cunha 45' Bhaichung Bhutia 70'Cristiano Júnior 75'Mike Okoro 89' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 22 January 2004 11 | East Bengal | 2–1 | Mohun Bagan | Kolkata |
| Dipankar Roy 23' Mike Okoro 75' |
Ashim Biswas 41' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 29 February 2004 12 | East Bengal | 3–1 | Salgaocar | Kolkata |
| Bhaichung Bhutia 5', 45' Subhash Chakraborty 53' |
Bello Razaq 40' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 5 March 2004 13 | East Bengal | 2–0 | Mahindra United | Kolkata |
| Cristiano Júnior 35' Bhaichung Bhutia 87' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 11 March 2004 14 | East Bengal | 1–0 | Vasco | Kolkata |
| Cristiano Júnior 43' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 15 March 2004 15 | East Bengal | 0–0 | Dempo | Kolkata |
| Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 19 March 2004 16 | East Bengal | 3–0 | JCT Mills | Kolkata |
| Bhaichung Bhutia 45+1' Mike Okoro 51'Cristiano Júnior 60' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 12 April 2004 17 | Tollygunge Agragami | 0–1 | East Bengal | Kolkata |
| Bhaichung Bhutia |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 15 April 2004 18 | Mohammedan Sporting | 0–3 | East Bengal | Kolkata |
| Cristiano Júnior 59', 62' Bhaichung Bhutia 65' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 25 April 2004 19 | Mohun Bagan | 1–2 | East Bengal | Kolkata |
| Ashim Biswas 16' |
Bhaichung Bhutia 53' Cristiano Júnior 60' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 28 April 2004 20 | East Bengal | 3–0 | Indian Bank | Kolkata |
| Bhaichung Bhutia 19' Douglas De Silva 73'Dipankar Roy 83' |
Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium |
| 9 May 2004 21 | Churchill Brothers | 1–0 | East Bengal | Goa |
| Santa Singh 75' |
Stadium: Fatorda Stadium |
| 12 May 2004 22 | Sporting Clube de Goa | 1–2 | East Bengal | Goa |
| Adbullatif Seriki 84' |
Cristiano Júnior 46', 60' |
Stadium: Fatorda Stadium |
Statistics edit
Top Scorers edit
| Goal Scorers for East Bengal FC in 2003–04 season | ||||||||||||
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | CFL | ASEAN | Fed Cup | IFA Shield | Durand Cup | Super Cup | NFL | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | FW |
|
Bhaichung Bhutia | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 32 |
| 2 | 10 | FW | 
|
Mike Okoro | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| 3 | 26 | FW | 
|
Cristiano Júnior | — | — | — | — | — | — | 15 | 15 |
| 4 | 22 | DF | 
|
Suley Musah | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 5 | 6 | MF |
|
Dipankar Roy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 6 | 11 | FW |
|
Bijen Singh | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | 9 | MF |
|
Alvito D'Cunha | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 15 | MF |
|
Douglas De Silva | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| 5 | MF |
|
Shylo Malsawmtluanga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| Own Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Sponsors edit
- Main Sponsor: Kingfisher (Parent Company United Breweries Group is 50% stake holder in the club).
References edit
- ^ "8th "Coca-Cola" National Football League 2003/04". IndianFootball.de. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ "India 2003 Regional Championships". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ "25th "TATA" Federation Cup 2003". IndianFootball.de. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ "7th Super Cup 2003/04". IndianFootball.de. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ "116th Durand Cup 2003". IndianFootball.de. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ "109th IFA Shield 2003". IndianFootball.de. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ a b "Team Archives - East Bengal Club". East Bengal Club. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ "Asean Club Championship to launch after getting AFC and Fifa backing". SportBusiness. 6 November 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ "AFC Statement on the Asean Club Championship | Football News |". the-AFC. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ "AFF to launch ASEAN Club Championship in 2020 featuring top clubs from Southeast Asia | FOX Sports Asia". Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ a b "East Bengal's Greatest Hour: The 2003 ASEAN Cup Triumph". Sportskeeda. 27 July 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ "Before BFC in 2016, there was East Bengal's ASEAN win in 2003". ESPN. November 2016. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ "15 Facts and Untold stories of Bhaichung Bhutia". Sports Libro. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ "East Bengal makes History". The Hindu. 27 July 2003. Retrieved 12 April 2020.[dead link]