East Bengal Club Season Awards

The East Bengal Club Season Awards are the official East Bengal awards presented on 1 August to various recipients in the Foundation Day celebrations of the club. The Inaugural award was handed out in 2011 which had three categories the highlight 'Bharat Gourav Award', the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' and the 'Player of the Season Award'.

Awards ceremony edit

East Bengal Club was founded on 1 August 1920 and every year on this day, the club celebrates its Foundation Day. Since 2011, the awards ceremony was launched by the club to commemorate and honour different sporting personalities as per the categories. The highest honour "Bharat Gaurav" award is handed out each year to honour outstanding sports personalities who have made the country proud in different fields of sports. Along with the "Bharat Gaurav" award, the club also presents two lifetime achievement awards namely "Dr Ramesh Chandra (Nosa) Sen Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award" and "Byomkesh Bose Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award" in respect of two former legends of the club, to honour former players and sportspersons who have represented the club. Along with these, the club also awards the "Player of the Season" to the best player of the previous season. The club also awards two awards dedicated to sports journalists namely the "Ajoy Bose Memorial Journalism Award" and "Pushpen Sarkar Memorial Photo-Journalism Award". The club also hands over the "Pankaj Gupta Memorial and Pratul Gupta Memorial Referee Award" to various referees from Kolkata maidan.

Winners edit

Bharat Gaurav Award edit

 
Milkha Singh - recipient of the Bharat Gourav award in 2016.

East Bengal Club had constituted the ‘Bharat Gaurav Award' in 2011, as the highest decoration by the club to honour the outstanding sports personalities who had made India proud in different fields of sports. Three times Olympic Champion and Indian Hockey legend Leslie Claudius was the first recipient of the award in 2011.[1] The club has awarded the likes of Ahmed Khan, Arun Ghosh, Bachendri Pal, Milkha Singh, Dhanraj Pillay, Gurbux Singh, Kapil Dev since then. The award was not presented in two years 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic in India.[2] In 2022 the awards were once again presented, with former India women's national cricket team captain Jhulan Goswami and tennis star Leander Paes jointly awarded the honour by the club.[3]

Year Recipient Sport Field Ref
2011 Leslie Claudius Field hockey [4]
2012 Ahmed Khan Football [5][6]
2013 Arun Ghosh Football [7]
2014 Bachendri Pal Mountaineering [8]
2015 Mohammed Habib Football [9]
2016 Milkha Singh Sprint [citation needed]
2017 Dhanraj Pillay Field hockey [10]
2018 Gurbux Singh Field hockey [11]
2019 Kapil Dev Cricket [12]
2020 not awarded [A]
2021 not awarded [B]
2022 Jhulan Goswami Cricket [3]
Leander Paes Tennis [3]

Player of the Season Award edit

 
Penn Orji - recipient of the Player of the Season award in 2012.

East Bengal had constituted the 'Player of the Season Award' in 2011 to honour the best football player of the previous season. It is decided by the Executive Members committee. Mehtab Hossain was the first recipient in 2011.[4]

However, the first Player of the Season title was awarded at the end of the 2007–08 season, given by the then official marketing partner - Ideas Unlimited, with goalkeeper Subrata Paul being the winner.[14]

Year Nationality Recipient Position Ref
2008   India Subrata Paul Goalkeeper [15]
2011   India Mehtab Hossain Midfielder [4]
2012   Nigeria Penn Orji Midfielder [5]
2013   India Saumik Dey Defender [7]
2014   India Arnab Mondal Defender [8]
2015   India Robert Lalthlamuana Defender [9]
2016   South Korea Do Dong-hyun Forward [citation needed]
2017   India Gurwinder Singh Defender [10]
2018   Syria Mahmoud Amnah Midfielder [11]
2019   India Laldanmawia Ralte Midfielder [12]
2020 not awarded [A]
2021 not awarded [B]

Lifetime Achievement Award edit

East Bengal had constituted the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' in 2011 to honour a legendary sports personality of the club. It is decided by the Executive Members committee. India and East Bengal Legend Sudhir Karmakar and Sukumar Samajpati were the first recipients of this award in 2011.[4]

Year Nationality Recipient Position Ref
2011   India Sudhir Karmakar Defender [4]
  India Sukumar Samajpati Defender [4]
2012   India Prasanta Sinha Midfielder [5]
  India Santo Mitra Defender [5]
2013   India Samaresh Chowdhury Midfielder [7]
  India Abani Bose Goalkeeper [7]
2014   India Amal Dutta Defender [8]
  India Parimal Dey Forward [8]
2015   India Chandan Banerjee Defender [9]
2016   India Shyamal Ghosh Defender [citation needed]
  India Shyam Thapa Forward [citation needed]
2017   India Subhash Bhowmick Forward [10]
2018   India Sunil Bhattacharya Defender [11]
  India Surajit Sengupta Forward [11]
2019   India Monoranjan Bhattacharya Defender [12]
  India Bhaskar Ganguly Goalkeeper [12]
2020 not awarded [A]
2021 not awarded [B]

Academy Player of the Year Award edit

East Bengal had constituted the 'Academy Player of the Year Award' in 2018 to honour the best football player of the East Bengal F.C. Academy for the previous season. It is decided by the Executive Members committee. Manoj Mohammed and PC Rohlupuia were the first recipients of this award in 2018.[11]

Year Nationality Recipient Position Ref
2018   India Manoj Mohammed Defender [11]
  India PC Rohlupuia Midfielder [11]
2019 not awarded
2020 not awarded [A]
2021 not awarded [B]


Special Awards edit

On the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the club in 2019, a set of special awards were awarded to sports personalities associated with the East Bengal club.[12]

Award Name Nationality Recipient Ref
Coach of Coaches award   India P. K. Banerjee [12]
Best Foreign Player award   Iran Majid Bishkar [16][17]

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c d Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the East Bengal Foundation day awards were put on hold.[2]
  2. ^ a b c d Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the East Bengal Foundation day awards were put on hold for the second consecutive year.[13]

References edit

  1. ^ "East Bengal Club - Bharat Gourav Award". East Bengal Club. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b Chakraborty, Sabyasachi (1 August 2020). "East Bengal FC celebrates 101st Foundation Day!". BADGEB. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Das Sharma, Amitabha (1 August 2022). "Leander, Jhulan get East Bengal's highest honour". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "East Bengal and Mohun Bagan practice starts while East Bengal Day celebrated". KolkataFootball.com. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d "East Bengal Foundation Day: Celebrating 93 years of consistent achievement". Goal. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  6. ^ Saikat (23 July 2012). "East Bengal to celebrate Foundation Day on 1st August". Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d "Arun Ghosh to be conferred East Bengal's Bharat Gaurav award". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d "Bachendri Pal conferred Bharat Gaurav by East Bengal Club". Jagranjosh. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  9. ^ a b c "Indian Legend Mohamamed Habib awarded 'Bharat Gaurav' by East Bengal". Sportkeeda. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  10. ^ a b c "Dhanraj Pillay conferred with Bharat Gaurav by East Bengal Football Club". Jagranjosh. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "East Bengal seek a 'new identity' on foundation day". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "East Bengal to confer Kapil Dev with Bharat Gaurav award". Outlook. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  13. ^ "East Bengal Club Will Celebrate Foundation Day With Only Flag Hosting". East Bengal the Real Power. 29 July 2021. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  14. ^ "Bodyline-Kingfisher East Bengal Award function held today". East Bengal Club. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Subrata Pal gets East Bengal Player of the Year Award". East Bengal Club. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  16. ^ Mergulhao, Marcus (16 August 2019). "wanted time for myself, thought no one would find me here". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  17. ^ Das Sharma, Amitabha (13 August 2019). "Emotional homecoming for East Bengal legend Majid 'Badsha' Beshkar". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.