Football in Kolkata

Because it is often called India's football capital, many international footballing personalities have visited Kolkata. In 1977, Mohun Bagan played a friendly match against the famous North American Soccer League club New York Cosmos, which featured Pelé. The match, which took place at Eden Gardens, had an attendance of 80,000. The match ended 2–2. Others who have visited Kolkata are Argentinean footballing legend Diego Maradona and current star Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi made his captaincy debut for his national side in Kolkata's Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on 2nd September, 2011 against Venezuela. German legends, including Franz Beckenbauer and Oliver Kahn, have also visited. The best goalkeeper in football history, Russian Lev Yashin, visited in 1955 and 1973. English World Cup–winning legend Bobby Moore was the chief guest during the 1984 Nehru Cup. Emeka Ezuego, the Nigerian World Cup player, played for East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting. Majid Bishkar, the Iranian World Cup player, played for East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting from 1980 to 1986. Cameroon footballing legend Roger Milla played for Diamond Club in some exhibition matches in the Centenary Celebration of Mohun Bagan. Uruguay football captain Diego Forlan visited Kolkata in 2010. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge visited in 2010. Julian Caminho visited Kolkata twice—first in 1988 to play for East Bengal and again in 2011. MacDonald Mukansi played for East Bengal in 2007.

Others who have also visited are Terry Paine, Carlos Alberto Torres, Enzo Francescoli, Valencia Ramos, Jorge Burruchaga, Ricardo Gareca, László Kiss, Nicky Butt, Włodzimierz Smolarek, Andrzej Buncol, Eusébio, Ronald Koeman, Paul Breitner, and Swansea City's Neil Taylor.

In July 2023, Argentine World Cup and World Cup Golden Gloves winner Emiliano Martinez also visited the city of Joy, courtesy to Satadru Dutta's initiative. He was grandly welcomed by the citizens and Mohun Bagan and East Bengal Club.

The state of West Bengal has contributed many legends to Indian football, such as:

• Chuni Goswami, first Padma Shri awardee, awarded best striker of Asia in 1962.
• Gostho Pal, footballer, who was member of the Mohun Bagan team that won the IFA shield against a British team in the pre-independence period.
• Krishanu Dey, footballer, known as the "Indian Maradona".
• Mohammed Salim, first player from the Indian subcontinent to play overseas, in the year 1936 for the Scottish Club Celtic FC.
• Pradip Kumar Banerjee, named Indian Footballer of the 20th Century by FIFA, and awardee of the FIFA Order of Merit.
• Shailen Manna, footballer, the only Asian Footballer ever to be named among the 10 best Captains in the world by the English FA in 1953.
• Subrata Paul, member of Indian team, first Indian goalkeeper to play professionally for a foreign club in 1st division (Danish Superliga).
• Sudip Chatterjee , footballer, considered among the finest in Indian football, declared AIFF player of the decade in 1994.

• Robin Dutt, former manager of Bundesliga club, Werder Bremen.
• Neil Taylor, Welsh footballer of half-Bengali origin.

• P. K. Banerjee
• Chuni Goswami
• Arun Lal Ghosh
• Prasun Banerjee
• Sudhir Karmakar
• Shanti Mullick
• Subrata Bhattacharya
• Deepak Kumar Mondal
• Subrata Pal

The West Bengal football team is representing the state of West Bengal in the Santosh Trophy.

They have appeared in the Santosh Trophy finals 43 times, and have won the trophy 32 times, (the most by any team). Prior to 1972, the team competed only as Bengal.

• West Bengal women's football team
• Mohammedan SC Futsal
• History of Indian football
• Kolkata Police Friendship Cup

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• Martinez, Dolores; Mukharjiim, 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.
• Dutta, P. L., Memoir of 'Father of Indian Football' Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1944) (hereafter Memoir)
• Ghosh, Saurindra Kumar. Krira Samrat Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary 1869–1940 (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1963) (hereafter Krira Samrat).
• "Triumphs and Disasters: The Story of Indian Football, 1889—2000" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
• D'Mello, Anthony (1959). Portrait Of Indian Sport. P R Macmillan Limited, London.
• Kumar Shil, Amrita (15 May 2022). "Football Culture in Princely State of Cooch Behar" (PDF). JHSR Journal of Historical Study and Search. 2. ISSN 2583-0198. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
• Das, Raktim (4 April 2022). "কলকাতার মোহামেডানের সঙ্গে গাঁটছড়া বাঁধছে ঢাকার মোহামেডান" [Mohammedan of Dhaka is tying knot with Mohammedan of Kolkata]. banglatribune.com (in Bengali). Kolkata. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
• Guha, Chandak (5 September 2019). "ইংরেজরাও ভয় পেত বাংলার প্রথম কিংবদন্তি ফুটবল কোচকে" [The Englishmen too feared Bengal's legendary first football coach]. bongodorshon.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Bongodorshon Information Desk. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2022.