Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest multi-sports clubs in Asia. The club has various sports departments like football, cricket, hockey, tennis, athletics and eSports.
History
thumb|[[Bhupendra Nath Bose, the first president of Mohun Bagan]]
The foundation of Mohun Bagan stretches back into the 1880s when the neighborhood youth of presently known Fariapukur Lane in Shyambazar had set out in search for an ideal place to establish a football club, and came across a marble palace, Mohun Bagan Villa, owned by the family of a leading jute trader, Kirti Chandra Mitra.
On 15 August 1889, after a meeting of three prominent aristocratic Bengali families of North Kolkata – the Mitra family, the Basu family, and the Sen family – presided over by Bhupendra Nath Basu himself, Mohun Bagan Sporting Club was formed. Bhupendra Nath Basu became the first president of the newly founded club and Jyotindra Nath Basu was the first secretary of it. The club management hugely emphasized providing memberships to the youth and maintained a strict code of conduct with an avowed objective of producing excellent sportsmen and imbuing them with impeccable moral and social values. The club is governed by its own "constitution". Amendments and resolutions are passed via annual general meetings.
Management
{|class="wikitable" "margin-left:1em;float:center"
|-
!style="background:#1A5026; color:white; text-align:center;"|Office
!style="background:#7A1024; color:white; text-align:center;"|Name
|-
|President
|Debasish Dutta
|-
| rowspan="5"|Vice president
|Shoumik Bose
|-
|Manash Kumar Bhattacharya
|-
|Uttam Kumar Saha
|-
|Kunal Ghosh
|-
|Debasis Mitra
|-
|General Secretary
|Srinjoy Bose
|-
|Assistant General Secretary
|Satyajit Chatterjee
|-
|Finance Secretary
|Surajit Basu
|-
|Planning & Development Secretary
|Ranjan Basu
|-
|Football Secretary
|Swapan Banerjee
|-
|Youth Football Secretary
|Shilton Paul
|-
|Cricket Secretary
|Samrat Bhowmick
|-
|Hockey Secretary
|Shyamal Mitra
|-
|Tennis Secretary
|Sidhartha Roy
|-
|Athletics Secretary
|Pintu Biswas
|-
|Treasurer
|Sandipan Banerjee
|-
| rowspan="11"|Executive Members
|Someswar Bagui
|-
|Anupam Sahoo
|-
|Debaprasad Mukherjee
|-
|Debajyoti Basu
|-
|Kashi Nath Das
|-
|Mukul Sinha
|-
|Parthajit Das
|-
|Ranjan Bosu
|-
|Sanjoy Majumder
|-
|Sohini Mitra Chaubey
|-
|Sudipta Ghosh
|-
|rowspan="3"|Co-Operative Executive Members
|Debashis Roy
|-
|Arijit Banerjee
|-
|Sanjoy Ghosh
Departments
Mohun Bagan Athletic Club, established in 1889, gradually developed into one of India’s most prominent multi-sports institutions. Football remained the club’s primary sport, while cricket was introduced in the early 20th century, followed by departments such as hockey, tennis, athletics and e-sports in later years. The club became a major force in Indian football after winning the historic 1911 IFA Shield against East Yorkshire Regiment. Mohun Bagan is currently the most successful football club in India and has become the champions of India for a record seventh time. Mohun Bagan also made important contributions to the development of several other sports in Bengal and India. Over the decades, the club has produced and represented numerous national-level athletes across different disciplines. Due to its long sporting legacy and consistent success, Mohun Bagan is widely regarded as one of the most influential clubs in Indian sports history.
Football
The Mohun Bagan football team is the most distinguished and revered department of this club. It was the original department with which the club was founded in 1889. The team plays its home matches mostly at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan and also at the Mohun Bagan Ground. It competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of Indian football league system. The team is most notable for its victory over the East Yorkshire Regiment in the 1911 IFA Shield final. It is the most successful team in the country. In its 130th year of existence, the team was inducted into the "Club of Pioneers", a network of the oldest existing football clubs around the world, on 29 July 2019.
Cricket
The Mohun Bagan cricket team participates in various tournaments for varying age groups conducted by the Cricket Association of Bengal. Currently, it participates in the CAB First Division League, CAB Senior Knockout, CAB Super League, and JC Mukherjee Trophy. The team plays its home matches mostly at the Eden Gardens and also at the Jadavpur University Campus Ground. They have won over 100 major state-level trophies so far. In past many big names like Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and even Sri Lankan player Chaminda Vaas had played for the club.
Hockey
The Mohun Bagan hockey team participates in various tournaments for varying age groups conducted by the Hockey Bengal. The team plays its home matches mostly at the SAI Sports Complex of Salt Lake Stadium and also at the Mohun Bagan Ground. The club participates in the Calcutta Hockey League and the Beighton Cup. The team have won 41 major state titles which includes 25 CHL and 14 Beighton Cup titles.
Tennis
Mohun Bagan had an active tennis department as part of its multi-sports structure, alongside football, cricket, hockey and Athletics. The club participated in local tennis activities and helped promote lawn tennis culture in Kolkata during the early years of Indian sports.
Athletics
Mohun Bagan has an athletics team, which is affiliated with the West Bengal Athletics Association, and participates in various meets of West Bengal. The club also organizes Annual Athletics meet at the club ground.
eSports
Mohun Bagan also took part in the inaugural season of e-ISL where the ISL teams competed to play the video game FIFA 22.
Club awards
Since 2001, 29 July is celebrated as Mohun Bagan Day in honor of the club's victory over East Yorkshire Regiment in the 1911 IFA Shield Final. To commemorate the day, the club organises an award distribution ceremony along with various festivities. Mohun Bagan Ratna is an award presented each year on Mohun Bagan Day to outstanding former players, irrespective of the sports played. The first recipient was former footballer Sailen Manna. Apart from the Mohun Bagan Ratna, other awards are also presented which often differ in categories each year, except for an award for the best footballer and cricketer of the season which were presented for most of the years.
Honours
- Banga Bibhushan: 2022 (the highest civilian honour in West Bengal given by the Government of West Bengal)
See also
- Mohun Bagan Super Giant
- Mohun Bagan SG Youth
- Mohun Bagan cricket team
- Mohun Bagan field hockey team