Kolkata, the City of Joy, is renowned for its culture and heritage. Anyone who has been to the beautiful city knows about it. The city is renowned for its top three belongings - “ Roshogulla, Maach and Football “
Well, keeping aside the mouth-watering dishes I aforementioned, the game of football is a way of life in the City of Joy. The love and passion of the game in the nation lie in the lush green fields of the surpassing Maidan in Bengal.
Bongs are always aroused when the topic is about Football or Politics. You visit a park or go to the tea stalls, most of the people are either discussing the political affairs of the country or how the ball should be kicked.
Today, out of the numerous stories in Calcutta football, we have decided to pick up the IFA Shield. Let us relive the glorious beginnings, the famous short stories and the tournament’s current stature.
The IFA Shield, India’s third oldest tournament had its inception in 1893. It was generally held after the Calcutta Football League, the top tier league football in the State, and used to end before the Durga Pujas. The IFA Shield was also a knockout tournament similar to the other tournaments like the Federation Cup, Durand Cup.
The first Indian club to lift the coveted trophy were the mighty Mohun Bagan in 1911. It was a spectacular and historic win which is another great story altogether. Just to give some perspective, that win has its own glory. In the history books of the nation, this win was a strong message against the Britishers.
The next Indian outfit to lift the trophy was Mohammedan SC in 1936. The arch-rivals of the first desi winners, East Bengal, lifted the trophy in 1943. However, Mohun Bagan did make sure to be the first lifters of the trophy, but East Bengal is the most successful team in the tournament. They have clinched the historic tournament 27 times. Mohun Bagan, on the other hand, has won it 21 times.
On the other side of the coin, after independence, when the IFA Shield was played, Mohun Bagan won the trophy. The win was against East Bengal in the Final. They celebrated their second title win by a scoreline of 1-0.
Although, the British teams stopped taking part in the IFA Shield after 1947.
The Indian Cultural League, a Mumbai based outfit funded by the Hindi Film Industry stalwarts were the first non-Bengal team to win the shield. During the 1960s, Mohun Bagan was a commendable side. Having the likes of Chuni Goswami in the forward line and Jarnail Singh marching from the defence, the team was robust and fearless. Just to state a fact, Jarnail Singh and Chuni Goswami were the best players in Asia during their prime time.
Coming back to the Kolkata giants, East Bengal had a great era of dominance. Many vintage supporters of Indian football rate 1949-51 victories as their supreme memories. However, the opposing fanatics rate the win over Pas Tehran, a formidable club from Iran, as the best moment. Pas Tehran during that time was regarded as one of the best clubs in Asia. It was arguably East Bengal’s happy hours in the tournament. For the first time since independence, an Indian team conquered a foreign squad in a domestic final. By the way, during that time, Pas Tehran was in stupendous form. Having scored 8 goals from 3 matches, they were a furious side to play against. But the Kolkata outfit managed to win against them.
During 1970, the folding a paper into the shape of a torch and lighting it up with fire became a symbolic gesture by the East Bengalians. As on date, this gesture is considered as a mark of celebration by the fans.
Similarly, Mohun Bagan had their era of dominance during 1977-79. In 1978 final, they emerged victorious against the solid Ararat Yerevan of the erstwhile USSR. It was a great match with rain calming the exuberance of the fans. But in the end, the match concluded in a 2-2 draw. The trophy was shared.
Ever since the 1980s, with the introduction of the Federation Cup in the footballing calendar, the IFA shield lost its importance. The value of the IFA shield started to decrease. To restore the glitz and glory, famous teams from the Uruguay and Soviet Union were invited in 1985.
The tournament was not held first in 1988 and again in 1992. Due to the ever evolving and changing scenario of football in India, no time slot was made available for the IFA Shield. Therefore, to still run the engine and preserve its glorious history, it was turned into a U-19 competition in 2016. Since then, the ISL Junior teams also take part in the tournament now.
