East Bengal's historic ISL win: After a long wait of 22 years, it's an explosion of red and gold

KOLKATA: Pointing towards the entrance gate of the beautifully decorated East Bengal club tent, a middle-aged man donning a red shirt nostalgically told his teenage son how it was made of wood, and how a similar flow of the multitude had converged at the same place 22 years ago.

Much water has flowed down the Hooghly since that National Football League title in 2001, from the city changing its name from Calcutta to Kolkata to the political landscape changing colours twice in the state.




Yet, something remains unaltered as the story continues and passes from a father to his son, a story of love for the team, a story of shared delight and despair. The story of a legacy, through all its ups and downs. As thousands of the red-and-gold faithful joined the likes of Anwar Ali, Prabhsukhan Gill and Anton Sojberg at the club tent on Friday, just hours after winning their maiden ISL title and ending their 22-year-long hurt of missing out on a national league, the son, who was not even born in 2001, said, “Yes, it’s beautiful.”
“This club represents a story of father to son, son to grandson. This is a legacy club. Thousands and thousands of people are breathing, sweating and living the East Bengal life. How I love this club,” said the team’s coach Oscar Bruzon, the man behind the team’s ‘Mission ISL’. By winning the ISL, East Bengal became the first Indian team to play in Asian football both in men and women’s categories in a single season.
The new ISL champions will feature in the playoffs for the AFC Challenge League. It was at the same stage in Asian football 19 months ago when Bruzon took the side to Bhutan and successfully crossed the playoff hurdle in the third tier of Asian’s club competition. “Our winning mentality came from that tournament,” Bruzon told TOI .