East Bengal Club

On 28 July 1920, Jorabagan was scheduled to play against Mohun Bagan in the Coochbehar Cup. Jorabagan sent out their starting eleven but with the notable exclusion of defender Sailesh Bose, who was dropped from the squad for undisclosed reasons. The then vice-president of Jorabagan, Suresh Chandra Chaudhuri, asked in vain for Bose to be included in the line-up. When his request was not welcomed, Chaudhuri left the club along with Raja Manmatha Nath Chaudhuri, Ramesh Chandra Sen, and Aurobinda Ghosh. They formed East Bengal as a Sports and Cultural Association in the neighbourhood of Jorabagan on 1 August 1920. The name East Bengal was chosen for the newly formed club as the founders hailed from the eastern region of Bengal. Sarada Ranjan Ray took on the role of becoming the first president of this newly formed club while Suresh Chandra Chowdhury and Tarit Bhusan Roy were declared to be the first joint secretaries of the club. Soon after, Nagen Kali, M. Talukdar, B. Sen, N. Gossain, Goshto Paul (on loan from Mohun Bagan), P. Bardhan, S. Das, S. Tagore, J. Mukherjee, Ramesh Chandra Sen, S. Bose, C. Bose, A. Roy, and A. Bannerjee were announced to be the members of the first team squad by the board.

In the same month of its formation, the club participated in its maiden tournament in, the Hercules Cup, a seven-a-side tournament. On 11 August 1920, the club played their first match in the tournament and in their history against Metropolitan College, which they went on to win 4–0. East Bengal went on to win the tournament, announcing the arrival of a club that would break many records in the future. The club also won Khagendra Shield in 1921. Following this, the club became affiliated with the Indian Football Association (IFA) and entered the IFA Second Division replacing Tajhat Football Club who withdrew from the 2nd Division League. The club finished placing third in their maiden season in the league. The first match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan took place on 8 August 1921 in the Cooch Behar Cup semi-final match, which didn't turn in the favour of either of the teams as it ended in a goalless draw. It was an unofficial derby at that time.

In 1924, the club won the Second Division and gained promotion to the IFA First Division after finishing in second place to Cameroons 'B' after paying a hefty sum. As Cameroons 'A' team was already in the First Division the 'B' team could not gain promotion to the same league. East Bengal was next in line for promotion. However, more controversy arose since the IFA allowed only two Indian-based clubs in the IFA First Division at a time (at that time, the IFA was a British organization). This rule had previously deprived clubs like "Kumartuli" and "Town" from entering the First Division. During a governing body meeting of the IFA, the nine British clubs approved East Bengal's promotion to the First Division. Ironically, the two Indian clubs, Mohun Bagan and Aryan, opposed it. East Bengal's efforts led to the abolition of the oppressive Indian club limit rule.

In 1925, East Bengal made its IFA First Division debut, and Mona Dutta became the maiden goalscorer for the club in the league. On 28 May 1925, the first official Kolkata Derby was played, where Nepal Chakraborty scored the only goal for East Bengal.

It took the club till 1942 to win their first IFA First Division title. East Bengal won their first IFA Shield in 1943. They then achieved the double in 1945 by winning both the Calcutta Football League (CFL) and IFA Shield. In 1948, East Bengal became the first team to defeat a foreign club on home soil. They won 2–0 against the visiting Chinese Olympic XI. East Bengal won their first treble in the 1949 season, by winning the Calcutta League, the IFA Shield and the Rovers Cup, becoming the first Indian club to do so. The club went on to win the 1949 Rovers Cup and the Durand Cup in 1951. That period saw the rise of the Pancha Pandavas. The five players, P. B. A. Saleh, Ahmed Khan, P. Venkatesh, Appa Rao, and K. P. Dhanaraj played together at the club from 1949 to 1953. The club also won its first DCM Trophy in 1950. The club also won three straight IFA Shields in 1949, 1950, and 1951. The English Football Association 1951–52 annual almanac adjudged East Bengal as the best club in Asia. On being recommended by the president of India, Rajendra Prasad, the club was invited by the Romania Youth Festival Committee in 1953 to participate in a football tournament. They also partook in a tour of the Soviet Union the same year. They were defeated by Soviet side by a margin of 13–1. Apart from football, East Bengal also won the Beighton Cup hockey tournament for the first time in 1957 and the Bengal Hockey Association league in 1960. Again the club won the Rovers Cup several times during this era—1962, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975—as well as the Durand Cup in 1952, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1970, 1972 and 1978. The club also won its first Sait Nagjee football tournament and Bordoloi Trophy in 1968. The club stunned everyone by winning the 1970 IFA Shield against PAS Club of Iran by a score of 1–0, in front of 60,000 supporters at the Eden Gardens. Later, the club won the 1973 IFA Shield by defeating Pyongyang City SC of North Korea. In 1978, East Bengal won its first Federation Cup title. The club became joint winners in cricket with Mohun Bagan of Cricket Association of Bengal senior league and senior-division knockout tournament.

East Bengal won the Calcutta Football League for six straight years from 1970 to 1975. In 1970, East Bengal topped the Calcutta Football League table without conceding a single goal. East Bengal won multiple times against their arch-rivals, Mohun Bagan, including a record margin of 5–0 in the history of the Kolkata Derby, in 1975. The same year, East Bengal won the CFL title without losing a match. The 1970s decade of the club is also commonly known as "Shonali Doshok" (in English Golden Decade).

The club won the Federation Cup in 1980 and again in 1985. They also became the first Indian club to play in the newly reorganized Asian Club Championship in 1985–86. The club then won their second treble in 1990, under coach Naeemuddin, by winning the IFA Shield, the Rovers Cup, and the Durand Cup in the same season. The club also won the Stafford Cup (1986) and the McDowell's Cup (1995, 1997). In 1993, East Bengal won its first-ever international title, the Wai Wai Cup in Nepal. The club also won the Federation Cup, the IFA Shield, the Calcutta Football League, the Durand Cup, and the Rovers Cup several times during this period. In 1996, the club became the founding member of the first nationwide football league in India, the National Football League.

In 1984, Dipak Das joined the club and revamped it. He brought professionalism and converted the football team into a private, limited company. He also secured sponsorship from local brands and companies like Khadims. In 1998, he collaborated with Vijay Mallya's United Breweries Group, which then formed a new Private Limited Company, with a 50–50 shareholding, called United East Bengal Football Team Private Limited and incorporated the football team—the first in the country. The team was renamed Kingfisher East Bengal FC.

The club entered the 21st century in style, winning the 2000–01 National Football League season. They became the first club to win back-to-back titles after winning the 2002–03 and 2003–04 versions of the league. The club went on to win the Federation Cup again in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012. They also won the Indian Super Cup in 2006 and 2011. The club won their third international trophy in the 2003 ASEAN Club Championship, in Jakarta, Indonesia. East Bengal is still the only Indian football team to win any major trophy outside the country. In 2004, East Bengal also won the San Miguel International Cup in Nepal. The club was invited to the tournament by Leicester City, celebrating their 120th Anniversary. In 2004, Leicester City also had partnerships with East Bengal. Then FIFA president, Joseph Blatter, visited the club tent on 15 April 2007. After a year, East Bengal became the first Indian football team to win against a West Asian team, Al Wihdat SC of Jordan on foreign soil.

East Bengal also made a record eight appearances, between 2004 and 2015, in the AFC Cup. The club played in the semi-finals of 2013 AFC Cup where they lost to Kuwait SC of Kuwait. The club has the achievement of winning the Calcutta Football League title eight consecutive times from 2010 to 2017, breaking their previous record of six times during the 1970s. Following the exit of Kingfisher from the club, Quess Corp signed an agreement with the East Bengal and acquired a 70 percent stake in the club in July 2018. The football team was rebranded as Quess East Bengal FC.

On 1 August 2019, the club entered its 100th establishment year. A centenary celebration logo was introduced. Torch rallies and events were organised, and attended by former players, coaches, presidents, etc. The centenary kit was unveiled, which was inspired by the 1925–26 season kit. The club participated in the Durand Cup, the Calcutta Football League and the I-League, and played its first match and won against Army Red in the Durand Cup.

The year 2020, saw the wake of COVID-19 which halted the ongoing football season in the country. The then investor, Quess pulled out from the two-year-old agreement by July 2020. On 1 August, the club completed its 100 years of existence. In September, Shree Cement was announced as the new investor of the club. The company acquired 76 percent shares of the club and renamed it from "East Bengal Football Club" to "Sporting Club East Bengal". Later that month, after successful bidding, the club moved from the I-League to the Indian Super League. In early 2022, the club parted ways with its investor Shree Cement.

The partnership between investor group Shree Cement and East Bengal was terminated after the end of the 2021–22 Indian Super League season. They returned the sporting rights to the club on 12 April 2022, after both the parties failed to reach an agreement and the final term sheet was not accepted and signed by the club officials. The club officials, however, stated that East Bengal shall continue to play in the Indian Super League, and shall be announcing their new investors within the next two weeks. East Bengal was once again handed another transfer ban by AIFF for non-payment of dues for seven of their players.

On 25 May, East Bengal announced the collaboration with Emami as the principal investors of the club. The club confirmed their participation in the 2022-23 Indian Super League season with the arrival of the new investors. On 18 July, after two months of contractual discussions between the club and the investor group, the club finally started the recruitment process for the new season after receiving a go-ahead from the investors. On 22 July, the AIFF uplifted the transfer ban set on East Bengal and thus allowed the club to register their new signings for the season. East Bengal appointed Santosh Trophy winning Kerala football team head-coach Bino George as the care-taker head coach of the team for the Calcutta Football League and Durand Cup, and will become the assistant coach of the team for the Indian Super League. East Bengal also roped in former India national football team coach Stephen Constantine as the new head-coach of the team for the season. The club also announced that the formal tie-up between them and the new investor group Emami. East Bengal FC has hired former Indian Super League (ISL) champion Carles Cuadrat as their new head coach on a two-year deal. The club clinched Super Cup title in 2024 and qualified for the AFC Champions League 2 play-offs.