East Bengal Vs Mohun Bagan: 10 Things To Know About Kolkata Derby

The first match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan was played on August 8, 1921, in the semifinal of the Cooch Behar Cup. The match ended in a draw.

The biggest margin of victory in the Kolkata Derby is the famous 5-0 win by East Bengal during the 1975 IFA Shield. Shyam Thapa (2), Ranjit Mukherjee, Surajit Sengupta and Subhankar Sanyal scored for East Bengal.

August 16, 1980 is considered to be a Black Day in the history of Indian football as a stampede at Eden Gardens resulted in 16 deaths. It happened after the referee showed red cards to Dilip Palit and Bidesh Basu in the second half.

Playing for Mohu Bagan, Nigerian Edeh Chidi became the first foreigner to score a hat-trick in a Kolkata Derby. He scored 4 goals in Mohun Bagan's 5-3 demolition of East Bengal.

Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia scored most goals in the history of Kolkata Derby - 19. Among 19, Bhutia scored 13 goals for East Bengal while the rest came for Mohun Bagan.

A Mohun Bagan supporter Umakanto Palodhi committed suicide after their 0-5 loss against East Bengal in 1975. His suicide note read - “In my next birth, I will take the revenge by becoming a Mohun Bagan footballer.”

The Kolkata Derby during the Federation Cup semifinal in 1997 witnessed a mammoth 1,31,000-strong crowd at the Salt Lake stadium. East Bengal won the game 4-1.

Only four players - Goutam Sarkar, Prasanta Banerjee, Dulal Biswas and Renedy Singh - have captained both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan in a Kolkata derby.

As of January 2022, East Bengal faced Mohun Bagan in 379 times. East Bengal enjoy a 132-122 H-2-H record while 125 games ended in draws.

East Bengal won the 100th Kolkata Derby while Mohun Bagan emerged triumphant in 200th and 300th matches.