2015–16 East Bengal FC season

The 2015–16 season is East Bengal FC's 96th season in existence. The club had won the Calcutta Football League this season and became the runners of 2015 Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup.

East Bengal
2015–16 season
PresidentDr Pranab Dasgupta
Head-Coach Biswajit Bhattacharya
(until 11 April 2016)
Trevor Morgan
(from 16 April 2016)
StadiumSalt Lake Stadium
Kalyani Stadium
East Bengal Ground
I-League3rd
Calcutta Premier DivisionChampions
Federation CupQuarter-Finals
Sheikh Kamal TrophyRunners-up
Top goalscorerLeague: Ranti Martins ('12)
All: Ranti Martins (17)
Home kit colours
Away kit colours
Third kit colours

Pre-Season Overview

The club signed Do Dong-hyun, a South Korean attacking mid-fielder to support the stricking part. With the arrival of veteran defender Bello Razaq from Mohun Bagan, the team became stronger and the Red and Gold Brigade are hoping to seal the CFL championship and set another hexa record. With the help of recent performances, The Club clinched to the 74th spot in the recent AFC Club Ranking, the highest among all Indian football clubs.

Season Overview

August

The club started their Calcutta Football League (CFL) campaign on 8 August by beating SVF Tollygunge Agragami FC by 1–0. In the next match, against Aryan F.C., the club managed a draw, the only draw of this CFL campaign. Then they went on winning all the matches against Bengal Nagpur Railway, Army XI, Mohammedan S.C., Police AC and Sports Authority of India.

September

Maintaining their winning streak of August, East Bengal started their September by beating Kalighat Milan Sangha F.C. by 4–3. This fixture was their toughest in this campaign as at a time, the team was trailing by 0-2 and then they managed to win it.
The next fixture of the club was a prestigious Kolkata Derby against their arch rivals Mohun Bagan in which the team managed an easy 4–0 win with two stunning free kicks by Do Dong-hyun, the top scorer of the club, one of which came in just after 82 seconds from the kick off. This win sealed their league victory and their 118th win against their arch rivals. Moreover, it was the club's 6th consecutive CFL championship which is itself a record and they hold a similar 6 consecutive CFL League wins between the period 1970–75.
The last fixture was against Southern Samity on 10 September. East Bengal with their reserved squad managed to win it and became the unbeatable champions of this CFL. Do Dong-hyun became the top scorer of both the club and the CFL.

October

The club went to play an international tournament in Bangladesh named 2015 Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup. The team draw set East Bengal in Group B on the fixture of this tour. Due to the absence of almost all the main and first team players of the club (all out on loan in different clubs of Indian Super League), the junior and reserve bench players had taken part in it. The club brought Orok Essien and Subodh Kumar on loan for the tournament. East Bengal started off well by defeating Bangladesh club Abahani Limited (Chittagong) by 2–1 on 21st Oct 2015. Young Prohlad scored on the match along with Mohammed Rafique. After that the most important player of midfield, Do Dong-hyun, had a knee injury which couldn't let him play for the rest of the tour. The club kept on its winning streak by defeating the current best club of Pakistan K-Electric F.C. by a comfortable margin of 3–1. Then the club had its first draw of the tournament which was against Abahani Limited (Dhaka). Then the club went into the semis where they defeated (on 28th oct 2015) Mohammedan Sporting Club (Dhaka) by 3–0 to enter into the final. Ranti Martins scored a couple on the semis. On 30th Oct 2015, East Bengal FC played the final against Abahani Limited (Chittagong) once again after the very first match. But the young brigade could not seal the victory at the end in spite of taking a lead on the 9th minute by the goal scored by Avinabo Bag. This time East Bengal lost to the Bangladeshi club by 1–3. The brilliant performance of the junior players throughout the tournament came to an end with the defeat in final match. But the fight of the junior brigade were appreciated whole heartedly by the supporters of the club.

Transfers

In
No. Pos. Name Signed from Month Ref.
21 MF Do Dong-hyun Free Agent N/A
6 DF Bello Razaq Mohun Bagan June
43 FW Orok Essien (on loan) October
MF Subodh Kumar (on loan) Tollygunge Agragami October

Out
Pos. Name Sold to Month Ref.
DF Safar Sardar Mohun Bagan N/A
MF Raju Gaikwad Mohun Bagan N/A

Kit

Supplier: Shiv Naresh / Sponsors: Kingfisher Premium, Peerless

Home kit
Away kit
Third Kit

Technical Staff
Position Name
Chief Coach Biswajit Bhattacharya
Assistant Coach Debjit Ghosh
Goalkeeping Coach Sanjay Majhi
Defence Coach Sammy Omollo
Physiotherapist Rajesh Basak
Club Doctor Dr. Santiranjan Dasgupta
Team Manager Manish Banerjee
Team Media Officer Gautam Roy

Competitions

Overall
Competition First match Last match Final position
Calcutta Football League 8 August 2015 10 September 2015 Champions
Sheikh Kamal Trophy 21 October 2015 30 October 2015 Runners-up
I-League 10 January 2016 24 April 2016 3rd
Federation Cup 1 May 2017 4 May 2017 Quarter Finals

Overview
Competition Record
Pld W D L GF GA GD Win %
Calcutta Football League 10 9 1 0 29 9 +20 090.00
Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup 5 3 1 1 9 5 +4 060.00
I-League 16 7 4 5 22 18 +4 043.75
Federation Cup 2 0 1 1 3 4 −1 000.00
Total 33 19 7 7 63 36 +27 057.58

Last updated: 31 May 2016
Source: Competitions

Calcutta Football League
Main article: 2015-16 Calcutta Premier Division

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 East Bengal (C) 10 9 1 0 29 9 +20 28 Champion
2 Army XI 10 6 1 3 18 9 +9 19
3 Mohun Bagan[lower-alpha 1] 10 4 3 3 16 9 +7 15
4 Southern Samity 10 4 3 3 18 15 +3 15
5 Mohammedan 10 3 5 2 14 6 +8 14
Source: Soccerway
(C) Champion
Notes:
  1. Mohun Bagan were deducted 3 points in the match with Tollygunge Agragami and Tollygunge Agragami were awarded with 3 points as Mohun Bagan played without the mandatory u-23 player on the field for few minutes in injury time. The result of the match was reversed by IFA to 0–0 and all the goals scored in the match by both the teams were declared void, but the cards shown were recorded. The match was counted as a loss for Mohun Bagan in the final league standings.

Fixtures & results

  Win   Draw   Loss

8 August 2015 1 East Bengal 1–0 Tollygunge Agragami Kolkata
14:00 IST Harmanjot Khabra 79' Report Stadium: East Bengal Ground
Referee: Pranjal Banerjee
Man of the Match: Do Dong-hyun (East Bengal)
11 August 2015 2 East Bengal 0–0 Aryan Kolkata
14:00 IST Report Stadium: East Bengal Ground
Referee: Prabir Dhar
Man of the Match: Priyant Singh (Aryan)
14 August 2015 3 East Bengal 6–0 Bengal Nagpur Railway Kolkata
14:00 IST Rafique 24'
Bello Razaq 27'
Do Dong-hyun 53', 83', 90+2'
Jiten Murmu 90+1'		 Report Stadium: East Bengal Ground
Referee: Animesh Biswas
Man of the Match: Do Dong-hyun (East Bengal)
19 August 2015 4 East Bengal 3–2 Army XI Kolkata
14:00 IST Do Dong-hyun 58', 69'
Saumik Dey 76'		 Report L'mawaya 16'
P Jain 34'		 Stadium: East Bengal Ground
Referee: Ajit Dutta
Man of the Match: Do Dong-hyun (East Bengal)
23 August 2015 5 East Bengal 2–1 Mohammedan Sporting Kolkata
14:00 IST Do Dong-hyun 66', 73' Report Kareem Omolaja 90+5' Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: Uttam Sarkar
Man of the Match: Do Dong-hyun (East Bengal)
27 August 2015 6 East Bengal 4–1 Police A.C. Kolkata
14:00 IST Rafique 28'
Harmanjot Khabra 29'
Do Dong-hyun 62'
Bikash Jairu 70'		 Report Ainish 45' Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: Tanmoy Dhar
Man of the Match: Rafique (East Bengal)
30 August 2015 7 East Bengal 3–1 SAI Darjeeling Kolkata
14:00 IST Rahul Bheke 4'
Mehtab Hossain 52'
Do Dong-hyun 53'		 Report Asiruddin 48' Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: Pranjal Banerjee
Man of the Match: Mehtab Hossain (East Bengal)
2 September 2015 8 East Bengal 4–3 Kalighat MS Kolkata
14:00 IST Ranti Martins 48'
Rahul Bheke 61'
Do Dong-hyun 69'
Abhinas Ruidas 89'		 Report Cristopher 2', 26'
Kallol 75'		 Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: Animesh Biswas
Man of the Match: Abhinas Ruidas (East Bengal)
6 September 2015 9 East Bengal 4–0 Mohun Bagan Kolkata
14:30 IST Do Dong-hyun 2', 37'
Mehtab Hossain  48'
Robert Lalthlamuana  52'
Rafique 81'
Rahul Bheke 90+3'		 Report Dudu Omagbemi  19'  50'
Sanjay Balmuchu  35'
Lalkamal Bhowmick  36'  90+3'		 Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium
Referee: Ranjit Bakshi
Man of the Match: Do Dong-hyun (East Bengal)
10 September 2015 10 East Bengal 2–1 Southern Samity Kolkata
14:00 IST Prohlad Roy 37'
Rafique 69'		 Report Khaidem Vicky Meitei 47' Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: Tanmoy Dhar
Man of the Match: Rafique (East Bengal)


Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup
Main article: 2015 Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Kingfisher East Bengal 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3 7 Advance to Semi-finals
2 Chittagong Abahani (H) 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 6
3 Dhaka Abahani 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
4 K-Electric 3 0 0 3 5 10 −5 0
Source: GSA
(H) Host

Bracket
Semi-finals Final
      
A1 De Spin Ghar Bazan F.C. 1
B2 Chittagong Abahani 3
B2 Chittagong Abahani 3
Group A
B1 Kingfisher East Bengal 1
B1 Kingfisher East Bengal 3
A2 Dhaka Mohammedan 0

Fixtures & results

  Win   Draw   Loss

20 October 2015 Group Stage Chittagong Abahani 1–2 East Bengal Chittagong
19:30 BST Bello Razaq 78' (o.g.) Mohammed Rafique 32'
Prohlad Roy 72'		 Stadium: M. A. Aziz Stadium
Attendance: 12,000
22 October 2015 Group Stage East Bengal 3–1 K-Electric Chittagong
16:30 BST Orok Essien 15'
Mohammed Rafique 25'
Ranti Martins 49'		 Report Muhammad Rasool 84' Stadium: M. A. Aziz Stadium
Attendance: 4,000
24 October 2015 Group Stage Dhaka Abahani 0–0 East Bengal Chittagong
19:30 BST Stadium: M. A. Aziz Stadium
Attendance: 18,000
28 October 2015 Semi Final East Bengal 3–0 Dhaka Mohammedan Chittagong
19:30 BST Ranti Martins 8', 59'
Mohammed Rafique 48'		 Stadium: M. A. Aziz Stadium
Attendance: 18,000
30 October 2015 Final Chittagong Abahani 3–1 East Bengal Chittagong
19:30 BST Eleta Kingsley 45+1', 54'
Hemanta Vincent Biswas 57'		 Report Avinabo Bag 11' Stadium: M. A. Aziz Stadium
Attendance: 30,000


I-League
Main article: 2015–16 I-League

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Bengaluru FC (C) 16 10 2 4 24 17 +7 32 Qualification to Champions League qualifying play-off
2 Mohun Bagan 16 8 6 2 32 16 +16 30 Qualification to AFC Cup qualifying play-off[lower-alpha 1]
3 East Bengal 16 7 4 5 22 18 +4 25
4 Sporting Goa 16 5 7 4 24 20 +4 22 Withdrew[lower-alpha 2]
5 Mumbai 16 4 7 5 20 19 +1 19
Source: I-League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) play-off match
(C) Champion
Notes:
  1. Mohun Bagan qualified for the 2017 AFC Cup by winning the 2015–16 Federation Cup.
  2. Sporting Goa and Salgaocar withdrew from I-League.[1]

Fixtures & results

  Win   Draw   Loss

10 January 2016 1 Sporting Club de Goa 1–3 East Bengal Margao
16:30 IST Odafa Onyeka Okolie 29'
Alber Gonsalves  73'
Mahmoud Amnah  76'		 Report Ranti Martins 67', 81'
Bikash Jairu 78'		 Stadium: Fatorda Stadium
Referee: R. Venkatesh
17 January 2016 2 Mumbai 0–0 East Bengal Mumbai
19:05 IST Eric Brown  32' Report Sanju Pradhan  39'
Harmanjot Khabra  40'
Ranti Martins  45+1'		 Stadium: Cooperage Ground
Referee: P. Vairamuthu
23 January 2016 3 Mohun Bagan 1–1 East Bengal Kolkata
14:30 IST Pronay Halder  53'
Luciano Sabrosa  72'
Dhanachandra Singh  76'
Cornell Glen 77'		 Report Arnab Mondal  53'
Ranti Martins 63'
Rahul Bheke  88'		 Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium
Referee: A. Rowan
26 January 2016 4 East Bengal 1–0 DSK Shivajians Kolkata
19:05 IST Ranti Martins 29' Report Abdul Hakku  8'
Milan Singh  81'		 Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: Priyobarta Singh
30 January 2016 5 East Bengal 0–1 Bengaluru Kolkata
14:05 IST Rehenesh TP  6'
Samad Ali Mallick  8'
Ranti Martins  62'
Bikash Jairu  75'		 Report Seiminlen Doungel  26'
Sunil Chhetri 60'
Lalchhuanmawia  83'		 Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: Santosh Kumar
5 February 2016 6 East Bengal 2–0 Aizawl Kolkata
14:30 IST Rahul Bheke  17'
Bikash Jairu 72'
Bernard Mendy 74'		 Report Yuta Kinowaki  27' Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: A. Meitei
9 February 2016 7 East Bengal 4–0 Shillong Lajong Kolkata
19:05 IST Ranti Martins 17', 26', 37'
Bikash Jairu 52'		 Report Chinglensana Singh  61'  82' Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: Umesh Bora
21 February 2016 8 East Bengal 2–1 Salgaocar Kolkata
14:30 IST Rafique 38'
Bello Razaq 83'		 Report Darryl Duffy 65' Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: R. Venkatesh
1 March 2016 9 Salgaocar 3–1 East Bengal Vasco da Gama
16:00 IST Thongkhosiem Haokip 4', 90+5'
Calvin Mbarga 36' (pen)		 Report Ranti Martins 25'
Samad Ali Mallick  35'
Sehnaj Singh  78'		 Stadium: Tilak Maidan Stadium
Referee: Umesh Bora
6 March 2016 10 DSK Shivajians 2–0 East Bengal Pune
16:00 IST Douhou Pierre 8'
Surchandra Singh  45'
Zohmingliana Ralte  64'
Juan Quero 66'		 Report Ranti Martins 25'
Samad Ali Mallick  35'
Sehnaj Singh  78'		 Stadium: Balewadi Stadium
Referee: C.R. Srikrishna
12 March 2016 11 Aizawl 2–3 East Bengal Aizawl
16:00 IST Brandon Vanlalremdika 19'
Alfred Jaryan  47'
Yuta Kinowaki 58'
Lalramchullova  64'  90'
David Lalrinmuana  65'
Emmanuel Chigozie  67'		 Report Sehnaj Singh  27'
Robert Lalthlamuana  47'
Ranti Martins 69' (pen), 85', 88'
Bikash Jairu  90+3'		 Stadium: Rajiv Gandhi Stadium
Referee: Om Prakash Thakur
2 April 2016 12 East Bengal 2–1 Mohun Bagan Siliguri
16:30 IST Do Dong-hyun 40' (pen), 75'  75'
Bello Razaq  45+1'
Sehnaj Singh  90+4'		 Report Luciano Sabrosa  38'
Katsumi Yusa 83'
Pritam Kotal  84'
Pronay Halder  87'		 Stadium: Kanchenjunga Stadium
Referee: Santosh Kumar
5 April 2016 13 East Bengal 2–2 Mumbai Kolkata
19:05 IST Rahul Bheke  11'
Luis Barreto  14'
Ranti Martins 25'
Cavin Lobo  39'
Bernard Mendy 59'		 Report Steven Dias 15'
Pratik Chaudhari  44'
Allan Dias  67'
Ashutosh Mehta 77'		 Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: A. Rowan
10 April 2016 14 Bengaluru 3–1 East Bengal Bengaluru
19:05 IST Eugeneson Lyngdoh 28'
Sunil Chhetri  61'
Kim Song-yong 63'
Malsawmzuala 68'		 Report Do Dong-hyun 27'  39'
Bernard Mendy  47'		 Stadium: Kanteerava Stadium
Referee: C.R. Srikrishna
15 April 2016 15 East Bengal 0–0 Sporting Club de Goa Kolkata
19:05 IST Samad Ali Mallick  44'
Mehtab Hossain  60'
Narayan Das  68'  86'		 Report Mehrajuddin Wadoo  57'  59'
Fulganco Cardozo  67'		 Stadium: Barasat Stadium
Referee: B. Balasubramanium
15 April 2016 16 Shillong Lajong 1–0 East Bengal Shillong
19:05 IST Isaac Vanmalsawma 62'
Uilliams Bomfim Souza  64'
Chinglensana Singh  83'		 Report Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Referee: Om Prakash Thakur


Federation Cup
Main article: 2015–16 Indian Federation Cup
  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                             
Bengaluru FC 1 2 3  
Aizawl 2 3 5  
  Aizawl (a) 0 2 2  
  Sporting Goa 0 2 2  
Sporting Goa 1 1 2
  Mumbai 0 0 0  
    Aizawl 0
  Mohun Bagan 5
  East Bengal 1 2 3  
Shillong Lajong (aet) 2 2 4  
  Shillong Lajong 0 0 0
  Mohun Bagan 5 0 5  
Mohun Bagan 3 4 7
  Salgaocar 2 0 2  

Fixtures & results

  Win   Draw   Loss

1 May 2016 Quarter-Final 1st Leg Shillong Lajong 2–1 East Bengal Shillong
17:00 IST Konsham Singh 33'
Fábio Pena 62'		 Report Do Dong-hyun 44' Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
4 May 2016 Quarter-Final 2nd Leg East Bengal 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(3–4 agg.)		 Shillong Lajong Kolkata
16:30 IST Ranti Martins 23'
Lalrindika Ralte 37'		 Report Fábio Pena 17'
Uilliams Bomfim Souza 114'		 Stadium: Barasat Stadium

Statistics

Appearances
Players with no appearances are not included in the list.
As of end of 2015-16 season.[2]
Appearances for East Bengal in 2015–16 season
No. Pos. Nat. Name CFL I League Fed Cup S.K. Int. Cup Total
Apps Starts Apps Starts Apps Starts Apps Starts Apps Starts
Goalkeepers
13GKRehenesh TP8822 1010
30GKLuis Barreto998800 1717
26GKAbhra Mondal110000 11
31GKDibyendu Sarkar000055 55
Defenders
6DFBello Razaq8816162255 3131
3DFArnab Mondal33131322 1818
5DFRahul Bheke5410900 1513
45DFBernard Mendy9910 109
28DFSaumik Dey768700 1513
38DFSamad Ali Mallick66660021 1212
19DFRobert Lalthlamuana335500 88
4DFNarayan Das3322 55
12DFDeepak Mondal77212255 1615
16DFGurwinder Singh210000 21
24DFBabu Mondal1130 41
40DFBiswajit Saha0055 55
22DFAvinabo Bag110044 55
Midfielders
14MFMehtab Hossain88141422 2424
21MFDo Dong-Hyun101013102211 2623
8MFMohammed Rafique981262055 2819
23MFBikash Jairu8811900 1917
11MFCavin Lobo539200 145
15MFSanju Pradhan9721 118
2MFSehnaj Singh8300 83
34MFAbhinas Ruidas54881043 1815
7MFHarmanjot Khabra877522 1714
28MFShylo Malsawmtluanga927421 187
17MFJoaquim Abranches7400 74
20MFLalrindika Ralte2122 43
35MFAnthony Soren2131 52
36MFProhlad Roy660055 1111
18MFSubodh Kumar000055 55
33MFJagannath Sana1031 41
Forwards
10FWRanti Martins6016162255 2923
25FWJiten Murmu6300 63
43FWOrok Essien44 44
27FWC. S. Sabeeth5200 52

Goal Scorers
As of end of 2015-16 season.[2]
Goals for East Bengal in 2015–16 season
Rank No. Pos. Nat. Name CFL I League Fed Cup S.K. Int. Cup Total
1 10 FW Ranti Martins 1 12 1 3 17
2 21 FW Do Dong-hyun 12 3 1 0 16
3 8 MF Mohammed Rafique 4 1 0 3 8
4 23 MF Bikash Jairu 1 3 0 4
5 5 DF Rahul Bheke 3 0 0 3
6 6 MF Bello Razaq 1 1 0 0 2
7 MF Harmanjot Khabra 2 0 0 2
36 MF Prohlad Roy 1 0 1 2
45 DF Bernard Mendy 2 0 2
10 14 DF Mehtab Hossain 1 0 0 1
20 MF Lalrindika Ralte 0 1 1
22 MF Avinabo Bag 0 0 1 1
25 FW Jiten Murmu 1 1
29 DF Saumik Dey 1 0 0 1
34 MF Abhinas Ruidas 1 0 0 0 1
43 MF Orok Essien 1 1
Own goals 0 0 0 0 0
Total 29 22 3 9 63

References
  1. "Salgaocar FC, Sporting Clube de Goa withdraw from I-League". The Indian Express. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  2. 2015–16 East Bengal FC season at Soccerway

See also
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