East Bengal Ultras

The East Bengal Ultras () is the vocal supporters' group of an Indian football club, East Bengal Club, which competes in the ISL—the top tier football league in India. The group is also often referred to as the Bangal Brigade since much of its fanbase originates from the East Bengal region. Founded in 2013, it was the first Ultras group in Indian football and has been credited with revolutionising the Indian football fan movement. East Bengal Ultras was the first supporters' group in India to organise an on-field pyrotechnics show and the first in South Asia to organise a live chant show, which was named Tunes of Colony, in 2019. The group has around 25 chants and slogans.

East Bengal Ultras is known for making some of the largest unique tifos in Indian football. In the 2019–20 I-League season, it set a record for the biggest tifo——in Indian football history at that time, breaking the previous record of which the group had also set.

East Bengal

East Bengal Club was founded in 1920 and is regarded as one of India's oldest and most successful association football clubs. The team has won multiple national and international trophies in its history. In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha (or nonviolent resistance) swept over India and affected football; Indian clubs boycotted the ongoing Calcutta Football League (CFL) midway through the season. In the midst of the disruption, Royal Regiment was declared First Division winner, but East Bengal was not promoted to the First Division despite having won the Second Division. Thousands of East Bengal fans and officials held a protest march at the East Bengal Ground, where protesters carried flaming torches. A hand holding a flaming torch became the supporters' club's emblem. This icon is still the emblem of the club.

Initial years: 2013–2016

In 2013, the East Bengal Ultras made its first appearance at an away game against Bengaluru, becoming the first ultras group in the country. The group introduced smoke shows at the 2015 Calcutta Football League Kolkata Derby, which East Bengal won by 4–0 and unveiled its first large tifo at the 2016 Kolkata Derby at the Salt Lake Stadium in Bidhannagar. The tifo was a large East Bengal jersey that had the number 12 printed on the back, denoting that the fans were the club's " twelfth man". The tifo was the first of its kind in Indian football and became very popular with the club's supporters.

In the 2015–16 I-League, the East Bengal Ultras presented colourful mosaic shows at matches against Bengaluru and Salgaocar in the Barasat Stadium. These were firsts in India's fan culture. At the opening match of the 2016 CFL Premier Division at the Kalyani Stadium, the East Bengal Ultras displayed a 3D tifo, first ever in South Asia, that depicted an East Bengal player holding the CFL Trophy against the backdrop of the Kolkata skyline and the text ''Kolkata Amader'' ("Kolkata is ours").

Growth of ultras culture: 2017–present

The East Bengal Ultras introduced pole flags and a scarf show at a 2016–17 I-League match against Aizawl. The first big tifo of 2017 was another 3D tifo against Bengaluru. The new atmosphere in Indian football created by the group attracted coverage by foreign sports media like Copa90, Ultras-tifo, Football Fans Asia, 11 Freunde, Medium, Exhale Sports and ultras groups of various football clubs. East Bengal Ultras have also backed the club's youth team, performing activities at youth derbies, which prompted much discussion on fan forums. The group started with around 10 people, but they had expanded to thousands by 2019, including between 100 and 150 core members. They are considered as the second best ultras group in Asia.

Pyro show

At an 18 August 2018 CFL game played between East Bengal and Aryan, scores of pyrotechnics were lit at the end of the game. Chants and pyro displays caught the attention of rival fans and players. A powerful procession to the venue was accompanied by a smoke show at the start of the game and it was the first and largest pyro show in Indian football.

Tunes of Colony

To celebrate the club's centenary, the Ultras organised an event called Tunes of Colony, which was held on 31 July 2019 at the Sovabazar Natmandir temple. It was the first-ever chant-based musical show in Indian and South Asian football. The event was a hit with East Bengal fans.

Tifos

In the 2018–19 season, East Bengal won both Kolkata Derbies in the I-League. On 16 December 2018 at the Home Derby, East Bengal Ultras unfurled a gigantic tifo referencing the fan taunt ''Aha bujhlen kotta, aar koite hoibo?'' ("Do you understand sir? Do I need to say more?") with images of tea, sugar and milk. This tifo was covered by the BBC
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