Tollygunge Agragami Football Club is an Indian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Tollygunge Tollygunge (Bengali: টালিগঞ্জ; nicknamed 'Mini Mumbai' or 'Mini Bombay') is a locality of South Kolkata, in West Bengal, India. It is famed as the centre of the Indian film industry, known as Tollywood, Marathi Cinema, South Indi ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. Founded in 1943, the club primarily competes in the Calcutta Premier Division League. It previously participated in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, then top flight of

Indian football league system The Indian football league system is the league structure of football club competitions in India. The highest level of men's club football competition in India is the Indian Super League. Indian Women's League, founded in 2016, is the highest l ...

, alongside

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

. Beside CFL, the club participates in other regional tournaments alongside the Kolkata giants

ATK Mohun Bagan ATK Mohun Bagan FC () is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club, which was formed as a merger between the football section of m ...

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

and Mohammedan Sporting.

History

Early history

Tollygunge Agragami, as a football club, founded in

, India, during the British raj. The team was incorporated in 1943 as Russa Agragami Samity. It was later renamed to "Tollygunge Agragami" in 1955. The club uses

Rabindra Sarobar Stadium The Rabindra Sarobar Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Lake Gardens, Kolkata, India. It is used for football matches and it serves as the home of many Calcutta Football League matches. History The venue opened in 1961. It also was the home gro ...

as its home ground, which has a capacity of 22,000. Although the team has not been as successful as their city rivals,

East Bengal Club East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional Sports club, multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's association football, football team that competes in t ...

Mohun Bagan AC Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

, alongside Mohammedan Sporting, but they are a team to watch out for. The club in 1971, reached the final of prestigious

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association. The IFA is the governing body of football in the state of West Bengal, came into existence in 1893. Named after the association, the IFA Shield tourn ...

, but was defeated by Mohamedan Sporting 2–0. The team was then managed by legendary coach

Sushil Bhattacharya Sushil Bhattacharya (1924 – 18 July 2015) was an Indian professional football player and coach, who is credited for becoming the first manager of the India women's national football team. He was also the first head coach in history of East Ben ...

, who guided them earning promotion to

Calcutta Football League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by Indian Football Association (WB), under state football leagues in India. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is off ...

first division. Winning the 1997–98 season of the National Football League 2nd Division, is Tollygunge's biggest achievement since their inception. In July 2000, after a brilliant display at the NFL, Tollygunge goalkeeper Prasanta Dora was included in

Sukhwinder Singh Sukhwinder Singh (born 18 July 1971) is an internationally acclaimed Indian playback singer who primarily sings Bollywood songs. He is famous internationally for singing " Jai Ho" from the film ''Slumdog Millionaire'' which won an Academy Awa ...

managed national team of India during their historic England-tour, where they played three matches against

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

sides

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, and arch-rival

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Present years

Tollygunge Agragami participated in the 2018 Calcutta Premier Division playoffs, finishing tenth. They were relegated to the Calcutta Premier Division B and defeated Mohammedan Sporting by 2–1. They won two matches, drew two, and lost the rest. They did not qualify for Calcutta Premier Division A in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, Tollygunge announced Modern Institute of Engineering and Technology as their main sponsor ahead of the

2021–22 Calcutta Premier Division The 2021 Calcutta Football League Premier Division A was the 123rd season of the top state-level football league of West Bengal. It was held between mid-August and November of 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided to cancel Calcut ...

National Football League seasons

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, Tollygunge Agragami emerged as one of the finest sides from

to participate in the inaugural

, then top tier

. They finished as 4th in the Group A of the 1998–99 National Football League with 14 points. In the 1999–2000 National Football League, they again competed with the top clubs and finished as 8th with 26 points, behind

Kingfisher East Bengal East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top fl ...

. In the fifth season of the National Football League, the club competed bravely, finishing 8th again with 24 points. Tollygunge enjoyed their back to back appearances in the top flight league in which they finished 9th in the 2001–02 National Football League (sixth season) with 23 points. In the 2002–03 National Football League, they again finished 9th with 23 points. The 2003–04 National Football League was tough for them, where they finished 10th behind the giants

Mohun Bagan A.C. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

with only 20 points. In 2004–05 National Football League, Tollygunge relegated after finishing at the bottom with 17 points. They lost 11 games and won only 3, as

East Bengal FC East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top fl ...

and

Vasco SC Vasco may refer to: * Basque language, called ''vasco'' in Spanish * ''Vasco'' (album), a two-part EP by Ricardo Villalobos * Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer * Vasco da Gama, Goa, a city in India, often called simply Vasco * Club de Regatas Va ...

thrashed Tollygunge by 5–0 respectively and

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

rout them by 4–0.

Sponsorship history

In 2014, the club entered into a sponsorship of

Shree Venkatesh Films SVF Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian media and entertainment company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, founded by Shrikant Mohta. Apart from producing and distributing Bengali language, Bengali films, SVF also distributes Bollywood and ...

, and registered by the name of "Tollygunge Agragami SVF Football Club Private Limited". In 2015, the club acquired service of Trak-Only as their main shirt sponsor.

Home grounds

The club plays its home matches at the

which is located in Lake Gardens, Kolkata. Kishore Bharati Krirangan Kolkata

22,000 seater

Kishore Bharati Krirangan Kishore Bharati Krirangan (commonly known as both Mukundapur Stadium and Mukundapur Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Kolkata, India, used mainly for football matches. The capacity of the stadium is 12,000 and the size of the sports compl ...

, located in

Jadavpur Jadavpur is a southern neighbourhood of Kolkata in the district of Kolkata of West Bengal, India. Jadavpur is one of the important junctions in South Kolkata. Jadavpur University and a number of research institutes of national and international ...

, was used as the home ground of

Tollygunge Agragami Tollygunge Agragami Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Tollygunge, Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1943, the club primarily competes in the Calcutta Football League, Calcutta Premier Division L ...

for both the

and

for a long time.

Rivalry

Tollygunge has the rivalries with other two

sides Kalighat Milan Sangha and

Bhawanipore FC Bhawanipore FC is an Indian professional football club based in Bhowanipore, Kolkata, West Bengal. The club was established in 1910, and competed in the I-League 2nd division in 2020–21 season, then second tier of Indian football league syste ...

, which is often referred to as the "South Kolkata Derby".

South Kolkata Derby

Managerial history

(1970–1972) *

Amal Dutta Amal Dutta (4 May 1930 – 10 July 2016) was a former Indian footballer, coach and football manager. Born in Calcutta, then Bengal Presidency, he is considered as the first professional football coach in the country. A finest thinker of the sp ...

(1999–2000) * Shankar Mitra (2000–2001) *

Aloke Mukherjee Aloke Mukherjee is an Indian former international association football, football left back. He was active as a footballer from 1978 to 1997. He was named in the All Time best Eleven Indian Team by footballer and coach Pradip Kumar Banerjee, PK. ...

(2001–2002) * Chandu Roy Chowdhury (2002) *

(2002–2003) *

Subrata Bhattacharya Subrata Bhattacharya is an Indian football manager and former professional footballer who played as a defender for the Indian national team and spent 17 years playing for Mohun Bagan. He was the stopper back for Mohun Bagan during 1975 IFA Sh ...

(2003) * Krishnendu Roy (2003–2004, 2005) *

Mridul Banerjee Mridul Banerjee is an Indian football manager and is the current Head coach of the Calcutta Premier Division side Dalhousie AC. He also earlier served as the Manager cum Assistant Coach of the SC East Bengal in the Indian Super League. Manage ...

(2011–2013) *

Monoranjan Bhattacharya Monoranjan Bhattacharya, nicknamed ''Mona'', is a retired Indian professional footballer and football manager. During his playing career, he represented the "Big Two" of Kolkata football, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. He also represented India ...

(2018) *

Bimal Ghosh Bimal Ghosh (born 29 June 1956) is an Indian former footballer and the current head coach of Tollygunge Agragami. Coaching career Air India During the first ever National Football League season in 1996–97, Ghosh was the coach the Air India F ...

(2018–2019)

Notable players

''For all current and former notable Tollygunge Agragami players with a Wikipedia article, see: :Tollygunge Agragami FC players''.

World Cup players

Anthony Wolfe Anthony Wolfe CM (born 23 December 1983) is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a forward. He represented the Trinidad and Tobago national team on 35 occasions. As a member of the squad that competed at the 2006 FIFA World Cup ...

(2017)

Honours

League

* National Football League II **Champions (1): 1997–98 *

**Third place (7): 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2014–15

Cup

Fourth oldest football tournament, organized by the

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Ac ...

( W.B.), and played between the local clubs of

and other invited ones. **Runners-up (2): 1971, 1999 *

All Airlines Gold Cup The All Airlines Gold Cup was a domestic football tournament organised by the Indian Football Association The Indian Football Association, abbreviated as IFA, is the organisation that administers association football in the state of West Be ...

**Runners-up (3): 1998, 2000, 2002 * McDowell's Cup **Champions (1): 1999 * Libero One-Day Cup **Champions (1): 2003

Other department

Men's cricket

Tollygunge Agragami is having its men's

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

section. It is under the state jurisdiction of

Cricket Association of Bengal Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) is the governing body for cricket in the Indian state of West Bengal. Its headquarters are located in the Eden Gardens stadium, Kolkata. It is a full member of Board of Control for Cricket in India. It gover ...

(CAB), which is governing body of cricket in West Bengal, and competes in CAB First Division League, J.C. Mukherjee T-20 Trophy and other tournaments.

Notes

References

External links

Tollygunge Agragami FC
at Soccerway
Tollygunge Agragami FC archives
at ''arunfoot.com'' (Arunava about football)
Team info
at Global Sports Archive *
Tollygunge Agragami
at WorldFootball.net {{West Bengal Sports Association football clubs established in 1943 Sports clubs in India 1943 establishments in India Football clubs in Kolkata Tollygunge Agragami FC