Aryan Football Club (also known as both Aryans and Aryan; formerly Techno Aryan FC) is an Indian professional

multi-sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

based in

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 fou ...

, that competes in the

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 offi ...

. The club was founded in 1884 as ''Aryan Sports Club''. It started playing football some years later, making it one of Asia's oldest football clubs. It plays home matches at the East Bengal-Aryan Ground.

History

Formation and journey (1884–1930)

During the age of associations of

Bengali nationalism Bengalism or Bengali nationalism () was a form of nationalism that focused on Bengalis as a singular nation. The people of Bengali ethnicity speak Bengali language. Bengalis mostly live across Bangladesh and the Indian states of Tripura an ...

in late 19th century, Sir

Dukhiram Majumder Dukhiram Majumder (born Oomesh Chandra Majumder, also Mazumdar; 1875 – 16 June 1929) was an Indian footballer, football manager, scout and club official, who is regarded as the first football coach in the country. He first understood the impo ...

, Kalicharan Mitra, Manmatha Ganguly were the pupils of

Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikary (Bengali: নগেন্দ্র প্রসাদ সর্বাধিকারী) was an Indian football personality, known as the "Father of Indian Football" for his role in founding the first Indian footbal ...

, who practiced and popularized football. Majumder founded a sporting organization named "Students Union" in Mohun Bagan Villa. When the organization discontinued due to disagreements over wearing boots, Majumder went on to form Aryans Club in

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

Durga Charan Laha's Telipara field in Shyampukur. Before the advent of

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 club, it was Aryan (then known as ''Aryans Club'') and

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 ...

, who enjoyed an elite status among Indian football clubs. Founded in 1884 as a multi-sports club, association football was introduced in Aryan few years later and thus it became one of the oldest football clubs in India. Majumder (1875 – 16 June 1929) became father figure of Aryans during the pre-independence era, regarded as first coach of India who brought up and guided players like Syed Abdus Samad, Gostha Pal, Shibdas Bhaduri and others. Forming a coaching institute within the club, he managed the team throughout his life. It was Majumder, who started Aryan's famous policy of bringing up unknown yet talented footballers. In 1914, the

Indian Football Association The Indian Football Association, abbreviated as IFA, is the organisation that administers association football in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the oldest Football Association in India and was founded in 1893. Among the founders was form ...

(IFA) permitted only two native clubs in the CFL Second Division; It Aryan one of them. In that season, Mohun Bagan earned promotion to the Premier Division but Aryan was promoted to the top division two years later. Under Majumdar's coaching, Aryan achieved fourth place in 1920–21

and reached the semi-finals of

Rovers Cup The Rovers Cup was an annual football tournament held in India, organized by the Western India Football Association. It was the second oldest tournament in India after Durand Cup. History Rovers Cup was incorporated by some British football ent ...

in 1928. Legendary footballers

Balaidas Chatterjee Balaidas Chatterjee (10 March 1900 – 1974) was a former Indian football player and was the first head coach the India national football team during the 1948 Summer Olympics. During his playing days, Chatterjee played for Mohun Bagan in variou ...

and Karuna Bhattacharya appeared with Aryan at that time.

1930–1960

While Aryan didn't enjoy the same degree of success as Mohun Bagan, they did perform well in patches. The club participated consecutively in the

with their rivals, and Mohammed Salim ( first Indian footballer who played for an overseas club) was one of the legendary players who appeared with Aryan in 1933–34. One of Aryan's greatest moments came in 1940, that year, they won

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 to ...

defeating Mohun Bagan 4–1, one of India's premier tournaments. They became only the 3rd Indian run club to win the prestigious title. Moreover, they crushed Mohun Bagan 4–1 in the final. In the 40s, Alil Dey and Modassar Yasin Ali Khan from

Tangail Tangail ( bn, টাঙ্গাইল, ), is a major city within the Dhaka Division in central Bangladesh. It sits on the bank of the Louhajang River, north-west of Dhaka, the nation's capital. It is considered to be the main urban area of ...

, became two of the earliest known Bangladeshi footballers to play for the club. Sheeo Mewalal Indian football player 1950s

Aryan enjoyed another spell of success in mid-1950s, reaching the final of IFA Shield in 1955 and 1956 with an ageing

Sahu Mewalal Sheoo Mewalal (also known as Sahu Mewalal; 1 July 1926 – 27 December 2008) was an Indian footballer in Kolkata. He played as a striker and was known for his fitness, bicycle kicks, and goal-scoring abilities, especially using the rabona kick ...

in their ranks, who scored multiple hat-tricks for the team. He also emerged as top scorer of CFL in 1949, 1951, 1953, 1954, and 1958. Before or after gaining independence from the

British raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

, Aryan participated in every

editions (until the formation of Premier Division B), which is Asia's oldest football league. During that time, legendary players from Bengal including Sanat Seth have appeared with the club colours.

1960–1980

As the years progressed they gradually lost their status as a top club, instead Aryan became the breeding ground of some of the most famous players in Kolkata maidan. Players like

Pradip Kumar Banerjee Pradip Kumar Banerjee (23 June 1936 – 20 March 2020) was an Indian professional footballer who played as a striker for the India national football team. He also captained the national team and later on became the coach of the national ...

, Prasun Banerjee, Sanat Seth, Pradyut Barman, Goutam Sarkar and Sudhir Karmakar started out in Aryan, before moving on to the bigger clubs.

Balai Dey Balai Dey ( bn, বলাই দে; born 11 October 1946) is a retired Indian football player who played as a goalkeeper. He is one of the few footballers who represented the two nations, India and Pakistan, in international football. In July ...

, the only footballer who represented the two nations

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

in international football, appeared with Aryan in 1967. Other than another IFA Shield win in 1983 (title shared with East Bengal), Aryan didn't achieve a lot of success in modern era. On the morning of 5 August 1971, the Naxalite intellectual and poet Saroj Dutta was killed by the police in the grounds of the Aryan club on the Calcutta maidan. In 1975, Aryan emerged champion of Churachand Singh Invitation Trophy defeating Rajasthan Club.

1990–present

In 1998, Aryan reached the final of

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 ...

but lost 4–3 to

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 ...

in penalty-shootout. They again finished on second position in 2010.

Home ground

Aryan FC plays most of their home matches of

Calcutta Premier Division 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 of ...

at the

East Bengal Ground The East Bengal Ground, also known as East Bengal–Aryan Ground, is the home stadium of East Bengal and Aryan. The stadium has a capacity of 23,500 people. It is one of the venues for Calcutta Football League. The stadium lies in the Kolkata ...

, which is located in

Kolkata Maidan The Maidan (; bn, ময়দান), also referred to as the Brigade Parade Ground, is a large public park and urban green space in the center of Kolkata, India. With a total area of , it is the largest urban park in the world. It is a va ...

area and has a capacity of 23,500 spectators. East_Bengal_Ground_layout

The stadium is officially known as East Bengal–Aryan Ground, having Aryan AC gallery in its northeastern part. EB-Ground

Sponsorship

The club is currently being sponsored by the Techno India Group, which is a group of

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

and

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...

colleges, public schools. JIS University is the shirt sponsor. The club also acquired service of Trak-Only as their main shirt sponsor.

Current squad

Notable players

''For current and former notable Aryan FC players with a Wikipedia article, see:

Aryan FC players Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ...

''.

Honours

League

* CFL Second Division **Champions (2): 1991, 1996–97

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. **Champions (1): 1940, 1983 (''joint winners'') **Runners-up (2): 1955, 1956 * Trades Cup **Champions (1): 1913 * Bordoloi Trophy **Champions (2): 1965, 1966 *

**Runners-up (2): 1998, 2010 *

Churachand Singh Trophy Churachand Singh Trophy, also known as the Churachand Singh Invitation Trophy (Sir Churachand Singh Memorial Football Tournament), is an annual Indian football tournament held in Manipur and organized by All Manipur Football Association (A.M.F ...

**Champions (1): 1975 *

Lal Bahadur Shastri Cup Lal Bahadur Shastri Cup, also known as the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Football Tournament, is an Indian association football tournament held in Delhi and organized by Shastri Football Club. The tournament was first started in 1978 in the memor ...

**Champions (1): 1978 *

**Runners-up (1): 1950 *Independence Day Cup (WB) **Runners-up (1): 1999 *Manik Upadhayay Memorial Trophy **Runners-up (1): 2022

Notes

Bibliography

* * *Dutta, P. L., ''Memoir of 'Father of Indian Football' Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary'' (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1944) (hereafter Memoir) * * *Ghosh, Saurindra Kumar. ''Krira Samrat Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary 1869–1940'' (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1963) (hereafter Krira Samrat). *Roselli, John. ''Self Image of Effeteness: Physical Education and Nationalism in Nineteenth Century Bengal''.

Past & Present (journal) ''Past & Present'' is a British historical academic journal, which has been a leading force in the development of social history. Founded in 1952, the journal is published four times a year by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Past and Pre ...

. 86 (February 1980). p. 121–48. *Sinha, Mrinalini. ''Colonial Masculinity, The Manly Englishman and the Effeminate Bengali in the Late Nineteenth Century'' (

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

: Manchester University Press, 1995). *Chatterjee, Partha. ''The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and Post-colonial Histories'' (Calcutta:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1995). *Mason, ''Football on the Maidan'', p. 144; Dimeo, ''Football and Politics in Bengal'', p. 62. * * * * *
''From recreation to competition: Early history of Indian football''
. pp. 124–141. Published online: 6 Aug 2006. ''www.tandfonline.com''. Retrieved 30 June 2021. * *