2016–17 East Bengal F.C. season

East Bengal F.C.
2016–17 season
Manager	Trevor James Morgan
Stadium	Salt Lake Stadium; Barasat Stadium; East Bengal Ground
I-League	3rd
Calcutta Premier Division	Champions
Federation Cup	Semi Finalists
Top goalscorer	League: Willis Plaza (7); All: Do Dong-Hyun ; Willis Plaza (7)
Highest home attendance	29067
Lowest home attendance	6000
Average home league attendance	11928
Home colours	Away colours

The 2016–17 season was the club's 97th season in existence. The club had already won the Calcutta Football League and became the runners of 2016 Bordoloi Trophy.

Pre-Season Overview

The club signed Calum Angus, an English defender to strengthen the defence for the Calcutta League. The Red and Gold Brigade are hoping to seal the CFL championship and set a hepta record. With the help of recent performances, the club clinched the 74th spot in the Asian Football Confederation club ranking, the highest among all Indian football clubs.

Season Overview

August

The club started their Calcutta Football League campaign by beating Bhawanipore F.C. by 2–1. Then they went on winning all the matches in the league.

September

Maintaining their winning streak of August, East Bengal went on to win all the matches in the league to win the Calcutta Football League for a record consecutive 7 times, bettering their own record of 1970–75. Mohun Bagan decided not to play the Kolkata Derby and East Bengal got a walk over which ensured the hepta league win.
East Bengal were crowned champions for a record 38th time in history and for the 7th consecutive season. This is also the 3rd time that they have won the league without dropping a single point.

October

The club went to play the 2016 Bordoloi Trophy. 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 Oluwaunmi Somide Adeleja on loan for the tournament. East Bengal started off well by defeating Bangladesh club Bongobi Agragami by 6–0. The club kept its winning streak by defeating United Sikkim F.C. by a comfortable margin of 2–0 and then ASEB SC by 3–0. Then the club went into the semis where they defeated Shillong Lajong F.C. by 1–0 to enter into the final. East Bengal FC played the final against Three Star Club (Nepal) where they lost 1–2 in extra time. 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 was appreciated wholeheartedly by the supporters of the club.

January

The club roped in Haitian Wedson Anselme from Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Bangladesh and Willis Plaza from Trinidad and Tobago to strengthen the forward line along with Robin Singh, Jackichand Singh, Thongkhosiem Haokip, Rowllin Borges and Romeo Fernandes to strengthen the squad. East Bengal also brought Ivan Bukenya from Uganda to fortify their defence.
The team played against Aizawl F.C. in the 2016-17 I-League opener, but drew the match on the dying minutes thanks to a late equalizer from Ivan Bukenya. Then they went to Pune to play DSK Shivajians where the forward line sparkled and East Bengal won 2–1. Then they defeated Churchill Brothers S.C. by 2–0. Then on 22 January 2017, East Bengal faced the defending champions Bengaluru FC. The defending champions went ahead early by a goal from C.K. Vineeth but East Bengal rallied from behind to win it 2–1 with the goals scored by Ivan Bukenya and Robin Singh. East Bengal continued their winning streak and won 6 games on the trot to lead the league table. They face their arch Rivals Mohun Bagan on 12th Feb at Siliguri.

February

The month of February didn't start too well for the Red and Gold brigade. Draws against arch rival Mohun Bagan and Shillong Lajong F.C. and then a 1–0 loss away to Aizawl F.C. halted the victory march. The team looked out of shape and confidence when they faced Bengaluru FC away on 25 February at Sree Kanteerava Stadium. However, East Bengal turned all predictions aside and won the match 3–1 thanks to a brace from Robin Singh and a wonder strike from Wedson Anselme. With 7 matches to go, East Bengal currently sits at the top of the table for now.

March

By the time March came, East Bengal started bottling, like they always do.[1] East Bengal were leading at the beginning of the March, but ended the season in the third position.

Transfers

In

No.	Pos.	Name	Signed from	Month
10	FW	Wedson Anselme	Free Agent	December
9	FW	Willis Plaza	Free Agent	January
4	DF	Ivan Bukenya	Free Agent	December
11	FW	Jackichand Singh	Salgaocar F.C.	December
24	FW	Robin Singh (footballer)	Free Agent	January
15	FW	Chris Payne	Free Agent	January

Out

Pos.	Name	Sold to	Month	Ref.
DF	Harmanjot Khabra	Bengaluru FC	N/A
MF	Do Dong-Hyun		N/A

Kit

Supplier: Shiv Naresh / Sponsors: Kingfisher Premium, Peerless

Home

Away

First-team squad

As of 15 January 2017.[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	IND	Subhasish Roy Chowdhury
2	DF	IND	Robin Gurung (on loan from NorthEast United)
3	DF	IND	Arnab Mondal
4	DF	UGA	Ivan Bukenya
5	DF	IND	Rahul Bheke
6	FW	AUS	Chris Payne
8	MF	IND	Mohammed Rafique
9	FW	TRI	Willis Plaza
10	FW	HAI	Wedson Anselme
11	MF	IND	Jackichand Singh
12	MF	IND	Rowllin Borges
13	GK	IND	Rehenesh TP (on loan from NorthEast United)
14	MF	IND	Mehtab Hossain
16	DF	IND	Gurwinder Singh


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	DF	IND	Narayan Das
18	MF	IND	David Lalrinmuana
19	DF	IND	Robert Lalthlamuana
20	MF	IND	Lalrindika Ralte
21	FW	IND	Thongkhosiem Haokip
22	DF	IND	Mehtab Singh
23	MF	IND	Bikash Jairu
24	FW	IND	Robin Singh (on loan from FC Goa)
25	MF	IND	Cavin Lobo
27	MF	IND	Nikhil Poojari
28	MF	IND	Romeo Fernandes (on loan from Goa)
30	GK	IND	Luis Barreto
31	GK	IND	Dibyendu Sarkar
34	MF	IND	Abhinas Ruidas
50	DF	IND	Anwar Ali

Technical Staff

Position	Name [3]
Head coach	Trevor Morgan
1st Assistant Coach	Warren Hackett
Goalkeeper Coach	Abhijit Mondal
Club Doctor	Dr. Shantiranjan Dasgupta
Team Media Officer	Gautam Roy

Statistics

Goal Scorers

No.	Pos.	Name	CFL	Bordoloi	I-League	Total
9	FW	Willis Plaza	-	-	7	7
21	FW	Do Dong-Hyun	4	3	-	7
10	FW	Wedson Anselme	-	-	6	6
	FW	Oluwaunmi Somide	1	4	-	5
24	FW	Robin Singh	-	-	4	4
20	MF	Lalrindika Ralte	3	-	1	4
26	FW	Jiten Murmu	3	1	-	4
6	FW	Chris Payne	-	-	3	3
4	DF	Ivan Bukenya	-	-	3	3
3	DF	Arnab Mondal	2	-	-	2
33	MF	Prohlad Roy	-	2	-	2
21	FW	Thongkhosiem Haokip	-	-	1	1
8	MF	Mohammed Rafique	1	-	-	1
5	DF	Rahul Bheke	1	-	-	1
27	MF	Nikhil Poojari	-	1	-	1
	DF	Calum Angus	1	-	-	1

Competitions

Overall

Competition	First match	Last match	Final position
Calcutta Football League			1st
2016 Bordoloi Trophy			2nd
I-League	7 January 2017	–	currently on 2nd

Last Updated: 7 March 2017

Overview

Competition	Record
Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
CFL	10	10	0	0	19	6	+13	100.00
2016 Bordoloi Trophy	5	4	0	1	13	2	+11	080.00
2016-17 I-League	18	10	3	5	33	15	+18	055.56
2016–17 Indian Federation Cup	4	1	2	1	3	3	+0	025.00
Total	37	25	5	7	68	26	+42	067.57

Last updated: 1 May 2017

Source: Competitions

I-League

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Aizawl (C)	18	11	4	3	24	14	+10	37	Qualification to Champions League qualifier
2	Mohun Bagan	18	10	6	2	27	12	+15	36
3	East Bengal	18	10	3	5	33	15	+18	33
4	Bengaluru FC	18	8	6	4	30	15	+15	30	Qualification to AFC Cup qualifying play-off[lower-alpha 1]
5	Shillong Lajong	18	7	5	6	24	23	+1	26

Source: IndiaFooty.com
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) drawing of lots
(C) Champion.
Notes:

Bengaluru FC qualified for the 2018 AFC Cup by winning the 2016–17 Federation Cup.

Matches

Win Draw Loss

I League

Fixtures & results

7 January 2017 1	East Bengal	1–1	Aizawl F.C.	Barasat Stadium
	Ivan Bukenya 88'		Gurwinder Singh(o.g.) 46'

14 January 2017 2	DSK Shivajians F.C.	1–2	East Bengal	Balewadi Stadium
	Gouramangi Singh 60'		Wedson Anselme 20'(P) Willis Plaza 77'

18 January 2017 3	Churchill Brothers S.C.	0–2	East Bengal	Tilak Maidan Stadium
			Thongkhosiem Haokip 33' Ivan Bukenya 44'

22 January 2017 4	East Bengal	2–1	Bengaluru FC	Barasat Stadium
	Ivan Bukenya 28' Robin Singh 75'		C.K. Vineeth 22'

29 January 2017 5	Minerva Punjab F.C.	0–5	East Bengal	Guru Nanak Stadium
			Wedson Anselme 8' 63'(P) 66' Willis Plaza 20' Robin Singh 65'

1 February 2017 6	East Bengal	2–0	Mumbai F.C.	Barasat Stadium
	Willis Plaza 9' 16'

5 February 2017 7	East Bengal	3–0	Chennai City F.C.	Barasat Stadium
	Wedson Anselme 51' Willis Plaza 75' Lalrindika Ralte 90+6'(P)

12 February 2017 8	East Bengal	0–0	Mohun Bagan	Kanchenjunga Stadium
				Attendance: 29067

15 February 2017 9	East Bengal	1–1	Shillong Lajong F.C.	Kanchenjunga Stadium
	Willis Plaza 45'		Lalmuanpiua 26'

20 February 2017 10	Aizawl F.C.	1–0	East Bengal	Rajiv Gandhi Stadium
	Chullova

25 February 2017 11	Bengaluru FC	1–3	East Bengal	Sree Kanteerava Stadium
	C.K. Vineeth 84'		Wedson Anselme 22' Robin Singh 54' 58'

4 March 2017 12	Shillong Lajong F.C.	1–2	East Bengal	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
	Aser Pierrick Dipanda 65'		Chris Payne 20' 34'

7 March 2017 13	East Bengal	1–2	Churchill Brothers S.C.	Barasat Stadium
	Chris Payne 67'		Anthony Wolfe 9' Ansumana Kromah 34'

12 March 2017 14	Chennai City F.C.	2–1	East Bengal	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
	S Nandhakumar 57' K Prasanth 92'		Willis Plaza 42'

9 April 2017 15	Mohun Bagan	2-1	East Bengal	Kanchenjunga Stadium
	Sony Norde Azharuddin Mallick		Rowlin Borges

16 April 2017 16

East Bengal

0-1

DSK Shivajians F.C.

Barasat Stadium

17	Mumbai F.C.	0-4	East Bengal	Cooperage Ground
	Willis Plaza Bikash Jairu Wedson Anselme

18