East Bengal Club Season Awards Explained

The East Bengal Club Season Awards are the official East Bengal awards presented on 1 August to various recipients in the Foundation Day celebrations of the club. The Inaugural award was handed out in 2011 which had three categories the highlight 'Bharat Gourav Award', the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' and the 'Player of the Season Award'.

Awards ceremony

East Bengal Club was founded on 1 August 1920 and every year on this day, the club celebrates its Foundation Day. Since 2011, the awards ceremony was launched by the club to commemorate and honour different sporting personalities as per the categories. The highest honour "Bharat Gaurav" award is handed out each year to honour outstanding sports personalities who have made the country proud in different fields of sports. Along with the "Bharat Gaurav" award, the club also presents two lifetime achievement awards namely "Dr Ramesh Chandra (Nosa) Sen Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award" and "Byomkesh Bose Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award" in respect of two former legends of the club, to honour former players and sportspersons who have represented the club. Along with these, the club also awards the "Player of the Season" to the best player of the previous season. The club also awards two awards dedicated to sports journalists namely the "Ajoy Bose Memorial Journalism Award" and "Pushpen Sarkar Memorial Photo-Journalism Award". The club also hands over the "Pankaj Gupta Memorial and Pratul Gupta Memorial Referee Award" to various referees from Kolkata maidan.

Winners

Bharat Gaurav Award

East Bengal Club had constituted the ‘Bharat Gaurav Award' in 2011, as the highest decoration by the club to honour the outstanding sports personalities who had made India proud in different fields of sports. Three times Olympic Champion and Indian Hockey legend Leslie Claudius was the first recipient of the award in 2011.[1] The club has awarded the likes of Ahmed Khan, Arun Ghosh, Bachendri Pal, Milkha Singh, Dhanraj Pillay, Gurbux Singh, Kapil Dev since then. The award was not presented in two years 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic in India. In 2022 the awards were once again presented, with former India women's national cricket team captain Jhulan Goswami and tennis star Leander Paes jointly awarded the honour by the club.[2]

YearRecipientSport FieldRef
2011 [3]
2012 [4] [5]
2013Arun GhoshFootball[6]
2014Bachendri Pal[7]
2015Mohammed HabibFootball[8]
2016Milkha Singh[9]
2017Dhanraj Pillay[10]
2018Gurbux SinghField hockey [11]
2019Kapil Dev[12]
2020not awarded
2021not awarded
2022Jhulan GoswamiCricket
Leander PaesTennis
2023Ratan TataIndustrialist[13]
2024Sourav GangulyCricket

Player of the Season Award

East Bengal had constituted the 'Player of the Season Award' in 2011 to honour the best football player of the previous season. It is decided by the Executive Members committee. Mehtab Hossain was the first recipient in 2011.[3]

However, the first Player of the Season title was awarded at the end of the 2007–08 season, given by the then official marketing partner - Ideas Unlimited, with goalkeeper Subrata Paul being the winner.[14]

YearNationalityRecipientPositionRef
2008 IndiaSubrata PaulGoalkeeper[15]
2011 IndiaMehtab HossainMidfielder
2012 NigeriaPenn OrjiMidfielder
2013 IndiaSaumik DeyDefender
2014 IndiaArnab MondalDefender
2015 IndiaRobert LalthlamuanaDefender
2016 South KoreaDo Dong-hyunForward
2017 IndiaGurwinder SinghDefender
2018 SyriaMahmoud AmnahMidfielder
2019 IndiaLaldanmawia RalteMidfielder
2020not awarded
2021not awarded
2022not awarded
2023 BrazilCleiton SilvaForward
2024 IndiaNandhakumar SekarForward

Lifetime Achievement Award

East Bengal had constituted the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' in 2011 to honour a legendary sports personality of the club. It is decided by the Executive Members committee. India and East Bengal Legend Sudhir Karmakar and Sukumar Samajpati were the first recipients of this award in 2011.[3]

YearNationalityRecipientPositionRef
2011 IndiaSudhir KarmakarDefender
IndiaSukumar SamajpatiDefender
2012 IndiaPrasanta SinhaMidfielder
IndiaSanto MitraDefender
2013 IndiaSamaresh ChowdhuryMidfielder
IndiaAbani BoseGoalkeeper
2014 IndiaAmal DuttaDefender
IndiaParimal DeyForward
2015 IndiaChandan BanerjeeDefender
2016 IndiaShyamal GhoshDefender
IndiaShyam ThapaForward
2017 IndiaSubhash BhowmickForward
2018 IndiaSunil BhattacharyaDefender
IndiaSurajit SenguptaForward
2019 IndiaMonoranjan BhattacharyaDefender
IndiaBhaskar GangulyGoalkeeper
2020not awarded
2021not awarded
2022 IndiaGautam SarkarMidfielder
IndiaSwapan SenguptaMidfielder
2023 IndiaTarun BoseGoalkeeper
2024 IndiaRanjit MukherjeeForward
IndiaPrasanta BanerjeeMidfielder

Academy Player of the Year Award

East Bengal had constituted the 'Academy Player of the Year Award' in 2018 to honour the best football player of the East Bengal F.C. Academy for the previous season. It is decided by the Executive Members committee. Manoj Mohammed and PC Rohlupuia were the first recipients of this award in 2018.[11]

YearNationalityRecipientPositionRef
2018 IndiaManoj MohammedDefender
IndiaPC RohlupuiaMidfielder
2019not awarded
2020not awarded
2021not awarded

Special Awards

On the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the club in 2019, a set of special awards were awarded to sports personalities associated with the East Bengal club.[12]

Award NameNationalityRecipientRef
Coach of Coaches award IndiaP. K. Banerjee
Best Foreign Player award IranMajid Bishkar[16] [17]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: East Bengal Club - Bharat Gourav Award. East Bengal Club. 19 December 2019. 19 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191219122531/https://eastbengalclub.co.in/bharatgourav.html. live.
  2. Web site: Amitabha. Das Sharma. 1 August 2022. Leander, Jhulan get East Bengal's highest honour. The Hindu. 9 August 2022. 9 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220809154635/https://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/leander-jhulan-get-east-bengals-highest-honour/article65712915.ece. live.
  3. Web site: East Bengal and Mohun Bagan practice starts while East Bengal Day celebrated. KolkataFootball.com. 19 December 2019. 28 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171228193844/http://www.kolkatafootball.com/indiafootball_news_2011/august1stpart_2011.html. live.
  4. Web site: East Bengal Foundation Day: Celebrating 93 years of consistent achievement. Goal. 19 December 2019. 19 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191219122528/https://www.goal.com/en-india/news/136/india/2012/08/03/3281514/east-bengal-foundation-day-celebrating-93-years-of. live.
  5. Web site: Saikat. 23 July 2012. East Bengal to celebrate Foundation Day on 1st August. Sportskeeda. 21 January 2021. 3 September 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210903172322/https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/east-bengal-to-celebrate-foundation-day-on-1st-august. live.
  6. Web site: Arun Ghosh to be conferred East Bengal's Bharat Gaurav award. The Times of India. 19 December 2019. 3 September 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210903172332/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/Arun-Ghosh-to-be-conferred-East-Bengals-Bharat-Gaurav-award/articleshow/20934248.cms. live.
  7. Web site: Bachendri Pal conferred Bharat Gaurav by East Bengal Club. Jagranjosh. 19 December 2019. 19 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191219124034/https://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/bachendri-pal-conferred-bharat-gaurav-by-east-bengal-club-1406967895-1. live.
  8. Web site: Indian Legend Mohamamed Habib awarded 'Bharat Gaurav' by East Bengal. Sportkeeda. 19 December 2019. 19 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191219122529/https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/mohamamed-habib-awarded-bharat-gaurav-east-bengal. live.
  9. Web site: 27 July 2016. East Bengal to honour Milkha Singh with Bharat Gaurav award. The Hindu. 30 July 2024.
  10. Web site: Dhanraj Pillay conferred with Bharat Gaurav by East Bengal Football Club. Jagranjosh. 19 December 2019. 19 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191219124033/https://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/dhanraj-pillay-conferred-with-bharat-gaurav-by-east-bengal-football-club-1501664139-1. live.
  11. Web site: East Bengal seek a 'new identity' on foundation day. The Times of India. 19 December 2019. 2 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180802092224/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/east-bengal-seek-a-new-identity-on-foundation-day/articleshow/65237673.cms. live.
  12. Web site: East Bengal to confer Kapil Dev with Bharat Gaurav award. Outlook. 19 December 2019. 19 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191019194701/https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/east-bengal-to-confer-kapil-dev-with-bharat-gaurav-award/1577311. live.
  13. Web site: Amitabha. Das Sharma. 1 August 2023. ast Bengal confers Tarun Bose the lifetime achievement award; Cleiton, Naorem Mahesh also felicitated. Sportstar. 30 July 2024.
  14. Web site: Bodyline-Kingfisher East Bengal Award function held today. East Bengal Club. 5 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20090116013957/http://www.eastbengalfootballclub.com/search/index.asp?news_id=488. 16 January 2009.
  15. Web site: Subrata Pal gets East Bengal Player of the Year Award. East Bengal Club. 5 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20090116090547/http://www.eastbengalfootballclub.com/search/index.asp?news_id=493. 16 January 2009.
  16. Web site: Marcus. Mergulhao. 16 Aug 2019. wanted time for myself, thought no one would find me here. The Times of India. 5 Jul 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210705192725/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/i-wanted-time-for-myself-thought-no-one-would-find-me-here-majid-bishkar/articleshow/70693669.cms. 5 Jul 2021.
  17. Web site: Amitabha. Das Sharma. 13 Aug 2019. Emotional homecoming for East Bengal legend Majid 'Badsha' Beshkar. Sportstar. 5 Jul 2021. 15 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210515115606/https://sportstar.thehindu.com/football/football-east-bengal-centenary-celebrations-majid-bishkar-returns-kolkata-jamshed-nasiri-mohun-bagan-bhaskar-ganguly-mohammedan/article29037120.ece. live.