Calcutta Cricket and Football Club

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Multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Football club

The Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (CC&FC) (formally named as Calcutta Cricket Club)[1] is a multisports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.[2] Founded in 1792 as a cricket institution,[3] the football and rugby sections were added when it merged with Calcutta FC (oldest association football club in Asia, founded in 1872) in 1965.[4][5]

History[edit]

Founded as one of the earliest European clubs in Calcutta,[6]British India, Calcutta FC introduced rugby in the country.[7] They later started playing association football and have enjoyed rivalry with fully indigenous clubs, primarily Mohun Bagan.[8][9] Sports currently practised at the CC&FC include: cricket, football, field hockey, rugby, cycle polo and tennis. The football team currently competes in the Premier Division B of the Calcutta Football League, conducted by the Indian Football Association (IFA).

The club’s cricket and football teams participates in their respective divisions as “Calcutta Cricket Club” for cricket and “Calcutta Football Club” for football.[10][11] Their hockey and rugby teams participate under the combined name of “Calcutta Cricket and Football Club”.[12][13]

Departments[edit]

Cricket[edit]

The Club was founded as the “Calcutta Cricket Club Clippers” by British expatriates who had come over with the British East India Company.[14][15][16] Have been in existence since 1792,[4][17] it is the second oldest cricket club in the world after Marylebone Cricket Club.[1][18] On 23 February 1792, Madras Courier reported the schedule of match between Calcutta Cricket Club and a team from Barrackpore, and the news was later highlighted by Irwin Rosenwater on The London Times.[19]

During its first years of existence, the Calcutta Cricket Club played its home games near river Hooghly but it was not until 1841 when the institution got land to establish its venue. In 1889–90, the club came into limelight when Marylebone Cricket Club came to play in Calcutta by responding to the club’s invitation, which was the first visit of a foreign team to play cricket in India.[19] It was later merged with the Calcutta Football Club (incorporated in 1872,[20][21] where both footballs — rugby and association were practised)[22][23][24] and the Ballygunge Cricket Club over the years to become the “Calcutta Cricket and Football Club” in 1965.[4]

CCFC is currently under the jurisdiction of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB),[25][26] and competes in the CAB First Division League, J.C. Mukherjee T-20 Trophy and other regional tournaments.[27] Club’s cricket section is currently headquartered in 19/1, Garcha 1st Lane, Ballygunge, Kolkata.[28]

Rugby union[edit]

In the British Raj, Rugby union was introduced and emerged as second most popular winter sport after association football. At the ground of CFC, first recorded match was played in 1872.[29] In 1874, the club joined Rugby Football Union.[30][31] As the rugby section became defunct in later years, the sport came back at the CC&FC in 1884. In 1890, an inter club trophy was incepted by the club, named Calcutta Rugby Union Challenge Cup (known simply as Calcutta Cup),[32] and its second division trophy was clinched by the club.[33]

[edit]

CCFC main building in Ballygunge

Run by the British, Calcutta Football Club was once one of the leading football teams[34] and had a great rivalry specially with Mohun Bagan.[35] The team for the first time was defeated by Mohun Bagan in 1923 in the return leg of CFL, but managed to clinch both the league and IFA Shield titles in that season.[36][37] Other rivals of the club were Mohammedan Sporting, Aryan and Dalhousie.[38]

Calcutta FC won the prestigious Calcutta Football League (CFL) eight times,[39] and the IFA Shield nine times[40] before merging to the Calcutta Cricket Club.

Field hockey[edit]

CC&FC’s hockey team is known as CCFC Gremlins,[41][42] and is affiliated with the Bengal Hockey Association (often shortened to ‘Hockey Bengal’).[43] Once consisting of Anglo-Indian players,[44][45] the team is currently participating in Calcutta Hockey League, and Beighton Cup (which is one of world’s oldest field hockey tournaments).[46][47][48][49]

Home ground[edit]

There was absence of permanent venue for the club. They used grounds in Esplanade, parallel with the river Hooghly, between Fort William and Government House.[4] In 1825, ‘Sketch of the Maidan’ was done by the club, and in 1841, they were allowed to enclose the ground. The club later used Auckland Circus Gardens.[4][50]

The club later played its home games at the Calcutta FC ground in Kolkata Maidan, now known as Mohun Bagan Ground.[51] It was used as venue of the 1954 edition of Quadrangular Series.[52][53]

Notable members[edit]

A large number of notable athletes are associated with the club, including:

  • Football: Chuni Goswami, Subhas Bhowmick, S. Bhattacharjee, Pradip Choudhury, P. Ganguly, Santo Mitra, Shyam Thapa,[54]Kiyan Nassiri.[55]
  • Hockey: Keshav Chandra Datt, Gurbux Singh, Dr. Vece Paes, Anand Mandapaka.
  • Cricket: Punya B. Datta,[56][57] Ashok Gandotra[58]Devang Gandhi,[59]Sourav Ganguly, Saba Karim, Arun Lal,[60]Pranab Roy,[61] Biswajit Bhowmick.
  • Tennis: Chiradip Mukerjea, Enrico Piperno,[62]Leander Paes.

Honours[edit]

[edit]

As Calcutta FC[edit]

  • Calcutta Football League[63]
    • Champions (8): 1899, 1907, 1916, 1918, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1925
  • IFA Shield[note 3][64]
    • Champions (9): 1896, 1900, 1903, 1904, 1906, 1915, 1922, 1923, 1924[40]
    • Runners-up (8): 1905, 1907, 1910, 1914, 1916, 1919, 1921, 1936
  • Trades Cup
  • Minto Fort Cup

Hockey[edit]

As Calcutta FC[edit]

Rugby[edit]

See also[edit]

  1. ^ The date refers to the foundation of the Calcutta Football Club in 1872
  2. ^ The date refers to the original Calcutta Cricket Club established in 1792, before merging to the Calcutta F.C. (1872–1965) in 1965 to form the current club.
  3. ^ Fourth oldest football tournament, organized by the IFA (W.B.), and played between the local clubs of West Bengal and other invited ones.

Further reading[edit]

References[edit]

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  2. ^ Sengupta, Somnath (24 April 2012). “Legends Of Indian Football : The Pioneers”. thehardtackle.com. The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  3. ^ Some, Aritra (12 October 2020). “২৩০ বছর পেরিয়ে, কেমন আছে ‘ক্যালকাটা ক্রিকেট ক্লাব’?” [India’s first Cricket club is situated in Kolkata]. www.prohor.in (in Bengali). Prohor. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e “History of the club”. ccfc1792.com. Calcutta Cricket and Football Club. Archived from the original on 28 May 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  5. ^ Majumdar, Boria, Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (1 February 2006). Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation. New Delhi: Penguin India. ISBN 9780670058747. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022.
  6. ^ “OUR SPORTSMEN”. 123india.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
  7. ^ Hassan Niru, Mahabubul (7 July 2013). “আমাদের ফুটবলের বেলা অবেলা কালবে‍লা” [Days and moments of our football]. mahaneebas.wordpress.com (in Bengali). Dhaka, Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 6 April 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
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External links[edit]