| 2003–04 season | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Dr Pranab Dasgupta | 
| Manager | Subhash Bhowmick | 
| Ground | Salt Lake Stadium | 
| National Football League | Champions[1] | 
| Calcutta Premier Division | Champions[2] | 
| Federation Cup | Quarter-finals[3] | 
| Super Cup | Runners-up[4] | 
| ASEAN Cup | Champions | 
| Durand Cup | Runners-up[5] | 
| IFA Shield | Runners-up[6] | 
The 2003–04 season was East Bengal Football Club's 8th season in the National Football League, and also marked the club's 84th season. East Bengal successfully defended their league title from the previous season, competing in the 2003-04 NFL. They have also won the 2003 Calcutta Football League and the 2003 ASEAN Club Championship. They became runners-up in the 2003 Super Cup, 2003 Durand Cup and 2003 IFA Shield.
First-team squad
East Bengal FC squad for the 2003–04 season.[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| 
 | 
 | 
- Coach:  Subhash Bhowmick[7] Subhash Bhowmick[7]
- Physical trainer:  Kevin Jackson Kevin Jackson
- Team doctor: Dr. S R Dasgupta
- Team manager: Swapan Ball
Stadiums
Kingfisher East Bengal F.C. have been using both the Salt Lake Stadium and the East Bengal Ground sense Salt Lake Stadium opened in 1984. As of today the Salt Lake Stadium is used for East Bengal's I-League, AFC Cup, and Federation Cup games. The East Bengal Ground is used for the Calcutta Football League matches.
Competitions
Overall
| Competition | First match | Last match | Final Position | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Calcutta Football League | 20 June 2003 | 2 November 2003 | Champions | 
| ASEAN Cup | 14 July 2003 | 26 July 2003 | Champions | 
| Federation Cup | 31 July 2003 | 4 August 2003 | Quarter Finals | 
| IFA Shield | 20 September 2003 | 28 September 2003 | Runners-up | 
| Durand Cup | 4 November 2003 | 10 November 2003 | Runners-up | 
| Super Cup | 14 November 2003 | Runners-up | |
| National Football League | 30 November 2003 | 12 May 2004 | Champions | 
Matches
Win Draw Loss
Calcutta Football League
| 20 June 2003 1 | East Bengal | 4–1 | Eastern Railway F.C. | Kolkata | 
| Surkumar Singh  1', 81' Debjit Ghosh  38' Bhaichung Bhutia  41' | Henry Odogo  62' | Stadium: East Bengal Ground | 
| 23 June 2003 2 | East Bengal | 3–0 | West Bengal Police | Kolkata | 
| Bhaichung Bhutia  15' Alvito D'Cunha  35', 89' | Stadium: East Bengal Ground | 
| 30 June 2003 3 | East Bengal | 3–0 | Wari AC | Kolkata | 
| Suley Musah  52', 68', 80' | Stadium: East Bengal Ground | 
| 2 July 2003 4 | East Bengal | 3–0 | Mohammedan AC | Kolkata | 
| Bhaichung Bhutia  42', 71' Alvito D'Cunha  77' | Stadium: East Bengal Ground | 
| 5 July 2003 5 | East Bengal | 3–0 | Mohun Bagan | Kolkata | 
| Suley Musah  23' Bhaichung Bhutia  68', 83' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 11 August 2003 6 | East Bengal | 2–1 | Everready Association | Kolkata | 
| Douglas De Silva  37' Bhaichung Bhutia  70' | Ernest Jeremiah  47' | Stadium: East Bengal Ground | 
| 16 August 2003 7 | East Bengal | 2–0 | Tollygunge Agragami | Kolkata | 
| Bhaichung Bhutia  78', 79' | Stadium: East Bengal Ground | 
| 19 August 2003 8 | East Bengal | 5–0 | Bharati Sangha | Kolkata | 
| Mike Okoro  9', 71' Suley Musah  30', 40' Malsawmtluanga  60' | Stadium: East Bengal Ground | 
| 23 August 2003 9 | East Bengal | 4–1 | Mohammedan Sporting | Kolkata | 
| Mike Okoro  36', 40' Bijen Singh  67' Surkumar Singh  86' | Dipendu Biswas  83' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 25 August 2003 10 | East Bengal | 4–0 | Railway F.C. | Kolkata | 
| Mike Okoro  3', 13', 22' Malsawmtluanga  29' | Stadium: East Bengal Ground | 
| 28 August 2003 11 | East Bengal | 3–0 | Calcutta Port Trust | Kolkata | 
| Suley Musah  Mike Okoro  45' Kulothungan  | Stadium: East Bengal Ground | 
| 4 September 2003 Championship Group | East Bengal | 0–0 | Mohun Bagan | Kolkata | 
| Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 7 September 2003 Championship Group | East Bengal | 1–2 | Mohammedan Sporting | Kolkata | 
| Mike Okoro  51' | Sheikh Sanjib  49' Abdul Rauf Khan  87' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 10 September 2003 Championship Group | East Bengal | 2–2 | Everready Association | Kolkata | 
| Suley Musah  40' Mike Okoro  85' | Eugene Gray  44' Ernest Jeremiah  88' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 13 September 2003 Championship Group | East Bengal | 2–0 | Mohammedan A.C. | Kolkata | 
| Bijen Singh  51' Sashti Duley  86' | Stadium: East Bengal Ground | 
| 16 September 2003 Championship Group | East Bengal | 2–1 | Tollygunge Agragami | Kolkata | 
| Kulothungan  37' Raman Vijayan  66' | Manik Barman  73' | Stadium: East Bengal Ground | 
| 2 November 2003 Championship final | East Bengal | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) | Mohun Bagan | Kolkata | 
| Suley Musah  60' | Ashim Biswas  23' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
ASEAN Club Championship
The ASEAN Club Championship is a friendly international football competition between domestic champion clubs sides run by the ASEAN Football Federation.[8] Formerly known as the LG Cup, sponsored by LG Electronics. LG described the competition as a "social marketing experiment". Qualification to the competition was for champions clubs from AFF-affiliated countries only, plus the champions from India in 2003.[9][10] After winning the 2002–03 National Football League, East Bengal was invited to the inaugural 2003 ASEAN Club Championship held at Jakarta, Indonesia.[11] Top clubs from South-East Asia participated in the tournament which included the favourites BEC Tero Sasana from Thailand who already reached the 2002–03 AFC Champions League Finals. The star-studded team consisted of Golden Ball winner of 2002–03 AFC Champions League: Therdsak Chaiman. Other top teams like 2002 Malaysia Super League Champions Perak FC and Liga Indonesia 2002 Champions Petrokimia Putra participated in the tournament.[12]
East Bengal was grouped alongside BEC Tero Sasana and Philippine Army in Group D. They lost the first match against the favourites BEC Tero Sasana 1–0, courtesy of a solitary goal from Therdsak Chaiman. The Red and Gold brigade bounced back in style as they defeated the Philippine Army 6–0, with Bhaichung Bhutia scoring all 6 goals, becoming the only Indian player to score a double hattrick in an International game to date.[13] In the Quarter Finals, East Bengal faced Persita Tangerang of Indonesia. Goals from Bhaichung and Bijen Singh ensured a 2–1 win for the Kolkata side. Bhaichung was again on the scoresheet when East Bengal faced Petrokimia Putra in the Semi-Final. The score was 1–1 after 120 minutes and the Red and Golds won 7–6 in the shootout. On 26 July 2003, East Bengal made history as they defeated the favourites BEC Tero Sasana 3–1 with goals from Mike Okoro, Bhaichung and Alvito D'Cunha, hence becoming the first Indian club to win a top-level officially recognised tournament in foreign Soil.[14] Bhaichung became the top scorer of the tournament with nine goals. Sandip Nandy was adjudged as the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament.[11]
Group stage
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  BEC Tero Sasana | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 6 | 
|  East Bengal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 3 | 
|  Philippine Army | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 | 
Bracket
| Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Final | ||||||||
| 20 July 2003 | ||||||||||
|  Petrokimia Putra (a.e.t.) | 3 | |||||||||
| 24 July 2003 | ||||||||||
|  Singapore AF | 2 | |||||||||
|  Petrokimia Putra | 1 (6) | |||||||||
| 21 July 2003 | ||||||||||
|  East Bengal | 1 (7) | |||||||||
|  Persita Tangerang | 1 | |||||||||
| 26 July 2003 | ||||||||||
|  East Bengal | 2 | |||||||||
|  East Bengal | 3 | |||||||||
| 20 July 2003 | ||||||||||
|  BEC Tero Sasana | 1 | |||||||||
|  Perak | 2 | |||||||||
| 24 July 2003 | ||||||||||
|  Samart United | 0 | |||||||||
|  Perak | 1 | |||||||||
| 21 July 2003 | ||||||||||
|  BEC Tero Sasana | 3 | Third place | ||||||||
|  BEC Tero Sasana | 2 | |||||||||
| 26 July 2003 | ||||||||||
|  Hoàng Anh Gia Lai | 1 | |||||||||
|  Petrokimia Putra | 3 | |||||||||
|  Perak | 0 | |||||||||
Matches
Win Draw Loss
| 14 July 2003 Group stage | BEC Tero Sasana   | 1–0 |  East Bengal | Jakarta, Indonesia | 
| Therdsak Chaiman  85' | Stadium: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium | 
| 16 July 2003 Group stage | East Bengal   | 6–0 |  Philippine Army | Jakarta, Indonesia | 
| Baichung Bhutia  20' (pen), 50', 53', 70', 75', 88' | Stadium: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium | 
| 21 July 2003 Quarter-final | Persita Tangerang   | 1–2 |  East Bengal | Jakarta, Indonesia | 
| Ilham Jayakesuma  62' | Baichung Bhutia  53' Bijen Singh  76' | Stadium: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium | 
| 24 July 2003 Semi-final | Petrokimia Putra   | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (6–7 p) |  East Bengal | Jakarta, Indonesia | 
| Jaenal Ichwan  23' | Report | Baichung Bhutia  58' | Stadium: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium | |
| Penalties | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| 26 July 2003 Final | East Bengal   | 3–1 |  BEC Tero Sasana | Jakarta, Indonesia | 
| Mike Okoro  20' Baichung Bhutia  46' Alvito D'Cunha  69' | Panai Kongprapun  58' | Stadium: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium Referee: Jimmy Napitupulu (Indonesia) | 
Federation Cup
| 31 July 2003 Round of 16 | East Bengal | 5–0 | HAL | Kolkata | 
| Bijen Singh  4', 31' Chandan Das  58', 83' Dipankar Roy  68' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 4 August 2003 Quarter Final | East Bengal | 0–1 | Vasco S.C. | Kolkata | 
| Sushanth Mathew  85' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
IFA Shield
| 20 September 2003 Group stage | East Bengal | 1–0 | Eastern Railway F.C. | Siliguri | 
| Bijen Singh  8' | Stadium: Kanchenjunga Stadium | 
| 22 September 2003 Group stage | East Bengal | 9–0 | Wari AC | Siliguri | 
| Dipankar Roy  9', 26', 35', 42' Bijen Singh  21', 40' Kulothungan  46' Douglas De Silva  75' Malsawmtluanga  81' | Stadium: Kanchenjunga Stadium | 
| 26 September 2003 Semi Final | East Bengal | 2–0 | Everready Association | Kolkata | 
| Douglas De Silva  29' Dipankar Roy  55' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 28 September 2003 Final | East Bengal | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–5 p) | Mohun Bagan | Kolkata | 
| Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | ||||
| Penalties | ||||
| 
 | 
 | |||
Durand Cup
| 4 November 2003 Group stage | East Bengal | 3–2 | Indian Bank | Delhi | 
| Bhaichung Bhutia  16', 49' Mike Okoro  80' | Mahendra Mani  2' Syed Shabir Pasha  84' | Stadium: Ambedkar Stadium | 
| 6 November 2003 Group stage | East Bengal | 3–0 | Dempo | Delhi | 
| Mike Okoro  51' Malsawmtluanga  82' Kulothungan  90' | Stadium: Ambedkar Stadium | 
| 8 November 2003 Semi Final | East Bengal | 3–0 | Air India | Delhi | 
| Malsawmtluanga  22' Chandan Das  36' Mike Okoro  59' | Stadium: Ambedkar Stadium | 
| 10 November 2003 Final | East Bengal | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p) | Salgaocar | Delhi | 
| Mahesh Gawli  62' | Tomba Singh  59' | Stadium: Ambedkar Stadium | ||
| Penalties | ||||
| 
 | 
 | |||
Super Cup
| 14 November 2003 Super Cup | East Bengal | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p) | Mahindra United | Kolkata | 
| Suley Musah  19' | Felix Aboagye  45' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | ||
| Penalties | ||||
| 
 | 
 | |||
National Football League
| 30 November 2003 1 | Salgaocar | 2–1 | East Bengal | Goa | 
| Felix Ibrebru  24' Micky Fernandes  29' | Douglas De Silva  38' | Stadium: Fatorda Stadium | 
| 4 December 2003 2 | Vasco | 1–1 | East Bengal | Goa | 
| Amaechi  82' | Dipankar Roy  83' | Stadium: Fatorda Stadium | 
| 9 December 2003 3 | JCT Mills | 0–0 | East Bengal | Ludhiana | 
| Stadium: Guru Nanak Stadium | 
| 16 December 2003 4 | East Bengal | 2–1 | Churchill Brothers | Kolkata | 
| Cristiano Júnior  45' Bhaichung Bhutia  90' | Yusif Yakubu  4' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 20 December 2003 5 | East Bengal | 1–0 | Tollygunge Agragami | Kolkata | 
| Cristiano Júnior  1' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 27 December 2003 6 | Dempo | 3–2 | East Bengal | Goa | 
| Stanley Colaco  8' Sunday Seah  25' Nacimento Silveira  75' | Cristiano Júnior  1' Bhaichung Bhutia  7' | Stadium: Fatorda Stadium | 
| 31 December 2003 7 | Mahindra United | 0–1 | East Bengal | Mumbai | 
| Cristiano Júnior  68' | Stadium: Cooperage Ground | 
| 8 January 2004 8 | East Bengal | 2–0 | Sporting Clube de Goa | Kolkata | 
| Bhaichung Bhutia  38' Cristiano Júnior  73' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 12 January 2004 9 | Indian Bank | 1–1 | East Bengal | Chennai | 
| Kamaldeen Fuard  25' | Cristiano Júnior  22' | Stadium: JL Nehru Stadium | 
| 16 January 2004 10 | East Bengal | 4–0 | Mohammedan Sporting | Kolkata | 
| Alvito D'Cunha  45' Bhaichung Bhutia  70' Cristiano Júnior  75' Mike Okoro  89' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 22 January 2004 11 | East Bengal | 2–1 | Mohun Bagan | Kolkata | 
| Dipankar Roy  23' Mike Okoro  75' | Ashim Biswas  41' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 29 February 2004 12 | East Bengal | 3–1 | Salgaocar | Kolkata | 
| Bhaichung Bhutia  5', 45' Subhash Chakraborty  53' | Bello Razaq  40' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 5 March 2004 13 | East Bengal | 2–0 | Mahindra United | Kolkata | 
| Cristiano Júnior  35' Bhaichung Bhutia  87' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 11 March 2004 14 | East Bengal | 1–0 | Vasco | Kolkata | 
| Cristiano Júnior  43' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 15 March 2004 15 | East Bengal | 0–0 | Dempo | Kolkata | 
| Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 19 March 2004 16 | East Bengal | 3–0 | JCT Mills | Kolkata | 
| Bhaichung Bhutia  45+1' Mike Okoro  51' Cristiano Júnior  60' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 12 April 2004 17 | Tollygunge Agragami | 0–1 | East Bengal | Kolkata | 
| Bhaichung Bhutia  | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 15 April 2004 18 | Mohammedan Sporting | 0–3 | East Bengal | Kolkata | 
| Cristiano Júnior  59', 62' Bhaichung Bhutia  65' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 25 April 2004 19 | Mohun Bagan | 1–2 | East Bengal | Kolkata | 
| Ashim Biswas  16' | Bhaichung Bhutia  53' Cristiano Júnior  60' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 28 April 2004 20 | East Bengal | 3–0 | Indian Bank | Kolkata | 
| Bhaichung Bhutia  19' Douglas De Silva  73' Dipankar Roy  83' | Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium | 
| 9 May 2004 21 | Churchill Brothers | 1–0 | East Bengal | Goa | 
| Santa Singh  75' | Stadium: Fatorda Stadium | 
| 12 May 2004 22 | Sporting Clube de Goa | 1–2 | East Bengal | Goa | 
| Adbullatif Seriki  84' | Cristiano Júnior  46', 60' | Stadium: Fatorda Stadium | 
Statistics
Top Scorers
| Goal Scorers for East Bengal FC in 2003–04 season | ||||||||||||
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | CFL | ASEAN | Fed Cup | IFA Shield | Durand Cup | Super Cup | NFL | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | FW |  | Bhaichung Bhutia | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 32 | 
| 2 | 10 | FW |  | Mike Okoro | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 
| 3 | 26 | FW |  | Cristiano Júnior | — | — | — | — | — | — | 15 | 15 | 
| 4 | 22 | DF |  | Suley Musah | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 
| 5 | 6 | MF |  | Dipankar Roy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 
| 6 | 11 | FW |  | Bijen Singh | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 
| 7 | 9 | MF |  | Alvito D'Cunha | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 
| 15 | MF |  | Douglas De Silva | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| 5 | MF |  | Shylo Malsawmtluanga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| Own Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Sponsors
- Main Sponsor: Kingfisher (Parent Company United Breweries Group is 50% stake holder in the club).
References
- ↑ "8th "Coca-Cola" National Football League 2003/04". IndianFootball.de. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ↑ "India 2003 Regional Championships". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ↑ "25th "TATA" Federation Cup 2003". IndianFootball.de. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ↑ "7th Super Cup 2003/04". IndianFootball.de. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ↑ "116th Durand Cup 2003". IndianFootball.de. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ↑ "109th IFA Shield 2003". IndianFootball.de. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- 1 2 "Team Archives - East Bengal Club". East Bengal Club. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ↑ "Asean Club Championship to launch after getting AFC and Fifa backing". SportBusiness. 6 November 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ↑ "AFC Statement on the Asean Club Championship | Football News |". the-AFC. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ↑ "AFF to launch ASEAN Club Championship in 2020 featuring top clubs from Southeast Asia | FOX Sports Asia". Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- 1 2 "East Bengal's Greatest Hour: The 2003 ASEAN Cup Triumph". Sportskeeda. 27 July 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ↑ "Before BFC in 2016, there was East Bengal's ASEAN win in 2003". ESPN. November 2016. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ↑ "15 Facts and Untold stories of Bhaichung Bhutia". Sports Libro. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ↑ "East Bengal makes History". The Hindu. 27 July 2003. Retrieved 12 April 2020.



