2023–24 East Bengal FC season

East Bengal

2023–24 season
Owner	Emami East Bengal FC Pvt. Ltd.
Head coach	Carles Cuadrat
Stadium	Salt Lake Stadium East Bengal Ground
Indian Super League	9th
Calcutta League	Runners-up
Durand Cup	Runners-up
Super Cup	Champions
Top goalscorer	League: Cleiton Silva (8 goals) All: Cleiton Silva (13 goals)
Highest home attendance	59,845 vs Mohun Bagan SG (10 March 2024, ISL)
Lowest home attendance	1,500 vs Goa[1] (21 October 2023, ISL)
Average home league attendance	16,285
Biggest win	10–1 Kidderpore (26 September 2023, CFL)
Biggest defeat	1–4 Punjab (10 April 2024, ISL)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2022–23 2024–25 →
All statistics correct as of 10 April 2024.

The 2023–24 season is the 104th season of East Bengal Football Club and their fourth season in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The Indian football season started in July and ended in April. During the season, East Bengal became runners-up in the Durand Cup and runners-up in the Calcutta Football League, had a ninth-place finish in the Indian Super League and became champions of the Super Cup, thus ensuring a place in the 2024–25 AFC Champions League 2 qualifiers.

Before the start of the season, East Bengal appointed Carles Cuadrat as the new head coach and finished with the highest ever points the club amassed in the Indian Super League in the four seasons.

Background[edit]

After the end of the 2022–23 season, the club parted ways with the head coach Stephen Constantine after poor results,^[2] and appointed former Indian Super League winner Carles Cuadrat as the new head coach for the team on a two-year contract.^[3][4][5] The club also roped in the services of Odisha winger Nandhakumar Sekar and Chennaiyin midfielder Edwin Sydney Vanspaul for the season.^[6] The club also roped in three Spaniards – Javier Siverio and Borja Herrera from Hyderabad,^[7][8] and Saúl Crespo from Odisha for the season.^[9] On 3 June, East Bengal announced the departure of eleven players, whose contract period ended and were not renewed, which included the five foreign players from last season apart from Cleiton Silva and Indian players – Jerry Lalrinzuala, Semboi Haokip, Suvam Sen, Himanshu Jangra, Amarjit Singh Kiyam and Naveen Kumar.^[10] East Bengal also roped in club legend Harmanjot Singh Khabra who had spent seven years with the club previously from 2009–2016 and also left back Mandar Rao Dessai for the season.^[11]

On 10 June, the club announced the signing of Nandhakumar Sekar on a three-year deal on a free transfer from Odisha.^[12] On 12 June, East Bengal announced the signing of Spanish midfielder Borja Herrera on a one-year contract in a free transfer.^[13] On 14 June, the club announced the signing of defender Nishu Kumar from Kerala Blasters on a one-year loan deal.^[14] On 17 June, the club announced the signing of Spanish duo Javier Siverio and Saúl Crespo on a one-year contract.^[15] On 19 June, the club announced the signings of three players – Edwin Sydney Vanspaul, Harmanjot Singh Khabra and Mandar Rao Dessai.^[16]

Transfers[edit]

Incoming[edit]

Date	No.	Pos.	Name	Signed from	Fee	Ref
10 June 2023	11	FW	Nandhakumar Sekar	Odisha	Free Transfer	[17]
12 June 2023	26	MF	Borja Herrera	Hyderabad	Free Transfer	[18]
17 June 2023	99	FW	Javier Siverio	Hyderabad	Free Transfer	[19]
17 June 2023	21	MF	Saúl Crespo	Odisha	Free Transfer	[19]
19 June 2023	8	MF	Edwin Sydney Vanspaul	Chennaiyin	Free Transfer	[16]
19 June 2023	7	DF	Harmanjot Khabra	Kerala Blasters	Free Transfer	[16]
19 June 2023	17	DF	Mandar Rao Dessai	Mumbai City	Free Transfer	[16]
12 July 2023	13	GK	Prabhsukhan Singh Gill	Kerala Blasters	Undisclosed[a]	[20]
12 July 2023	33	DF	Gursimrat Singh Gill	Mumbai City	Free Transfer	[21]
21 July 2023	30	MF	Vanlalpeka Guite	Aizawl	Free Transfer	[22]
21 July 2023	35	MF	Gurnaj Singh Grewal	Chandigarh Football Academy	Free Transfer	[22]
5 August 2023	44	DF	Jordan Elsey	Perth Glory	Free Transfer	[23]
5 August 2023	4	DF	José Antonio Pardo Lucas	Eldense	Free Transfer	[23]
1 September 2023	84	MF	Sayan Banerjee	Kalighat Milan Sangha	Free Transfer	[24]
2 September 2023	50	GK	Julfikar Gazi	Bengal Football Academy	Free Transfer	[25]
28 September 2023	19	DF	Hijazi Maher	Al-Hussein	Free Transfer	[26]
31 January 2024	9	MF	Víctor Vázquez	Toronto FC	Free Transfer	[27]
1 February 2024	91	FW	Felicio Brown	Qingdao Hainiu	Free Transfer	[28]
15 February 2024	28	DF	Aleksandar Pantić	Doxa Katokopias	Free Transfer	[29]

Loan in[edit]

Start date	End date	No.	Pos.	Name	Loaned from	Ref
14 June 2023	End of season	22	DF	Nishu Kumar	Kerala Blasters	[30]
31 August 2023	End of season	6	MF	Ajay Chhetri	Bengaluru	[31]

Outgoing[edit]

Exit Date	No.	Pos.	Name	Signed to	Fee	Ref
1 June 2023	6	FW	Sumit Passi	Inter Kashi	Free Transfer	[10]
1 June 2023	8	MF	Amarjit Singh Kiyam	Goa	End of Loan	[10]
1 June 2023	14	MF	Alex Lima		Released	[10]
1 June 2023	17	DF	Jerry Lalrinzuala	Odisha	Free Transfer	[10]
1 June 2023	18	MF	Himanshu Jangra	Delhi	End of Loan	[10]
1 June 2023	24	MF	Jordan O'Doherty		Released	[10]
1 June 2023	25	GK	Suvam Sen		Released	[10]
1 June 2023	26	FW	Semboi Haokip	Jamshedpur	Free Transfer	[10]
1 June 2023	32	GK	Naveen Kumar	Goa	End of Loan	[10]
1 June 2023	40	DF	Charalambos Kyriakou	Doxa Katokopias	Free Transfer	[10]
1 June 2023	77	FW	Jake Jervis	Kuopion Palloseura	Free Transfer	[10]
26 July 2023	12	MF	Wahengbam Angousana	Mohammedan Sporting	Free Transfer	[32]
26 July 2023	13	GK	Pawan Kumar	Delhi	Free Transfer	[32]
1 September 2023	4	DF	Iván González	Chitwan	Free Transfer	[10]
1 September 2023	33	DF	Pritam Kumar Singh	TRAU	Free Transfer	[10]

Loan out[edit]

Start date	End date	No.	Pos.	Name	Loaned to	Ref
25 August 2023	End of season	16	DF	Sarthak Golui	Chennaiyin	[33]
8 January 2024	End of season	15	MF	Mobashir Rahman	Chennaiyin	[34]
30 January 2024	End of season	26	MF	Borja Herrera	Goa	[35]
31 January 2024	End of season	99	FW	Javier Siverio	Jamshedpur	[36]

Team[edit]

First-team squad[edit]

The below list contains the names and details of the first team squad for East Bengal.

As of till the end of 2023–24 season.^[37][38]

No.	Name	Nat.	Pos.	Date of Birth (Age)	Signed From	Signed In	Contact Ends	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	Kamaljit Singh		GK	(1995-12-28) 28 December 1995 (age 28)	Odisha	2022	2025	26	0
13	Prabhsukhan Singh Gill		GK	(2001-01-02) 2 January 2001 (age 23)	Kerala Blasters	2023	2026	32	0
27	Aditya Patra		GK	(2000-04-27) 27 April 2000 (age 24)	East Bengal Reserves	2022	2024	9	0
50	Julfikar Gazi		GK	(2006-05-06) 6 May 2006 (age 18)	Bengal FA	2023	2026	0	0
75	Ranit Sarkar		GK	(2004-11-09) 9 November 2004 (age 19)	RFYC	2023	2026	1	0
Defenders
5	Lalchungnunga		CB	(2000-12-25) 25 December 2000 (age 23)	Sreenidi Deccan	2022	2026	50	0
7	Harmanjot Singh Khabra		RB	(1988-03-18) 18 March 1988 (age 36)	Kerala Blasters	2023	2024	246	13
12	Mohammad Rakip		RB	(2000-05-14) 14 May 2000 (age 24)	Mumbai City	2022	2024	48	0
17	Mandar Rao Dessai		LB	(1992-03-18) 18 March 1992 (age 32)	Mumbai City	2023	2024	24	0
19	Hijazi Maher		CB	(1997-09-20) 20 September 1997 (age 26)	Al-Hussein	2023	2024	22	2
22	Nishu Kumar		LB	(1997-11-05) 5 November 1997 (age 26)	Kerala Blasters	2023	2024	30	1
25	Athul Unnikrishnan		CB	(2000-02-01) 1 February 2000 (age 24)	Kerala United	2022	2025	16	0
28	Aleksandar Pantić		CB	(1992-04-11) 11 April 1992 (age 32)	Doxa Katokopias	2024	2024	8	0
33	Gursimrat Singh Gill		CB	(1997-11-02) 2 November 1997 (age 26)	Mumbai City	2023	2026	11	0
37	Tuhin Das		LB	(2000-03-07) 7 March 2000 (age 24)	East Bengal Reserves	2022	2024	23	2
40	Tingku Kangujam		RB	(2001-01-23) 23 January 2001 (age 23)	NEROCA	2023	2024	0	0
Midfielders
6	Ajay Chhetri		CM	(1999-07-07) 7 July 1999 (age 24)	Bengaluru	2023	2024	21	1
8	Edwin Sydney Vanspaul		CM	(1992-09-24) 24 September 1992 (age 31)	Chennaiyin	2023	2025	13	0
9	Víctor Vázquez		AM	(1987-01-20) 20 January 1987 (age 37)	Toronto FC	2024	2024	10	0
21	Saúl Crespo		DM	(1996-07-23) 23 July 1996 (age 27)	Odisha	2023	2024	25	7
23	Souvik Chakrabarti		CM	(1991-07-12) 12 July 1991 (age 32)	Hyderabad	2022	2025	42	0
29	Naorem Mahesh Singh		LW	(1999-03-01) 1 March 1999 (age 25)	Kerala Blasters	2022	2027	70	12
30	Vanlalpeka Guite		AM	(2006-10-26) 26 October 2006 (age 17)	Aizawl	2023	2026	8	1
35	Gunraj Singh Grewal		DM	(2007-01-09) 9 January 2007 (age 17)	Chandigarh FA	2023	2026	9	0
57	Mahitosh Roy		CM	(1998-11-11) 11 November 1998 (age 25)	East Bengal Reserves	2022	2024	12	5
61	Tanmay Das		CM	(2001-05-02) 2 May 2001 (age 23)	East Bengal Reserves	2022	2024	13	1
62	Aman C. K.		RW	(2003-03-19) 19 March 2003 (age 21)	East Bengal Reserves	2022	2026	15	5
66	Shyamal Besra		CM	(2004-09-25) 25 September 2004 (age 19)	East Bengal Reserves	2022	2024	7	1
Forwards
10	Cleiton Silva (captain)		FW	(1987-02-03) 3 February 1987 (age 37)	Bengaluru	2022	2024	55	27
11	Nandhakumar Sekar		FW	(1995-12-20) 20 December 1995 (age 28)	Odisha	2023	2026	31	10
20	V. P. Suhair		FW	(1992-07-27) 27 July 1992 (age 31)	NorthEast United	2022	2025	45	10
59	Jesin TK		FW	(2000-02-19) 19 February 2000 (age 24)	East Bengal Reserves	2022	2024	17	7
70	Abhishek Kunjam		FW	(2003-08-17) 17 August 2003 (age 20)	RKM Football Academy	2023	2025	13	6
82	P. V. Vishnu		FW	(2001-12-24) 24 December 2001 (age 22)	Muthoot FA	2023	2026	31	7
84	Sayan Banerjee		FW	(2003-01-14) 14 January 2003 (age 21)	Kalighat MS	2023	2026	10	1
91	Felicio Brown Forbes		FW	(1991-08-28) 28 August 1991 (age 32)	Qingdao Hainiu	2024	2024	11	1

New contracts[edit]

No.	Pos.	Date	Name	Ref.
29	MF	23 September 2023	Naorem Mahesh Singh	[39]

Other player under contract[edit]

No.	Pos.	Name	Ref.
4	DF	José Antonio Pardo Lucas	[40]
44	DF	Jordan Elsey	[41]

Current technical staff[edit]

East Bengal appointed former Indian Super League winner Carles Cuadrat as the new head coach for the club on a two-year contract.^[4] The club also extended the contract with assistant coach Bino George till 2026, as he would also remain as the head coach of the reserves and developmental squad.^[42] The club also appointed former Indian Super League winner Dimas Delgado as the assistant coach on a two-year contract.^[43] The club also roped in three more Spaniards into the backroom – Goalkeeper coach Javier Pinillos, Physiotherapist Senen Alvarez and Sports Scientist Albert Martinez Bernat.^[44]

Position	Name
Head coach	Carles Cuadrat
Assistant coach	Dimas Delgado
	Bino George
Goalkeeping Coach	Javier Pinillos
Strength & Conditioning Coach	Albert Martinez Bernat
Physiotherapist	Senen Alvarez
Physical Rehabilitator	Gabriel Effio
Assistant Physiotherapist	Tejas Lasalkar
Performance Analyst	Aromal Vijayan
Team Manager	Pratim Kumar Saha
Team Doctor	Dr. Mustufa Poonawalla
Masseur	Rajesh Basak
Masseur	Robin Das

Preseason and friendlies[edit]

East Bengal started their preseason under Bino George and later under Carles Cuadrat in July. East Bengal played their first preseason friendly against Indian Navy on 30 July and won 2–1 with Lalchungnunga and Mandar Rao Dessai scoring for East Bengal in the match ahead of the Durand Cup.^[45] On 13 September, East Bengal faced Hyderabad in a preseason friendly game ahead of the Indian Super League and lost 0–1 at the East Bengal Ground.^[46]

Matches[edit]

  Win   Draw   Loss

East Bengal v TRAU

16 November 2023 Friendly	East Bengal	2–1	TRAU	Kolkata
09:00 IST	Silva Rahman		?	Stadium: East Bengal Ground Attendance: 0[A]

Competitions[edit]

Overall record[edit]

Durand Cup[edit]

East Bengal shall be participating in the 2023 Durand Cup and was grouped into Group A along with Mohun Bagan SG, Punjab, and Bangladesh Army and would play their group stage matches in Kolkata.^[48] On 6 August, East Bengal began their campaign against Bangladesh Army at the Salt Lake Stadium and managed a 2–2 draw. East Bengal took a 2–0 lead at halftime with Saúl Crespo and Javier Siverio scoring for the team but Nishu Kumar received a red card in the second half as Bangladesh Army scored two late goals to make it 2–2 and the points were shared.^[49] On 12 August, East Bengal faced their arch—rivals Mohun Bagan SG in the Kolkata Derby fixture at the Salt Lake Stadium and managed a 1–0 win courtesy of a solitary goal from Nandhakumar Sekar in the second half.^[50][51] On 16 August, East Bengal defeated Punjab 1–0 at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan to secure the top spot in the group and qualify for the quarterfinals. Javier Siverio scored the only goal of the match.^[52] On 25 August, East Bengal faced Gokulam Kerala at the Salt Lake Stadium in the quarterfinals and won 2–1. Jordan Elsey scored for East Bengal in the very first minute but Gokulam Kerala equalized in the second half courtesy of a goal from Aminou Bouba. However, East Bengal found the winner in the seventy-eighth minute when Nishu Kumar's cross deflected off Aminou Bouba into the net as East Bengal managed to hold onto the 2–1 lead to progress into the semifinals.^[53] On 29 August, East Bengal faced NorthEast United in the semifinals at the Salt Lake Stadium, where after the match ended 2–2, East Bengal managed to progress into the finals after winning the penalty shootout 5–3. East Bengal went 2–0 behind with goals from Míchel Zabaco and Konsam Phalguni Singh however, they rallied from behind with goals from Naorem Mahesh Singh and Nandhakumar Sekar to equalize the match to take it to the penalty shootout. East Bengal scored all five of their penalty kicks but Parthib Sundar Gogoi missed the penalty for NorthEast United as East Bengal won the shootout and progressed into the final for the first time since 2004.^[54] On 3 September, East Bengal faced Mohun Bagan SG in the final at the Salt Lake Stadium and suffered a 0–1 defeat to finish runners-up of the tournament. Dimitri Petratos scored the only goal in the final for Mohun Bagan SG.^[55] Nandhakumar Sekar was adjudged as the player of the tournament.^[56]

Group stage[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		EAB	MBG	BAN	PUN
1	East Bengal (H)	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7	Qualify for the knockout stage		—	—	2–2	1–0
2	Mohun Bagan SG (H)	3	2	0	1	7	1	+6	6			0–1	—	5–0	2–0
3	Bangladesh Army	3	0	2	1	2	7	−5	2			—	—	—	—
4	Punjab	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1			—	—	0–0	—

Knockout stage[edit]

Matches[edit]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Void

East Bengal v Bangladesh Army

6 August 2023 Group stage	East Bengal	2–2	Bangladesh Army	Kolkata
16:45 IST	Siverio  6' 45+4' Crespo 33' (pen) Kumar  67'	Report	Emtiyaz Raihan  40' Hasan Murad  64' Emon 88' Meraj Pradhan 90+7'	Stadium: Salt Lake Stadium Attendance: 9,820 Referee: Ijamal Mohamed Man of the Match: Harmanjot Khabra (East Bengal)

Indian Super League[edit]

Summary[edit]

East Bengal began their Indian Super League campaign at home against Jamshedpur on 25 September at the Salt Lake Stadium with a goalless draw to share the points.^[57] On 30 September, East Bengal faced Hyderabad in their second match at the Salt lake Stadium and secured their first victory of the campaign. Hitesh Sharma put Hyderabad ahead but Cleiton Silva scored twice including a stoppage-time freekick winner to complete the comeback as East Bengal secured the victory.^[58]

On 4 October, East Bengal faced Bengaluru away at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium and suffered a 2–1 defeat. Naorem Mahesh Singh had put East Bengal ahead but Sunil Chhetri and Javi Hernández scored for Bengaluru as East Bengal suffered their first defeat of the campaign.^[59] On 21 October, East Bengal faced Goa at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar due to administrative issues,^[1] and suffered a 2–1 defeat. Naorem Mahesh Singh had put East Bengal ahead however, Goa rallied from behind with two goals within a minute from Sandesh Jhingan and Víctor Rodríguez as East Bengal suffered consecutive defeats.^[60] On 4 November, East Bengal faced Kerala Blasters at the Salt Lake Stadium and suffered a 2&1 defeat.^[61] On 25 November, East Bengal faced Chennaiyin away at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and drew 1–1, to end their three-match defeat streak.^[62]

On 4 December, East Bengal faced NorthEast United and recorded a 5–0 win. Borja Herrera opened the scoring for East Bengal and Cleiton Silva and Nandhakumar Sekar scored a brace each as East Bengal recorded their biggest-ever win since their inception in the Indian Super League.^[63] On 9th December, East Bengal faced Punjab and settled for a 0–0 draw.^[64] Next, on 16 December, East Bengal faced Mumbai City away at the Mumbai Football Arena and again settled for a 0–0 draw.^[65] On 22 December, East Bengal faced Odisha at home and once again settled for a 0–0 draw, the third consecutive goalless draw before ending the first leg of the league before the break for the Asian Cup.^[66]

League table[edit]

Result summary[edit]

Results by match[edit]

Matches[edit]

The league fixtures were announced on 7 September 2023, with the season starting on 21 September.^[68]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Void

Super Cup[edit]

East Bengal along with the other ten Indian Super League teams and four I-League teams shall participate in the Super Cup, which will be in Odisha in January 2024.^[70] East Bengal has been grouped in Group A, alongside Indian Super League sides – Mohun Bagan SG, Hyderabad and an I-League side Sreenidhi Deccan.^[70] On 9th January, East Bengal faced Hyderabad in the opening fixture of the campaign and managed a 3–2 victory with Cleiton Silva scoring a brace and Saúl Crespo scoring the third.^[71] On 14 January, East Bengal faced Sreenidhi Deccan and won 2–1 with goals from Hijazi Maher and Javier Siverio.^[72] On 19th January, East Bengal faced their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giants in the Kolkata Derby fixture in a virtual quarter-final tie that would decide the group champions and who would progress into the semi-finals and East Bengal won 3–1 with captain Cleiton Silva scoring a brace while Nandhakumar Sekar scoring the other, as East Bengal won all three matches in the group to qualify for the semi-final.^[73] On 24 January, East Bengal faced Group B winners Jamshedpur in the semi-finals and won 2–0 with goals from Hijazi Maher and Javier Siverio as they entered the final for the second time, after 2018.^[74] On 28 January, East Bengal faced the defending champions Odisha in the final at their home ground Kalinga Stadium. Odisha took the lead in the first half as Diego Mauricio scored however, East Bengal came back with goals from Nandhakumar Sekar and Saúl Crespo to lead 2–1 however, East Bengal conceded a penalty in the last second of the match and Ahmed Jahouh scored the equalizer from the spot to take the game into extra time. However, captain Cleiton Silva scored the winner in the 110th minute as East Bengal secured a 3–2 victory to become the champions and lift a major trophy after twelve years.^[75]

Group Stage[edit]

Knockout Stage[edit]

Matches[edit]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Void

Calcutta Football League[edit]

Summary[edit]

East Bengal participated in the 2023 Calcutta Premier Division and was drawn into group B for the first phase of the tournament where twenty-six teams were divided into two groups of thirteen teams each.^[76][77] East Bengal would be mainly fielding their Reserve squad for the tournament with coach Bino George taking charge of the team.^[47] In the opening match on 13 July, East Bengal faced ASOS Raibow at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan and were held onto a goalless draw to start their campaign.^[78] On 17 July, East Bengal faced West Bengal Police and achieved their first win of the season as they won 4–2 at the Bankimanjali Stadium in Naihati. Bunando Singh, Sarthak Golui, Dip Saha and Abhishek Kunjam scored for East Bengal.^[79] On 20 July, East Bengal faced Kidderpore and won 2–0. Tuhin Das and Shyamal Besra scored for East Bengal as they latched up consecutive wins.^[80] On 24 July, East Bengal faced BSS at Naihati and were held to a 1–1 draw. East Bengal went down to 10 men after Tuhin Das was given a straight red card in the first half, however, it was East Bengal who took the lead in the ninetieth minute through a direct freekick strike from Dip Saha. BSS scored the equalizer in the seventh minute of injury time as East Bengal had a settle for a draw.^[81] On 27 July East Bengal faced Eastern Railway at the East Bengal Ground and won 5–1. Aman C. K. scored a brace while Avishek Kunjam, Vanlalpeka Guite, and Razibul Mistry scored one each as East Bengal registered their third win of the campaign.^[82] On 31 July, East Bengal faced Wari at the East Bengal Ground and won 5–0. Avishek Kunjam scored a brace while Dip Saha, Tanmay Das and Aman C. K. scored one each as East Bengal registered their fourth win of the campaign.^[83] On 3 August, East Bengal faced Bhawanipore and drew 1–1, with Dip Saha scoring for East Bengal.^[84] On 9 August, East Bengal defeated Railway FC 2–0 with goals from Aman C. K. and Nishu Kumar to earn their fifth win of the campaign.^[85] On 14 August, East Bengal defeated