Bengal Nagpur Railway FC

Bengal Nagpur Railway Football Club^[4] (also known as BNR Recreation Club)^[5] is an Indian institutional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal.^[6] Founded in 1929, the club competes in the Premier Division B of the Calcutta Football League.^[7][8]

The Bengal Nagpur Railway Recreation Club was established in 1929 as the recreational arm of Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR), now known as South Eastern Railway (one of the companies credited for pioneering the development of railways in eastern and central India).^[9] The BNR Club was associated with numerous sports including football, cricket, field hockey and water polo.^[10][11]

BNR reached the first division of Calcutta Football League in 1949 and as an institutional team was a force to reckon in Kolkata football during their golden period in the 1960s. They won prestigious IFA Shield in 1963,^[10] and ended up as runners-up in 1966.^[12][13][14] and Rovers Cup in 1964–65.^[10] They also achieved success at the 1967 Durand Cup, by finishing as runners-up. The club later took part in 1985 IFA Shield, where they faced noted Uruguayan club Centro Atlético Fénix.^[15][16] The club was later briefly managed by legendary Indian footballer Tulsidas Balaram.^[17] Later in the 1990s, BNR consecutively appeared in Super Division of the CFL, playing home matches at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium.^[18]

Notable players who have played for the Bengal Nagpur Railway FC include Sheoo Mewalal,^[19][20][21] Tulsidas Balaram,^[22][23] Arun Ghosh, K. Appalaraju,^[24] Rajendra Mohan, Samar Banerjee,^[25] Chandreshwar Prasad,^[26] Mihir Bose,^[27] Sudip Chatterjee.^[28][29] Among them, Appalaraju emerged as top scorer of the CFL in 1959 with BNR.^[30] Legendary Indian coach Amal Dutta also appeared with BNR; he later managed the team too.^[31][32] Former Pakistani international Tarapada Ray, who later gained Indian citizenship, also appeared with the club.^[33]

• Leslie Claudius – member of Indian hockey team that won the gold medals at the 1948, 1952 and 1956, and silver medal at the 1960 Summer Olympic Games.^{[34][35][36][37][38][39][40]}
• Joseph Galibardy – represented India at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and won gold medal, played domestic hockey for BNR.^[41][42][43]

• CFL Second Division
  • Champions (1): 1949^[44]
• CFL First Division
  • Third place (1): 2022^[45]

• IFA Shield
  • Champions (1): 1963^[46]
  • Runners-up (1): 1966^[47][48]
• Durand Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1967^[49][50]
• Rovers Cup
  • Champions (1): 1964–65^[51]
• Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2009^[52]
• EK Nayanar Memorial Gold Cup
  • Champions (1): 2012^[53]

Alongside football, field hockey is practiced in BNR. From the British rule in the country until 1960s, it was having Anglo-Indian players, who led the club various nationwide tournaments.^[54][55][56] Notable players of the team in Colonial era were Carl Tapsell, Dicky Carr and Joe Gallibardy.^[57] Affiliated with the Bengal Hockey Association (BHA),^[58] the club participated in prestigious Beighton Cup and Calcutta Hockey League.^[59][60][61]

Honours

• Beighton Cup
  • Champions (5): 1937, 1939, 1943, 1944, 1945^[62][63]
  • Runners-up (8): 1931, 1932, 1935, 1938, 1942, 1946, 1968, 1994
• Calcutta Hockey League
  • Champions (4): 1965, 1966, 1967, 1994^[64][65]
• Bombay Gold Cup
  • Champions (1): 1965^[66][67]
• Obaidullllah Gold Cup^[68]
  • Champions (9): 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1972
• Khandwa Gold Cup
  • Champions (3): 1966, 1969, 1970^[68]
• BHA Hockey League
  • Runners-up (2): 2009, 2017^[69]
• Lagden Cup
  • Champions (1): 2020^[69]

BNR club has its cricket section, which is affiliated to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB),^[70][71] and competes in numerous regional tournaments including the First Division League, and J.C. Mukherjee T-20 Trophy.^[72][73]

Honours

• CAB First Division League
  • Champions (1): 2010–11^[74]
• CAB Senior Knock-out Championship
  • Champions (1): 1962–63^[10]

Women's football is also being practiced in BNR, and the team participates in regional tournaments.^[75]

• Football in Kolkata
• List of football clubs in India

Cited sources

Further reading

• Majumdar, B. (2006). "Cricket in colonial Bengal (1880–1947): A lost history of nationalism". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 23 (6): 960–990. doi:10.1080/09523360600802562. S2CID 216152701.
• Majumdar, Boria; Mangan, J. A. (13 September 2013). Sport in South Asian Society: Past and Present. Oxford: Routledge. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-317-99894-5. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
• Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
• Martinez, Dolores; Mukharjiim, Projit B (2009). Football: From England to the World: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-88353-6. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022.
• Dineo, Paul; Mills, James (2001). Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora. London, United Kingdom: Frank Cass Publishers. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7146-8170-2. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022.
• Nath, Nirmal (2011). History of Indian Football: Upto 2009–10. Readers Service. ISBN 9788187891963. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022.
• Sharma, Nikhil Paramjit; Gupta, Shantanu (4 February 2019). India's Football Dream. SAGE Publications India. ISBN 9789353283063. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
• Majumdar, Boria; Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). A Social History Of Indian Football: Striving To Score. Routledge. ISBN 9780415348355. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021.
• Basu, Jaydeep (2003). Stories from Indian Football. UBS Publishers' Distributors. ISBN 9788174764546. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022.
• Banerjee, Ankan (25 March 2015). "The Introduction of Football in Colonial Calcutta- Part 1". footballcounter.com. Kolkata: Football Counter. Archived from the original on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
• Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2008). "Football in Bengali culture and society: a study in the social history of football in Bengal 1911–1980". Shodhganga. University of Calcutta. p. 35. hdl:10603/174532. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
• "Regionalism and club domination: Growth of rival centres of footballing excellence". Soccer & Society. 6:2–3 (2–3). Taylor & Francis: 227–256. 6 August 2006. doi:10.1080/14660970500106410. S2CID 216862171. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
• "OUR SPORTSMEN". 123india.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
• Karmakar, Rajat (21 December 2013). "ইস্টার্ন রেলওয়ে ফুটবল ক্লাব — ১৪১ বছরের পুরনো একটি ক্লাবের ইতিহাস ও ঐতিহ্য" [Eastern Railway Football Club — History and heritage of a 141-year-old club]. archives.anandabazar.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Anandabazar Patrika. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
• "The passage of football in India". ifawb.org. Kolkata: Indian Football Association. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
• Bhowmick, Mithun (15 December 2018). "ভারতীয় ফুটবলের অসুখসমূহ: পর্ব – ২" [Diseases of Indian football: Episode – 2]. bengali.indianexpress.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: IE Bangla Sports Desk. Indian Express News Service. Archived from the original on 15 November 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
• Bhattacharya, Ayan (10 September 2023). "বাংলা ভাগের ক্ষত কিভাবে বিষিয়ে দিল মোহনবাগান আর ইস্টবেঙ্গলকে?" [How did the wound of the partition of Bengal poisoned both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal?]. inscript.me (in Bengali). Kolkata: ইনস্ক্রিপ্ট বাংলা নিউজ. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.

• Official website of BNR Recreation Club
• Bengal Nagpur Railway FC at Soccerway