George Telegraph

Full name	George Telegraph Sports Club[1]
Nickname(s)	Georgians
Founded	1925; 99 years ago (1925)
Stadium	Rabindra Sarobar Stadium Barasat Stadium
Head coach	Goutam Ghosh
League	CFL Premier Division
Home colours Away colours

George Telegraph Sports Club is an Indian football based in Kolkata,^[2][3] West Bengal, that competes in the Calcutta Football League,^[4][5] the top tier state football league in West Bengal.^[6][7] The club plays all their home matches at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium. They have also competed in the I-League 2nd Division, the second tier of Indian football league system.^[8][9]

Founded in 1925^[10] and affiliated with the Indian Football Association (IFA),^[11][12] the club is known by its nickname "Georgians".^[13]

The club was founded by Haripada Dutta in 1925, and A. L. Corbett, principal of the George Telegraph Institute, became first chairman.^[14] They started out on the 4th division of the Calcutta League and after 21 years they were finally promoted to the 1st division of Calcutta Football League beating Rajasthan Athletic Club 3–1. In the same year, they reached the final of the IFA Shield, but due to the anti-British riots the final couldn't be held. Instead of declaring them as joint winners with Mohun Bagan AC, the entire tournament was scrapped. Some of notable Indian footballers including Rajen Ghosh, Monimohan Ghosh,^[15] Sheoo Mewalal,^[16] Sushil Bhattacharya,^[17] Runu Guha Thakurata, Monoranjan Bhattacharya, Satyajit Chatterjee, Aloke Mukherjee, Shasthi Duley, appeared with George Telegraph.^[14] Noted Indian football manager Yan Law began his playing career at the club.^[18]

They stayed at the top flight for 66 years^[19] but in 2002 and 2003, they suffered back-to-back demotions. Then again they got promoted twice in two successive years and since then they have been staying in the top flight. In 2004, they emerged as the runners-up of the All Airlines Gold Cup. In the same year, they reached semi-finals of prestigious Trades Cup.^[20] Their first participation in the I-League 2nd Division was in 2009, where they finished 4th, behind Oil India FC and were eliminated in the group stage.^[21][22] Therefore, George Telegraph was unable to qualify for the I-League, then top tier of football in India. In 2013, they again got a chance to play in I-League 2nd Division, which became their second season.

In 2020, the George Telegraph emerged as the runners-up in the prestigious IFA Shield tournament,^[23] the third oldest association football tournament in the world, losing to 2–1 to the I-League side Real Kashmir FC.^[24][25][26] They reached the semi-finals of 2021–22 Calcutta Premier Division in November 2021, but their campaign ended with a 1–0 loss to Railway FC.

In June 2023, the Indian Football Association (IFA) announced the merger of both Premier Division A and B of the Calcutta Football League ahead of its 125th edition, in which George Telegraph was placed in Group II.^[27][28][29]

George Telegraph plays their home matches of Calcutta Premier Division at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium, which has a capacity of nearly 20,000 spectators.^[30]

They also use Barasat Vidyasagar Krirangan for some of their home games. It has Artificial turf and achieved a two-star rating from FIFA.^[31]

As of 5 August 2022

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 4 DF  IND Sourish Lodh Chowdhury 5 DF  IND Mohon Sarkar (Captain) 8 FW  IND Souvik Kar 9 FW  MLI Abdoulaye Kanouté 10 FW  ARG Matías Verón 11 FW  IND Goutam Das 13 MF  IND Souvik Ghosal 20 FW  IND Sachin Singh 25 DF  LBR Varney Kallon

No. Pos. Nation Player 30 MF  IND Ameen Palakkathodi 31 GK  IND Arup Debnath 44 DF  IND Chandril Basu — GK  IND Bhaskar Routh — MF  IND Rathindranath Karmakar — MF  IND Rudra Pratap Singh Bist — FW  IND Sougata Hansda — DF  IND Sk. Abdul

As of 3 July 2020

Personnel

• General secretary: Subrata Dutta
• Joint secretary : Anirban Dutta
• Executive secretary: Adhiraj Dutta
• Team manager: Sabyasachi Sarkar

Coaching and medical staff

• Head coach: Goutam Ghosh
• Assistant coach: Samar Deb
• Goalkeeping coach: Jagadish Ghosh
• Physio: Murtuza Sabuwala

• CFL Premier Division A
  • Runners-up (1): 1951–52^[32]
• CFL Premier Division B^[33][34]
  • Champions (3): 1985, 1990, 2017

• IFA Shield
  • Runners-up (1): 2020^[35][36]
• All Airlines Gold Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2004^[37]
• Darjeeling Gold Cup
  • Champions (1): 1977^[38]
• Kohima Royal Gold Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2004^[39]

The club has its men's cricket section, which is under the jurisdiction of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).^[40][41] The team participates in First Division League, J.C. Mukherjee T-20 Trophy and other regional tournaments.^[42][43]

• Football in Kolkata
• List of football clubs in Kolkata
• Calcutta Football League

• "Former Bagan player Bastab Roy appointed assistant coach of Atletico de Kolkata". FirstPost. 28 July 2015. Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
• "Calcutta Football League Premier Division – A | George Telegraph Sports Club vs Bhawanipore FC". the-aiff.com. New Delhi: All India Football Federation. 23 August 2022. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
• "Echezona Anyichie :: Celestine Echezona Anyichie :: Career Statistics". playmakerstats.com. PlaymakerStats. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
• Mukherjee, Soham (28 August 2018). "CFL 2018: Mohun Bagan face stern test against Aryan before Kolkata Derby". Goal.com. Kolkata. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
• Sengupta, Somnath (16 December 2010). "Aryan Club — Rising From the Ashes". thehardtackle.com. The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
• Chattopadhyay, Hariprasad (13 September 2019). "আটান্নর মতো কড়া লড়াই দেখা যাচ্ছে এই লিগেও" [A tough fight like 1958 is also being witnessed in this season's league]. abandabazar.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Anandabazar Patrika. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022.

• George Telegraph SC on Facebook
• "IFAWB Clubs: Men's Division (CFL PREMIER DIVISION)". ifawb.org. Indian Football Association. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022.