The 2019–20 season was the club's 100th season in existence. East Bengal FC formed in 1920, played its centenary season, competing in the I-League, Durand Cup and Calcutta Football League.
Preseason overview East Bengal FC already announced the extension of the contract for 2 more years of their coach Alejandro Menéndez before the last game of the season. They also announced the extension of the contract of their Physical trainer and assistant coach Carlos Nodar Paz for 2 more years.
East Bengal FC made the announcement of retaining core players of the 2018–19 I-League campaign for the next season starting with Brandon Vanlalremdika, Lalrindika Ralte, Borja Gomez and Samad Ali Mallick. East Bengal FC also announced the signing of Naorem Tondomba Singh from NEROCA F.C. for a 4 years deal and Boithang Haokip from 2018–19 Indian Super League champions Bengaluru F.C. on a 3-year deal.
On 6 June, East Bengal FC announced the double signing of Pintu Mahato and Abhishek Ambekar from their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan on a 3 years and 2 years deal respectively. The duo would strengthen the squad for the upcoming season. East Bengal FC also announced the contract extension of star central defensive midfielder Kassim Aidara for another season, after a stellar performance in the I-League last season gaining coach Alejandro Menéndez's trust.
On 8 June, controversy related to Jobby Justin newly emerged after the transfer saga to ATK was questionable and the AIFF passed the incident to the IFA disciplinary committee for their decision. The IFA after reviewing the documents announced that Jobby Justin has to play for East Bengal FC for the upcoming season to AIFF and now it is up to the AIFF to decide on the final fate of the last year's top scorer for East Bengal FC. However, the AIFF Players' status committee announced that Jobby Justin is free to play for ATK.
On 12 June, East Bengal FC announced the contract extension of attacking midfield Jaime Santos Colado for 2 more years. The 24-year-old Spanish attacker scored 5 goals including a goal in the Kolkata Derby last season. On 13 June, East Bengal FC announced that UEFA pro-licensed former FC Barcelona Escola Technical Director Josep Ferré, popularly known as Coco, has joined as the Assistant Coach for the team until 2021. The very next day, East Bengal FC announced that former I-League winner with Bengaluru F.C., Goal-keeper Lalthuammawia Ralte has joined in the ranks on loan till the end of the season from ISL side FC Goa.
On 26 June, East Bengal FC announced that assistant coach Bastob Roy will continue for the 2019–20 season and will also be the head of Youth Development. East Bengal FC also announced that Abhra Mondal would continue as the goalkeeper coach for the 2019–20 season. On 3 July, East Bengal FC announced the signing of their 4th foreigner, Marti Crespi who played for Delhi Dynamos F.C. in the 2018–19 Indian Super League season. East Bengal FC also called in two young promising players, who recently impressed in the 2018–19 Goa Professional League, 23-year-old Salgaocar F.C. forward Ronaldo Oliveira, who became the top scorer with 23 goals and SESA FA defender Anil Chavan, to join the trails and if they can impress coach Alejandro Menéndez, they will be signed.
On 14 July, East Bengal FC announced that promising defender Asheer Akhtar will join in for trials from Bengaluru FC. He was adjudged the "Upcoming Player of the season" by Bengaluru FC in 2017–18. On 20 July, East Bengal FC announced the signing of Abhijit Sarkar on a season-long loan from ISL side Chennaiyin FC. Abhijit represented India in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, and also played for Indian Arrows in the 2018–19 I-League.
On 4 August, East Bengal FC confirmed that Goanese forward Ronaldo Oliveira has signed for the club on a 3 years contract after impressing the coaching staff in the trials.
On 6 August, East Bengal FC announced the singing of their 5th foreigner Marcos Jiménez from CD Atlético Baleares, who plays as a forward.
On 23 August, East Bengal FC completed their quota of foreigners as they announced the signing of Juan Mera Gonzalez from SD Leioa, who can play as a left-winger as well as attacking midfielder.
Transfers
Incoming No.Pos.NamePrevious TeamMonth14MF Naorem Tondomba SinghNEROCA F.C.May9MF Boithang HaokipBengaluru F.C.June11MF Pintu MahatoMohun BaganJune27DF Abhishek AmbekarMohun BaganJune1GK Lalthuammawia RalteFC Goa (loan)June21DF Martí CrespíDelhi Dynamos F.C.July19FW Ronaldo OliveiraSalgaocar F.C.July2DF Asheer AkhtarBengaluru FCJuly7DF Abhijit SarkarChennaiyin FC (loan)July18FW Marcos de la EspadaCD Atlético BalearesAugust23FW Juan Mera GonzálezSD LeioaAugust15DF Abhash ThapaHyderabad FC (loan)January17FW Edmund LalrindikaBengaluru FC (loan)January22FW Ansumana KromahPeerlessJanuary28DF Monotosh ChakladarPathachakra (loan)January24MF Víctor Pérez AlonsoFK ŽalgirisFebruary6DF Gurwinder SinghFebruary4DF Jhonny AcostaUCRMarch
Outgoing No.Pos.NameTeamRemarks2DF Jhonny AcostaUCREnd of Contract4DF Kingshuk DebnathBhawanipore F.C.End of Contract24DF Salam Ranjan SinghATKEnd of Contract28DF Koushik SarkarMohun BaganEnd of Contract7MF Surabuddin MollickMohun BaganEnd of Contract10MF Antonio Rodríguez DovaleNea Salamania FCEnd of Loan15MF Siam HanghalDelhi Dynamos F.C.End of Loan9FW Enrique EsquedaEnd of Contract22FW Jobby JustinATKEnd of Contract11FW Bali GagandeepMinerva Punjab F.C.Released1GK Ubaid CKGokulam Kerala F.C.Released27DF LalramchullovaMohun BaganEnd of Contract17MF Laldanmawia RalteHyderabad FCEnd of ContractDF Hira MondaMohammedanEnd of Contract3DF Borja Gómez PérezReleased19FW Ronaldo OliveiraKerala Blasters FC BReleased46FW Subhonil GhoshGarhwal F.C.Released21DF Martí CrespíReleased22FW Ansumana KromahReleased
New contracts DatePos.NoPlayerRef.4 April 2019MF30 Brandon Vanlalremdika13 April 2019DF3 Borja Gomez Perez17 April 2019MF20 Lalrindika Ralte20 April 2019DF25 Samad Ali Mallick6 June 2019MF16 Kassim Aidara12 June 2019MF8 Jaime Santos Colado28 June 2019DF41 Manoj Mohammed28 June 2019MF38 Prakash Sarkar28 June 2019FW43 PC Rohlupuia
Promoted from academy
No.Pos.Name46MF Subhonil Ghosh
Team
First-team squad
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%; width:80%;" |- ! style="background:#f00; color:#ff0; text-align:center;"|No. ! style="background:#f00; color:#ff0; text-align:center;"|Name ! style="background:#f00; color:#ff0; text-align:center;"|Nationality ! style="background:#f00; color:#ff0; text-align:center;"|Position ! style="background:#f00; color:#ff0; text-align:center;"|Date of birth (Age) |- ! colspan="5" style="background:#ff0; color:#f00; text-align:center;"|Goalkeepers |- |1 |Lalthuammawia Ralte | |GK
|32 |Mirshad Michu | |GK
|40 |Rakshit Dagar | |GK
! colspan="5" style="background:#f00; color:#ff0; text-align:center;"|Defenders |- |2 |Asheer Akhtar | |CB/RB
|4 |Jhonny Acosta | |CB
|5 |Kamalpreet Singh | |RB
|6 |Gurwinder Singh | |CB
|15 |Abhash Thapa | |LB
|25 |Samad Ali Mallick | |RB
|27 |Abhishek Ambekar | |LB
|28 |Monotosh Chakladar | |CB/LB
|29 |Mehtab Singh | |CB/RB
|41 |Manoj Mohammed | |LB
! colspan="5" style="background:#ff0; color:#f00; text-align:center;"|Midfielders |- |7 |Abhijit Sarkar | |CAM/RW
|8 |Jaime Santos Colado | |RW/LW
|9 |Boithang Haokip | |CAM/LW/RW
|11 |Pintu Mahato | |LW/RW
|14 |Naorem Tondomba Singh | |CM
|16 |Kassim Aidara | |CDM
|20 |Lalrindika Ralte | |CM
|23 |Juan Mera González | |LW/CAM
|24 |Víctor Pérez Alonso | |CDM
|30 |Brandon Vanlalremdika | |LW
|38 |Prakash Sarkar | |CDM/RB
|43 |PC Rohlupuia | |CAM
! colspan="5" style="background:#f00; color:#ff0; text-align:center;"|Forwards |- |17 |Edmund Lalrindika | |LW/RW
|18 |Marcos de la Espada | |FW
|26 |Bidyashagar Singh | |FW
Technical staff Position Name Manager (Head Coach) Mario Rivera Campesino Assistant coach Marçal Trulls Sevillano Physical Trainer Carlos Nodar Paz Assistant coach Bastob Roy Goalkeeping coach Abhra Mondal Assistant Physical Trainer Rudra Pratim Roy Club Doctor Dr. Shantiranjan Dasgupta Team Media Officer Gautam Roy Team Observer Tushar Rakshit
Kit Supplier: Kaizen Sports Sponsors: Quess Corp Co-Sponsor: Paragon; Mio Amore East Bengal FC launched its special Centenary year kit on 27 July 2019, as a tribute to the oldest kit found, and worn by the team in 1925–26.
Season overview
August
East Bengal FC started their campaign for the season on 3 August against Army Red in the 2019 Durand Cup at the East Bengal Ground and won by 2–0, with goals from Jaime Santos Colado scoring from a freekick in the 85th minute and Bidyashagar Singh tapping home from a Samad Ali Mallick cross in the 91st minute. East Bengal FC played Jamshedpur FC (R) on 6th at the East Bengal Ground in the next match in the 2019 Durand Cup and won by a convincing 6–0 margin, with Jaime Santos Colado and Bidyashagar Singh each scoring a brace and other two scored by Pintu Mahata and Boithang Haokip. Jaime Santos suffered an injury to his shoulder early in the first half and was taken off to avoid any risk. East Bengal FC started off their 2019–20 Calcutta Premier Division campaign on 9 August against George Telegraph S.C. at the East Bengal Ground, however, they faced a set-back as the Red and Gold brigade lost by a solitary goal scored by Justice Morgan in the dying minutes of the injury time. East Bengal FC fielded a rather weakened side, with 5 academy players in the starting eleven and just Martí Crespí in the lineup.
East Bengal FC faced Bengaluru FC next in the 2019 Durand Cup final Group A match on 14 August at the Salt Lake Stadium to secure a spot in the Semi-Finals. The visitors went ahead early in the game with an opportunistic strike from striker Ajay Chhetri. The Red and Gold brigade, however, rallied from behind in the second half with a brace from their academy graduate Bidyashagar Singh to win it 2–1 and top the group stages and enter the semi-finals.
East Bengal FC were supposed to face BSS Sporting Club in the 2019–20 Calcutta Premier Division on 17 August however, the match was postponed since the Red and Gold brigade will be playing in the 2019 Durand Cup Semi-Final on 21 August, against the winners of Group D at the Salt Lake Stadium.
East Bengal FC faced Gokulam Kerala F.C. in the Semi-Finals of the 2019 Durand Cup and lost in the Penalty Shootouts by a 2–3 margin after the game ended 1–1 after 120 minutes. Samad Ali Mallick scored the first goal for the Red and Gold brigade, however, Marcus Joseph made no mistakes as he equalized for the visiting side in the dying minutes of the match after Mehtab Singh conceded a penalty by pulling down Henry Kisekka, resulting in the former being sent-off. 10 men East Bengal FC took the match to the tie-breakers but Lalrindika Ralte, Jaime Santos Colado and Naorem Tondomba Singh missed from the spot as Gokulam Kerala F.C. progressed into the final.
East Bengal FC faced BSS Sporting Club in the next match on 25 August in the 2019–20 CFL at the East Bengal Ground and won it by 2–1 margin with goals from Jaime Santos Colado and academy graduate Bidyashagar Singh. William Opoku reduced the margin in the dying minutes from a penalty which was conceded as the ball struck Kamalpreet Singh's hand inside the box. Spanish striker Marcos de la Espada debuted in the match for the Red and Gold brigade and in the muddly playing conditions had a decent first outing.
East Bengal FC played Aryan F.C. next on 28 August in the Calcutta Football League at the East Bengal Ground and won quite handsomely by a 3–0 margin with Lalrindika Ralte opening the scoring in the 40th minute and Jaime Santos Colado netting a brace in the second half. The Red and Gold brigade would have had a huge scoreline if not for the missed chances in the second half from Bidyashagar Singh, Samad Ali Mallick, Ronaldo Oliviera.
September