East Bengal Football Club Reserves and Academy, commonly referred to as East Bengal B, is the reserve team and youth system of the Indian Super League side East Bengal FC. Reserves generally consist of younger players, but at times senior players also play, if recuperating from injury or not getting first team game time. Apart from the I-League 2 (formerly), the reserve side plays in the Calcutta Football League.
History East Bengal FC Reserves and Academy are the under-21, under-17, under-15 and under-13 teams of East Bengal. The under-21 team is often the last stage before the promotion into the first team. The youth teams participate in the Elite league of various age groups. The East Bengal Academy was re-instated on 20 June 2016 with the motive to establish a strong footprint in Indian football by producing quality professional players. The main objective of this project has been to supply professional quality players to the East Bengal senior team & Indian national team.
The East Bengal Academy was founded in the early part of the 21st century and had a major success initially as the U-19 East Bengal team won the first two U-19 National Football leagues held in 2001-02 and 2002-03 and then the club's Under-15 team qualified for the Manchester United Premier Cup after being champions of India defeating Mahindra United 1–0 in the final, and becoming South–East Asian regional runners up in 2007. The Junior team faced the youth teams of Manchester United, A.S. Roma and Shandong Luneng and FK Austria Wien in the final round held in Manchester, however, they lost all the games in the group stages. In the 17–20th place play-off semi-finals, the team defeated Bukit Jalil of Malaysia by 3-1, but lost to Central United of New Zealand in the 17th place play-offs by 5-3 via tiebreakers, after the game ended goalless. The U-15 team finished 18th among the 20 teams who had reached the world final stage and is to date the best finish by any Indian club in the Nike Premier Cup. The East Bengal U-19 team was the primary youth team before the Elite League started in 2010. Players like Israil Gurung, Saikat Saha Roy etc. were part of the East Bengal youth setup in the mid 2000s. In 2006, former East Bengal legend and National League winning coach Monoranjan Bhattacharya was appointed as the head coach of the East Bengal U-19 team.
The East Bengal Academy started with new endeavours in 2016 as they brought in Ranjan Chowdhury as head of the project with an aim to produce Indian talents and build up the supply line for the main team of East Bengal. The team finished runners-up in the 2016–17 I-League U18, losing 2-1 to AIFF Elite Academy in the final. The team also reached the semi-final in 2017–18. The team was disbanded after the 2019–20 Indian Elite League was called off due to COVID-19 pandemic in India. In 2022, after the new investors Emami Group joined the club, the youth teams have been revived
Reserve team East Bengal officially did not have a reserve team prior to 2020. However, the club formed a reserve team composed of academy players and few senior team members to participate in minor tournaments like Bordoloi Trophy. In 2018, the East Bengal Reserves team coached by Ranjan Chowdhury won the Darjeeling Gold Cup, defeating another Kolkata giant Mohammedan Sporting in the final.
The reserve team was formed in 2020 and intended to play in the I-League 2, along with the Calcutta Football League from the 2020–21 season. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the team was scrapped and after new investors Emami group tied up with the club, the reserve team was once again launched in 2022. Former Kerala football team coach Bino George was appointed as the head coach of the reserve team. The club also recruited former captain Sangram Mukherjee as the goalkeeper coach for the team. The club also bolstered the squad by making some top signings from the Santosh Trophy teams, including five players from Kerala, the champions of the 2021–22 edition. The reserve participated in the 2022 Calcutta Premier Division and finished fourth in the Super Six. The reserve team also participated in the 2022–23 I-League 2 along with the reserve teams of other Indian Super League sides – Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC, FC Goa, Hyderabad FC and Mumbai City FC. The club also roped in AFC A license holder Archisman Biswas as the assistant coach for the reserve side. In the first season, East Bengal reserves side finished third in the group behind United and Shillong Lajong.
Reserve squad The below list contains the names and details of the reserve team squad for East Bengal. Some of the players are also part of the first team squad.
No.NameDate of birth (age)Goalkeepers27Aditya Patra (captain)GK Bengaluru 2022 2026 29 050Julfikar GaziGK Bengal Football Academy 2024 2027 0 095Gourab ShawGK Calcutta Port Trust 2023 2026 5 0Defenders54Adil AmalCB Mar Athanasius FA 2022 2026 14 257Bathala SunilCB Sreenidhi Deccan 2024 2027 7 163Monotosh ChakladarCB Diamond Harbour 2024 2026 16 069Sonam Tsewang LhokhamLB Jamshedpur 2025 2027 2 072Bikram PradhanRB Bhawanipore 2025 2027 13 085Chaku MandiCB Bhawanipore 2024 2027 18 190Joseph JustinCB Parappur FC 2023 2026 19 0Midfielders30Vanlalpeka GuiteAM Aizawl 2023 2026 24 754Ananthu N. S.AM Parappur FC 2024 2027 12 258Sanjib GhoshRW Mohammedan Sporting 2022 2025 31 161Tanmay Das (vice–captain)CM Railway FC 2022 2027 44 364Naseeb RahmanRW FC Areacode 2023 2026 22 366Shyamal BesraCM Calcutta FC 2022 2027 27 668Kush ChhetryCM Muvanlai Athletics 2023 2026 10 070Muhammed K. AshiqueRW Muthoot FA 2023 2026 10 271Muhammed Roshal P. P.RW Wayanad United 2023 2026 20 075Aman C. K.RW Mumbai City 2022 2026 47 1077Sanjoy OrawCM Suruchi Sangha 2025 2028 3 079Abinash ShagolsemAM FC Mangalore 2024 2027 2 080Ajad Saheem T.AM Golden Threads 2024 2026 13 181Suman DeyLM Kasba Samannoy 2023 2026 18 183Koustav DuttaRW Kalighat MS 2023 2026 3 084Sayan BanerjeeLW Kalighat MS 2023 2026 44 1187Bijay MurmuRW Bhawanipore 2024 2027 11 0Forwards52Debojit RoyFW East Bengal U-17 2024 2029 1 055Muhammed Ashiq SFW Kerala United 2025 2026 4 156Monotos MajiFW Bhawanipore 2025 2027 5 259Jesin TKFW Kerala United 2022 2026 46 2673Anthony AndrewsFW SAI Centre Kollam 2022 2026 1 0
Coaching staff RoleNameHead coach Archisman BiswasAssistant coach Barun SenguptaGoalkeeper coach Sangram MukherjeePhysiotherapist MD ShakilHead of performance & video analyst Aromal VijayanTeam manager Pratim K. Saha
Under-21 The East Bengal U-21 team participates in the Reliance Foundation Development League, the national U-21 tournament from 2023. The reserve team head coach Bino George has been in charge of the U-21 squad. On 14 March 2024, in the first RFDL game, East Bengal defeated United SC. On 21 April 2023, East Bengal defeated arch-rivals Mohun Bagan U-21 2–0 to become the East zone champions and qualify for the national group stage in their very first season in the RFDL. East Bengal finished second in the national group stage and ended their maiden campaign. In 2024, East Bengal once again became the East Zone champions, and finished runner-up in the 2024 RFDL losing 3–2 in the final against Punjab. East Bengal U-21 qualified for the 2024 Next Gen Cup to be held in Birmingham, United Kingdom along with Punjab and Muthoot FA from India.
Squad
Performance record
Performance of East Bengal Academy in Reliance Foundation Development LeagueYearRegional QualifiersZonal Group StageNational Group StageNational ChampionshipNext Gen CupRef 2022 Did not participate 2023 Champions 2nd Did not qualify Did not qualify 2024 Champions Champions Runner-up 8th 2025 2nd Champions 6th Did not qualify Did not qualify 2026 Champions 2nd to be decided to be decided to be decided
Under-18 The under-18 team participates in the U17 Youth Cup.
The National Football League U-19 was launched in 2001 and the East Bengal U-19 team won the inaugural edition defeating India sub-juniors 3–2 in the final. The U-19 team defended the title the following year as they defeated JCT Football Academy 1–0 in the final. The team also finished runners-up in the 2003–04 edition as they lost to their rivals Mohun Bagan U-19 3–1 in the penalty shoot-out after the final ended 0–0 in regulation time. After the tournament was restarted as the I-League U19 in 2008 and later renamed to Elite League, the East Bengal team became runners-up four times, failing to win to the title. In 2022, the tournament was redesigned as a U-17 category, after not being held for two seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, the team clinched Kolkata leg of the Dream Sports Championship title defeating United SC in final.
Squad
Coaching staff As of 18 December 2023 Role NameHead coach Barun SenguptaAssistant coach Hirak SahaPhysiotherapist Ankan Roy ChowdhuryTeam manager Aritra DuttaAssistant team manager Arun Kumar Jaiswal
Performance record
Performance of East Bengal Academy in Youth LeaguesYearTournamentFinal PositionRef2001National Football League U-19 Champions 2002–03National Football League U-19 Champions 2003–04National Football League U-19Not Held2004–05National Football League U-19 Runners-up 2005–07National Football League U-19Not Held2008I-League U19Quarter-Finals2009I-League U19Not Held2010I-League U19 Runners-up 2011I-League U19 Runners-up 2012I-League U-20Group Stages2013I-League U-20Final Round2014I-League U19 Runners-up 2014–15I-League U19Group Stages2015–16I-League U-18Final Round2016–17I-League U-18 Runners-up 2017–18Youth League U-18Semi-Finals2018–19Elite League U-18Quarter-Finals2019–20Elite League U-18Abandoned 2020–22Elite League U-18Not Held2022–23U17 Youth Cup Group Stages2023–24U-17 Youth League Disqualified 2024–25U-17 Youth League Group Stages2025–26Elite League U-18Group Stages
Under-15 The under-15 team participates in the Elite Youth League.
Squad
Performance record Performance of East Bengal Academy in U-15 Youth LeaguesYearTournamentFinal Position2005-06U-15 Nike Premier CupRunners2006-07U-15 Nike Premier CupChampions2015-16U-15 Nike Premier CupZonal Round2016-17U-15 Nike Premier CupZonal Round2017-18U-15 Nike Premier CupNational Finals2018-19U-15 Hero Junior LeagueNational Playoffs2019-20U-15 Hero Junior LeagueDisqualified (League called-off due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
Matches at the 2007 Nike Premier Cup
Under–13 The under–13 team participates in the Elite Youth League.
Squad
Performance record Performance of SC East Bengal Academy in U-13 Youth LeaguesYearTournamentZonal RoundNational FinalsTop ScorerGoalsRef2017–18U-13 Hero Sub Junior League4thDid not qualifySouvik DariJit Sarkar22018–19U-13 Hero Sub Junior League2ndDid not qualifyRajibul Halder32019–20U-13 Hero Sub Junior LeagueLeague called-off due to the COVID-19 pandemicAvijit Kotal32023–24U-13 Sub Junior Youth LeagueChampionsTo be decidedSisir Sarkar12
Noted graduates Those who made it at the club
East Bengal's youth system has been successful over the last few years; many players who have come through it have gone on to feature in the first-team. The following players have risen up the ranks from the under age teams and gone on to play over ten competitive matches for the first team.
Players who have represented the National team are in Bold.
2000s Anupam Sarkar Kingshuk Debnath Priyant Singh Saikat Saha Roy Gouranga Biswas Budhiram Tudu Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
2010s Abhinas Ruidas Seiminlen Doungel Jiten Murmu Mehtab Singh Prakash Sarkar Manoj Mohammed Bidyashagar Singh PC Rohlupuia
2020s
Ankit Mukherjee Hira Mondal Dip Saha
Those who made it elsewhere East Bengal FC academy graduates who didn't make it at the club but made it somewhere else and even went on to play for the national team:
Players who have represented the National team are in Bold.
2000s Arup Debnath Israil Gurung
2010s Milan Singh Pankaj Moula Ankit Mukherjee Rafique Ali Sardar
2020s Telem Suranjit Singh Salam Johnson Singh Bikash Singh Sagolshem