The 2022–23 season was the 103rd season of East Bengal Football Club and their third season in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The Indian football season started in August and ended in April. During the season, East Bengal competed in the Durand Cup and got eliminated in the group stage, they finished fourth in the Calcutta Football League, had a ninth-place finish in the Indian Super League and got eliminated in the group stage of the Super Cup.
Before the start of the season, East Bengal and Shree Cement's joint venture was terminated, and the club inked a new partnership with Emami as their principal investor in August. Stephen Constantine was appointed as the new head coach. East Bengal however, ended the league campaign with just six wins and thirteen defeats, finishing at the ninth position and with eliminations from group stages from both the Durand Cup and the Indian Super Cup. The club announced the departure of head coach Stephen Constantine at the end of the season due to poor performance.
Background
The partnership between investor group Shree Cement and East Bengal Club was terminated after the end of the 2021–22 Indian Super League and they returned the sporting rights back to the club on 12 April 2022, after both the parties failed to reach an agreement and the final term sheet was not accepted and signed by the club officials. The club officials, however, stated that East Bengal club shall continue to play in the Indian Super League, and shall be announcing their new investors within the next two weeks. East Bengal Club was once again handed another transfer ban by AIFF for non-payment of dues for seven of their players.
On 25 May, East Bengal announced the collaboration with Emami as the principal investors of the club. The club confirmed their participation in the 2022–23 Indian Super League with the arrival of the new investors. On 18 July, after two months of contractual discussions between the club and the investor group, the club finally started the recruitment process for the new season after receiving a go-ahead from the investors. On 22 July, the AIFF uplifted the transfer ban set on East Bengal and thus allowed the club to register their new signings for the season. East Bengal appointed Santosh Trophy winning Kerala football team coach Bino George as the head coach of the East Bengal Reserves team, who participated in the Calcutta Football League, and also served as the assistant coach of the first team for the Indian Super League. East Bengal also roped in former India national football team coach Stephen Constantine as the new head-coach of the team for the season. On 2 August 2022, the formal launch of Emami East Bengal was held in Kolkata and the tie-up between the club and the investor group Emami was officially announced. The club and the investor group formed a new company named "Emami East Bengal Pvt. Ltd." where the club would hold 23% share while 77% would be in the hands of Emami group. The club officially rebranded themselves and played as 'East Bengal FC' in the season in the Indian Super League.
Transfers
Incoming DateNameSigned fromFeeRef 3 August 2022 13 GK Pawan Kumar Jamshedpur Free Transfer 3 August 2022 15 MF Mobashir Rahman Jamshedpur Free Transfer 3 August 2022 33 DF Pritam Singh Hyderabad Free Transfer 3 August 2022 23 MF Souvik Chakrabarti Hyderabad Free Transfer 3 August 2022 7 FW Aniket Jadhav Hyderabad Undisclosed 3 August 2022 2 DF Mohammad Rakip Mumbai City Free Transfer 3 August 2022 16 DF Sarthak Golui Bengaluru Free Transfer 3 August 2022 17 DF Jerry Lalrinzuala Chennaiyin Free Transfer 3 August 2022 29 FW Naorem Mahesh Kerala Blasters Undisclosed 3 August 2022 11 FW V.P. Suhair NorthEast United Undisclosed 11 August 2022 1 GK Kamaljit Singh Odisha Undisclosed 11 August 2022 6 FW Sumit Passi Roundglass Punjab Free Transfer 12 August 2022 4 DF Iván González Goa Free Transfer 12 August 2022 40 DF Charis Kyriakou Doxa Katokopias Free Transfer 12 August 2022 14 MF Alex Lima Jamshedpur Free Transfer 12 August 2022 10 FW Cleiton Silva Bengaluru Free Transfer 12 August 2022 9 FW Eliandro Samut Prakan Free Transfer 22 August 2022 24 MF Jordan O'Doherty Newcastle Jets Free Transfer 25 December 2022 5 DF Lalchungnunga Sreenidi Deccan Free Transfer 27 January 2023 77 FW Jake Jervis SJK Seinäjoki Free Transfer
Loan in Start dateEnd dateNameLoaned fromRef 3 August 2022 End of season 8 MF Amarjit Singh Kiyam Goa 11 August 2022 End of season 5 DF Lalchungnunga Sreenidi Deccan 20 August 2022 End of season 18 FW Himanshu Jangra Delhi 22 August 2022 End of season 32 GK Naveen Kumar Goa
Outgoing Exit DateNameSigned toFeeRef 1 June 2022 1 GK Sankar Roy Mohammedan Sporting Free Transfer 1 June 2022 2 DF Daniel Gomes Kenkre Free Transfer 1 June 2022 6 DF Darren Sidoel Released 1 June 2022 7 FW Antonio Perošević Released 1 June 2022 8 MF Mohammed Rafique Chennaiyin Free Transfer 1 June 2022 12 DF Joyner Lourenco Released 1 June 2022 15 FW Balwant Singh Released 1 June 2022 16 MF Songpu Singsit Sreenidi Deccan Free Transfer 1 June 2022 17 DF Sarineo Fernandes Real Kashmir Free Transfer 1 June 2022 18 MF Sourav Das Chennaiyin Free Transfer 1 June 2022 19 DF Romeo Fernandes Released 1 June 2022 20 DF Hira Mondal Bengaluru Free Transfer 1 June 2022 22 MF Lalrinliana Hnamte ATK Mohun Bagan Free Transfer 1 June 2022 23 MF Bikash Jairu Released 1 June 2022 26 DF Akashdeep Singh Kahlon Released 1 June 2022 29 GK Arindam Bhattacharya NorthEast United Free Transfer 1 June 2022 30 DF Ananta Tamang Chitwan Free Transfer 1 June 2022 33 MF Loken Meitei Real Kashmir Free Transfer 1 June 2022 43 FW Siddhant Shirodkar Released 1 June 2022 45 DF Saikhom Goutam Singh Released 1 June 2022 47 DF Raju Gaikwad Churchill Brothers Free Transfer 1 June 2022 71 DF Franjo Prce Koper Free Transfer 1 June 2022 77 MF Fran Sota Logroñés Free Transfer 1 June 2022 99 FW Rahul Paswan Mohammedan Sporting Free Transfer 1 January 2023 9 FW Eliandro Released 18 January 2023 7 MF Aniket Jadhav Odisha Undisclosed 18 February 2023 19 DF Ankit Mukherjee Released
Team
First-team squad The below list contains the names and details of the first team squad for East Bengal. This list does not contain the players of the reserve team which will be participating in the Calcutta Football League. On 6 October, ahead of the Indian Super League campaign, East Bengal announced the list of captains for the season – Cleiton Silva, Souvik Chakrabarti, Sumeet Passi, Kamaljit Singh and Iván González.
No.NameDate of Birth (Age)Goalkeepers1Kamaljit Singh (captain)GK Odisha 2022 24 013Pawan KumarGK Jamshedpur 2022 0 025Suvam SenGK United 2021 8 032Naveen KumarGK Goa 2022 0 0Defenders2Mohammad Rakip RB Mumbai City 2022 12 04Iván González (captain)CB Goa 2022 17 05Lalchungnunga CB Sreenidi Deccan 2022 26 016Sarthak Golui CB Bengaluru 2022 22 217Jerry Lalrinzuala LB Chennaiyin 2022 22 019Ankit MukherjeeRB ATK Mohun Bagan 2020 31 033Pritam Kumar Singh LB Hyderabad 2022 7 034Nabi Hussain KhanCB East Bengal Reserves 2022 4 037Tuhin DasLB East Bengal Reserves 2022 13 040Charalambos Kyriakou RB Doxa Katokopias 2022 24 161Athul UnnikrishnanCB Kerala United 2022 7 0Midfielders6Sumit Passi (captain)RW Roundglass Punjab 2022 17 38Amarjit Singh KiyamCM Goa 2022 24 012Wahengbam AngousanaCM TRAU 2020 34 014Alex LimaCM Jamshedpur 2022 24 115Mobashir RahmanCM Jamshedpur 2022 20 118Himanshu JangraLW Delhi 2022 9 023Souvik Chakrabarti (captain)CM Hyderabad 2022 9 024Jordan O'DohertyCM Newcastle Jets 2022 21 129Naorem Mahesh SinghLW Kerala Blasters 2022 42 7Forwards10Cleiton Silva (captain)FW Bengaluru 2022 25 1411V. P. SuhairFW NorthEast United 2022 28 826Semboi HaokipFW Bengaluru 2021 38 477Jake JervisFW SJK Seinäjoki 2023 7 1
New contracts No.Pos.DateNameRef. 12 MF 18 May 2022 Wahengbam Angousana 19 DF 26 July 2022 Ankit Mukherjee 26 FW 30 August 2022 Semboi Haokip 25 GK 31 October 2022 Suvam Sen 5 DF 25 December 2023 Lalchungnunga 10 FW 2 March 2023 Cleiton Silva
Promoted from Reserve Squad No.Pos.NameRef. 34 DF Nabi Hussain Khan 37 DF Tuhin Das 61 DF Athul Unnikrishnan
Reserve squad
The East Bengal Reserves team, who are not registered in the Indian Super League squad, would be participating in the 2022 Calcutta Premier Division with head coach Bino George taking charge of the team from the sidelines.
No.NameDate of Birth (Age)Goalkeepers50Suryash JaiswalGK George Telegraph 2022 3 065Muhammed Nishad PGK Gokulam Kerala 2022 1 099Aditya PatraGK Bengaluru 2022 0 0 Defenders51Subhendu MandiCB Railway 2022 0 0 53Arpan PolleyRB East Bengal U–18 2022 1 058Niranjan MondalLB Calcutta Customs 2022 2 060Adil AmalRB Mar Athanasius Football Academy 2022 1 0Midfielders38Mahitosh RoyCM George Telegraph 2022 3 052Sanjib GhoshCM Mohammedan Sporting 2022 4 055Dip SahaCM Aryan 2022 4 056Tanmay DasCM Railway 2022 1 0 59Vivek SinghCM George Telegraph 2022 3 1Forwards54Vishnu TMFW Aryan 2022 3 062Lijo KurusappanFW Travancore Royals 2022 2 064Jesin TKFW Kerala United 2022 4 197Subham BhowmickFW Madan Maharaj 2022 4 0
Current technical staff East Bengal appointed former India national football team coach Stephen Constantine as the head coach of the team. The club also appointed Santosh Trophy winning Kerala football team coach Bino George as the assistant coach and also shall serve as the head coach of the reserve team that will be participating in the Calcutta Football League. The club appointed Owain Manship as the head of sports science. The club also appointed former Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Andy Petterson as the goalkeeping coach for the team. East Bengal appointed Englishman Sam Baker as the video analyst of the team. The club also roped in former Sarpsborg coach Thórhallur Siggeirsson as the assistant coach of the team. On 2 November 2022, East Bengal announced that they have signed former India national under-20 football team coach Shanmugam Venkatesh as the new assistant coach of the team and Bino George would continue as the head coach of the reserves team.
PositionName Head coach Stephen Constantine Assistant coach Thórhallur Siggeirsson Assistant coach Shanmugam Venkatesh Goalkeeping coach Andy Petterson Head of Sports Science Owain Manship Video Analyst Sam Baker Physio Therapist Askar PV Physio Therapist Shehin Muhammed Physio Therapist Nazal Seyd Jifry Physio Therapist Mohamed Salah Team Manager Pratim Kumar Saha Team Doctor Dr. Mustufa Poonawalla Masseur Liaqat Ali Masseur Suresh V Reserve Team Head coach Bino George Reserve Team Assistant coach Biswajit Majumdar Reserve Team Goalkeeping coach Sangram Mukherjee Reserve Team Physio Therapist Md. Ziauddin Reserve Team Doctor Dr. Ram Dhal Chief Technical Officer Amoy Ghoshal
Kit East Bengal had launched their new home and away kits before the Durand Cup. Their new kit partners Trak-Only launched the home and away kits on their social media handle ahead of the first game of the season. However, before the Indian Super League season began, the club launched the official kits for the season in gala style at the Rajdanga Naba Uday Sangha Durga Puja ground, on 29 September, with first team players – Souvik Chakrabarti, Cleiton Silva and V. P. Suhair unveiling the kits to the media, in presence of head coach Stephen Constantine.
Indian Super League Kits
Durand Cup Kits
Preseason and friendlies