The revival of a competitive East Bengal vs. Mohun Bagan brings back nostalgia for the I-League

Kolkata is a city that cherishes nostalgia. The yellow taxis, the monumental buildings and the cinematic nuance of the tram lines through jungles of dust and concrete: the city prefers to laugh at the past rather than at the present.

When the derby was played in the city on May 17, the emotion that emerged most strongly was this, about elements both on and off the pitch. The fans, the flags and the tension between them ghotis And bangalen – the match and its structure had everything.

After kick-off, the drama spread across the pitch: end-to-end action, with East Bengal hitting the goal post once, prompting contrasting sighs of relief and regret. Edmund Lalrindika almost brought the roof down late in the second half with the opening goal, before Jason Cummings restored parity to ensure none of the fans returned home with grim faces.

For fans it was a delight to witness such a match, with more than 62,000 in attendance and 90 minutes proving insufficient to keep the two rivals apart. For writers, however, it evoked a touch of Indian football nostalgia: the gritty calculations for a final matchday thriller, reminiscent of the 2000-2001 National Football League season or the 2017-2018 I-League.

These were times when East Bengal and Bagan dominated the stages of Indian football, playing every derby neck-and-neck and dragging the title races to the end. In the 2000–01 campaign, East Bengal won the title by just one point ahead of Bagan. In 2017-18, both Kolkata giants clashed on the final day with a draw, allowing Minerva Punjab to clinch the I-League title.

In the 2025/26 season, a win in Sunday’s derby would have eliminated the loser from the race.

But the draw ensured that people would be kept abreast of developments on the final day of play, when Bagan take on Sporting Club Delhi and East Bengal take on Inter Kashi. A 2017-18-style ending is also possible, with both teams drawing their respective matches, in which case a winner in Mumbai City vs Punjab FC would be crowned ISL champions.

This ISL season, though shortened, will go down in history as the season that saw the revival of the Maidan rivalry on the biggest stage of Indian national men’s football.

Meanwhile, Kolkata’s Big Three’s other club, Mohammedan Sporting, became the first team to be relegated from the ISL.

The Black Panthers, who had found new life under coach Andrey Chernyshov by winning the I-League and Calcutta Football League, were plunged into a serious financial crisis that eventually led to them fielding an all-Indian squad. With only three draws in twelve games, they start next season in the Indian Football League (IFL), the second division of men’s football.

However, the fall of one club will mark the rise of another club from the same state.

Founded just six years ago, Diamond Harbor FC started its journey to the top under the tutelage of I-League winning coach Kibu Vicuna.

The Spaniard, who had inspired Bagan to the I-League title in the 2019-2020 season, orchestrated a meteoric rise from I-League 3 and eventually won the IFL to earn qualification for the ISL.

The club’s journey has several subplots of redemption.

Halicharan Narzary, who had once scored the ISL-winning penalty for Hyderabad FC in 2022, moved to Bengaluru FC a year later but struggled for regular first-team opportunities.

Jobby Justin, once a regular for East Bengal in the pre-ISL days, knocked his former side out of the Durand Cup last year and led Diamond Harbor to the men’s top flight this season.

But football is rarely without drama, especially on the business side of tournaments.

Needing a draw to clinch the title against Dempo SC, Marcus Joseph put the Goan side ahead in the 50th minute. Just when Dempo thought he had won the match, Hugo Diaz turned the tables in second-half injury time to force a 1-1 draw and send his team to seventh heaven.

Published on May 21, 2026