Aryan FC

Former club crest

Before the advent of East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting club, it was Aryan (then known as Aryans Club) and Mohun Bagan AC, who enjoyed an elite status among Indian football clubs.[9] Founded in 1884 as a multi-sports club, association football was introduced in Aryan few years later and thus it became one of the oldest football clubs in India.

Sir Dukhiram Majumdar (1875 – 16 June 1929) was the father figure of the club during the pre-independence era, responsible for bringing up young players including Syed Abdus Samad,[10][11] Gostha Pal, Shibdas Bhaduri and others.[12] It was he who started Aryan's famous policy of bringing up unknown yet talented footballers. Under his coaching, Aryan achieved fourth place in 1920–21 Calcutta Football League and reached the semi-finals of Rovers Cup in 1928.

While Aryan didn't enjoy the same degree of success as Mohun Bagan, they did perform well in patches. One of Aryan's greatest moments came in 1940, that year, they won IFA Shield defeating Mohun Bagan 4–1, one of India's premier tournaments.[13] They became only the 3rd Indian run club to win the prestigious title. Moreover, they crushed Mohun Bagan 4–1 in the final.

Iconic Indian footballer Sahu Mewalal had two stints with Aryan from 1945 to 1946 and 1956 to 1957.[14]

Aryan enjoyed another spell of success in mid-1950s, reaching the final of Shield in 1955 and 1956 with an ageing Sahu Mewalal in their ranks, who scored multiple hat-tricks for the team.[15][16][17] Before or after gaining independence from the British raj, Aryan participated in every Calcutta Football League editions (until the formation of Premier Division B).[3][18][19]

As the years progressed they gradually lost their status as a top club, instead Aryan became the breeding ground of some of the most famous players in Kolkata maidan. Players like Pradip Kumar Banerjee,[20][21][22] Prasun Banerjee, Goutam Sarkar and Sudhir Karmakar started out in Aryan, before moving on to the bigger clubs. Balai Dey, the only footballer who represented the two nations India and Pakistan in international football, appeared with Aryan in 1967.[23][24] Other than another IFA Shield win in 1983 (title shared with East Bengal), Aryan didn't achieve a lot of success in modern era.[25]

On the morning of 5 August 1971, the Naxalite intellectual and poet Saroj Dutta was killed by the police in the grounds of the Aryan club on the Calcutta maidan.[26]

In 1975, Aryan emerged champion of Churachand Singh Invitation Trophy defeating Rajasthan Club.[27]

In 1998, Aryan reached the final of All Airlines Gold Cup but lost 4–3 to East Bengal in penalty-shootout.[28] They again finished on second position in 2010.

• IFA Shield[note 1][36]
  • Champions (1): 1940, 1983 (joint winners)[37][38]
  • Runners-up (2): 1955, 1956[39]
• Bordoloi Trophy
  • Champions (2): 1965, 1966[40]
• All Airlines Gold Cup
  • Runners-up (2): 1998, 2010[28]
• Churachand Singh Trophy
  • Champions (1): 1975[41]
• Lal Bahadur Shastri Cup
  • Champions (1): 1978 (co-winners)[42]