Founded: 1st August 1920
Owners: Shree Cement East Bengal Foundation
Stadium: East Bengal Ground, Salt Lake Stadium
Titles: 3 (National Football League)
About
Having plied their trade in the I league for over 15 seasons, the Red and Gold decided to make their foray into the Indian Super League – the premier football league of India. And despite their struggles off the pitch, East Bengal managed to shrug off their difficulties as the club roped in Shree Cement as their investor at the very last moment to enter the ISL 2020-21 season.
In fact, there were uncertainties about whether SC East Bengal would make it to the Indian Super League this season as well, with Shree Cement as an investor as there were some differences between the East Bengal club and the investors, but some last-minute settlements saw them entering the league without any major hiccups as both the parties agreed to resolve their issues.
SC East Bengal: Results in Indian Super League
| Year | Result |
| 2020-21 | 9th |
SC East Bengal: Top Scorers in ISL
| Year | Player | Appearances | Goals |
| 2020-21 | Matti Steinmann | 17 | 4 |
Matti Steinmann arrived from Wellington Phoenix in the 2020-21 season. A defensive midfielder, Matti loves to take attacking positions in matches and as a result, he netted four goals in the process. He grabbed a brace against Chennayin FC and scored apiece against Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC. He also had three assists to his name last season.
SC East Bengal: ISL 2021-22 Fixtures
| Date | Day | Fixture | Venue | Time (IST) |
| November 21, 2021 | Sunday | SCEB vs Jamshedpur FC | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| November 27, 2021 | Saturday | SCEB vs ATK Mohun Bagan | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| November 30, 2021 | Tuesday | Odisha FC vs SCEB | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| December 3, 2021 | Friday | Chennaiyin FC vs SCEB | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| December 7, 2021 | Tuesday | SCEB vs FC Goa | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| December 12, 2021 | Sunday | SCEB vs Kerala Blasters | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| December 17, 2021 | Friday | NorthEast United FC vs SCEB | PJN Stadium, Fatorda | 7:30 PM IST |
| December 23, 2021 | Thursday | Hyderabad FC vs SCEB | Athletic Stadium, Bambolim | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 4, 2022 | Tuesday | Bengaluru FC vs SCEB | Athletic Stadium, Bambolim | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 7, 2022 | Friday | SCEB vs Mumbai City FC | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 11, 2022 | Tuesday | Jamshedpur FC vs SCEB | Bambolim Athletic Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 19, 2022 | Wednesday | FC Goa vs SCEB | Bambolim Athletic Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 24, 2022 | Monday | SCEB vs Hyderabad FC | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| January 29, 2022 | Saturday | ATK Mohun Bagan vs SCEB | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| February 2, 2022 | Wednesday | SCEB vs Chennaiyin FC | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| February 7, 2022 | Monday | SCEB vs Odisha FC | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| February 12, 2022 | Saturday | Mumbai City vs SCEB | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| February 18, 2022 | Friday | SCEB vs NorthEast United | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| February 23, 2022 | Wednesday | SCEB vs Bengaluru FC | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
| February 28, 2022 | Monday | Kerala Blasters vs SCEB | Tilak Maidan Stadium | 7:30 PM IST |
SC East Bengal: Squad for ISL 2021-22
Goalkeepers: Arindam Bhattacharya, Sankar Roy, Suvam Sen
Defenders: Tomislav Mrcela, Adil Khan, Daniel Gomes, Ankit Mukherjee, Akashdeep Singh, Hira Mondal, Franjo Prce, Raju Gaikwad, Joyner Lourenco, Saikhom Singh, Sarineo Fernandes
Midfielders: Bikash Jairu, Amarjit Kiyam, Amir Dervisevic, Darren Sidoel, Mohammad Rafique, Loken Meitei, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Romeo Fernandes, Jackichand Singh, Sourav Das, Songpu SIngsit, Wahengbam Luwang
Forwards: Balwant Singh, Antonio Perosevic, Thongkhosiem Haokip, Daniel Chukwu, Subha Ghosh, Naorem Singh, Siddhant Shirodkar
They roped in a number of high profile Indian players including goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya from ATK Mohun Bagan on a free transfer. Defender Franjo Prce and Tomislav Mrcela arrived at the club followed by former Ajax academy product Darren Sidoel and Amir Dervisevic. The attack is being spearheaded by Daniel Chima Chukwu and Antonio Perosevic.
SC East Bengal appointed Manolo Diaz at the start of the season but parted ways with the Spaniard in the midst of the season following a string of poor performances. Renedy Singh has been handed the charge on an interim basis while Mario Rivera will be donning the managerial hat once he finishes his quarantine period.
The likes of, Sarineo Fernandes, Tomislav Mrcela and Hira Mondol joined the club on a free transfer while Adil Khan and Amarjit Singh joined the club on loan from Hyderabad FC and FC Goa respectively.
SC East Bengal: Interesting ISL stats
The Kolkata outfit was involved in the highest-scoring match of the ISL last season when they were thumped 6-5 by Odisha FC in a thrilling encounter.
SCEB: Rivalries
SC East Bengal’s main rival has been the other Kolkata giant ATK Mohun Bagan. The two clubs have been meeting at least two times in a season, twice in the Indian Super League while they also might come face to face in the Calcutta Football League. When it comes to the Kolkata derby East Bengal do have an upper hand. In the total 373 games, SC East Bengal have grabbed 129 wins while the Mariners have managed 122 victories so far.
SC East Bengal vs ATK Mohun Bagan Head to Head
| Matches Played | Won | Lost | Tied |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Road Ahead for SCEB
The club managed to get into the ISL with some last-minute preparations and the players didn’t have adequate time to go through paces in the pre-season. Due to their mismanaged arrangements, they hastily signed a number of Indian players on the deadline day and retained some of the last season’s players with the likes of Mohammad Rafique.
They released all their foreign recruits of last season and brought in fresh players in a bid to improve their credentials. Except for Antonio Perosevic, none of the foreign recruits has managed to hit the ground so far. The arrival of Adil Khan in the SC East Bengal backline has somehow stabilised their defence.
With the club signing Marcelo Ribeiro dos Santos in the January transfer window the supporters could expect some fireworks on the pitch very soon.
The final agreement is yet to be signed between the East Bengal club and Shree Cement Limited and the if the situation doesn’t change there would be a big question mark regarding East Bengal’s participation in the next season of the ISL.
