# 2021 CFL Premier Division

The 2021 Calcutta Football League Premier Division A was the 123rd season of the top state-level football league of West Bengal. It was held between mid-August and November 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided to cancel Calcutta League last season, but it was played this year.

## Changes from last season
### Rules and regulations

* Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in West Bengal, the tournament format is shortened by adopting a league-cum-knockout format. The 14 participating teams would be divided into two groups and each team would play against all the other teams in their respective groups once. The top three teams from each group would earn a direct quarter final berth. The remaining four teams from each group would play against each other once for the last two quarter final spots. The eight qualified teams would then play knockout matches to reach the final of Premier Division A. From similar reasons ATK Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have not participated.
* The IFA had also increased the number of overseas players a club could register from 4 to 6, but only 2 could be named in the starting eleven.
* The teams were exempted from relegation this season as the lower divisions of CFL were cancelled due to the pandemic.

### Promoted clubs

* United
* Railway
* Tollygunge Agragami
* Kidderpore

### Relegated clubs

* NBP Rainbow
* Kalighat Milan Sangha

## Teams
### Managers and captains

| Team | Head coach |
| Aryan | Rajdeep Nandy |
| Bhawanipore | Sankarlal Chakraborty |
| BSS | Goutam Ghosh |
| Calcutta Customs | |
| George Telegraph | Ranjan Bhattacharjee |
| Kidderpore | Sanjib Pal |
| Mohammedan | Andrey Chernyshov |
| Tollygunge Agragami | Bimal Ghosh |
| Peerless | Subrata Bhattacharya |
| Railway | Souren Dutta |
| Southern Samity | Biswajit Bhattacharya |
| United | Steven Herbots |

### Foreign players

| Team | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 |
| Aryan | Aristide Vaillant | Kareem Omolaja | | |
| Bhawanipore | Kamo Stephane Bayi | Henry Kisekka | | |
| BSS | Léonce Dodoz | Seydou Kourouma | | |
| Calcutta Customs | Gatch Arthure Diomande | Varney Kallon | | |
| George Telegraph | Echezona Anyichie | | | |
| Kidderpore | Ejiogu Chinedu Emmanuel | Stephen Abeiku | | |
| Mohammedan | Nikola Stojanović | Stefan Ilić | Marcus Joseph | Shaher Shaheen |
| Peerless | Ansumana Kromah | Dixon Alusine | Romaric Bettat | |
| Railway | Ben Quansah | Rayden Gonzo | Kelvin Kollie | |
| Southern Samity | Victor Kamhuka | | | |
| Tollygunge Agragami | Christopher Chizoba | | | |
| United | Dennis | Matthew Tendai | | |

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Bhawanipore | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 14 | Qualified for Quarterfinals |
| 2 | BSS | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 13 | Qualified for Quarterfinals |
| 3 | United | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 13 | Qualified for Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Mohammedan | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 10 | Relegated to Elimination round |
| 5 | Railway | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 7 | Relegated to Elimination round |
| 6 | Southern Samity | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 3 | Relegated to Elimination round |
| 7 | East Bengal | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 18 | −18 | 0 | Relegated to Elimination round |
Note: East Bengal withdrew from the league hence the oppositions were awarded walkover of 3 goals.

#### Fixtures and results

| Home \ Away | MMD | BSS | BFC | RLY | EAB | USC | SSY |
| Mohammedan | — | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | — | 2–2 | — |
| BSS | — | — | — | 3–1 | — | 1–3 | — |
| Bhawanipore | 2–0 | 2–2 | — | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Railway | — | — | — | — | — | 0–1 | — |
| East Bengal | 0–3 | 0–3 | — | 0–3 | — | 0–3 | 0–3 |
| United | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Southern Samity | 0–3 | 1–3 | — | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Peerless | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 13 | Qualified for Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Calcutta Customs | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 13 | Qualified for Quarterfinals |
| 3 | George Telegraph | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 12 | Qualified for Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Aryan | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 9 | Relegated to Elimination round |
| 5 | Tollygunge Agragami | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 7 | Relegated to Elimination round |
| 6 | Kidderpore | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 16 | −10 | 4 | Relegated to Elimination round |
| 7 | ATK Mohun Bagan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 18 | −18 | 0 | Relegated to Elimination round |
Note: ATK Mohun Bagan withdrew from the league hence the oppositions were awarded walkover of 3 goals.

#### Fixtures and results

| Home \ Away | PRL | ARN | TAG | AMB | CCU | GTL | KSC |
| Peerless | — | — | — | — | 1–0 | — | 4–1 |
| Aryan | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 |
| Tollygunge Agragami | 2–6 | — | — | 3–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| ATK Mohun Bagan | 0–3 | — | — | — | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–3 |
| Calcutta Customs | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| George Telegraph | 2–0 | — | — | — | 1–1 | — | 1–1 |
| Kidderpore | — | — | — | — | 0–5 | — | — |

## Elimination round

| Play-off round 1 | Play-off round 1 | Play-off round 2 | Play-off round 2 |
| Mohammedan | w/o |
| ATK Mohun Bagan | | | |
| ATK Mohun Bagan | | Mohammedan | 3 |
| | | Tollygunge Agragami | 1 |
| Tollygunge Agragami | 2; 5(p) | Tollygunge Agragami | 1 |
| Southern Samity | 2; 4(p) | | |
| Play-off round 1 | Play-off round 1 | Play-off round 2 | Play-off round 2 |
| Aryan | w/o |
| East Bengal | | | |
| East Bengal | | Aryan | 0; 2(p) |
| | | Railway | 0; 4(p) |
| Railway | 5 | Railway | 0; 4(p) |
| Kidderpore | 0 | | |

## Knockout stage

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| 1 October 2021 – Kalyani | 1 October 2021 – Kalyani | | | |
| BSS | 1 | | | |
| BSS | 1 | 8 October 2021 - Naihati Stadium | 8 October 2021 - Naihati Stadium | | |
| George Telegraph | 2 | 8 October 2021 - Naihati Stadium | 8 October 2021 - Naihati Stadium | |
| George Telegraph | 2 | George Telegraph | 0 | |
| 5 October 2021 – Naihati Stadium | 5 October 2021 – Naihati Stadium | | George Telegraph | 0 | |
| 5 October 2021 – Naihati Stadium | 5 October 2021 – Naihati Stadium | Railway (a.e.t.) | 1 | |
| Peerless | 0 | Railway (a.e.t.) | 1 | |
| Peerless | 0 | | | | 18 November 2021 - Salt Lake Stadium | 18 November 2021 - Salt Lake Stadium |
| Railway | 4 | | | | 18 November 2021 - Salt Lake Stadium | 18 November 2021 - Salt Lake Stadium |
| Railway | 4 | | | | Railway | 0 |
| 2 October 2021 – Naihati Stadium | 2 October 2021 – Naihati Stadium | | | | | Railway | 0 |
| 2 October 2021 – Naihati Stadium | 2 October 2021 – Naihati Stadium | | | | Mohammedan | 1 |
| United | 3 | | | | Mohammedan | 1 |
| United | 3 | 12 October 2021 - Kalyani | 12 October 2021 - Kalyani | | | |
| Calcutta Customs | 2 | 12 October 2021 - Kalyani | 12 October 2021 - Kalyani | | | |
| Calcutta Customs | 2 | United | 0 | | | |
| 9 October 2021 – Kalyani | 9 October 2021 – Kalyani | | United | 0 | | | |
| 9 October 2021 – Kalyani | 9 October 2021 – Kalyani | Mohammedan | 1 | |
| Bhawanipore | 0 | Mohammedan | 1 | |
| Mohammedan | 7 | | | |