West Bengal football team

The West Bengal football team (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ ফুটবল দল), also known as IFA Bengal football team or earlier the Bengal football team, is an Indian football team representing West Bengal in Indian state football competitions including the Santosh Trophy. They were the second Indian team to participate in the continental top tier tournament – Asian Champion Club Tournament, by playing in the 1970 edition following Mysore in 1969.
Bengal made its debut in the national competitions at the 1941–42 Santosh Trophy. West Bengal have appeared in the Santosh Trophy finals 47 times, having won 33 titles, the most by any team. Managed by Balaidas Chatterjee, the team won six Santosh Trophy titles between 1949 and 1959. In 1962, former Indian captain Samar Banerjee guided Bengal winning the trophy.
Prior to 2003, the team competed as "Bengal football team". On 16 August 2021, West Bengal played a friendly match against India national team at the Salt Lake Stadium and it was won by India by 1–0. In October 2022, West Bengal managed by Biswajit Bhattacharya clinched gold at the 36th National Games of India, defeating Kerala 5–0 in final.
The following 22 players were called up for to the 2024–25 Santosh Trophy.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
The league and tournaments are generally played at the following Stadiums and Grounds:
Yuva Bharati Krirangan (Bengali: যুবভারতী ক্রীড়াঙ্গন, English: Stadium of the Indian Youth), commonly known as Salt Lake Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal. It is currently used for football matches and athletics. The stadium was built in 1984 and holds 120,000 people in a three-tier configuration.
It is situated approximately 10 km to the east of the Kolkata downtown and is elliptical in shape. The roof is made of metal tubes and aluminium sheets and concrete. There are two electronic score boards and control rooms. The lighting is uniformly distributed to facilitate nocturnal sports. There are special arrangements for TV broadcasting.
The stadium covers an area of 76.40 acres (309,200 m). It was inaugurated in January 1984. The salient features of the stadium are unique synthetic track for athletic meets, electronic scoreboard, main football arena measuring 105m x 70m, elevators, VIP enclosures, peripheral floodlighting arrangement from the roof-top, air conditioned VIP rest room and Conference Hall. Other features of the stadium are also commentary boxes for All India Radio and TV along with several platforms for TV cameras, press boxes, dormitories and AC. rooms, player's changing rooms, practice grounds for football, cricket and kho kho, volleyball field and an ultra-medium gymnasium. The stadium has its own water arrangements and standby diesel generation sets.
The floodlights which illuminate the stadium consist of 624 bulbs of 2 kW each and two electronic scoreboards consisting of 36,000 bulbs of 25 watt each. The four underground reservoirs have unique fire-fighting arrangements with a capacity of 10,000 gallons. The architectural and structural design of the stadium was the work of the Joint Consultants viz., M/S. Ballardie, Thompson & Matthews Pvt. Ltd. and M/S. H.K. Sen & Associates – both from Kolkata, West Bengal. The track was prepared by Reckortan Tartan Track, Germany. The electronic scoreboards were supplied by Electro Impex of Hungary.
After its inauguration in January 1984 with the Jawaharlal Nehru International Gold Cup Soccer Tournament, the Salt Lake Stadium has hosted several important international tournaments or matches such as The Pre-World Cup Tournament in 1985, Super-Soccers in 1986, 1989, 1991 and 1994, 3rd S.A.F. games in 1987, U.S.S.R. Festival in 1988, Charminar Challenger Trophy in 1992, Jawaharlal Nehru International Gold Cup in 1995. The chief engineer of the stadium is Somnath Ghosh.
The stadium also hosts different kinds of cultural programs such as dance and music concerts.
Below the players, are notable footballers who represented the West Bengal football team.