East Bengal Club Reserves and Academy
East Bengal Club Reserves is the reserve team of East Bengal Club. It is the most senior level of the East Bengal F.C. academy and beneath the first team. When in 2020, the East Bengal senior team were planning to move into the Indian Super League, the B team or Reserve team was formed. The team generally consists of under-21 players but at times senior players also play, for example when they are recuperating from injury or not getting first team game time. East Bengal Academy are the under-18, under-15 and under-13 team of  Indian professional football club SC East Bengal. The under-18 team of the club is generally referred to as the primary youth team as it is the last stage of progression for promotion of youth players into the first team. The youth teams participate in the Elite league of various age groups. SC East Bengal Academy's journey has begun on 20 June 2016 with the motive to establish a strong footprint in Indian football history by producing quality professional players. The main objective of this project has been to supply professional quality players to SC East Bengal senior team & Indian  national team. Reserve team. East Bengal officially did not have a reserve team prior to 2020, however, the club formed a reserve team composed of academy players and few senior team members to participate in minor tournaments like Bordoloi Trophy, Darjeeling Gold Cup etc. In 2018, the East Bengal Reserves team, coached by Ranjan Chowdhury, won the Darjeeling Gold Cup defeating another Kolkata giant Mohammedan Sporting in the final. The reserve team was formed in 2020 and intended playing in the I-League 2nd Division, along with Calcutta Football League from the 2020–21 season. The reserve team is managed by  Ranjan Chowdhury who is also the head director of the East Bengal Academy setup. The reserve team plays their home games at the East Bengal Ground. Reserves squad. "Players listed in bold have made at least one senior first-team appearance." Academy. East Bengal F.C. Academy was founded in the early part of the 21st century and had a major success initially as the U-19 East Bengal team won the first two U-19 National Football League held in 2001 and 2002 and then the club's Under-15 team qualified for the Manchester United Premier Cup after being champions of India  defeating Mahindra United 1–0 in the final, and becoming South-East Asian regional runners up in 2007. The Junior team faced the youth teams of Manchester United F.C., A.S. Roma and Shandong Luneng and FK Austria Wien in the final round held in Manchester, however, they lost all the games in the group stages. In the 17-20th place play-offs Semi-Finals, the team defeated Bukit Jalil of Malaysia by 3-1 but lost to Central United F.C. of New Zealand in the 17th place play-offs final by 5-3 via tiebreakers after the game ended goalless in  regulation time. The U15 team finished 18th among the 20 teams to have reached the World final stage and is till date the best finish by any Indian club in the Nike Premier Cup. The East Bengal U19 team which was the primary youth team before the Elite League started in 2010. Players like Israil Gurung, Saikat Saha Roy etc. were part of the East Bengal youth setup in the mid-2000s. In 2006, former East Bengal FC legend and National League winning coach Monoranjan Bhattacharya was appointed as the head coach of the East Bengal U-19 team. The East Bengal  Academy started with new endeavours in 2016 as they brought in Ranjan Chowdhury as head of the project with an aim to produce Indian talents and build up the supply line for the main team of SC East Bengal. Under-18. The under-18 team participates in the Elite League. The team is coached by former TFA and Pune F.C. Academy coach Ranjan Chowdhury who is also the project head of East Bengal Football Academy. The National Football League U-19 was launched in 2001 and the East Bengal U-19 team won the inaugural edition defeating India sub-juniors 3–2 in the final . The U-19 team defended the title the following year as they defeated JCT Football Academy 1–0 in the final. The team also finished runners-up in 2003–04 edition as they lost to rivals Mohun Bagan U-19 3–1 in the penalty shoot-out after the final ended 0–0 in regulation time. After the tournament was restarted as the I-League U19 in 2008 and later renamed to Elite League, the East Bengal team became runners-up four times, failing to win to title till now. Squad. <onlyinclude> The SC East Bengal Academy Under-18 squad for 2019-20 season < /onlyinclude> Under-15. The under-15 team participates in the Elite Youth League. The team is coached by Chandan Kumar Ray. Squad. The SC East Bengal Academy Under-15 squad for 2019–20 season Under-13. The under-13 team participates in the Elite Youth League. The team is coached by former India International and East Bengal FC legend Tarun Dey. Squad. The SC East Bengal Academy Under-13 squad for 2019-20 season Noted graduates. Those who made it at the club. East Bengal's youth system has been successful over the last few years; many players who have come through it have gone on  to feature in the first-team. The following players have gone on to play over ten competitive matches for the first team. 2000s 2010s Those who made it elsewhere. East Bengal FC academy graduates who didn't make it at the club but made it somewhere else and even went on to play for the national team: 2000s 2010s