The 2002–03 season is East Bengal Football Club's 7th season in the National Football League, and also marks the club's 83rd season. Coached by Subhash Bhowmick, East Bengal won all five trophies from the five tournaments they participated in, including their second National league title, competing in the 2002–03 NFL. They also won the 2002 Calcutta Football League, 2002 Durand Cup and 2002 IFA Shield and the 2002 Independence Day Cup. This was the third instance in the history of East Bengal club that the club had won 5 trophies in a season, the other two back in 1972 and 1973 during P.K. Banerjee's reign.[6]
First-team squad
East Bengal FC squad for the 2002–03 season.[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
East Bengal club went to Nagaon, Assam to participate in the 54th Independence Day Cup tournament after the end of the Championship Group round matches of the Calcutta League. The club won the tournament defeating Oil India FC of Assam by 2–0 with goals from Alvito D'Cunha and Chandan Das.[5]
East Bengal club participated in the 115th Durand Cup held in Delhi being grouped in Group B along with MEG, Bangalore and Air India. The team won their third tournament of the season after defeating Army XI in the final by 3–0 margin.[3]
Just days after winning the Durand Cup, the club participated in the IFA Shield held in Kolkata and was grouped alongside Indian Bank, Churchill Brothers and Tollygunge Agragami in Group A. The team reached the final defeating Vasco in the Semi-Final and lifted their 4th trophy of the season by defeating Churchill Brothers in the final via a penalty shootout, with Sashti Duley scoring the winning penalty in the sudden-death.[8]
