Peerless SC

This article is about the Kolkata based football club. For the business conglomerate in Kolkata, see Peerless Group.

Peerless Sports Club^[3][4] (formerly known as Peerless FC), or simply Peerless, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal.^[5] Founded in 1993,^[6] the club is owned by Peerless Group and currently competes in the Calcutta Premier Division A.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

Peerless

Full name	Peerless Sports Club
Nickname(s)	Peerless
Short name	PSC
Founded	1993; 31 years ago (1993)[1]
Ground	Various
Owner	Bengal Peerless Housing Devpt
Chairman	Patit Paban Ray[2]
Head coach	Hemanta Dora
League	CFL Premier Division
Home colours Away colours

The club had refused to take part in the I-League 2nd Division owing to financial matters. After the three Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting, Peerless is considered as the strongest side from the city of joy.^[12]

History

Peerless as a club began their journey from Kolkata Maidan, the home of Kolkata football. The club is founded in 1993 and owned by its parent organization Peerless Group, a business conglomerate in Kolkata.^[13]

Shabbir Ali was the coach of Peerless during their early seasons.

Earlier in the 90s, the club competed in the Calcutta Premier League second division. Former India international Shabbir Ali was in charge of the club and under his coaching, Peerless promoted itself from the first division to the CFL Super Division in 1993–94 season.^{[14][15][16][17]}

In 2018, the club signed Trinidad and Tobago international Anthony Wolfe ahead of their CFL season.^[18] Thus he became the club's first and only footballer who has appeared in the FIFA World Cup.^[19][20] In 2019, Peerless created history after winning the 2019–20 Calcutta Premier Division,^[21] defeating their archrivals; three Kolkata giants. The club managed by Jahar Das, emerged as the first small club since 1958 to win the Calcutta Football League.^[22] In that season, they reached the quarter-finals of the 2020 IFA Shield.^[23]

As defending champion, Peerless began their 2021–22 Calcutta Premier Division journey on 17 August, defeating Kidderpore FC 4–1.^[24][25] They reached the knock-out stages after finishing as Group-B topper but lost 4–0 to Railway FC in the quarter-finals. In June 2022, the club roped in Soren Dutta as head coach and Iranian former footballer Jamshid Nassiri as technical director.^[26] In July, they participated in Naihati Gold Cup and their campaign ended with a 0–0 (5–4) defeat to United SC in semi-finals. In September, the club fought in group stages of the Calcutta Premier Division but failed to reach the "super six" round.^[27]

In June 2023, the Indian Football Association (IFA) announced the merger of both Premier Division A and B of the Calcutta Football League, ahead of its 125th edition, in which Peerless was allowed to compete in Group I.^[28][29][30]

Ownership and finances

Peerless Sports Club (formed in 1993) is currently owned by Peerless Group, its major holding company is Peerless General Finance & Investment Co Ltd, which is India's Registered Residuary non-banking Company.^[31] It has subsidiaries like Peerless Hospital, Bengal Peerless (real estate), Kaizen Holidays and others.

Patit Paban Ray, a board member of Bengal Peerless Housing Development Co Ltd, is currently the chairman of Peerless Club.^[32]

Stadium

Main articles: Barasat Stadium and Rabindra Sarobar Stadium

Entrance of the Barasat Vidyasagar Krirangan.

Peerless plays most of their home matches of Calcutta Football League Premier Division A at both the Barasat Stadium and Rabindra Sarobar Stadium.^[33]

Honours

Jahar Das was the manager who led the team to Calcutta Football League victory.

League

• Calcutta Premier Division A
  • Champions (1): 2019–20^[34][35]
  • Runners-up (1): 2018–19^[36]
  • Third place (1): 1996–97^[37]
• CFL Second Division
  • Champions (1): 1993^[38]

Cup

• Trades Cup^[39]
  • Winners (1): 2006^[40]
• All Airlines Gold Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1998^[41]

Peerless SC scripted history in 2020, as they became the only club outside Kolkata's "Big Three" (Mohun Bagan AC, East Bengal FC, and Mohammedan Sporting) to win the Championship in 61 years; Eastern Railway did the same back in 1958.^[42][43]

Players

First-team squad

As of 27 June 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  IND Sanjoy Kumar Bhattacharrya 2 DF  IND Ksankupar D Khongmalai 3 DF  IND Sourauv Ram Paul 5 DF  IND Stephanson Pale 6 DF  IND Israfil Dewann 7 FW  IND Dawanshwa Carlos Challam 15 MF  IND Donborlang Nongkynrih 16 MF  IND Benjamin Lupheng 17 MF  IND Donlad Diengdoh 41 FW  IND Raikutshisha Buam 44 MF  IND Henry Marvinsson Marboh

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 FW  IND Wanboklang S Lyngkhoi 20 GK  IND Shubham Dhas 14 FW  IND Nikelsson Bina 18 DF  IND Amit Tudu (captain) 26 MF  IND Pynshondorlang Shadap 25 DF  IND Harshaa Parui 24 MF  IND Sajan Shahhani 35 DF  IND Mohamed Aftab Alam 36 FW  IND Manostosh Majji 22 MF  IND MC Mawsawzuala 37 DF  IND Indrajit Singh Bedhi

Notable players

For all current and former notable Peerless SC players with a Wikipedia article, see: Peerless SC players.

World Cup player

• Anthony Wolfe (2018, 2019–2020, 2021–2022)^[44][45]

Managerial history

Name	Nationality	Years	Note
Shabbir Ali	India	1993–1995	[14]
Biswajit Bhattacharya	India	2018–2019	[46][47]
Jahar Das	India	2019–2021	[48][49]
Subrata Bhattacharya jr.	India	2021–2022	[50]
Soren Dutta	India	2022–2023	[26]
Hemanta Dora	India	2023–present	[26]

See also

• Calcutta Football League
• Football in Kolkata
• List of football clubs in Kolkata
• List of football clubs in India

References

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Further reading

Bibliography

• Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
• Martinez, Dolores; Mukharji, Projit B (2009). Football: From England to the World: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-88353-6. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022.
• Dineo, Paul; Mills, James (2001). Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora. London, United Kingdom: Frank Cass Publishers. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7146-8170-2. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022.
• Nath, Nirmal (2011). History of Indian Football: Upto 2009–10. Readers Service. ISBN 9788187891963. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022.

Others

• "Sport/Football — East Bengal drubs Peerless". The Hindu. 19 August 2004. Archived from the original on 25 August 2004. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
• "Aizawl FC sign Ivorian forward Leonce Dodoz from CFL side Peerless". The Fan Garage. 21 August 2017. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
• "The Calcutta Football League (CFL) — Winners of each season". ifawb.org. Kolkata: Indian Football Association. 2021. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
• Chakraborty, Samrat (6 April 2021). "East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and teams who have won the Calcutta Football League title most number of times". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
• Sengupta, Somnath (16 December 2010). "Aryan Club — Rising From the Ashes". thehardtackle.com. The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
• Chattopadhyay, Hariprasad (13 September 2019). "আটান্নর মতো কড়া লড়াই দেখা যাচ্ছে এই লিগেও" [A tough fight like 1958 is also being witnessed in this season's league]. abandabazar.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Anandabazar Patrika. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022.

External links

• Peerless SC at IFA West Bengal
• Peerless SC at Soccerway
• Peerless SC at Flashscore
• Peerless SC at Betsapi