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HISTORY

The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club (CC&FC) is a cricket and association football club in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), West Bengal, India. Founded as the Calcutta Cricket Club by British expatriates who had come over with the British East India Company it is known to be in existence by 1792.^[1]The club is regarded as the oldest cricket club outside of the British Isles.

The Calcutta Cricket Club merged with the Calcutta Football Club and the Ballygunge Cricket Club over the years to become the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club.

Calcutta Cricket & Football Club, founded in 1792, is one of the oldest sports clubs in the world. The most famous of all sports clubs - the Marylebone Cricket Club - was founded in 1787, a fact gathered from a poster for a cricket match in 1837 announcing the Club's golden jubilee. If there was any written evidence of its official launch in 1787, it was destroyed by a fire at Lord's in 1825.

The present day Calcutta Cricket & Football has absorbed several sporting clubs over the centuries. Calcutta Cricket Club of 1792 vintage, Ballygunge Cricket Club (1864-1950), Calcutta Football Club (1872-1877) and the revived Calcutta Football Club set up in 1884. It is important to remember that these were not separate clubs but very much a part and parcel of the great and historic institution known today as Calcutta Cricket & Football Club

In the city of Calcutta, then just over a hundred years old and growing fast both in commercial and political significance, the British Raj was busy setting its roots. And sports were definitely a part of the social lore.

Indeed, sports events were reckoned to be important enough for sub-continental reporters. Fortunately, a copy of the Madras Courier dated 23rd. February, 1792 has survived. The paper reported cricket fixtures between the Calcutta Cricket Club and Barrackpore and the Calcutta Cricket Club and Dum Dum.

Clearly, the Calcutta Cricket Club was already in existence in 1792.

The story of how CC&FC traced its origins is interesting and is preserved in its archives thanks to Past President H.J. Moorhouse. It began in 1955 with a letter to The Times, London from Alan R. Tait, Honorary Secretary of Oporto Cricket Club in Portugal. The Club was celebrating its centenary that year, and Tait claimed that it 'must be one of the oldest cricket club outside Great Britain'..

This letter drew a good deal of response from several quarters. Several clubs were identified as being older than Oporto. To use a cricketing metaphor, the ball swung in Calcutta's favour when one Irwing Rosenwater wrote to the Times about the news item in the Madras Courier dated 23rd. February, 1792, mentioned above.

When Wisden concurred with this finding, CC&FC earned rightful recognition as the oldest cricket club, outside Britain, in the world. (Since the Bicentennial Year, 1991-92, 23rd. February - the date that marks the Madras Couriers memorable report in 1792 - is being celebrated as CC&FC's Foundation Day.

In the absence of a permanent venue, the Calcutta Cricket Club played its games on the esplanade, parallel with the river Hooghly, between Fort William and Government House. By the 1820s, the members felt the need for a permanent ground. In 1825, the Calcutta Cricket Club managed to obtain the use of a plot of land on the Maidan as shown in the accompanying reproduction of the 'Sketch of the Maidan'. In 1841 the Club was allowed to enclose the ground by putting a fence around it. The Army, garrisoned at Fort William, however saw the Club as an encroacher and was extremely suspicious of its alleged motives! They complained to the Chief Magistrate and as a result the Club was relocated to the eastern boundary of the Auckland Circus Gardens.

Good times were not to last. In 1862, the Brigadier General Commanding Presidency Division wrote to the Quarter Master General that 'open space is preserved, as a general rule around forts as a Military precaution. And in 1864 the Club members found that a new road was being constructed which would 'cut directly through the ground and pass within a few yards of that portion of it on which the match wickets are invariably pitched'

The Club's 'prayer' to the Governor General was rejected and it had to partially relocate to the ground on the eastern end of Eden Gardens, the current location of the test venue. The Club made several representations asking for permission to 'erect a suitable pavilion in the place of the wretched hut now in use'. Finally on 19 April the long awaited approval arrived. A handsome and well built pavilion measuring 125 ft by 25 ft was promptly constructed out of the finest teak brought from Burma. It even had a 'Long Room' on the lines of the MCC pavilion at Lords.

Alas the pavilion no longer exists. It was pulled in the mid 1970s for the construction of the Cricket Association of Bengal's modern B.C. Roy Clubhouse.

The origin of the Ballgunge Cricket Club is a matter of some speculation. Possibly the uncertainties regarding playing cricket at Eden Gardens in the 1850s and early 1860s led the players to form a separate Club in what was then a southern, civilian suburb of the city in 1864.

Ballygunge Cricket Club had some illustrious members. J.D. Guise (1872-1953) played for India and MCC. Around the turn of the twentieth century, E.C. Cowdery and A.S. Cowdrey played for the Club regularly. EC was the grandfather of Sir Colin Cowdrey, England Captain and batsman, who was born in Bangalore.

In the 1901-02 season there is interesting mention the unusual sport of Bicycle Polo a game now known as Cycle Polo, that is still played at CC&FC.

India found a place on the 'international' cricket map for the first time in 1889-90 when, at the invitation of the Calcutta Cricket Club, the first ever tour of an English Cricket team, led by G.F. Vernon of Middlesex and composed entirely of amateurs took place. The first official MCC tour of India was on, thanks entirely to the initiative of the Calcutta Cricket Club. Moreover, MCC was to be skippered by Arthur Gilligan, the Sussex and England Captain, who was then at the height of his fame.

These tours were also directly responsible for the formation of the Board of Control of Cricket in India and paved the way for India to gain Test status. Subsequently the Cricket Association of Bengal had also been formed. Dr. B.C. Roy, elected of Chief Minister of West Bengal in 1948 felt that in independent India Eden Gardens ought to be the 'rightful' home of the State's cricket headquarters.

On Independence Day in 1950, T.C. Longfield, President, Calcutta Cricket Club handed over Eden Gardens to the newly formed National Cricket Club. T.C. Longfield had led Bengal when they won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 1939.

In another fine gesture, Ballygunge Cricket Club, in deference to Calcutta Cricket Club, being an older Club, agreed to dissolve itself, after having transferred its lease on the Ballygunge ground to Calcutta Cricket Club. Ballygunge Cricket Club ceased to exist but its traditions remained.

The Calcutta Football Club, founded in 1872, is the oldest surviving rugby club in the world outside the United Kingdom. Why "football"? At that time, in Britain, rugby and football was synonymous. Interestingly, the Scottish Football Union, formed in 1873, did not alter its name to become the Scottish Rugby Union until 1924.

By January 1873 as many as 137 members had enrolled. Probably the attraction of a bar that was free to members had something to do with its popularity! Rugby, however, suffered because of the departure of some of the regiments that had kept the game going. By 1877, because of the lack of players the remaining members decided to wind up the Club. Under the stewardship of Captain, Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, G A James Rothney, the Committee decided to donate a trophy made of ornate Indian workmanship to the Rugby Football Union from the available Club funds amounting to pounds 60 sterling.

The offer was accepted and even today, every year, England and Scotland play an international rugby match for the "Calcutta Cup".

In May 1884, G A James Rothney called a meeting and decided to restart the club because of the arrival of "excellent football material" which had come along with a few regiments. Rugby began in all earnestness and in 1890 the Calcutta Rugby Union Challenge Cup Tournament was inaugurated. A fine silver cup, promptly christened "Calcutta Cup" - was presented by past C F C Presidents. The tournament is played even today on the CCFC ground.

The revival of the Calcutta Football Club in 1884 coincided with a renewed enthusiasm for soccer amongst Calcutta's expatriates. Three more European football clubs were formed between 1884 and 1889, along with a host of Indian football clubs.

Although Calcutta Football Club stayed away from Trades Cup, the country's first open football tournament because members felt that their " enjoyment of the sport would be impaired if they join the competitive fray", it was instrumental in instituting the Indian Football Association (IFA) in Calcutta very much on London lines.

In the initial years of the IFA Shield, CFC had a very creditable record. In 1950 CFC was relegated. Declining membership also took its toll. On 14 May, 1963 CFC partially relinquished its exclusive rights on the Maidan tent and playing field in favour of Mohun Bagan Club and like Calcutta Cricket Club moved to Ballygunge.

In 1965, it merged with the Calcutta Cricket Club already established there and the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club came into being.

By the early 1950s, the Calcutta Cricket Club's new home at Ballygunj had began to assume the appearance we know today. An elegant, modern pavilion, complete with spacious changing rooms and a stylish new bar was erected. New tennis courts were laid out on nearby reclaimed ground and a well surfaced car park was provided. There was sorrow when the picturesque old thatched shamianas were brought down to make place for a play ground for children, but members found that the convivial atmosphere they were used to was fully preserved.

And, by bringing football, rugby and hockey to supplement the cricket and tennis already played at Ballygunj, CC&FC became a place offering members recreation for all seasons and in retrospect, this feature paved the way towards its current success as a social club. Other activities too, were added including the revival of Cycle Polo, a swank outdoor swimming pool was opened in 1997 and a gymnasium in 2001. Darts, table tennis and pool are among the popular indoor sports played at CC&FC. And played seriously too. CC&FC have been champions at the Inter Club Darts Championship organized by the West Bengal Darts Association.

CC&FC probably pioneered the concept of 'instant cricket'. In December, 1962 over a decade before Kerry Packer entered the scene old timer Neil Gray reminisces that perhaps it was members dissatisfaction with the 'inadequate three hour Saturday afternoon cricket game' that lead to this experiment. A 5 match CCC vs Merchant's XI series was played that season with 20 overs allowed for each side!

In the early 1970s CC&FC was able to fulfil a long cherished dream and complete an upper floor. The highlight of the first floor is the Centenary Hall commemorating the centenary, celebrated in 1972, of the original Calcutta Football Club. This hall is the Club's own air-conditioned 'Long Room' replete with a sporting library ( where Wisden Year Books datelined in the 19th. century find pride of place) and a mini museum of Club memorabilia. Various cups and trophies are on display and a collage of old photographs, some quite rare, adorn the walls. The Centenary Hall is much in demand amongst members for parties and functions. The adjoining balcony provides a superb view of the playing ground.

CC&FC Today

The CC&FC sports calendar is indeed a busy one. Various Merchant's Cup tournaments form a very important part of the calendar. The first Merchant's Cup tournament was Cycle Polo, played way back in 1973. This gave the lead for the beginning of the first Merchant's Soccer tournament in 1974. Rules for a 5 man team game were framed and in the first year 20 teams participated. The tournament played under floodlights now and at the last count 64 teams participated. Merchant's Cricket and Hockey are also played with equal vigour and enthusiasm.

The monsoon months are taken up by rugby. As mentioned earlier the Calcutta Cup has been going on uninterrupted since 1890. The All India Rugby Tournament Cup is also played every year and every alternate year the All India & South East Asia Tournament is played.

Sports apart, CC&FC offers members a wide and round the year convivial events, catering to variety of interests covering all age groups. The Merchant's Cup Nites at the end of every Merchant's Cup tournaments and the New Year's Eve dinner-dance are greatly sought after occasions in the city's social calendar. And with the year long Bar Nites on Fridays and other social functions on music, dance and theatre CC&FC is probably the most happening place in town!

A sports club that has remained in existence for over 210 years must have good roots and must have served a good purpose not just for its members but also for the games they play and other activities. Time has moved on and today the Club has come a long way. But one lasting value is still the same: its mission to bring people together and play sports for the sheer fun of the game and no more.

The membership profile too has not changed very greatly. From being a Club of sportsmen it is a Club of sportsmen & women and sports minded people. Today CC&FC is more than just a sporting club. It is unique because for over 210 years it has taught and inspired generation after generation to play the game like gentlemen.

FAMOUS ATHLETES-
FOOTBALL

Chuni Goswami 
  
Subhas Bhowmik 
 
S.Bhattacharjee 
  
Pradip Choudhury 
  
P.Ganguly Ganguly 
  
Santo Mitra 
  
Shyam Thapa 
 
 

HOCKEY -

Keshav Chandra Datt 
 
Gurbux Singh 
 
Dr. Vece Paes 
 
Anand Mandapaka 
 
 

CRICKET -

Punya B. Datta [1]  

Dilip Doshi [2] 

A.Gandotra [3] 

Devang Gandhi  [4] 

Sourav Ganguly 
  
Syed Saba Karim  search=saba+karim 

Arun Lal [5] 

Pranab Roy [6] 

 

TENNIS -

Chiradip Mukerjea 
 
Enrico Piparno 
 
Leander Paes 

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• Calcutta sports timeline
• Google Search cache of alternative timeline for CCFC formation
• CCFC Official Website