Dalhousie AC's club tent is located in Mayo Road, Kolkata Maidan, in Esplanade. Besides sporting achievements, the club is also known for organizing cultural activities alongside social initiatives.[12]
History
Formation and early history
When the [British] Calcutta Football Club was brought into existence in 1872, membership was restricted to people belonging to the upper strata of the British middle class. There was no entry for the tradesman of Calcutta amongst whom were many brilliant exponents of the game of association football. Two members Towfett and Love pooled their resources and formed the Trades Club in 1874. Six years later the name was changed to Dalhousie Athletic Club. It was largely through the initiation of Dalhousie AC that the meeting at which the Indian Football Association was formed was convened and it was through the generosity of some Dalhousie members, J. Sutherland, A. R. Brown, the first honorary secretary of IFA, and M. B. Lindsay that the cost of the splendid IFA Shield was defrayed.
Dalhousie AC was founded as the Trades Club in 1878, and is the second oldest football club established in the country.[3][14][15][16] The athletic division was incorporated by the British employees of jute mills and members of then established organizations such as the Naval Volunteers, Police, Customs and the Armenian Club.[17][18] Trades Club was renamed as "Dalhousie Club" in 1980,[19][20] after the famous Dalhousie Institute, which was situated on the south side of Dalhousie Square and was originally constructed as a Monumental Hall.[21][22][23] The club later won prestigious Calcutta Football League four times in 1910, 1921, 1928 and 1929.[24][25] With having British officials in club committee, Dalhousie instituted and organized Trades Cup (the second oldest football tournament in the country) in 1889, with the help of trading community of Calcutta.[26][27] It was the first open football tournament in India, where Indian, British, regimental and college clubs participated,[28] and the club clinched the trophy in inaugural edition defeating Howrah AC 2–1.[29] Dalhousie later achieved the prestigious IFA Shield title in 1897, and 1905.[30][31] In 1905, the club reached Gladstone Cup final,[32] held in Chinsurah, but lost 6–1 to Mohun Bagan.[33][34] In Kolkata football during the British Raj, Dalhousie predominantly had a fierce rivalry with Calcutta Rangers Club, which was a non-civilian team.[35]
Present years
In 2014, they participated in the 14th Darjeeling Gold Cup in Siliguri and reached the final, but finished as runner-up after losing 5–0 to then I-League side ONGC.[36]
Dalhousie participated in Calcutta Premier Division B in 2014–15, and participated in tournaments like Amta Sanghati Gold Cup.[37] They were relegated to first division in 2015–16. In February 2019, Dalhousie went to Nepal and participated in 21st edition of Budha Subba Gold Cup.[38][39] Playing in the lower divisions for a couple of years, the club in June 2022, launched their new home and away jerseys at a seasonal ceremony in club tent.[40] At the program, Dalhousie became affiliated to Mohun Bagan with aim of qualifying for the premier division,[40] in which then AIFF senior vice-president Subrata Dutta, IFA secretary Anirban Dutta, and Mohun Bagan secretary Debasish Dutta attended.[40]
In June 2023, the Indian Football Association (IFA) announced merger of both Premier Division A and B of the Calcutta Football League, ahead of its 125th edition;[41] Dalhousie was allowed to compete in Group I.[42][43][44] The club later roped in Mridul Banerjee as new head coach.[45]
Other department(s)
Men's cricket
Dalhousie AC has its cricket section, which is affiliated with the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).[46][47][48] It uses the Kolkata Maidan fields for home games.[49] The club primarily competes in the CAB conducted First Division League.[50] They also take part in JC Mukherjee T-20 Trophy,[51][52] A. N. Ghosh Memorial Trophy, CAB One Day League and P. Sen Trophy.[53][54]
The men's field hockey section of Dalhousie formed during the British rule in India and the team was formerly consisting of Anglo-Indian players.[59][60][61] The club is affiliated with Bengal Hockey Association (BHA),[62] and participate in lower division of Calcutta Hockey League under the name of "Dalhousie Institute".[63]
Darts
Dalhousie has both men's and women's darts section, and participate in Inter-Club Darts Tournament in Kolkata.[64]
Tennis
Lawn tennis as a racket sport, is practiced at the Dalhousie AC. The club is an affiliated member of the Bengal Tennis Association (BTA).[65]
^Wadwha, Arjun (19 May 2008). "History of Football in India". thesportscampus.com. TheSportsCampus. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
^"উত্তম, রিকির হ্যাটট্রিক, সিএফসির ৮ গোল, জিতল কালীঘাট, পাঠচক্র" [Hat-trick done by Uttam and Ricky, CCFC scored 8 goals, wins for both Kalighat and Pathachakra]. insidesports.in (in Bengali). Kolkata: ইনসাইড স্পোর্টস. 14 August 2022. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
^Guha, Chandak (5 September 2019). "ইংরেজরাও ভয় পেত বাংলার প্রথম কিংবদন্তি ফুটবল কোচকে" [The Englishmen too feared Bengal's legendary first football coach]. bongodorshon.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Bongodorshon Information Desk. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
^Hassan Niru, Mahabubul (7 July 2013). "আমাদের ফুটবলের বেলা অবেলা কালবেলা" [Days and moments of our football]. mahaneebas.wordpress.com (in Bengali). Dhaka, Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 6 April 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
^Ikramujjaman (29 July 2022). "ইংরেজের বিপক্ষে বাঙালি ফুটবল দলের প্রথম বিজয়" [The first victory of Bengali football team against Britishers]. samakal.com (in Bengali). Dhaka: সমকাল বাংলা. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
^Saha, Nirmal Kumar (29 July 2020). "বিপ্র-কুটিরের 'পঞ্চম পাণ্ডব' শিবদাস" ['Fifth Pandava' Shibdas of Bipra-Kutir]. thecalcuttamirror.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: The Calcutta Mirror. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
^Bhattacharya, Ayan (10 September 2023). "বাংলা ভাগের ক্ষত কিভাবে বিষিয়ে দিল মোহনবাগান আর ইস্টবেঙ্গলকে?" [How did the wound of the partition of Bengal poisoned both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal?]. inscript.me (in Bengali). Kolkata: ইনস্ক্রিপ্ট বাংলা নিউজ. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
^Yardley, Jim (27 January 2011). "In city's teeming heart, a place to gaze and graze". The New York Times. New York. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2011. To Kolkata, it is the "lungs of the city", a recharge zone for the soul.
^"খোলা ময়দানে ১১ মাস পর ক্রিকেট শুরু" [Open ground cricket now back after eleven months]. insidesports.in (in Bengali). Kolkata: ইনসাইড স্পোর্টস. 13 February 2021. Archived from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
Dutta, P. L., Memoir of 'Father of Indian Football' Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1944) (hereafter Memoir)
Ghosh, Saurindra Kumar. Krira Samrat Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary 1869–1940 (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1963) (hereafter Krira Samrat).
Roselli, John. Self Image of Effeteness: Physical Education and Nationalism in Nineteenth Century Bengal. Past & Present (journal). 86 (February 1980). p. 121–48.
Sinha, Mrinalini. Colonial Masculinity, The Manly Englishman and the Effeminate Bengali in the Late Nineteenth Century (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995).
Chatterjee, Partha. The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and Post-colonial Histories (Calcutta: Oxford University Press, 1995).
Mason, Football on the Maidan, p. 144; Dimeo, Football and Politics in Bengal, p. 62.
Sen, Dwaipayan (2013). "Wiping the Stain Off the Field of Plassey: Mohun Bagan in 1911". In Bandyopadhyay, Kausik; Mallick, Sabyasachi (eds.). Fringe Nations in World Soccer. Routledge. ISBN978-1-317-99810-5.
Sen, Ronojoy (2015). "The Empire Strikes Back: The 1911 IFA Shield and Football in Calcutta". Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India. Columbia University Press. ISBN978-0-231-16490-0.