Thread by @ayushbanerjee

20,000,000 voices.
90 minutes that carry 100 years of history.

Two colour combinations:
Green and Maroon vs Red and Gold.

And a rivalry older than most countries.

The Kolkata Derby is much more than just Asia’s biggest football clash: 🧵

To you, it may look like “just another football match.”

To me, it is my identity, my religion, my everything.

This Derby decides who your friends are, your festivals, even your family fights.

It’s survival, legacy, defiance. Not just sport.

This rivalry was born in 1921.

But its fire came from India's Independence in 1947.

The Partition split Bengal.

Migrants from East Bengal found a home in red & gold. Natives held onto green & maroon.

And football became the stage where history replayed itself, every game.

Mohun Bagan carried a nation’s pride since 1911 - when barefoot Indians defeated the British in the IFA Shield.

East Bengal carried the migrant dream of belonging.

Every Derby since then has been more than goals on the pitch.

It’s been two goals with histories colliding.

When the teams meet, it’s not 22 men.

It’s tens of millions glued to their TV screens.
It’s 100,000 at the Salt Lake Stadium.

It’s your grandfather’s migration story. It’s your nation’s pride.

It’s your whole identity, even if it’s 90 minutes + added time.

But its not.

It’s far more.

While one half exclaims, “Joy Mohun Bagan” and “Amader Surjo Merun”

The other erupts with the “Lal-Holud Swopno” and “Macher Raja Illish”

This war bw Ghotis and Bangals comes with smoke guns, drums, tifos, and beyond - a theatre no European derby can match.

But the Derby isn’t all joy.

It’s seen heartbreak, riots, even deaths.

On 16 Aug 1980, a Kolkata Derby at Eden Gardens ended in a catastrophic stampede, leaving 16 fans dead - a horror now marked as “Football Lovers’ Day”

This rivalry can wound as much as it can heal.

For all its chaos, the Derby unites.

In 1997, 131,781 fans filled Salt Lake Stadium for the Fed Cup semis - Asia’s biggest crowd ever for a club match.

I’ve seen strangers hug after a goal.
I’ve seen grown men cry into each other’s shoulders.

This football is a generational heirloom.

I still remember my first Derby.

A 4-3 thriller in the 2016-17 I-League. Seven goals.

When the ball settled in the net each time, the stadium didn’t cheer.

It roared, like a bloody Bengal Tigress who had just lost her son.

That’s when I realised, you don’t watch this match. You live it.

Many ask me:

“Why does Indian football matter so much? Isn’t it all about cricket there?”

They don’t get it.

For me and 90% of Bengal football isn’t entertainment. Its identity. It’s the song of who we are.

Netaji once said:

“Give me blood, and I will give you freedom.”

Tagore wrote: “Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.”

THAT is the Kolkata Derby.

Mohun Bagan carrying our pride. East Bengal our eternal ray of hope.

And that’s where my story starts.

My mother is the first female member of Mohun Bagan. A club that didn’t allow women until 1995 (de jure), 1997-98 (de facto).

She was pregnant with me back then.

So yes, this green and maroon is not just my colours. It is my birthright.

Today, the @IndSuperLeague dazzles with money and stars.

But nothing rivals the soul of the Kolkata Derby.

Because this isn’t just football.

It’s war, pride, and resilience.
It’s my mother breaking barriers.

It is Indian Football at its finest.

The Kolkata Derby isn’t just Asia’s biggest rivalry.

It is India’s oldest running football story - older than the World Cup, older than the Premier League itself.

A century of wounds, dreams, barefoot pride & legacies.

All packed into 90 minutes.

See you at 7pm IST @eastbengal_fc at the @thedurandcup