Record-Setting Tifo Presented In Unique Book Form

It’s storybook time with East Bengal FC. 

Supporters for East Bengal, which competes in India’s I-League, unveiled a unique, record-setting tifo before its home match with Real Kashmir on Wednesday at the Kalyani Stadium. The tifo featured a book of sorts, with six pages venerating the club’s accomplishments.

Founded 99 years ago, East Bengal has no shortage of history. The East Bengal tifo on Wednesday leaned into that. 

The history book! Probably the first of its kind.https://t.co/gynCl4pHAk

— Quess East Bengal FC (@eastbengalfc) December 5, 2019

Starting with a banner that read “Let’s turn the pages of history,” the tifo’s first “page” read “1920 — the journey begins.” From there, major club events were detailed, including the first major trophy in 1942, an IFA Shield win in 1970, a 5-0 win over Mohan Bagan in 1975 and a first NFL (later named I-League) title in 2000-01. The book ends with a win at the 2003 ASEAN Cup, a short-lived international competition featuring clubs from more than a dozen Asian countries. 

According to Indian Football Ultras, the 10,000-square-foot East Bengal tifo was the largest tifo in Indian football history. The previous record was 7,200 square feet. 

It was slightly larger than the one Stephen Colbert created to prevent his charitable book from being hidden at a library.

As for the match itself, East Bengal and Real Kashmir drew 1-1, with Spanish striker Marcos de la Espada netting a 77th-minute equalizer for the home team.