2023 CFL Premier Division

CFL Premier Division
Season	2023
Dates	25 June – 30 November
Champions	Mohammedan (14th title)
Relegated	West Bengal Police FC; Calcutta FC
Matches played	196
Goals scored	579 (2.95 per match)
Top goalscorer	David Lalhlansanga (21)
Highest scoring	East Bengal 10–1 Kidderpore (26 September) ; George Telegraph 10-1 FCI (20 November)
Longest unbeaten run	12 matches (East Bengal)
	← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 CFL Premier Division is the 125th overall season of the Calcutta Football League – highest state-level football divisions of West Bengal. The 2023 edition saw two top tiers merged, with 26 teams participating in the tournament for the first time since its inception.^[1]

Format

The 2023 CFL Premier Division merged the top two tiers, Premier A and B, to form an expanded 26-team competition.^[2] Two groups of thirteen teams were divided ,with each team playing every other in the group once. The top three teams proceeded to the Super Six round, where they vied for the championship with the points from group stage being carried over.^[3] Each group's bottom four teams enter the relegation round.^[1]^[4] As per the rules set by AIFF, this year, no foreign players will be participating in the league. ^[5]

Venues

Amal Datta Krirangan, Dum Dum
Aryan Town Club Ground, Durgapur
Bankimanjali Stadium, Naihati
Bidhannagar Municipal Sports Complex
Canning Stadium, Canning
East Bengal-Aryan Ground, Kolkata
Eastern Ground, Chinsurah
Kalyani Stadium, Kalyani
Kishore Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata
Mohammedan Sporting Ground, Kolkata
Mohun Bagan-Calcutta FC Ground, Kolkata
Netaji Sports Complex, Kamalgazi
Rabindra Sarobar Stadium, Kolkata
Rishi Aurobindo Maidan, Konnagar
Royal Park Stadium, Barrackpore
Sailen Manna Stadium, Howrah
Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata
Vidyasagar Krirangan, Barasat
Vivekananda Stadium, Khardah

Teams

The 26 teams were divided into two groups based on a draw held on 5 June 2023.^[1]^[6]^[7]

Group A			Group B
Team	Head coach	Captain	Team	Head coach	Captain
Army Red	L Antony Ramesh	Suresh Meitei	Aryan	Rajdeep Nandy	Laltu Mondal
Calcutta FC	Jamshid Nassiri	Surojit Das	Bhawanipore	Ranjan Chaudhuri	Jiten Murmu
Dalhousie AC	Mridul Banerjee	Karan Gomes	BSS	Subrata Biswas	Surajit Seal
Diamond Harbour FC	Kibu Vicuna	Abhishek Das	Calcutta Customs	Biswajit Bhattacharya	Amit Chakraborty
FCI (East Zone)	Arun Saha	Dhananjoy Adhikari	East Bengal	Bino George	Subhendu Mandi
Kalighat MS	Patam Bahadur Thapa	Madan Mandi	Eastern Railway	Prasanta Chakraborty	Sumit Orao
Mohammedan Sporting	Mehrajuddin Wadoo	Samad Ali Mallick	George Telegraph	Goutam Ghosh	Sourish Lodh Chowdhury
Mohun Bagan SG	Bastab Roy	Sumit Rathi	Kidderpore	Sayantan Das Roy	Gurmeet Singh
Pathachakra	Rajarshi Ghosh	Ankan Bhattacharjee	Police AC	Supriya Dasgupta	Suraj Bahadur Gurung
Peerless	Hemanta Dora^[8]	Amit Tudu	Railway	Kaushik Paul	Monish Majumder
Southern Samity	Ranjan Bhattacharjee	Debayan Hazra	Rainbow	Aditya Chatterjee	Debayan Saha
Tollygunge Agragami	Arindam Deb	Sujoy Mondal	Wari	Micky Fernandes	Swarup Sarkar
United	Steven Herbots	Sanjib Mondal	West Bengal Police FC	Ashok Chakraborty	Subrata Biswas

First stage

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mohammedan SC	12	9	2	1	33	9	+24	29	Qualified for the Super Six round
2	Diamond Harbour FC	12	9	2	1	26	5	+21	29
3	Mohun Bagan SG	12	7	3	2	30	13	+17	24
4	Kalighat MS	12	7	3	2	21	8	+13	24
5	Army Red	12	5	6	1	18	11	+7	21
6	Peerless SC	12	5	5	2	22	9	+13	20
7	United SC	12	6	1	5	25	8	+17	19
8	Southern Samity	12	4	3	5	14	17	−3	15
9	Tollygunge Agragami FC	12	2	2	8	9	28	−19	8
10	Pathachakra	12	1	4	7	13	28	−15	7	Relegation round
11	Calcutta FC	12	1	4	7	8	38	−30	7
12	FCI (East Zone)	12	1	3	8	8	32	−24	6
13	Dalhousie AC	12	0	4	8	8	29	−21	4

Updated to match(es) played on 17 September 2023. Source: The Away End
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) drawing of lots

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	East Bengal	12	9	3	0	29	6	+23	30	Qualified for the Super Six round
2	Bhawanipore	12	8	3	1	23	8	+15	27
3	Kidderpore	12	8	1	3	16	11	+5	25
4	Aryan	12	8	0	4	28	12	+16	24
5	Calcutta Customs	12	6	1	5	13	13	0	19
6	ASOS Rainbow	12	5	2	5	11	10	+1	17
7	Wari	12	5	1	6	16	23	−7	16
8	Railway FC	12	3	3	6	12	21	−9	12
9	BSS	12	2	5	5	12	14	−2	11
10	George Telegraph	12	3	2	7	11	19	−8	11	Relegation round
11	Eastern Railway	12	3	2	7	16	26	−10	11
12	Police AC	12	3	1	8	10	22	−12	10
13	West Bengal Police	12	2	2	8	12	24	−12	8

Updated to match(es) played on 7 September 2023. Source: The Away End
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) drawing of lots

Super Six

The top three teams from both groups qualified for the Super Six round with the points from group stage being carried over.^[9]

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mohammedan (C)	17	14	2	1	44	11	+33	44	Champions
2	East Bengal	17	13	3	1	50	10	+40	42
3	Diamond Harbour (Q)	16	10	3	3	32	12	+20	33	Eligible for 2024–25 I-League 3^[a]
4	Bhawanipore	16	8	4	4	26	18	+8	28	Eligible for 2024–25 I-League 3^[a]
5	Mohun Bagan SG	15	8	3	4	33	19	+14	25^[b]
6	Kidderpore	15	8	1	6	17	29	−12	25

Updated to match(es) played on 30 November 2023. Source: The Away End
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) head-to-head points; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) fair play ranking; 7) drawing of lots
(C) Champions; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:

^ If the top teams are already playing in national leagues, then the next highest ranked team(s) would be eligible for I-League 3.
^ Mohun Bagan Super Giant was deducted 2 points for not fielding a team against East Bengal on 30 November 2023.^[10]

Fixtures

Team 1 \ Team 2	BHA	DHB	EAB	KID	MOH	MBG
Bhawanipore	—	2–2	0–3*	DNP	1–2	0–3*
Diamond Harbour		—	1–4	3–0	0–2	DNP
East Bengal			—	10–1	1–2	3–0*
Kidderpore				—	0–5	DNP
Mohammedan					—	2–0
Mohun Bagan SG						—

Updated to match(es) played on 12 November 2023. Source: The Away End
Legend: Blue = left column team win; Yellow = draw; Red = top row team win.

* = Walkover

Relegation Round

Points table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Pathachakra	19	6	5	8	30	36	−6	23
2	George Telegraph	19	6	4	9	32	27	+5	22
3	Police A.C.	19	6	4	9	22	33	−11	22
4	Eastern Railway	19	5	5	9	23	33	−10	20
5	Dalhousie AC	19	3	7	9	17	36	−19	16	Relegated to the First Division
6	FCI	19	3	4	12	16	52	−36	13
7	WB Police	19	3	3	13	18	39	−21	12
8	Calcutta FC	19	1	8	10	16	50	−34	11

Updated to match(es) played on 20 November. Source: The Away End
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) head-to-head points; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) fair play ranking; 7) drawing of lots

Fixtures

Team 1 \ Team 2	CFC	DAL	EAR	FCI	GET	PTC	PAC	WBP
Calcutta FC	—	1–2	2–2	0–1	2–2	2–4	1–1	0–0
Dalhousie AC		—	2–3	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–2	1–0
Eastern Railway			—	0–0	0–1	2–0	0–0	0–2
FCI				—	1–10	2–4	1–3	3–2
George Telegraph					—	2–3	0–1	5–0
Pathachakra						—	5–0	1–0
Police A.C.							—	5–2
WB Police								—

Updated to match(es) played on 12 November 2023. Source: The Away End
Legend: Blue = left column team win; Yellow = draw; Red = top row team win.

* = Walkover

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 30th December 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	David Lalhlansanga	Mohammedan SC	21
2	Rahul Paswan	Diamond Harbour FC	12
2	Sahil Harijan	Pathachakra	12
4	Sagar Kumar Khamaru	Eastern Railway	9
5	Suhail Ahmad Bhat	Mohun Bagan SG	8
5	Jiten Murmu	Bhawanipore	8
7	Muhammed Ashiq Shoukathali	Kidderpore	7
8	Anubrata Maity	Pathachakra	6
	Dipesh Murmu	United
	Mandeep Singh Multani	Wari
	Liton Shil	Army Red
	Aman C. K.	East Bengal FC
	Jesin TK	East Bengal FC
	Achinta Ghosh	Aryan FC
	Vishnu P.V.	East Bengal FC

Hat-tricks

Note: In the result, the score of the player's team is mentioned before.

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Saikat Sarkar	Aryan	Police AC	4–1	1 July 2023
David Lalhlansanga	Mohammedan SC	Calcutta FC	7–0	12 July 2023
Beneston Piecton Barretto	Mohammedan SC	Calcutta FC	7–0	12 July 2023
Lalrinliana Hnamte	Mohun Bagan SG	Tollygunge Agragami	5–1	12 July 2023
Suhail Ahmad Bhat	Mohun Bagan SG	Dalhousie	5–2	16 July 2023
Dipesh Murmu	United	Calcutta FC	8–0	25 July 2023
Liton Shil	Army Red	Southern Samity	3–2	25 July 2023
Md Amirul	Aryan	Kidderpore SC	4–0	26 July 2023
Jesin TK	East Bengal	George Telegraph SC	4–0	7 September 2023
Vishnu PV	East Bengal	Kidderpore SC	10–1	26 September 2023
Mahitosh Roy	East Bengal	Kidderpore SC	10–1	26 September 2023

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Calcutta Football League (CFL) goes bigger than ever for its historic 125th season". The Fan Garage. 5 June 2023. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
^ TNN (31 May 2023). "CFL Premier Div 'A' & 'B' to be merged". The Times of India. Kolkata. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
^ "Calcutta Football League 2023: Confirmed Super Six Phase Teams". Indian Football News. 9 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
^ Roy, Tania (2 June 2023). "কলকাতা লিগে নিয়মে বদল,শুরুর আগেই বিদ্রোহী কিছু ক্লাব, ভবানীপুর নেমে পড়ল অনুশীলনে" [Change in rules in Calcutta league, before the start some clubs rebel, Bhavanipur came down to practice]. Hindustan Times Bangla (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
^ Ghosh, Ankon (6 July 2023). "AIFF bars foreign players in State league".
^ Chakraborty, Sanghamitra (5 June 2023). "Calcutta Football League: মোহনবাগান-মহমেডানের গ্রুপে অভিষেকের ক্লাব, ইস্টবেঙ্গলের গ্রুপে ভবানীপুর" [Calcutta Football League: Debutant club in Mohun Bagan-Mohammedan group, Bhavanipur in East Bengal group]. TV9 Bangla (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
^ Biswas, Koushik (5 June 2023). "Calcutta Football League : বাজল কলকাতা ফুটবল লিগের ঘণ্টা, কঠিন গ্রুপে মোহনবাগান" [Calcutta Football League: Bell of Calcutta Football League rings, Mohun Bagan in tough group]. Ei Samay (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
^ 24x7, Sports Desk (17 July 2022). "Peerless: জয়ের সরণীতে রয়েছে জামশিদ নাসিরির পিয়ারলেস". kolkata24x7.in (in Bengali). Kolkata, West Bengal: কলকাতা 24×7. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "Calcutta Football League 2023: Confirmed Super Six Phase Teams". Indian Football News. 9 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
^ "কলকাতা লিগের বাতিল ডার্বিতে জয়ী ঘোষিত ইস্টবেঙ্গল, পয়েন্ট কাটল মোহনবাগানের" [East Bengal, declared the winner of the canceled Kolkata League derby, Mohun Bagan deducted points]. Xtra Time Bangla (in Bengali). 28 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[10] If the top teams are already playing in national leagues, then the next highest ranked team(s) would be eligible for I-League 3.

[table_hth_MBG0.27052432450956-12] Mohun Bagan Super Giant was deducted 2 points for not fielding a team against East Bengal on 30 November 2023.^[10]

[cfl2023-1] "Calcutta Football League (CFL) goes bigger than ever for its historic 125th season". The Fan Garage. 5 June 2023. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.

[2] TNN (31 May 2023). "CFL Premier Div 'A' & 'B' to be merged". The Times of India. Kolkata. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.

[3] "Calcutta Football League 2023: Confirmed Super Six Phase Teams". Indian Football News. 9 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.

[cflformat2023-4] Roy, Tania (2 June 2023). "কলকাতা লিগে নিয়মে বদল,শুরুর আগেই বিদ্রোহী কিছু ক্লাব, ভবানীপুর নেমে পড়ল অনুশীলনে" [Change in rules in Calcutta league, before the start some clubs rebel, Bhavanipur came down to practice]. Hindustan Times Bangla (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.

[5] Ghosh, Ankon (6 July 2023). "AIFF bars foreign players in State league".

[cfl2-6] Chakraborty, Sanghamitra (5 June 2023). "Calcutta Football League: মোহনবাগান-মহমেডানের গ্রুপে অভিষেকের ক্লাব, ইস্টবেঙ্গলের গ্রুপে ভবানীপুর" [Calcutta Football League: Debutant club in Mohun Bagan-Mohammedan group, Bhavanipur in East Bengal group]. TV9 Bangla (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.

[7] Biswas, Koushik (5 June 2023). "Calcutta Football League : বাজল কলকাতা ফুটবল লিগের ঘণ্টা, কঠিন গ্রুপে মোহনবাগান" [Calcutta Football League: Bell of Calcutta Football League rings, Mohun Bagan in tough group]. Ei Samay (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.

[8] 24x7, Sports Desk (17 July 2022). "Peerless: জয়ের সরণীতে রয়েছে জামশিদ নাসিরির পিয়ারলেস". kolkata24x7.in (in Bengali). Kolkata, West Bengal: কলকাতা 24×7. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[9] "Calcutta Football League 2023: Confirmed Super Six Phase Teams". Indian Football News. 9 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.

[MBSGPointDeduct-11] "কলকাতা লিগের বাতিল ডার্বিতে জয়ী ঘোষিত ইস্টবেঙ্গল, পয়েন্ট কাটল মোহনবাগানের" [East Bengal, declared the winner of the canceled Kolkata League derby, Mohun Bagan deducted points]. Xtra Time Bangla (in Bengali). 28 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

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v t e Calcutta Football League
2024 Clubs	Army Red Aryan Bhawanipore BSS Calcutta Customs Calcutta Police Club Diamond Harbour East Bengal Eastern Railway George Telegraph Kalighat Milan Sangha Kalighat Sports Lovers Association Kidderpore Measurers Club Mohammedan Mohun Bagan Pathachakra Peerless Police A.C. Railway F.C. Rainbow Southern Samity Suruchi Sangha Tollygunge Agragami United Wari
Seasons	2014 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024