Formation and early history Dalhousie AC was founded as the Trades Club in 1878, and is the second oldest
football club established in the country. 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. Trades Club was renamed as "Dalhousie Club" in 1980, after the famous Dalhousie Institute, which was situated on the south side of Dalhousie Square and was originally constructed as a Monumental Hall. The club later won prestigious
Calcutta Football League four times in 1910, 1921, 1928 and 1929. 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. It was the first open football tournament in India, where Indian, British, regimental and college clubs participated, and the club clinched the trophy in inaugural edition defeating Howrah AC 2–1. Dalhousie later achieved the prestigious
IFA Shield title in 1897, and 1905. In 1905, the club reached Gladstone Cup final, held in
Chinsurah, but lost 6–1 to
Mohun Bagan. In Kolkata football during the
British Raj, Dalhousie predominantly had a fierce rivalry with Calcutta Rangers Club, which was a non-civilian team.
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. Dalhousie participated in Calcutta Premier Division B in 2014–15, and participated in tournaments like Amta Sanghati Gold Cup. 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. 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. in which then
AIFF senior vice-president Subrata Dutta,
IFA secretary Anirban Dutta, and Mohun Bagan secretary Debasish Dutta attended. Dalhousie was allowed to compete in Group I. The club later roped in
Mridul Banerjee as new head coach. ==Other department(s)==