The beginning and early decades (1887–1930) in 1932. He served as the secretary of Mohammedan twice. In 1887, under the leadership of
Khan Bahadur Aminul Islam, a sporting club named
Jubilee Club was founded, which was later renamed into
Crescent Club and then into
Hamidia Club. Finally in 1891, Islam reformed the club and named it
Mohammedan Sporting Club to represent the
Bengali Mohammedans living in
Calcutta. in 1909. The club participated in a number of local tournaments after its foundation but came into prominence only after they won the
Cooch Behar Cup in 1902, 1906 and notably in 1909, with
Syed Ali Ahmed as captain, the team defeated
Mohun Bagan.
Khan Sahib Syed Ahmed Rashid took a very keen interest in the social and sporting life in
Bengal and was the elected Joint Secretary of Mohammedan, from 1925 to 1932. Although it was not before 1927 that the financial condition of the club improved when the team was able to play in the second division of the
Calcutta Football League (CFL). In order to overcome the precarious financial state of the club, the Joint Secretaries of the club made an appeal to the public "to support a scheme of the club, extending its activities in the social sphere of Muslims", and also requested for donations of ₹3,500 to ₹4,500. In 1930, Mohammedan finished last in the league table and was on the verge of being relegated out of the CFL 2nd Division, but was allowed to continue when one of the second division teams – East Indian Railway discontinued.
The golden period (1931–1947) One of the club officials, CA Aziz concentrated on creating a strong team through modern strategies and was one of the only Indians to first realise the importance of playing in boots. The whole team had a Muslim core, with no players outside the community. This helped Aziz to create unmatched unity in his squad which showed on and off the field. In 1933, Mohammedan qualified for the premier division of CFL for the first time in its history by topping the second division, under the captainship of
Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury. Under the captaincy of Khurshid Anwar, Mohammedan became the first native club to capture the
CFL title in 1934, in their very first year in top division. In March 1935, he was unanimously elected as the General Secretary of the club for the second time and in October that year he organised a successful tour to
Rangoon,
Mandalay,
Maymyo,
Colombo,
Galle,
Kandy,
Madras,
Bangalore and
Mysore for the football team. Regardless, the team defeated the Rangoon League Champions later on, by five goals, with Rahmat scoring two, Rehire,
Abbas Mirza, and Rahim. In late October, the team arrived in
Ceylon. The first match against Colombo League XI resulted in a 4–1 victory, with Habib scoring two, Mohiuddin and Shedule scoring the remaining two goals. Their next match ended in a 1–1 draw against an
All-Ceylon XI. With Mohammedan scoring through Rahmat and Chambers equalizing for the opposition. The team then beat the Saxer Club on 5 November by 3–1, at half-time, the team lead by a goal, with Habib and Mohiuddin scoring later on. That same year, the captain's armband was handed over to the young and charismatic
Abbas Mirza and later in the summer, Mohammedan recruited goalkeeper
Osman Jan from Crescent Club in
Delhi. With
Osman Jan under the bar,
Taj Mohammad Sr.,
Jumma Khan, and
Sirajuddin were part of a strong and formidable back-line. Along with new and young recruits every year, two defining names remained constant in the team –
Syed Abdus Samad, who joined in 1933, and
Mohammed Salim, who returned for a second spell in 1934. In 1936, Mohammedan became the first all-Indian team since 1911 to win
IFA Shield by defeating
Calcutta CFC in the final by 2–1 with goals from
Rashid Jr. and Rahim. With their third league win that year, they also became the first Indian club to win the League-Shield "double". During this time,
Salim took trials at
Celtic FC, and was selected for the team but after playing two friendlies in
Scottish Football Alliance, he returned to Mohammedan being homesick, even though being offered contracts from Celtic as well as from clubs in
Germany. Thus, he became the first Indian to play for a foreign club. From 1934 to 1938, Mohammedan won the league for record five consecutive times and missed out the title only once in 1939 from 1934 to 1941, when they declined to play in protest against IFA. Mohammedan's another great achievement came in the form of
Durand Cup, which was then reserved only for British and British-Indian regimental teams until 1940, when civilian teams were also allowed to participate due to most regiments called in for
World War II. The final was scheduled on 12 December 1940 at
Irwin Amphitheatre in
New Delhi and numerous eminent Muslim politicians flew in from far-off cities like Calcutta,
Dhaka,
Hyderabad and
Bhopal, while common supporters arrived in trains and
tongas to watch the match. This victory by a team of only Muslim players at the capital city provided a massive boost to the Muslim national movement in the country. They also became the first Indian club to retain the Shield, when they saw off East Bengal's challenge in 1942 final with a goal from Noor Mohammad. Due to the huge popularity, in 1943,
Kaiser Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, the Prime Minister of
Nepal, came all the way to Calcutta to play for Mohammedan, thus he became the first non-Muslim and
Hindu player to don Mohammedan colours. The match is still considered to be one of the greatest matches ever played in Dhaka, and also featured renowned Pakistani forward
Muhammad Umer Baloch for Mohammedan. Despite considerably low performance domestically, Mohammedan was still one of the biggest crowd pullers, especially in Delhi, during Durand Cup and
DCM Trophy. The next CFL success came only after a decade since their last win, when Mohammedan became the champions without losing a single match, registering their tenth CFL title. In 1971, Mohammedan won the IFA Shield without conceding a goal and by defeating
Tollygunge Agragami FC 2–0 in the final.
Gradual downfall and a period of major failure (1981–2019) In the 80s, the success came at the beginning with Mohammedan winning the '81 CFL unbeaten for the third time, surpassing Mohun Bagan by a point. The following year, Mohammedan appointed one of the iconic Indian footballers,
Syed Nayeemuddin to coach the team and also roped in the biggest foreign names,
Iranian duo
Majid Bishkar and
Jamshid Nassiri, from their local rivals East Bengal. and successfully defended the Cup by defeating East Bengal 1–0 in the next year's final. In 1985, they signed
Nigerian striker
Chima Okorie from Chandigarh FC, who was considered one of the greatest foreign players in India. The later 80s saw a continued drop in performance, winning only minor silverwares with only major success coming in the form of 1987 Rover's Cup. In 1990, Mohammedan participated in the
Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Club Cup, which was the only international club tournament held in India. Mohammedan, as the only Indian team, qualified for the semi-finals by defeating the
Zambian national team 1–0 and
FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv 1–0 but losing 2–0 to
Gimnasia Esgrima. Nigerian midfielder
Emeka Ezeugo of Mohammedan was awarded Taj Bengal Trophy for player of the tournament. Near the end of the century, the players were being unpaid for months at a time and coaches were frequently being replaced due to unimproved performance. Mohammedan's trophy drought continued and in 1996 they became one of the founding members of India's first national league –
National Football League (NFL). Under the coaching of newly appointed
Mridul Banerjee, Mohammedan finished in the bottom two of group table and was relegated to
NFL 2nd Division in their debut season. In 1996, the club took part in
Bangabandhu Cup in Bangladesh. In the following season, Mohammedan finished in the bottom half of the group table, therefore getting relegated from NFL 2nd Division as well. being introduced with the Mohammedan players, during the inauguration of the 2006–07 NFL on January 5, 2007 After two seasons, Mohammedan once again qualified for NFL 2nd Division in 2000–01 only to get relegated once again. With hopes of improving the standards, Mohammedan signed their first foreign coach, former Nigerian club player,
Chibuzor Nwakanma. In the next season, the club played in the NFL 2nd Division under the coaching of
Mohammed Habib and achieved promotion by finishing second in the final league table. Club icon, Nassiri, was put in-charge for the club's second NFL campaign by newly appointed technical director,
PK Banerjee, a renowned footballer as well as coach himself, but Mohammedan suffered another relegation. With the return of Habib as the coach, the club successfully won the 2004–05 NFL 2nd Division, thereby achieving promotion. With renowned tactician
Subhas Bhowmick at the helm, the club finished eighth in the
2005–06 NFL and avoided relegation from NFL for the first time, but the following season they eventually got relegated by finishing ninth in the table. Until then, NFL and NFL 2nd Division were semi-professional football leagues, but in 2007 the leagues were reformed into professional
I-League and
I-League 2nd Division respectively. With the appointment of
Shabbir Ali as the official coach of the club, Mohammedan achieved promotion to
2008–09 I-League but got relegated after finishing eleventh in the table. In November 2010, Mohammedan organised Platinum Jubilee Celebration Cup tournament to commemorate the 75th anniversary of their 1934 CFL win, with Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and the world's oldest existing football club
Sheffield FC being invited to play. As brand ambassador of Mohammedan, former
Indian cricket captain
Sourav Ganguly played for the club, wearing number 99 jersey, against East Bengal in a 1–0 defeat. The tournament culminated with a
Kolkata Derby, where East Bengal emerged victorious after a
penalty shoot-out. In 2013, under Sanjoy Sen, Mohammedan would achieve promotion to I-League and also put an end to a long wait for major success by winning Durand Cup and then the
2014 IFA Shield by beating
Bangladesh Premier League runners-up
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in the penalty shootout. But once again faced relegation in the
2013–14 I-League after finishing at the bottom of the table. Later in 2015, they participated in
Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup in Bangladesh. The club showed major signs of reformation in 2016, when Ghazal Uz Zafar, a Kolkata-based young entrepreneur, took over as the General Secretary of the club. It was under his secretaryship, the club became runners-up in 2016 CFL after eight years and also lifted the
2016 Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup for the first time since 1980 by defeating
Jhapa XI of Nepal by 1–0. In 2018, they emerged as the champions of
Bordoloi Trophy, defeating Oil India Limited by 3–1 margin. But their wait for success in the national league and other major tournaments was yet to come to an end.
Revival of the lost glory (2020–present) at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan In October 2020, under the secretaryship of Sheikh Wasim Akram, Mohammedan for the first time entered into a
joint venture with a
Gurgaon-based
sport management company Bunkerhill, with an aim to eventually qualify or enter the Indian Super League, which had been promoted as the top-tier league in 2019. With newly appointed Spanish coach
José Hevia, Mohammedan got promoted to
2020–21 I-League after winning
2020 I-League Qualifiers, which temporarily had replaced the traditional I-League 2nd Division due to
COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The club signed previous I-League season's top scorer,
Pedro Manzi along with
Bangladeshi football team captain
Jamal Bhuyan for their
AFC quota. After Hevia being sacked mid-season, Mohammedan finished at sixth under their technical director
Sankarlal Chakraborty. In May 2021, the club appointed
Russia's former assistant coach
Andrey Chernyshov, and with him at the helm, Mohammedan reached the
Durand Cup final for the first time since 2013 but fell short against
FC Goa by just a solitary goal. The following month, Mohammedan clinched their twelfth CFL title after forty long years of wait by defeating Railway FC 1–0 in the final of a newer and shorter
knock-out format. As one of the title contenders with
Serbian midfielder
Nikola Stojanović holding the captain's arm-band and
Trinbagonian international
Marcus Joseph leading the goalscoring charts by 15 goals, Mohammedan for the first time ran for their maiden national league title at
2021–22 I-League, but finished second after a 2–1 defeat against the table toppers
Gokulam Kerala FC on the final matchday in a must win situation. In October, the club retained their
CFL title. On 6 April 2024, Mohammedan scripted history winning their maiden
I-League title in
2023–24 season, which helped the club securing promotion to the
Indian Super League. Prior to the
2024–25 Indian Super League season, Shrachi Sports Ventures acquired a 50% stake from existing investor Bunkerhill in a deal that reshaped the club's ownership structure. The new investment distribution saw Shrachi Sports and Bunkerhill holding 30.5% each, while Mohammedan Sporting retained 39% share. On 16 September 2024, the club played their debut match in the
Indian Super League against
NorthEast United, which they lost 1–0. The club's first goal in the Indian Super League came in their second match, with
Alexie Gomez scoring from penalty spot against
FC Goa in a 1–1 draw. The first victory for the club in Indian Super League came in their third league match against
Chennaiyan, in their 1–0 away win on 26 September. During the latter half of the season, the club entered a financial crisis following a dispute between the club and its investors, Shrachi Sports and Bunkerhill Private Limited, over the execution of agreed share transfers and operational control. In January 2025, the investors halted funding of football operations, resulting in delays in player and staff salary payments and uncertainty surrounding the club's participation in the
Indian Super League. Amid the financial difficulties, head coach
Andrey Chernyshov left the club after not receiving his contractual salary dues. In April 2025, Shrachi Sports formally communicated its intention to withdraw from the project to the league organisers, leaving the club without a principal investor and raising concerns regarding its ability to meet licensing and operational requirements for the
Indian Super League. The club subsequently faced mounting financial liabilities, including unpaid contractual dues owed to former players and coaching staff. In the 2024–25 Indian Super League, the club went through disastrous campaign, finished at bottom of the regular season table, gaining only 13 points. In June 2025,
FIFA warned the club of disciplinary action after the club failed to clear outstanding contractual dues owed to former head coach
Andrey Chernyshov. In July 2025,
FIFA officially imposed a registration ban on the club for non-payment of dues to former player
Mirjalol Kasimov. The sanction barred the club from registering any new players, domestic or foreign, until the payments were settled and could remain in force for up to three transfer windows. A second transfer ban was imposed after the club failed to clear outstanding wages owed to Argentine midfielder
Alexis Gómez.
2025–26 season: All-Indian squad Ahead of the
2025–26 season, the club continued without confirmed external investment and adopted cost-control measures while attempting to stabilise its finances. Owing to the
FIFA restrictions and financial uncertainty, the club prepared for the season with an entirely all-Indian squad, retaining the majority of its domestic core players. The team suffered early eliminations in the
Durand Cup and the
Super Cup. In January 2026, the
Indian Super League season commenced, with the club entering the competition without a single foreign player due to the ongoing registration restrictions. == Crest, colours and kits ==