East Bengal U-15 emerged as the champions in U-15 category of Kolkata GOALZ, whereas East Bengal U-18 finished as runner’s up in U-18 category which was won by George Telegraph.
Inspired by Kickz, an initiative in England, that uses the power of football and appeal of professional football clubs to engage young people who may otherwise be difficult to reach, the ‘Kolkata Goalz’ was initiated by the British Council, Kolkata Police, Kolkata Municipal Corporation, All India Football Federation and Indian Football Association (West Bengal) in association with six city premier league clubs – Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, George Telegraph, Mohammedan Sporting, Police Athletic Club and Prayag United Sports Club.
All the six clubs has fielded U-15 and U-18 teams for the tournament. The final was held on 6th July, where in the U-15 category, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting Club had qualified, whereas the U-18 category saw East Bengal and George Telegraph crossing swords.
In the U-15 finals, East Bengal and Mohammedan SC played out the regulation time without scoring any goals. The match was decided on penalties which was won by East Bengal by 3-2. In the U-18, George Telegraph defeated East Bengal 2-0. Md. Sunny scored both the goals for George Telegraph and won the best player award.
The Cup was given away by Shri Sovan Chatterjee, Mayor of Kolkata. The runners up trophy was given away by Mr Sanjay Wadhwani, Deputy High Commissioner of United Kingdom at Kolkata and the medals were distributed by Shri Santi Ranjan Das Gupta, Asst General Secretary. Others who addressed the gathering were Shri Debashis Kumar, Member – Mayor in Council, Shri Debashis Roy, Additional Commissioner of Police, Mrs Sujata Sen, Director British Council and Shri Kalyan Majumdar, General Secretary, East Bengal Club.
