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In a grand ceremony, East Bengal and their new investor Emami Group unveiled their joint venture on Tuesday, August 2. Both parties signed the agreement and brought to life their newly-formed company 'Emami East Bengal'.
While the representative assured that the club will take part in every major men's competition across the country, not many questions have been raised about the plans the Red and Gold Brigade have for women's football.
However, in an exclusive interaction with Sportskeeda, Emami Group director Manish Goenka stressed that the Kolkata giants plan to set up a women's football team in the future. The 47-year-old assured:
"Yes, we plan to put up a women's team as well."
The Torchbearers initially formed the women's team in 2001 and went on to win the Calcutta Women's Football League title in its inaugural season. The next year, they came runner's up in the tournament. But in 2003, the team disbanded.
On the occasion of the club's centenary year, East Bengal relaunched their women's team in 2019. They participated in the 2020 edition of the Kanyashree Cup, finishing runner-up to SSB Women. They still qualified for the Indian Women's League next season. But before they could start their venture into the country's top-tier footballing league, the management yet again disbanded the women's team due to the ongoing tussle between club officials and then-investor group Shree Cement.
With new investors coming onboard, when will East Bengal be relaunching their women's team?
Well, Goenka stated that it was difficult to specify a date at this point as it's still early days. He explained:
"It's difficult to put a date for that but we'll certainly be looking to set up a women's team in the future."
"We'll start from scratch" - Manish Goenka on East Bengal's youth infrastructure
While previously East Bengal have been one of the largest breeding grounds for local talent, over the past few years the club's youth infrastructure has been stunted.
There was very little clarity over how the club wanted to approach their junior or reserve team during their partnerships with Quess Corp and Shree Cement.
Now with Emami in the driver's seat, will the club change course regarding their youth infrastructure? Goenka stated in this regard:
"We've spoken to the coach and discussed in detail [about the youth infrastructure] with him. Right now, there's no such system, but we will be forming that.
"Once he joins, which I think will be in the next five days, then we will start working on that. The youth infrastructure will help in two or three years' time so right now we'll start from scratch and eventually go from there."
What will be pivotal for Emami Group will be not to have a narrow vision unlike their predecessors. The club will need to invest in the youth setup going forward to reestablish themselves as one of the hotbeds for footballing talents. But this is not a day's work, as Goenka explained. They will need to start from scratch, but East Bengal will be reaping the rewards of having the proper infrastructure in the years to come.
After two consecutive disappointing seasons, club officials, and more importantly, fans, will be hoping for the Red and Gold Bridge to turn things around soon. But for now, it's the little steps or at least the plans of taking those steps that matter the most.
