Eternal rivals: This ISL season will be remembered for reviving the Maidan rivalry on the biggest stage of Indian men’s domestic football. | Photo Credit: ISL Media/AIFF

Kolkata is a city that cherishes nostalgia. The yellow taxis, the heritage buildings and the cinematic nuance of the tramlines through jungles of dust and concrete — the city prefers smiling more at the past than at the present.

When the derby played out in the city on May 17, the emotion that came out strongest was this, about elements both on and off the field. The fans, the flags and the tension between  ghotis and  bangals — the match and its build-up had it all.

After kick-off, the drama spilled over onto the pitch: end-to-end action, East Bengal hitting the goalpost once, prompting contrasting sighs of relief and regret. Edmund Lalrindika almost brought the roof down with the opening goal late in the second half, and then Jason Cummings restored parity to ensure none of the fans returned home with grim faces.

For fans, it was a joy to witness such a match, with over 62,000 in attendance and 90 minutes proving inadequate to separate the two rivals. For scribes, however, it evoked a whiff of Indian football nostalgia — the gritty calculations for a final matchday thriller, reminiscent of the 2000-01 season of the National Football League or the 2017-18 I-League.

These were times when East Bengal and Bagan dominated the podiums of Indian football, playing each derby neck-and-neck and dragging title races to the very end. In the 2000-01 campaign, East Bengal won the title by a solitary point over Bagan. In 2017-18, both Kolkata giants stumbled with draws on the final day, allowing Minerva Punjab to clinch the I-League title.

In the 2025-26 season, a win in Sunday’s derby would have eliminated the loser from the race.

But the draw ensured people would remain glued to developments on the final matchday, when Bagan takes on Sporting Club Delhi and East Bengal locks horns with Inter Kashi. A 2017-18-esque ending is also possible, wherein both teams draw their respective matches, in which case a winner in Mumbai City vs Punjab FC would be crowned ISL champion.

This ISL season, though truncated, will be remembered as the one that saw the revival of the Maidan rivalry on the biggest stage of Indian men’s domestic football.

Meanwhile, the other club of Kolkata’s Big Three, Mohammedan Sporting, became the first team to be relegated from the ISL.

The Black Panthers, who had found fresh life under coach Andrey Chernyshov by winning the I-League and Calcutta Football League, were plunged into a severe financial crisis, which ultimately led them to field an all-Indian side. With just three draws in 12 matches, they will begin next season in the Indian Football League (IFL), the second division of men’s football.

The fall of one club, however, will mark the rise of another from the same state.

Diamond Harbour FC, founded just six years ago, started its journey to the top under the tutelage of I-League-winning coach Kibu Vicuna.

The Spaniard, who had inspired Bagan to the I-League title in the 2019-20 season, orchestrated a meteoric rise starting from I-League 3 and eventually winning the IFL to earn qualification into the ISL.

The club’s journey has several subplots of redemption.

Halicharan Narzary, who had once scored the ISL-winning penalty for Hyderabad FC in 2022, moved to Bengaluru FC a year later, only to struggle for regular first-team opportunities.

Jobby Justin, once a regular for East Bengal in the pre-ISL days, knocked his former side out of the Durand Cup last year and led Diamond Harbour to the men’s top flight this season.

But football is rarely without drama, especially at the business end of tournaments.

Needing a draw to clinch the title against Dempo SC, Marcus Joseph gave the Goan side the lead in the 50th minute. Just when Dempo thought it had won the match, Hugo Diaz turned the tables in second-half stoppage time to force a 1-1 draw and send his team to seventh heaven.

Published on May 21, 2026