East Bengal Women Football Team Practice at Kalyani. Pictures by Bibhash Lodh/BS News Agency.
Sanchita Chatterjee, BS News Agency, Kalyani, 23 December 2025:
Defending champions East Bengal FC will kick off their Indian Women's League (IWL) 2025-26 title defence against Sethu FC Madurai at the Kalyani Stadium tomorrow afternoon (Kickoff - 2.30 PM).
East Bengal Women Football Team Practice at Kalyani. Pictures by Bibhash Lodh/BS News Agency.
EBFC Women enter this fixture riding a wave of momentum after clinching the inaugural SAFF Women's Club Championship in Kathmandu just three days back with a commanding 3-0 victory over Nepal's APF FC in the final.
Ugandan national team forward Fazila Ikwaput has been in blazing form, netting nine goals in the tournament. Ikwaput was the Golden Boot winner for Gokulam Kerala FC in the last two editions of the IWL.
Sulanjana Raul (3 goals) and Resty Nanziri (2 goals) also made vital contributions to EBFC Women's attack, whilst the team's defense, anchored by goalkeeper Panthoi Chanu and defenders Ashalata Devi, Abena Anoma Opoku, Sarita Yumnam and Sushmita Lepcha shone throughout the tournament with cleansheets in all five games. Panthoi was the Golden Glove winner in the previous IWL season and also bagged the Best Goalkeeper award in the SAFF Women's Club Championship.
Under Head Coach Anthony Andrews, the Kolkata-based club won its maiden IWL crown last season and will aim to be only the second club after Gokulam Kerala FC to retain it.
EBFC Women had an incredible IWL 2024-25 campaign, winning twelve of their fourteen games, whilst losing just once. They netted 38 goals, whilst conceding just 10 times. During the course of their triumph, they kept 7 cleansheets.
Sethu FC, meanwhile, have already started their IWL campaign with a 2-1 comeback win over Kickstart FC. Goals from Kaviya Pakkirisamy and Malavika P overturned an early deficit.
*Speaking to the media on the eve of the match, EBFC Women's Head Coach Anthony Andrews said*, "The schedule is very demanding as the players have been traveling back and forth since early November, playing different tournaments across different countries. We have had very little time to recover, but we are trying our best to cope with the situation and start our IWL title defence on a winning note."
*EBFC Women's midfielder Karthika Angamuthu said*, "As the defending champions, we are excited to start our IWL campaign and are determined to regain our AFC Women's Champions League spor. The past one year has been incredible for East Bengal Women. I have never seen so many fans support Indian women's football before. As players, we can all sense the positive winds of change."