East Bengal have an agreement at youth level with Leicester City, the Coca-Cola Championship club, and are owned by Vijay Mallya, who also co-owns the Force India Formula One team.

They finished in mid-table in the inaugural I-League, India's first professional league, and are playing in the Asian Football Confederation Cup. They hope to strengthen their team with other I-League players for the proposed match against Tottenham, at the Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta.