"If Mohun Bagan travels to Mars, you will see a bandwagon of Green and Maroon flagbearers following them."
Indian Football's one of the most successful names, Sergio Lobera, recently took over the Mohun Bagan coaching job, and he has had a fantastic start to life at Bagan, with a 100% win rate, 4 goals scored, and 0 conceded in two games. The Mohun Bagan squad are slowly adapting to the gameplay of the Spaniard, which we often describe as 'Lobera-Ball'.
Off the field, Mohun Bagan had a poor 2025-26 season so far. The fans are still hurt by the clubs' decision on withdrawing from the prestigious AFC Champions League Two campaign. Under the previous head coach, Jose Molina, Bagan had a rocky Durand Cup performance, where arch-rival East Bengal knocked the Mariners out in the quarter-finals. The Super Cup run too ended with loads of disappointment as Bagan failed to beat Dempo SC and East Bengal which resulted in an early exit from that competition as well. Though the club won the historic IFA Shield, Mohun Bagan fans were not happy with the on-field display.
In short, the excitement faded out even before the Indian Super League 2025-26 kicked off. But, as a Wise Man once said, "If Mohun Bagan travels to Mars, you will see a bandwagon of Green and Maroon flagbearers following them." This season has redefined that quote again. The ticket price saw an increase and the kickoff time doesn't really favour the fans who travel from the outskirts of Kolkata. The number of available tickets is lesser too, but that didn't stop the Mohun Bagan faithfuls from attending the home games in large numbers.
The Opening game had a Saturday evening 5 PM Kickoff, where only 32,000 tickets were made available; 29,110 fans attended the game (Unofficial numbers are higher, as many people tend to miss the kickoff time, and in a hurry, the ticketing partners don't even count those tickets!). To put it into perspective, last weekend, East Bengal FC had a similar Saturday 5 PM kickoff, and they were coming back off a 3-0 win against current Durand Champions North East United FC, which led them amass an attendance of 20,386 (almost 9000 fewer than the Bagan Game). Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters had Sunday Evening games too this week, and 13000 and 16000 fans attended those games respectively.
Again, in the gameweek two, Mohun Bagan got a Monday (the first working day of the week) evening 7.30 PM Kickoff, and people of Kolkata know how difficult it is to travel back home once the game ends. Last week, East Bengal had a similar kickoff time and had an attendance of 18,363. The Mohun Bagan fanbase, however, delivered an attendance of 22,765 (4000 more than East Bengal).
While a football-loving city like Goa struggles to attract fans, Mohun Bagan has already sold 51,875 tickets. Sources have told MBFT that the club has already earned almost 1cr from gate sales, a similar amount to the participation fee for this Indian Super League Season.
As Mohun Bagan have started the campaign on a high, the club is eyeing a 30K+ audience this weekend, when they face Mohammedan SC in the mini Derby. With limited tickets being available, make sure you are in the stands to cheer and scream as the 12th Man for Mohun Bagan at VYBK on Saturday.
Below is the attendance details of this season (till 24 February, 12PM)⤵️
| Host Club | Total Attendance | Games | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohun Bagan | 51,875 | 2 | 25,938 |
| East Bengal | 39,022 | 2 | 19,511 |
| Kerala Blasters | 16,243 | 1 | 16,243 |
| Bengaluru FC | 25,936 | 2 | 12,968 |
| Jamshedpur FC | 11,571 | 2 | 5,786 |
| Mohammedan SC | 4,240 | 1 | 4,240 |
| Mumbai City | 3,426 | 1 | 3,426 |
| FC Goa | 1,577 | 1 | 1,577 |
