Stephen Constantine Announced As The New Head Coach Of East Bengal Ahead Of ISL 2022-23 Season
Who is Stephen Constantine?
Stephen Constantine was born in London, UK. The 59-year-old Stephen Constantine’s playing career was cut short cruelly with a serious knee injury. He was forced to retire from playing football at the age of 26. He had so far represented American clubs – Pennsylvania Stoners and New York Pancyprian-Freedoms.
Due to his career, he has great managerial experience. He has spread his knowledge and provided guidance to operations in nine different countries. He began to coach teams in the United States and Cyprus. He then went on to coach the Nepalese national team between 1999 and 2001. For his coaching, he was awarded a medal by the King of Nepal. He provided coaching to the Indian team for the first time between 2002 and 2005. He was the first-team coach for Milwall in 2006.
Constantine became the manager of the Malawi national team in 2007. He then coached the Sudan national team in 2009. He returned to coaching clubs in the Cypriot domestic leagues. He took charge of APEP, Ethnikos Achna, and Nea Salamis Famagusta.
As the assistant manager of Greek club Apollon Smyrni, he formed the British Coaches Abroad Association in November 2013.
He started coaching national teams. He guided the Rwandan national team in May 2014. Under him, the team reached its highest FIFA ranking of 68. Constantine came back to provide guidance to the Indian national team between 2015 to 2019. When he came, India was ranked 173 in the world. Constantine led the team to win the SAFF Championship. Under him, the team had 13 unbeaten games. He guided the Indian team to achieve a ranking of 97 in December 2018.
East Bengal’s New Coach
East Bengal announced Stephen Constantine to be their new for the upcoming season.
“Emami Group and East Bengal Club are delighted to announce that the former India national team head coach, Stephen Constantine has been appointed as our Head Coach for the 2022-23 football season.”
Emami Group extended its hand as the new investor. The century-old club started the team-building process for the season, keeping an eye on the Durand Cup on August 16.
Constantine was the coach of the Indian team between 2002 and 2005 and from 2015 and 2019. He is now set to embark on his first club assignment in the country with East Bengal. The Indian national team has learned excellent techniques from him. All thanks to him that the Indian Team tasted a fair bit of success. The 59-year-old English professional coach is considered for his experience and knowledge of football.
Stephen Constantine, the Englishman tweeted conveying his excitement.
“Delighted and very excited at being made Head Coach of Emami East Bengal. Can’t wait to get over there and get to work,” the former Indian coach, Stephen Constantine wrote in a recent Twitter post.
East Bengal had unsuccessful seasons in the past under the investment of Shree Cement. The period is the result since it made its debut in 2020. The reason for this is the persistent differences between the club officials and the investor.
The club hopes to improve its performance this time. They are initiating the team-building process early with the consent of the new investor. The investor has announced August 2 to sign the binding agreement with the club.
East Bengal Team Squad
| No. | Name | Nat. | Pos. | Date of Birth (Age) | Signed From | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers | |||||||
| — | Pawan Kumar |  | GK | 1 July 1990 (age 32) |  Jamshedpur | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders | |||||||
| 55 | Ankit Mukherjee |  | RB | 10 July 1996 (age 26) |  ATK Mohun Bagan | 18 | 0 |
| — | Iván González |  | CB | 2 February 1990 (age 32) |  Goa | 0 | 0 |
| — | Mohammad Rakip |  | RB | 14 May 2000 (age 22) |  Mumbai City | 0 | 0 |
| — | Sarthak Golui |  | CB | 3 November 1997 (age 24) |  Bengaluru | 5 | 1 |
| — | Jerry Lalrinzuala |  | LB | 30 July 1998 (age 23) |  Chennaiyin | 0 | 0 |
| — | Niranjan Mondal |  | RB | 6 July 1998 (age 24) |  Calcutta Customs | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders | |||||||
| 14 | Wahengbam Angousana |  | CM | 2 February 1996 (age 26) |  TRAU | 28 | 0 |
| — | Mobashir Rahman |  | CM | 12 March 1998 (age 24) |  Jamshedpur | 0 | 0 |
| — | Sujit Singh |  | CM | 11 October 2003 (age 18) |  George Telegraph | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards | |||||||
| — | Vishnu TM |  | FW | 27 March 2000 (age 22) |  Aryan | 0 | 0 |
| — | Shubham Bhowmick |  | FW | 9 August 1997 (age 24) |  Madan Maharaj | 0 | 0 |
New contracts
| No. | Pos. | Date | Name |
| 14 | MF | 18 May 2022 |  Wahengbam Angousana |
| 55 | DF | 26 July 2022 |  Ankit Mukherjee |