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During the initial years, the IFA Shield, Kolkata's oldest football tournament, was dominated by British army teams. However their stranglehold over the Shield was broken in 1911, when Mohun Bagan became the first Indian team to win the IFA Shield by defeating East Yorkshire Regiment 2-1. That was a historic moment for Indian football as the natives beat the Englishmen at their own game.
East Bengal Club has won the IFA Shield 27 times while their arch rivals Mohun Bagan has bagged the honours 21 times. In the 2005 edition, the second team of German giants Bayern Munich made its debut in the tournament and walked away with the honours by thrashing EverReady SA 5-1 in the final.
