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Sporting Bengal United Football Club is an English football team from Mile End, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. They currently play in the Essex Senior League.

History
The club was formed in 1996 to encourage Asian football in London. They initially played in the London Intermediate League until they were granted senior status in 2003 by the London Football Association, following a tour to Bangladesh, where they played the Bangladesh national team. In the same year, Sporting Bengal joined the Kent League. In 2005, they were one of the first Asian teams to play in the FA Cup, along with London APSA of the Essex Senior League, whose roots are in the neighbouring borough of Newham.

The Sporting Bengal set-up is unusual in that it is operated by the Bangladesh Football Association (UK) and players are selected from (and retain their affiliation with) the Sunday league clubs which are affiliated to that organisation. In 2011 the club signed up ex Wycombe Wanderers and Wimbledon striker Shahed Ahmed. They were also unusual in being the only Kent League club to play their home matches north of the River Thames, outside the traditional borders of Kent.

In the earlier years, most of their players would chew gua and paan during games until the FA barred a number of players from doing so.

In 2010, Sporting Bengal was targeted by the Bangladesh Football Federation for its players to represent the Bangladesh national squad. Sadiq Sarwar and Shahed Ahmed were selected to represent their country at the 2010 South Asian Games.

Records
Best league position: 8th in the Essex Senior League, 2018–19
Best FA Cup performance: First qualifying round, 2016–17
Best FA Vase performance: Third round, 2011–12
Attendance: 4,235 vs Mohammedan Sporting Club

19/03/24 Essex Senior League
HALSTEAD TOWN 0
SPORTING BENGAL UNITED 4
(Freddy Tandon 3, Tanvir Ahmed)

19/03/24 Essex Senior League
SPORTING BENGAL UNITED 0
TILBURY 4

28/02/24 Errington Challenge Cup
2nd Round
SPORTING BENGAL UNITED 2
(Daniel Pepple, Ajani Wilson)
ATHLETIC NEWHAM 3

24/02/24 Essex Senior League
SPORTING BENGSL UNITED 1
(Christian Gyamfi)
ROMFORD 2

17/02/24 Essex Senior League
ATHLETIC NEWHAM 3
SPORTING BENGAL UNITED 1
(Sam Edwards)

30/01/24 Peter Butcher
Memorial Cup
2nd Round
SPORTING BENGAL UNITED 1
(Sam Edwards)
TAKELEY 0

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Sporting Bengal United are currently in 5th place in the Essex Senior League Premier. They have 50 points from 30 games with 15 wins, 5 draws, and 10 defeats. They have a +11 goal difference, scoring 63 and conceding 52. Their record on the road is, won 6, drawn 2, and lost 4, scoring 28 and conceding 20. The wins were:

09 March 2024
Halstead Town 0 SBU 4

25 November 2023
Buckhurst Hill 0 SBU 1

14 November 2023
Coggeshall Town 0 SBU 4

28 August 2023
Barking 1 SBU 3

31 July 2023
Ilford 2 SBU 4

29 July 2023
Great Wakering Rovers 1 SBU 2

In current form, they sit a fairly low 16th out of 20, with 1 win and 5 defeats, scoring 9 and conceding 14. The Bridge are 7th out of 20 with 3 wins and 2 draws and 1 defeat, scoring 9 and conceding 8.

Note – This is the official player list as per the Full Time Website. Some of the players listed may have left the club.
Christian Adu Gyamfi
Tanvir Ahmed
Pierce Arbiso
Matthew Ball
Taylor Banks
Chaka Barnett
Luke Burns
Steven Carvell
Steven Clark
Joseph Diomande
Modou Diop Gueye
Sam Edwards
David Etcheri
Adeniyi Gbolahan
Liam George
Jake Godfrey
Joe Gregory
Sidi Haidara
Keanu Hill
Louie Maxwell
Timi Joseph
Alagi Juwara
Jay Knight
Alexandar Kovacevic
Kevin Krans
Nikolozi Kurshavishvili
Murad Kutateladze
Alvin Kyeremeh
Isaac Long
Sam Long
Elliot Mcgovern
Salim Miah
Luis Montoya Ospina
Anthony Murray-Bruce
Daniel Okah
Damilola Olusesi
Sam Orisatoki
Joseph Parker
Rian Patel
Daniel Pepple
De Niro Pinto
Shakil Rahman
David Sangolo
Keval Sesay-Ince
Freddy Tandon
Ajani Wilson
Kachi Yassine
Yasin Zougui

This is an interesting one…we would be watching out for Shermandin Artmeladze who has scored 19 goals for SBU this season but he’s just signed for The Bridge, so we can watch out for him but in a good way!

Other SBU scorers, therefore ones to watch out for, are Daniel Pepple and Sam Edwards with 7, and Keanu Hill with 6. Freddy Tandon scored 3 against Halstead in SBU’s last match so he could be one to watch also.

At the Mile End Stadium back in November on a very cold evening, SBU defeated the Bridge 2-0, and look who scored the goals…Shermandin Artmeladze after 46 minutes and Daniel Pepple after 68. 35 people were there to see it, including me and Nicky Hayes who took this excellent picture of Canary Wharf as a backdrop to the Mile End Stadium.

As games go, this is a big one!

The Bridge are clawing their way back into play-off contention but need a bit of a run to make it happen…we’ve started, with that draw at Coggeshall and the magnificent win at FC Clacton. We’re on our way but have to keep it going. SBU meanwhile are 5th but form has been patchy, although that 4-0 win at Halstead made a difference and could get them going again.

Hard to call this but it could be a huge game in the scheme of things, so we really need to get behind the lads and help them to a massive victory…come on Hullbridge let’s make some noise!