Mohun Bagan, the 133-year-old football club based in Kolkata, has announced that it will remove the prefix ATK from its name due to fan demand. The club, which is owned by the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, will now be called Mohun Bagan Super Giant. This follows the group’s philosophy of naming its sports teams. The owners of the IPL franchise, Lucknow Super Giants, had earlier used the same pattern. Their former IPL team was called Pune Supergiants. ATK Mohun Bagan had grabbed their maiden Indian Super League title this season(ANI)
“Subsequent to the Board meeting held today, the name of the club will be Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) from 1st June 2023,” the club announced.
ATK Mohun Bagan recently won their first Indian Super League title of the season with a 4-3 win over Bengaluru FC through a penalty shootout.
After their triumph, RPSG owner Goenka informally announced that the prefix ATK would be dropped and they would henceforth be known as MBSG. However, the announcement was formalized only after the Board meeting on Thursday.
ATK was formerly known as Atletico de Kolkata after its tie-up with the Madrid-based Spanish giants. Atletico Madrid, however, split with them after three seasons and sold its 25% stake to the RPSG Group. The Group then became the principal owners of the ISL franchise and renamed it ATK.
ATK came to the rescue of Mohun Bagan, who were struggling financially, and the RPSG Group bought an 80% stake in Mohun Bagan ahead of the 2020-21 season. The two merged clubs came into existence on June 1, 2020.
The decision to prefix ATK to the century-plus old club’s name did not go well with the fans, who felt that the rich history and legacy of the club were being compromised. They staged protests near the club’s tent in Maidan and CESC office, and “Remove ATK” placards were seen in the stands during every ISL match played by the team at the Salt Lake Stadium.