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The English Premier League season just came to an end with Manchester United bagging the title for the 10th time. Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea fans looking at the season as bygone and eagerly anticipate the next, already. La Liga too has sealed its fate as Barcelona are out of the chase and Frank Rijkaard shown the exit door. Their arch rivals Real Madrid shall celebrate for the second year in a row. Ouch. But, this is what football is all about, the true culture and the true fever. Right? Wrong.

Long before the money-spinning and oh-so-loved EPL or even before the war transpired between Barca and Real, there was one city in India that celebrated the fever of football. I am of course talking about Calcutta and a club formed in 1889. It was formed by a group of Bengalis keen to prove their mettle against the British. We all celebrate the day the club came into existence every year for different reasons, we call it Independence Day. A celebration we only started in 1947, losing out on 58 years of celebrating Mohun Bagan AC.

The oldest club in Asia was established on the 15th of August and while it would be hard to imagine an Indian club beating an English club today; in 1911, Mohun Bagan did defeat the foreigners in their own game of football. They won the IFA Shield taking down East Yorkshire Regiment 2-1. And while Mohun Bagan is arguably the most popular club in India, East Yorkshire Regiment is currently in the York League. We are talking about an Indian football team that boasts 119 years of existence and still going strong.

On the 29th of July, when Bagan lifted that trophy after beating the English, Achintya Kumar Sengupta, renowned writer, stated, "Mohun Bagan is not a football team. It is an oppressed country, rolling in dust, which has just started rising its head." Hindus, Muslims, the rich and the poor celebrated that day, united in the anti-colonial sentiment, it's called Mohun Bagan Day.

Most football fans know about the rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. If you support either clubs, it's almost personal. One of the many reasons of odium, the Gunners moved from Plumstead to Highbury, just four miles from White Heart Lane. In your face. That was in 1913, rewind about ten years and did you know Mohun Bagan's first ground was inside a marble palace known as the Mohun bagan Villa? Their home ground was then relocated to Shyampukur, and then again to Shyam Square. Mohun Bagan shared this ground with the Aryans Club and Bagbazar Club. Bagbazar club? Exactly.

In 1900 they moved to the Calcutta Maiden ground, after 15 years they got the ground of National AC. They played there till 1963 and the ground currently houses the Aryans Club and East Bengal Club. But here is a rather interesting story, when Bagan occupied this ground; there weren't sufficient funds to build a club house. However, crazy football fans existed then too and one morning a club house was noticed inside the premises. To date, no one knows who, what, when and why. But if it was a passionate Mohun Bagan fan's doing, it isn't pleasant knowing its home to East Bengal now. May his (or her) soul rest in peace.

Today, their ground is the best in Calcutta and if you thought the Brazilians had football in their blood, this stadium has Brazil in its roots. Literally. The lush green grass carpet has been imported from the home of Roberto Carlos and Ronaldhino. It is the Salt Lake Stadium.

The Manchester derby between United and City creates a stir; my stomach still feels a somersault at the thought of the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Forget high-profile, the city of Sheffield goes wild when Sheffield Wednesday takes on Sheffield United. But when rain is pouring and the field is nothing more than a muck pit, there is only one derby that isn't called off despite the brown slush, the Calcutta derby played between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.

East Bengal was a club formed by officials and players who broke away from Bagan in 1920. The rivalry was taken to the next level when the British divided Bengal along religious lines. And matches between the two dominated the Calcutta sports scene for decades thereafter and is still known as one of the biggest derbies across the globe. And while some of us sit at home to watch even a West Ham or Everton on television, there are others who only know football and the fever on the pitch and would weather a storm to watch the Calcutta derby.

A football fan believes and could argue for hours that the sport is far more exciting than cricket, but if you are a cricket fan, here's food for thought – Mohun Bagan is the first Indian club that went overseas to play football and cricket. Both? Yup. And here is more, in 1969, Mohun Bagan recorded winning all the trophies in Calcutta for football, cricket, hockey and tennis. So the next Independence Day celebration, let's spare a thought to a club that brought us sports. A club that brought unity.

Jaya Uttamchandani is a Sports Presenter for NewsX, INX Media. Before which she was a Radio Jockey for WorldSpace's sports channel 520 and Assistant Editor for espnstar.com.