Fortis Football Club (Bengali: ফর্টিস ফুটবল ক্লাব) is a Bangladeshi professional football club based in Badda, Dhaka.[1] They compete in the Bangladesh Premier League, the top flight of Bangladesh football, having gained promotion as the 2021–22 Bangladesh Championship League winners.[2]
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| Full name | Fortis Football Club Limited | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Fortis Warriors | ||
| Founded | 2020 | ||
| Ground | Muktijuddho Sriti Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 15,000 | ||
| Owner | Fortis Group | ||
| President | Shahin Hasan | ||
| Head Coach | Masud Parvez Kaisar | ||
| League | Bangladesh Premier League | ||
| 2023–24 | 5th of 10 | ||
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Despite being a based in Dhaka, the club gives priority to players from Chittagong Division as majority of its owners are from the port city. The club also runs the Fortis Academy Team, which competes in the Bangladesh Championship League.[3]
History
editEstablishment
editIn 2020, Fortis Group established Fortis Sports Academy Limited as part of their football development project, the club president Shahin Hasan stated that the club's main purpose is to establish academies all around the country in order to create a pipeline of future international players. Before its league journey set about, the club established the Fortis Football Academy. On 4 February 2020, Bangladesh Football Federation gave the green signal for the club to directly enter professional football through the Bangladesh Championship League, without having to play through the semi-professional lower divisions in Dhaka.[4][5]
Championship era
editFortis Sporting Academy was originally slated to embark on their domestic league journey from the 2019–20 Bangladesh Championship League season.[6] However, after the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of domestic football, they were compelled to postpone their long-awaited league debut for an additional year.[7] Before the start of the 2020–21 league season, the club under the name Fortis FC had completed the signings of ten players with Premier League experience. Notable among them were Khan Mohammad Tara, Uttam Barua and former national team striker Towhidul Alam Towhid. They also appointed Akbor Hossain Ridon as head-coach.[8] On 8 February 2021, Fortis began their professional league journey as they drew 0–0 against Farashganj SC in the opening day of the new league season.[9] On 1 March 2021, the club registered their first victory, by defeating Dhaka Wanderers 3–2 as, striker Mohammad Hasanuzzaman registered the club's first professional league goal.[10] During their debut season, Fortis finished in third place and were only 2 points off from the top spot.[11]
Before the start of the 2021–22 Championship League, president Shahin Hasan informed that the club recruited players from the then ongoing Chittagong Football League, and only retained 15 players from their previous campaign. Jahidur Rahman Milon was appointed as the new head coach and former senior national team defender Atiqur Rahman Meshu was added to the club's coaching staff as an assistant coach. On 24 April 2022, Fortis recorded a goalless draw against newcomers Azampur FC, which meant that the club were unbeaten in their previous 31 league games.[12] On 1 June 2022, Fortis secured promotion to the Bangladesh Premier League with two games to go, thrashing Kawran Bazar 5–0, with forward Mohammad Hasanuzzaman scoring a hattrick. Fortis finished the league season with the least goals conceded, and veteran keeper Uttam Barua topped the cleansheet charts.[13]
Premier League era
editOn 19 March 2022, Fortis initiated their 2022–23 Bangladesh Premier League campaign with a 1–1 draw against the reigning league runners-up Dhaka Abahani.[14]
Shirt sponsors
edit| Period | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|
| 2021–2022 | Sarah Resort |
| 2022– | TORR |
Players
editFirst-team squad
edit- As of 19 August 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Reserves and academy
editPersonnel
editCurrent technical staff
edit- As of 19 August 2024
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Masud Parvez Kaisar
|
| Team leader | Md Shahin Hasan
|
| Assistant coach | Vacant |
| Goalkeeping coach | Md Mostafizur Rahman
|
| Team manager | Rashedul Islam
|
| Assistant team manager | Uttam Kumar Barua
|
| Physiotherapist | Md Yusuf Ali
|
| Fitness Trainer | Touhidul Islam Siddique
|
| Media manager | Didarul Haque
|
| Junior academy coach | Jashim Mahadi
|
| Masseur | Fakrul Ahmed
|
Team records
editHead coaches' record
edit- As of 29 May 2024
| Coach | From | To | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | %W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akbor Hossain Ridon
|
January 2021 | July 2021 | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 43 | 18 | 54.55 |
| Sheikh Zahidur Rahman Milon
|
January 2022 | 13 June 2022 | 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 29 | 9 | 59.09 |
| Masud Parvez Kaisar
|
20 September 2022 | Present | 49 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 54 | 61 | 26.53 |
P – Total of played matches
W – Won matches
D – Drawn matches
L – Lost matches
GS – Goals scored
GA – Goals against
%W – Percentage of matches won
Management
editBoard of directors
edit- As of 25 January 2023
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| President | Md Shahin Hasan
|
| Managing director | Shahadat Hossain
|
| Media Officer | Mohammad Moinul Hossain
|
| Marketing Officer | Mohammad Ziaur Rahman Shakib
|
| Administration Manager | Abdul Mannan Shamim
|
Competitive record
edit| Season | Division | League | Federation Cup | Independence Cup | Top league scorer(s) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Position | Player | Goals | ||||
| 2020–21 | BCL | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 40 | 17 | 43 | 3rd | — | — | Zillur Rahman
|
12 |
| 2021–22 | BCL | 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 29 | 9 | 47 | Champions | — | — | Jakir Hossain Ziku
|
— |
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Promoted | Relegated |
Honours
editLeague
edit- Bangladesh Championship League
- Winners (1): 2021–22
Notable players
editThe players below had senior international cap(s) for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed, represented their countries before or after playing for Fortis FC.
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Asia
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References
edit- ^ "Fortis FC Ltd". globalsportsarchive.com. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ "Fortis Football Club wins Championship League". businesspostbd.com. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ "Newcomers Fortis FC pledge to use academy for success". businesspostbd.com.
- ^ পেশাদার ফুটবলে নতুন দল ফর্টিস একাডেমি ও উত্তরা ক্লাব. jagonews24.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 30 January 2021.
- ^ "BCL Football begins Feb 7". Daily Sun. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ "BCL football to begin on March 28 2020". The New Nation. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- ^ পরিত্যক্ত বিসিএল মৌসুম. Amader Shomoy (in Bengali). Retrieved 30 January 2021.
- ^ শিরোপার লড়াই হবে ৪ দলে. Daily Naya Diganta (in Bengali).
- ^ "Swadhinata KS beat Victoria SC in BCL". Daily Sun.
- ^ জয়ের দেখা পেল ফর্টিস. Daily Naya Diganta (in Bengali). Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ Islam, Rakibul (18 July 2021). বিসিএলে চ্যাম্পিয়ন স্বাধীনতা ক্রীড়া সংঘ. offsidebangladesh.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 21 July 2021.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "আর্জেন্টিনার রেকর্ড ছুঁতে চায় বাংলাদেশের ক্লাব". Prothomalo. 24 April 2022.
- ^ "কমলাপুরে ফর্টিসের উৎসব". Bangla Tribune.
- ^ "Abahani lose valuable point in BPL". observerbd.com. 10 December 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2024.