Mohun Bagan was the first Indian team and the first Asian team to have defeated
a foreign team when they won the 1911 IFA Shield defeating East Yorkshire
Regiment 2-1.We all have heard about Mohun Bagan defeating East Yorkshire Regiment in 1911
to lift the IFA Shield. But few know the whole story behind it.
In honour of this
historic victory , the " Manoshi " magazine came up with a song on Mohun Bagan
, which became a common tune in the lips of all Indians .
( the picture below shows the first
song that was written on an Indian football team )
( song from the " Manoshi " magazine . - August
1911 )
It was the last week of the month of July in the year
1911. It marked a mass up rival of the of the Indian natives against the
British regime. Before this "National Association" & even Mohun Bagan had
defeated some British teams to win local tournaments like the Trades Cup , but
there were no major British teams in those tournaments. Thus winning the
Shield was a matter of great privilege . It was the clarion call of a golden
dream .Mohun Bagan had defeated heavy weight teams like St.Xavier's (3-0), Rangers
(2-1), Rifle Brigade(1-0) & Middlesex Regiment(1-1;3-0) to reach the final. At
this stage all the Bengali youths were rejuvenated with undaunted spirits .
The Bombay paper- "The Times of India Illustrated Weekly" reported that "
Thursday & Friday were the proudest day of the Bengalis life . That the
barefooted Bagan boys were defeating the foreign teams was the only discussion
in the trams, buses & among the office 'Babus' " . On the other hand the
Britishers were not at all amused at these events . On 4th August 1911, the '
Hitabadi ' magazine reported that " on the evening after the semifinal was
over , an Indian passenger asked his co British passenger the score of the
match . In return he got a tight slap! "
29th July .1911 . It was the
Independence Day of Bengali Football .Thousands of people thronged from far
away Patna ,Purnia ,Kishanganj,Assam & Dhaka to watch the match . On the day
of the game at 11:00 am , the " Calcutta Football Club" brought about 10
thousand people around the ground. Such intense was the atmosphere that the "
Bangiya Sahitya Parsad " had to postpone their scheduled condolence meeting of
Indranath Bandopadhyay.Estiamting a huge turnout the East Indian Railway
arranged for special trains from Burdwan to Ranaghat. Special Steamers were
arranged to bring people from Rayganj & Baranagar. All trams from Shyambajar &
Chitpur were extremely crowded. Traffic jams were created near the High Court
& Strand Road.
It was perhaps in 1911 that the first Illegal tickets (black
tickets) were sold in Bengal. On the match day , a 2 rupee ticket soar to
Rs.15 . Coolies were charging about 50 paise to 2 Rs. to run errands.(This was
a huge money in those days). The " Pioneer" reported that " A boiled potato
costed 1 paise & paan was 1 anna !! "
About 80 thousand to 100,000 people were there in the maidan to watch the
game. One side was filled up with the Calcutta Babus & the other side by the
Smith Company. The rest was like black sea waves showcasing the heads of the
people. Everybody wanted only one thing. -The victory of Mohun Bagan. There
was not an iota of space even on the treetops, telegraph posts & roof topped
houses.The British civilians were quite vociferous too ! They had come prepared with
effigies of Mohun Bagan & the Shield.
"Reuters" reported that "the magnitude of the crowd was so large that the
scorers & announcers couldn't work. The scores were being broadcasted in the
form of KITES in the sky !!!! " The " Empire " magazine even setup a temporary
Telephone Exchange on the spot !!!
On the morning of the match day, the Mohun Bagan players went to
Kalighat temple to seek blessings of 'KALI'- the goddess of Power. With Red
Tilaks on their foreheads the Mohun Bagan players stepped in the pitch one by
one . They were :
Hiralal Mukherjee; Bhuti Sukul, Sudhir Chatterjee,
Manmohan Mukherjee, Rajen Sengupta, Nilmadhav Bhattacharya, Kanu Roy, Habul
Sarkar, Abhilash Ghosh, Bijoydas Bhaduri, Shibdas Bhaduri (CAPTAIN).
( The Immortal XI )
The ground was hard and dry. A very pacy game commenced. The barefooted Bagan
players matched their Britsh counterparts in every aspect of the game. Each
long ball from the Regiment players received loud clapping from the English
ladies , & simultaneously every counter attack of Mohun Bagan received
thunderous applause from the crowd.
Suddenly Jackson of East Yorkshire regiment scored from a free kick. The
English ladies started to burn the effigies of Mohun Bagan.Black KITES filled
the maidan skies. East Yorkshire-1 . Mohun Bagan -0
Bagan started afresh with renewed zeal after the breather. Within 20 mins
Capt. Sibdas Bhaduri restored parity. Amidst high voltage cheers from the
crowd the Green' Maroon KITES filled the skies !!
It was the 87th min. Abhilash Ghosh received a pass from the
captain, & his powerful shot went straight into the goal !
Within a few seconds the whole of Kolkata was filled with thunderbolt
like crackers. It started to rain in shirts, sticks ,shoes within the ground.
The Englishmen made a hasty exit. Cries of " Bande Mataram" & "Mohun Bagan ki
Jay" ( Hail Mohun Bagan) filled the skies.
It is said that when the team was returning to the club with the
Shield, a Brahmin pointed to the Union Jack atop the Fort William & asked - "
When will that come down ? " Somebody replied that " It will come down when
Mohun Bagan will win the shield again."
It may be a coincidence , but Bagan won their next shield in 1947 - the year
of Indian Independence. !!!!
The players were taken on a public procession atop a Horse driven
carriage. Both Hindus & Muslims came out with band parites.The procession
reached Wellington Square after evening ! Ladies in the houses blew their
conchs & lit their 'diyas' ( lamps) in honor of the brave lads.
After a full round of the city followed by innumerable fans ,
the procession came to a halt near the house of Club Supervisor-Sailen Basu.
The whole night of Kolkata was bathed in lights . Only Chowringee Square
remained dark. It was the Sahib Para ( British Locality) of Kolkata.
The next day was almost celebrated a National Festival. Huge feasts
were held in many places including the house of Sailen Bose.Jalsa( song &
dance) & fetes filled the city. The famous drama - "Bhisma Vijay" was enacted
in honor of the victorious team !!
In England - London Reuters , The Daily Mail , London Times. The Manchester
Guardian , Singapore Free Press all acknowledged & congratulated Mohun Bagan.
The Indian - Amrita Bazar Patrika christened the team as " Immortal XI ". The
Statesman & The Englishman did the same. The Empire reported - " All
honors
to Mohun Bagan. Those XI players are not only a glory to themselves ,but the
whole nation deserves the billing "
The Aftermath:
Standard Cycle Company( 59 Harrison Road) started to give free posters of the
Mohun Bagan team with their products. About 100,000 copies were sold ! Merrs.
Hald & Chat (Halder & Chatterjee) reduced their
wares by 50% for all Mohun Bagan members !! The Great National Theatre
advertised the 'Baji Rao' play as : "Mohun Bagan wins the Shield, Bajirao is
the victorious !
Achinta Kumar Sengupta in his ' Kollol Jug' said " Mohun Bagan is not a
football team. It is a tortured country, rolling in the dust, which has just
started to rise its head."
1911 IFA Shield still stirs the memory of the football lovers. The National
Pride was churned up in the wrap of a football game. The dusk after 1857 Sipoy
Mutiny reappeared as the golden new dawn in 1911 .
A postage stamp had been published by Govt of India in 1989 remembering the 1911 Victory of Mohun Bagan Athletic club. It is to be noted that Indian Nationalism has got a boost after this win. Govt of India honoured the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club and it's immortal eleven for the fight for an oppressed country. This is the only postage stamp in India that has been published for a Club. It is that moment when Mohun Bagan has been annouced as the National Club of India.
Compiled by Trinanjan Sengupta.
Special Thanks to : Mrinmoy Dey, Kunal Roychowdhury Sources :Ananda
Bazar Patrika , Aajkaal
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