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Are you a
Mohun Bagan fan , who used to go to the
Mohun Bagan ground clutching your
fathers hand to watch your heroes in
action ? Then please share your golden
memories with us !
Please
send your entry to
oldgold@mohunbaganclub.com ,
mentioning clearly your name , age ,
current residence along with your entry
.
Kausik Das: 32 yrs : Madarat, Baruipur, West Bengal
shares his 'GOLDEN MEMORIES' with us !
Proud MohunBagani
First, I must thank all of you, those are behind the scene, for conceiving the whole idea of making such a fascinating and inspiring website that let us get back to the old days (not ages behind) of glamour and glory.
I can clearly remember two things about Mohun Bagan.
First one : Then I was in class II and the year was 1980. I had a good fight with my mother regarding a Mohun Bagan match just as she claimed the radio to listen to some of her favourite radio programme. I was charged with the inspiration passed on by my father. Unlike him, he had a cool smiling face seeing my anger.
Second one : 30th June, 1989 - it was the day when Mohunbagan won the first ever match with the Bangals held at Salt Lake Stadium by 2-0.
Sisir Ghosh scored 2 goals. I remember the day, since apart from a very good result of my school, in Madhyamik Pariksha, I had a lot more to enjoy. In fact me and Dipu (Diptendu Roy) danced together over a railway bridge at Katihar, knowing the result of the match before our result making a lot of our friends and their gurdians astonished.
This is, what Mohunbagan is to me.
Regards,
Kausik Das
Sabyasachi Biswas, Behala, Kolkata,
shares his 'OLD MEMORIES' with us !
Proud MohunBagani
Hi --
My friends say i'm a blind supporter,yes iam proud to be a supporter like this. I'm 30 yrs old now and a W.B.C.S.officer. But still enjoy our game as always. I first visited mohunbagan ground when i used to study in class 6. From then onwards i never fail to see our teams in action whenever i'm at home. When i was unemployed i didnt miss asingle match.Even when i was posted at North Bengal i made 10hrs journey to watch a so called unimportant match whether at our ground or at Saltlake. You know there were & will be always people like me who will never miss an oppurtunity to see our team in action.ALL THE BEST .
SABYASACHI BISWAS
BEHALA
,
KOLKATA
Tapobrata Sarkar, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, IIT, Kanpur,
shares his 'OLD SWEET MEMORIES' with us !
My First Mohun Bagan match
Hi --
I am a professor at IIT, Kanpur and an ardent Mohun Bagan supporter. I never missed a Mohun Bagan match if I was in the city in which it was being played, and even if I am abroad, I feel the tension during the match hours and during any match, my heart is with the team. I still remember that in my childhood, in the middle and late seventies and the early eighties, whenever Mohun Bagan would win a tournament or a match against East Bengal, there would be sweets and "abir" in our house and a general feast will follow. I still remember that day in 1978 when in the league match against East Bengal, Shyam Thapa scored a brilliant goal with his bicycle volley and my father and uncles came home from the field with roshogolla and chingri machh and we burst crackers and put abir on each other. If we lost to East Bengal, there would be no dinner in our house.
My father and uncles would sit with angry faces venting their anger on the "bangals" and I would be crying and crying, tearing up my collection of Mohun Bagan players' pictures and promising never to support the club again. However, it never happened that way.
I still remember that day in the seventies when the floodlights at the Mohun Bagan ground was inaugurated. Please forgive me because after about 30 years of the incident, my memory does not serve me right, but I still remember that was the first Mohun Bagan match that I went to see, in the Mohun Bagan ground, and our opponents was a team from Russia. Well, we lost the match by probably three goals or so, but oh what excitement. The ground was so full that we could not find a proper place to sit and I was standing at the fence for most of the match, watching my dream players within a few metres. I still remember Shyam Thapa took a brilliant shot that was just barely saved by the Russian goalkeeper. What an evening it was, what a memory !
It pains me to see the club in such a shambles now. Can't we all do something about it. But I am sure, that in the true tradition that we have maintained for the last 115 years, we will come back and come back strongly. Victory to Mohun Bagan !
Tapobrata Sarkar
Assistant Professor,
Department of Physics,
IIT, Kanpur 208016.
Abhijit Roy from India shares his 'PASSION' with us !
Arunava Majumdar from India shares his 'EXTRAORDINERY MEMORIES' with us !
(The content is the extract from
the mail of Arunava Majumdar, which
he posted in our FAN CLUB)
Can I make an honest confession ?
I just want to make an confession which I could not do over the last 23 years. Now I think I have got a platform which is this forum where I can express myself.
The incident happened way back in 1981 when I was just a student of class three in a local sub-urban school at a distance about 45 km from Kolkata.And I was an ardent East Bengal fan. Most shocking!! Is not it ? But please spare some moment, you will get the essence of it. My uncle was an active EB life member. My neighbours were EB fan. My classmates were mostly EB fan. I am talking of the era when there was no 24 hr.s round the clock cricket show on t.v., there was no question of cable t.v. The only thing we had was a radio set, daily news paper and few bengali sports magazine like Khelar Asar, Khelar Kagaz and a big big heart to make us enough fanatic for Calcutta Football. So due to the atmosphere around me I was considering myself as in EB camp. My age was just eight that time, truly not matured enough to choose between EB or MB. But situation turned dramatically for me. I used to read the magazine Shuktara regularly. Shibaji Banerjee started writing there how was his feeling during playing the match against Cosmos. Chuni Goswami was writing his autobiography "Khelte Khelte" in Anandamela. So the printmedia around me was truly Mohunbagani. And adding to this that year(1981) EB showed pathetic performance in CFL. They lost to Mhd. Sporting (This was the last year MSporting won CFL). EB lost to MB (by solitary goal from Xavier Pyas). So atmosphere was shocking. Then I started to think(thinking of a 8 years old) should I support EB ? My MB classmates who were fewer in no. started roaring. I thought if I pose myself as a MB fan in the outside world, then only I can stand with glory and pride. I can feel myself accepted into the society (society as perceived by me at that age) if and only if I am MB just because MB was winning and EB was losing all the way. But the conflict inside me was always. I was in some sort of identity crisis. But days went on. I started growing by age. New things were getting added to our lives like television. Then one day suddenly my EB uncle in between his conversation said something against MB and to the full astonishment of others I protested his words. My uncle was shocked to hear that. But on that day I realized that there has been a complete transformation within me. No longer I need to pose anything, no longer I need to suffer from identity crisis. I have got my identity. My identity is Mohunbagan.
Dear MB friends, I shared my hidden feelings in the forum. I think this is the time for me to test myself if I am accepted as a Mohunbagani by you all or not. If you accept me I shall feel myself proud MB fan. And if you do not accept me then ? Well still my pride will always be with me. Still I want to know your comments.
Thanks,
Arunava.
Sankar Chatterjee from Canberra ,
Australia shares his 'SWEET
MEMORIES' with us !
(The content is the extract from
the mail of Sankar Chatterjee, which
he posted in our FAN CLUB)
1947 IFA Shield Final
When I joined the
Fan Club I promised that I would
share my sweet memories of Mohun
Bagan Athletics Club (MAC) with you
all.
I was initiated into MAC when I was
a 9 year old boy. I heard my elder
brothers, cousins and my uncles were
in a joyful mood talking about MAC
winning the IFA Shield. It was 1947.
I heard them saying that the Shield
was theirs. Then I heard that there
would be a feast to celebrate that
win. The next day I noticed my uncle
was making a UNAN or CHULA out of
bricks and mud on our UTHAN or
courtyard. The menu was simple.
Rice, meat, dal, alurdom and misti.
My uncle was the main cook and my
sisters were great helps. Fifty odd
people of our locality (intersection
of HAZRA and LANSDOWNE (now Sarat
Bose) ROADS came to our home to
celebrate the occasion. I must
mention here that those who were not
supporters of MAC also joined in
good spirits. After all we were all
friends. I must mention that
everybody used to share the cost.
1948 was also a good year for MAC.
We won the IFA Shield again. The
other finalist was Bhowanipur Club.
If my memory serves me right I think
the first meeting was a draw 1-1.
The second meeting was a nail biting
match. We all were glued to the
radio commentary. I think it was
Berry Sarbadhikary who was doing the
commentary. MAC won by 2-1. It so
happened that Kanai or Ranjit Singha
the outside right of Bhowanipur Club
was uncle of a friend of mine. His
name was Dilip. They used to live in
a house opposite Basushree cinema.
Dilip used to be my class mate in
Model High School in Lansdowne Lane
very close to our home. Any way, I
used to say to him that his uncle
should not score against MAC. Please
do not laugh. I was only 1 ten year
old boy at that time. Montu Mitra (Montuda)
brought the Shield from MAC to
display at his business premises
RIMER & Co which used to be at the
junction of Hazra and Sarat Bose
Roads.
You all must be wondering whether we
had another get-together at our
place to celebrate that win. Yes -
we did have.
I must stop here to-day. I do not
know whether I have started to bore
you all. Please write to me whether
I should continue to write in this
format.
In this context I must mention two
dear friends of mine who used to
share good and bad times with me.
Prasanta Mazumder and his elder
brother Prodyut Mazumder (Prodyutda).
They will love to share their
experience with you all.
1952 IFA Shield Final
Here I am again.
I am going to talk about 1952 IFA
Shield Final. I still regard it was
one of the best displays of undying
determination of Mohun Bagan and in
particular Sailen Manna.
Rajasthan Club was our opponent in
1952 final. It was a new team with a
lot of dedication. Thre was a lot of
hunger in their bellies.
Mohun Bagan went to the final as a
clear favourite. We were all glued
to the radio hoping for a quick
whitwash of Rajasthan. Soon we were
in the defensive mood. Rajasthan
scored two goals. We were
speechless. The only thing we heard
was the commentary of either Pearson
Surita or Berry Sarbadhikary with
our heads down. The five forwards
were on top of Rajasthan penalty
box. Roonooda, Bodrooda and Bakarda
were trying relentlessly. But
Rajasthan defenders was rock solid.
And then there was a free kick
awarded to Mohun Bagan. It was only
nine minutes to go. If my memory
serves me correctly it was at least
a forty meters away. Mannada came to
the spot. He kept his cool. He
kicked and it found the net. The
eleven Mohun Bagan players were
energised with that. They pounded
Rajasthan goal mouth like American
B52 bombers. Then there was a corner
kick awarded to Mohun Bagan. I do
not remember who took the kick. But
I remember that it was received by
Bodrooda. He went backwards. Some of
the players came for him but he
successfully lobbed the ball to
Bakarda who found the net. It was
two all. Then just about all Mohun
Bagan players were in the penalty
box. There was another shot at the
goal and it hit the crossbar. I do
not remember who took that shot.
Then there was final whistle. We
thought that we should have won but
full credit to Rajasthan. We could
not take any credit away from them.
The match was played in good
sportsmanship spirit.
I still think it was Mannada's
captaincy that saved the day. I
regard Mannada as a great captain
and has been one of our best
ambassadors for Mohun Bagan. In
sportsmanship spirit, he was second
to none during that period. I am
glad to know that Mannada is still
working tirelessly for the
advancement of football in India. If
you happen to meet him please give
him my regards. Please mention it to
him that Sankar Chatterjee is still
thankful to him for the wonderful
contribution he has made to Indian
soccer and to Mohun Bagan.
I must mention here an incident. The
next day there was a picture of a
section of the spectators in the
paper. Bomda who lived in the house
at the corner of HAZRA and LANSDOWNE
raods was in that picture
celebrating the second goal. Bomda's
home is the one which still has a
Shiva Mandir. Bomda was very proud
of his picture and I have no doubt
that he treasured that over a long
period.
There was a second final but it
ended in a goalless draw. We were
joint winners.
Yes - you guessed it right. There
wasn't a feast. It was not because
we did not win but the person who
used to take a lot of trouble was
not physically in good shape.
Revisiting incidents that happened
over fifty years ago is a wonderful
experience. I have forgotten a lot
of details. I shall appreciate if
some one points out to me any
factual incorrectness. I shall be
glad to hear and correct myself
accordingly.
With best wishes to MAC and to you
all
Sankar Chatterjee
Sankar Chatterjee
Canberra
Australia
Rajat Subhra Banerjee from Kolkata,
India shares his golden memories of
Mohun Bagan vs Cosmos with us !
(The content is the extract from
the mail of Rajat Subhra Banerjee,
which he posted in our FAN CLUB)
Aha! Lots of
nostalgic mails doing the circuit!
Like Somnath, I was also lucky
enough to see the Cosmos match.
Beckenbauer did not play, in fact he
went home from China and didn't
accompany the team to Calcutta. Pele
was there, of course, along with 2
other World Cuppers, Carlos Alberto,
the 1970 Brazil captain, and Giorgio
Chinaglia, who played for Italy in
the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.
Alberto scored one of the Cosmos
goals, but who scored the other? I
forget!
For Mohun Bagan, Habeeb and Shyam
Thapa scored the 2 goals. Habeeb
missed a sitter, otherwise we might
even have won the game. However, a
2-2 draw was perhaps a fair result.
Each and every Mohun Bagan player
played superbly, with Bidesh Boseand
Gautam Sarkar being outstanding.
Gautam's performance prompted the
next day's "Ananda Bajar" to say
that Beckenbauer's absence was
overshadowed by Kolkata's own Chotto
Beckenbauer! What a player! What a
game!
Pele himself was a bit of a
disappointment, apart from a
splendid free-kick which was saved
brilliantly by Shibaji Banerjee.
Pele rushed in to shake Shibaji's
hands as the ball went for a Cosmos
corner. (It was said that Shibaji
did not wash his hands for months
afterwards!) Otherwise Pele had an
ordinary match. In fact, during
half-time I remember a wit
commenting, "Dada, eta shotyiy Pele
to? Naki Shanti Gopal?" (In those
days Shanti Gopal was a popular
Bengali stage actor who was famous
for his life-like roles of Hitler,
Lenin and other historical
characters!)
This is something that is unique to
Mohun Bagan supporters. East Bengal
fans can never claim that their team
played against Pele's team and drew
the match. They have to be satisfied
with BEC TERO or some such weird
team! Kothay Pele, kothay Kele!
More later, Love, Rajat.
Rajat
Subhra Banerjee
New Alipore
Kolkata
West Bengal
India
Sunit Maity from Leuven, Belgium
shares his golden memories with us !
I am Sunit Maity
from Leuven, Belgium . Now I am 31
years old. I still remember my first
live match of Mohun Bagan.I dont
remember the year exactly but I was
around ten-eleven years old. It was
not in Mohun Bagan ground, but in a
small town. Me and my father(he was
a big fan too) went to Tamluk( a
district town in West bengal) to see
a match between Mohun Bagan and
Aryans(remember that
team !) What a team Mohun Bagan had
that time, i dont remember all the
names now but it was like this
goalkeeper: Shibajee Banerjee ( the
best penalty keeper india ever had
in my view) , Subrata and Samar
Bhattacharya in stopper, Gautam
Sarkar in midfield, Bidesh Bose and
Ulganathan in forward. I still
remember Ulga's run like a comet
down the touch line. Sisir Ghosh was
then playing for Aryan. We won the
game 3-2, those goals are still in
my memory. I was so happy that day.
I will never forget my first
encounter with Mohun Bagan team.
SUNIT MAITY
CENTER FOR MOLECULAR AND VASCULAR
BIOLOGY
CAMPUS
GASTHUISBERGHERESTRAAT
493000 LEUVEN BELGIUM
Chandrani Sen from Jadavpur, Kolkata,
India shares her golden memories
with us !
I Hi, I want to
share my first experience when I saw
the first football match at Mohun
Bagan ground. It was late 1987. Most
probably December. It was a cold and
sunny morning at the breakfast
table, when my father desided to
take my brother to the ground to see
the match between Mohun Bagan and
Indian Air force. It was a
pre-centenary celebration of the
club, and the Indian Air force was
invited for a parachute jumping from
the sky and then play the match. I
was very much disappointed as my
father did not ask me to come. I was
crying at my room. It seemed to me
that no one love me, all love of my
parents was only for my brother. But
my mother saw me, and asked why I am
crying?
After 3 hours, when father and
brother were going out to see the
match, me and my mother were
accompanied them. We saw the
paratroopers came from the sky, they
were jumping from the plane. The
wind was very strong, and some of
the paratroopers were deflected
towards Esplanade. One even broke
his leg. We hard that two players
were among the jumpers. Then the
match started. Mohun Bagan was
playing with a full sleeve jersey,
and Indian Air force with all white.
I will not spend much words on the
match. Because our team lost 1-0.
But for the first time, I really
feel the magical atmosphere of
football. It was like a dream. Just
wanted to share that experience with
you.
Chandrani Sen
Jadavpur
Kolkata - 70032
West Bengal
India
For Mohun Bagan it is ''EVER ONWARD''
It was way back in the year 1889, in Kolkata, some enterprising young Bengalis did something, which in later years had great bearing in changing the mindset of a nation!!
''MOHUN BAGAN'' was founded in 1889 and won the IFA shield in 1911 beating the redoubtable East Yorkshire Regiment 2-1 in final. From that moment, Indians started believing that '' we can do it''. Those were the days of the ''british raj''. Indians were plagued by the inferiority complex till that July 29 afternoon, when 11 barefooted-Bengali boys made the impossible possible!! The seeds of 15th august 1947 were sown on July 29th 1911.
115 long years have passed. My affair with Mohun Bagan started in 1960 when my father was listening to the Becton cup hockey final commentary! I asked my father who were playing - the answer was Mohun Bagan & Mohammedan Sporting. From that moment ''MOHUN BAGAN'' penetrated in to my heart and soul and till my last day will remain there.
During the sixties Mohun Bagan was the pride & joy of Indian football. The early seventies were the dark days. I used to go to a local derby wishing a Mohun Bagan victory. But sadly invariably came back devastated, frustrated and disappointed after yet another defeat. But the green & maroon remained closest to my heart & soul.
Mid seventies and beyond, things changed. We were back where we belonged. A few hiccups here and there not with standing, Mohun Bagan ruled supreme.
the year 2002 brought back the dark days of early seventies. The internal politics cast a dark shadow over the performance of the club. The great rivals enjoyed!! But what they do not know is Mohun Bagan is not merely a football club, it is a ''institution''. In a span of 115 years, dark period is bound to be there. But an institution like Mohun Bagan is capable of coming out of such period and this year we see the silver lining on the back of the dark clouds gradually enlarging.
Every time Mohun Bagan losses, I feel hollow. I tell myself never to go to see another MB match. I have had enough of humiliation!! Come the next match, i slowly make my way through to the eastern stands of MB ground or gate no 2 of YBK with a new hope that things will surely change. I feel pinched at some sarcastic comments made by the rival supporters about mohun bagan, but I firmly believe as all good things come to an end, all evils must end also. There lies the hope; there lies the mental strength of a Mohun Bagan fan. The spirit of ''never give up'' has carried us for 115 years and there is no reason to think that a few hiccups on the road will ruin our club. It can never happen because an institution stays forever!!
In my 44 years of emotional attachment with mohun bagan, I had so many sweet memories, which will fill up pages after pages. Time & again I felt proud to be a Mohun Bagan fan. Yes I was there with Mohun Bagan in the days of joy and happiness. But I swear I am much more attached to Mohun Bagan in its bad days. I owe it to Mohun Bagan who has given me so many happy days in my life that I remain to it in its days of sorrow.
The journey, which started in 1889, will never end. No matter what some rival group says, no matter what our recent performance speaks. The green and maroon brigade who fills up the stadium will achieve the journey. Who spend time, money & energy and undergo excessive mental tension to cheer mohun bagan. It is the love, it is the affection, it is the wholehearted belongingness that has seen 115 glorious years of an institution called MOHUN BAGAN. And god willing, We will continue our never-ending journey come what may to regain the position that fits on our head only.
Mohun Bagan has not finished. Mohun Bagan can never finish. For Mohun Bagan it is ''EVER ONWARD''.
- Anjan Kr Bhattacharya. Tollygunge .Kolkata
I
witnessed our glorious revival of 1976
I am a staunch supporter of Mohun Bagan from
childhood, like all of you. I am also a life
member of the club. I still remember the days
when I hadbecome a life member. It was a few
weeks after the "Black Day" of our club, when
we lost 0-5 to EB. Suddenly life was
unbearable,especially at school, where all the
EB fans freaked on us! (One of them,
strangely, was named Somnath Chatterjee! He
now heads Suraksha Hospital in Salt Lake.) I
remember reading in the newspaper that one
supporter committed suicide, leaving behind a
poignant note saying that in his next life he
wanted to come back as a Mohun Bagan player
and take revenge. Hundreds of members were
burning their cards. I was 16 years old then,
quite sentimental, and naturally I was very
badly affected by all this. Then my father
suggested that this is the time to stand
behind the club. He then made me a life
member, for which I am eternally grateful to
him. Subsequently I witnessed our glorious
revival of 1976, the great matches against New
York Cosmos and Ararat Yerevan and a Korean
outfit (I forget the name – was it Pyong
Yang?),etc. Which makes me hope for a similar
revival in 2004/05 and thereafter.
- Rajat Subhra
Bannerjee . New Alipore .Kolkata
I named my Son -
Dunga
I am from IIT KGP ( ME 78) Patel Hall. In 1976
I almost got beaten up by the EB fans for
flying an MB flag !! After our comeback from
the 0-5 defeat. Unfortunately, I don't live in
India any more. I hope to visit for a few
weeks in November along with my 10 year old
son. I named him "Dunga" ( after the Brazilian
captain of the 1994 WC winning team ) with the
hope that he will give the bloody bangals a
hard time one day. ( I will have to be careful
with my words here because I married into the
enemy camp. During my visit I will request
Chunida ( Chuni Goswami ) to bless him. When I
visit I will try to have a get together with
the hard core MB fans.
- Siddhartha Dey .
Canberra . Australia.
I took up the
challenge
I am Sumit from Pune. u remind me those
glorious days. in 1989 the EB team was full of
stars chima, bikash, krishanu, tarun, mona,
bhaskar, and if i'm not wrong sudip also. one
of my class mate who was EB supporter
challenged me by saying "chima 4 goal debe,
bikash 4 goal debe, krishanu 4 goal debe,
toder kormokorta-der bol goal line-e danriye
jete, jaate goal save korte paris". i took up
the challenge, though i had a lot of doubts as
we had shishir, babluda, debashish mukherjee
(goalkeeper), satyajit, alok mukherjee and a
lot of junior players. but our stars dominated
through out the match. first goal has been
cancelled with no reason. again shishirs head,
that made bhaskar fool. lastly shishirs head
fooled tarun and bhaskar. it was a memorable
win.Don't worry guys, we'll definitely come
back. don't forget we were not able to play
1st NFL, still we won it 3 times.
- Sumit Ghosh . Pune
. India
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
My dear soldiers (you are not footballers, you
are soldiers ,think this way),we are all
wishing you victory and only the victory.
Nothing else. Bring us the victory, bring us
the day, and we will cover Kolkata with Maroon
and Green. We are the generation next Mohun
Baganis, who don't know anything except the
crashing victory. Take oath, you have the full
the support from us, just FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
FIGHT.......don't give them an inch without
fighting. If they score one goal, we will
score 5, that should be the Mantra for 2004
and for the last match, just give us a small
place to breath, we are all with you... JUST
BRING US THE VICTORY.
- annonymous
. Kolkata
" Bhaier kopale dilam
phonta "
I am wishing my brothers, who will play the
last match, for the victory. Your sisters like
me are waiting for the victorious brothers
.Please bring us the victory. My father was a
blind supporter of the team. Today he is not
with us. I am a working girl, living with my
mother. And brothers, you know in this world,
a girl alone have to face a lot of bad
situations. Please bring this sister of yours
a moment of joy. I can give you nothing but
the tears of joy.
Lastly i would like to say :" Bhai er kopale
dilam phota,jomer duare porlo kanta " [ I am
giving you all the blessings and love as a
sister . Now you are immortal , no one can
defeat you .] . On 11th i will be wearing the
Green & Maroon Sari and pray to God for our
victory .
- Jhumpa . Kolkata
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