From 1910 to 1912,Mohun Bagan consecutively triumphed Bengal Jimkhana Shield. Obviously Mohun Bagan earned the highest position among all the Indian teams.
Then came the year 1911,one of the most memorable years, in the history of Indian football. Mohun Bagan reached the final after defeating St. Xavier’s in the first round, by 3 goals to nil, Rangers in the second round by the same score again, Rifle Brigade in the third round by 1 goal to nil and Middlesex Regiment in the Semifinal .1st day of semifinal was a draw.But finally Mohun Bagan reached final after victory by 3 goals to nil against Middlesex Regiment.The 29th of July 1911. Mohun Bagan lost in toss and was placed towards Eden Garden,and East York towards Fort William.The match referee was H.G.Puller.Under the captainship of Shibdas Bhaduri,Mohun Bagan players entered the ground encircled by thousands of supporters hopefully looking forward for the victory.The captain of East York team was Sergeant Jackson. The total match time at that time was 50 mins and a break of 5 mins in between. In the first half, Mohun Bagan was in an aggressive approach. The effort of Kanu Roy, Shibdas Bhaduri and Bijoydas Bhaduri is worth mentioning. Equally attacking was East York. But there was no goal.In the second half, Mohun Bagan was under tremendous pressure. At the end of 15 mins, Sergeant Jackson lobbed the ball to score the first goal. But hardly 5 mins passed and Shibdas Bhaduri of Mohun Bagan equaled the scoreboard. And eventually after a restless tug of war Mohun Bagan experienced the final strike. The hero of this historical moment was Abhilash Ghosh who hit the neat goal, by grabbing a quick pass from Shibdas, just at the verge of the end of the game, when only 2 minutes were left. Mohun Bagan won IFA Shield. All the spectators were astonished by the stunning performance of Mohun Bagan. The Indians burst in ecstasy. The most incredible fact of the game was that all the players of Mohun Bagan were barefooted. And those outstanding 11 players of the final match were1.Hiralal Mukherjee(Goal)
2.Bhuti Sukul(Back)
3.Sudhir Chatterjee(Back)
4.Monmohun Mukherjee(Back)
5.Rajen Sengupta(Back)
6.Nil Madhav Bhattacharya (Half back)
7.Kanu Roy (Forward)
8.Habul Sarkar(Forward)
9.Abhilash Ghosh (Forward)
10.Bijoydas Bhaduri(Forward)
11.Shibdas Bhaduri(Forward) Newspapers throughout the world, like London Daily, Manchester Guardian, Singapore Times, local newspapers like Empire, Weekly Mussalman, Comrade etc published the news of victory of Mohun Bagan appreciating and complimenting its skill and courage.“For the first time in the history of Indian Football, a core Bengali team, Mohun Bagan, won IFA Shield by defeating a competent White team. Though about 80,000 spectators were present on the ground, but most of them could not see the match. By noticing the flying of kites, they were following the actions of the match. And when they came to know about the win of their team, they started tearing off their shirts, waving them, tearing their hairs.” Reuter, London.Manchester Guardian commented ‘The team comprising of the Bengalis won the IFA Shield by defeating three top military teams. 80,000 Indians will remain witness to this event. There is nothing to be surprised at. The team that is physically more fit, has sharp surveillance and intelligence, wins.’
‘The members of the Moslem Sporting Club were almost mad…rolling on the ground…on the victory of their Hindu brethren.’ –The Mussalman, Calcutta.
‘The Bengali’ published a poem on 30th of July in honour of Mohun Bagan. It said,
‘Thanks my friends of football renown,
For bringing the British teams down,
A victory grand to behold,
Serene and noble-bright and bold’ –‘The Mohun Bagans.’
That year Mohun Bagan also won the Gladstone Cup and Asanulla Cup. But in the next year, 1912,it won only the Asanulla Cup. This year’s win was the third consecutive win.
At the beginning of the 1913,Shibdas Bhaduri handed over the charge of captainship to Habul Sarkar.But unfortunately no victory added to Mohun Bagan’s credit this year. It was this year when Gostho Pal, better known as the Chinese wall, joined the Club as back. His first match was against Dalhousie F C at the age of 16 only. He continued to play for 22 years thereafter as successful back. He also took responsibility of captainship from 1921 to 1926.
In 1914,for the first time, Mohun Bagan was given the opportunity to take part in Calcutta Football League’s Second Division, as a national team. First year 91 Highlanders won the League. Mohun Bagan and Messerers shared the second position. As 91 Highlanders was a military team, it was eliminated from the League, as per IFA rules. For the first Division League, Mohun Bagan confronted Messerers on the Caledonian Ground. First day resulted in a draw, but Mohun Bagan lost on the second day by 2 goals to 1. But fortunately, Mohun Bagan got the opportunity to compete in the First Division, since RGA team emptied a position by withdrawing from the League.
Meanwhile, Subedar-Major Sailen Basu had to leave Calcutta for his commitments in the Military Service for the first world war.The responsibility of Club Secretaryship was handed over to Dwijendranath Basu., nephew of Bhupendranath Basu. Dwijen was only 15,when he started playing, and he was the then best center forward . Dwijen served for Mohun Bagan,as a member of the Working Committee from 1912 to 1915,as the honorary Secretary from 1915 to 1923,as Asst.-Secretary in 1924,as honorary general Secretary from 1925 to 1932.During this time the association of ‘Gaice Babu’ – D N Guin (Deben) is worth mentioning. He was the ground Secretary of the Club in 1911-12,Asst.-Secretary from 1913 to 1923,and a member of the Working Committee in 1924.In 1914 and thereafter, Mohun Bagan participated in many charity matches to raise fund for different social reforms. This year Mohun Bagan celebrated Silver Jubilee. From 1915, Mohun Bagan started playing in the First Division League.On 15th May 1915, the first match was against Calcutta Club. The match resulted in draw. Participants of this match were
1. Hiralal Mukherjee (Goal)
2.Gostho Pal (Back)
3.Bhuti Sukul (Back)
4.Habul Sarkar (Half-Back)
5. Abhilash Ghosh (Half-Back)
6.Sanyal (Half-Back)
7.Babu (Forward)
8.Chatterjee (Forward)
9. Dafadar (Forward)
10. S.Bhaduri (Forward)
11. Bhattacharya (Forward)
Mohun Bagan succeeded in occupying the fourth position in the League. That year Mohun Bagan’s Junior Group reached the Semi-finals of the Trades Cup as well as the Coochbehar Cup. On the other hand, Mohun Bagan reached the Semi-finals of IFA Shield Competition.
In 1916, Mohun Bagan occupied the second position in the Calcutta League.
In 1917,Club lost to Middlesex team in the IFA shield. |
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