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MOHUN BAGAN DAY -
29th JULY AND OTHER IMPORTANT EVENTS |
ABOHAMON MOHUN BAGAN - A
DOCUMENTARY MADE BY DD BANGLA ON THE NATIONAL CLUB OF INDIA
MOHUN BAGAN AND CHINSURAH
TOWN CLUB - SHARING THE GLORY OF HISTORIC EVENT OF INDIAN FOOTBALL
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MB DAY CELEBRATION
- 29th July '07 Mohun Bagan Athletic
Club – The National Club of India, showed their spirit to the sports
sorority of Bengal. Like the previous seven occasions, the members and
the supporters were there to celebrate the Mohun Bagan Day as usual. The
dimension of festival was dignified with the introduction of some noble
aspect of rejuvenation. For the first time in India, a club put the
concept of mascot in reality - Mohun Bagan Athletic Club of Kolkata.
29th July 1911 will always be a part of pride for every single Mohun
Bagan fan , not only due to its victory in IFA Shield but also for its
pronounced patriotism which evoked the subservient society to fight
against the British rule. Even today people are paying their tributes to
those eleven bare footed soldiers for their impeccable achievement which
made the history to its height.
The function started in the cloudy afternoon but the cloud was not heavy
enough to wash out the festive mood of Mohun Baganies. U 13 Mohun Bagan
squad had a friendly encounter with the Avenue Sanmiloni to register a
2-0 victory over the latter. There were notable attendances of crowd
although there was a non stop threatening of monsoon rain. Some may have
thought that the monsoon cloud halted for a moment over the ground to
salute the spirit of Mohun Bagan.
Much of the enjoyment elongated with the ambient drum beaters playing
the drum around the ground. Then came the turn of Royal Bengal Tiger,
the official mascot of Mohun Bagan Athletic Club, which started
entertaining the crowd. Even the ex players were quite excited to have
the mascot with them in the photo session.
The ex players participated in a friendly football match. Former great
players like Pranab Ganguly, Ashoke Chatterjee, Bidesh Bose, Prasun
Mukherjee and others were using their skills to mesmerize the mariner
crowd. Mohun Bagan coach Carlos Pereira was there and even he was
thrilled to see the acrobatic effort of Tridib Talukdar to put the ball
inside the nylon net. That time coach Carlos Perreira was found sharing
a few funny moments with the mascot. P.K Bannerjee, Badru Banerjee was
also there to add the fragrance of festive to its perfection.
None could stop himself from getting the glamour of Mohun Bagan Day .How
could the tollywood stars remain an exception? They came forward with
the Sports Journalists to entertain everybody, Chinmoy Roy executed some
dribbling skill with the football. ! However the match ended at a 3-0
score sheet in favor of the tollywood stars, the function was not ended
rather just began.
The Mohun Bagan Ratna was awarded to Late Dhiren Dey for his
contribution as administrative body. It was during his time the concrete
gallery was made for the members. The flood lights were also introduced
in his time.
Anjan Mitra announced the official name of the mascot, it was Baggu. The
cultural program was lifted to a high with the presence of Arati
Mukherjee and Raghab Chhaterjee. The lightning fire crackers made the
moon to escape behind monsoon cloud. At the close of the function the
members gathered at the dinning space for dinner. It was all about a
pure taste of Mohun Bagan culture which not only told about the story of
old heroism but to engage the youth of today to shift the baton to the
youth of tomorrow. That was all about the experience of past to ensure
the expectation of future.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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MOHUN
BAGAN DAY CELEBRATION
29th July, 2006
It was 29th of July, 1911,
95 years back, when the Indian freedom movement found a new avenue
towards the independence when Mohun Bagan defeated East Yorkshire
Regiment by 2-1. 11 bare footed men showed their character and came
from behind not only to equalize but ultimately won the shield. It
was on that day when Mohun Bagan Athletic Club became an example
towards the subservient Indians and that phenomenon transformed the
whole nation. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club became the first ever Indian
team to win the IFA Shield and to pay the tribute, 29th July has
been celebrated as Mohun Bagan Day. This year the members and the
supporters of this prestigious club gathered together in numbers at
the club tent to celebrate the occasion.
It was a delayed start due to heavy rainfall; some may have thought
that it would going to be a colorless evening as it was still
raining. But the weather couldn’t stop the rhythm of melody; the
sweetness of sound that evoked from the core of Mohunbagani heart
remained unstoppable. 50 drummers started to move around the ground
beating the drum. Then it was the turn of the former players to show
their skills under these muddy conditions. It was very interesting
to watch as Coach Biswajit Bhattacharya was putting his efforts to
beat his opponent goalkeeper, Atanu Bhattacharya, who will be
assisting the former in this year's team. In this match, Green team
defeated Maroon team 1-0 via own goal. After this, another friendly
encounter was set between the sports journalists and the tollywood
film stars. The film stars were showing good skills as the opponents
were just trying to find some open space as they were in a mood to
find some news. The artist forum won by 3-0, Jishu scored one of the
goals, particularly impressive was Debesh Roy Chowdhury, who is not
only a terrific actor but also possesses terrific football skill. He
scored one of the goals.There was a exhibition of quite a few
pictures of Mohun Bagan displayed below the Mohun Bagan gallery.
There were some very good pictures of various moments of glory of
the players of Mohun Bagan.
The main function was arranged behind the goal post, a nice and well
decorated stage was prepared which was graced by the presence of IFA
President Aditya Kashyap, Mohun Bagan President Tutu Bose, General
Secretary Anjan Mitra, Sailen Manna. The VIP row was honored by the
presence of personalities like Russi Modi, Prasun Mukherjee, Chuni
Goswami, Baichung Bhutia, Biswajit Bhattacharya etc. The under-15
players of Academy who will be going in a week's time to play in the
final rounds of Manchester United Premier cup were facilitated by
the senior players. On this occasion it was declared that the junior
team would undergo a short yoga training under Baba Ramdev’s
supervision. Balakrishnaji in his speech reiterated the importance
of developing mental strength of the footballers and that can be
achieved through meditation.
Then Hon. Governor Mr. Gopal Krishna Gandhi entered the club to
grace the occasion. Everybody present there welcomed him putting
their hands together. He was received on the stage by Padmashree
Sailen Manna. Mr. Gandhi was in his mesmerizing touch of speech
illuminating the glory of football adding football as a heart of all
sports, particularly highlighting the success of Mohun Bagan. He
said "Ho sakta hai cricket hamara shaan hain, lekin football hamara
pran hai." He did congratulate the officials, the club members and
the supporters for maintaining the glorious history over a period of
time. On this auspicious occasion, biography of Dr. Sanmatha Dutta,
“Jiboner Pata Sobuj Maroon” was published. It was the time when
Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi launched the official website of Mohun
Bagan Athletic Club, www.mohunbaganac.com. This website has been
prepared by the team of www.mohunbaganclub.com, the unofficial and
fansite of Mohun Bagan club.
Umapati Kumar was given Mohun Bagan ratna
posthumously. His son Mr. Biswanath Kumar received this. Chuni
Goswami proposed the name of Dr. Sanmatha Dutta as Mohun Bagan ratna.
The whole function was compered by Bratati Bandopadhyay who did her
job with perfection with her elegant eloquent skill.
The final touch of this colourful evening came from the voice of
Lopamudra Mitra, performing on the stage for around an hour and then
Indranil Sen performed. The members and the guests were gathered in
the club lawn to give their tongue to test the delicious dishes. The
menu comprised of Paratha, Alurdom, Fish Fry, Mutton Biriyani,
Chicken Curry, Mango Chutney, Rajbhog and Ice-cream. The caterer was
Bijoli Grill. The food was excellent and it was the perfect finale
for the grand occasion. It was still raining outside, but it was not
enough to resist the rain of emotion and passion that comes from the
domain of heart with the fire crackers lightning the dark night. As
the members left the ground, they will surely be eagerly awaiting
for the same day next year.
EXCLUSIVE PICTURES
 
 
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29th July , 2005 - The Mohun
Bagan Day was celebrated with much pomp and show at the club today . The
functions started at 3:00 pm at the Mohun Bagan club premises . First , it
was a match between the Mohun Bagan SAIL Football Academy and Avenue
Sammilani . The Academy boys started well and showed good skill and scored
at the strike of half time. After the breather , they missed a penalty and
hence failed to go 2-0
up . Just minutes before the match , however , the Avenue boys managed to
score and the match ended 1-1 . Next , the Mohun Bagan veterans locked horns
against each other . Prasun Banerjee , Bhaskar Banerjee , Achintya Belel
and others participated in the friendly match . Prasun showed that his
skills are very much alive and he can easily put any Maidan mid-fielder to
shame even today . The match however ended goal less.
Next , the Calcutta Sheriff - Sri Subimal (Chuni) Goswami was
awarded the MOHUN BAGAN RATNA for the year 2005 . Sri Goswami said :
" I am really elated at being able to get a chance to receive this
honour . Mohun Bagan is and always will be my second home . I thank
everybody involved for giving me this honour " . Incientally , it was
none other than another Mohun Bagan Ratna - Sailen Manna who awarded the
memento to Chuni Goswami . Next , club President - Swapan Sadhan Bose (
Tutu Bose ) was feliciated by Sailen Manna for being nominated to the Raya
Sabha . Tutu Bose said - " Donot congratulate me today . Do not
celebrate today . Celebrate and congratulate me next year when i will
present to you all the National League !!! " .Then all the club
members and fans who had assembled at the club today (a few hundreds) were
called upon to the get-together feast.
 This
year 2004 ,the auspicious occasion of Mohun Bagan
Day was observed on 29th July . The legendary
icon Gostho Pal was awarded the Mohun Bagan
Ratna . The great defender also known as
the "Great Wall of China " was born in September
1896 . Till today people remember with the awe
the barefooted man standing tall in the heart
of Mohun Bagan defence Though Gostho Pal never
donned the colours other than the prestigious
Greeen & Maroon , all football fans around the
country respect him and remember him with
honour . If you visit Calcutta , you will find
the Goshto Pal Sarani with the statue of the
great man looking down at the football
fraternity from high above .The great era
ended in the fateful year of 1976.
A True Mohun Bagan RATNA
 An archive was launched in his honour & named
as Gostho Pal Archive, inside the club
premises. All the prestigious memorabilia of
the "Wall of China" are archived in that
section . This ceremony was preceded by the an
exhibition match between the MB Academy XI &
Avenue Boys XI which the former won 2-0 . A
match was also played out between the Green
Team & Maroon Team .
 This
concept of observing the Mohun Bagan Day was
started in the year 2001 .The Mohun Bagan
Ratna was awarded to none other than
Sailendra Nath Manna or better known as
Sailen Manna . Sailen Manna is also the holder
of the highly prestigious award - " Indian
Footballer of the Century" . The name Sailen
Manna is incorporated with every nook & corner
of Mohun Bagan . Infact the players dressing
room of Mohun Bagan was rechristened - The
Sailen Manna Dressing Room ,which was
inaugurated by the legendary singer Manna Dey
, whose other identification is that as an
avid Mohun Bagan fan.
 In
2002 The Mohun Bagan Ratna award went to
Dr.Talimeran Ao - The fantastic Assamese
footballer. Born in 1919 in the Naga village
of Chanki (Mokuchong district) Dr.Ao started
his football career in the Maharana Athletic
Club in Guahati .
Dr. Talimeran Ao, first captain of independent
India's Olympic football team, died at Kohima,
Nagaland at the age of 80 years in September
1998.
Dr. Ao, a barefooted player led the Indian
football team at the 1948 London Olympic
Games. Dr. Ao retired as director of Nagaland
Health Service in 1978 and devoted his time to
promotion of sports in the North-East. One of
the stalwarts of Indian football, five decades
ago, Dr. Ao representated Mohun Bagan from
1943-52. For two years he was captain of Bagan.
He made his debut as a schoolboy for
Guwahati's leading outfit, Maharana Club. A
legendary sports icon in the North-East, Dr.
Ao studied medicine at the RG Kar Medical
College, Calcutta. The highlight of his
football career was representing India on
several occasions and captaining the team in
the 1948 London Olympics.
Paying tributes to Dr. Talimeran Ao, another
stalwart of a bygone era, Sailen Manna says
that, "Ao was a hardworking player with a
superb sense of timing in his tackles and a
great team-man.
An example example of this selfless spirit was
evident in the 1950 Durand Cup final between
Mohun Bagan and Hyderabad City Police. In one
of the finest Durand finals ever played, Bagan
led their opponents 2-0 when midway through
the second half, their goalkeeper K. Datta was
injured and carried off. In those days
substitutions were not allowed. Ao who was
playing as one of the half backs (he could
even play as a defender) at once changed his
jersey and played in Dutta's place. He
performed heroically even though Hyderabad
City Police drew 2-2 and went on to win the
replay 1-0. In his playing career Ao was the
epitome of a devoted and committed team-man.
Dr. Ao breathed his last on 13th September
1998 in the Kohima district of Nagaland.
The First Mohun Bagan Ratna.
 In
2003 , Mohun Bagan Day was observed for the
2nd time . Amid mild speculations regarding
who would get the prestigious Mohun Bagan
Ratna Award ,it was decided that the late
Sibdas Bhaduri , a hero of many battles ,
including the historic 1911 IFA Shield where
Mohun Bagan defeated East Yorkshire Regiment
2-1 to become the first Asian team to defeat
an English outifit will be the Mohun Bagan
Ratna.
A tearful family of Sibdas Bhaduri turned up
at the occasion . The daughter of Sibdas
Bhaduri took the award on behalf of him amidst
a highly nostalgic Mohun Bagan fraternity.
(The Picture shows
Sibdas Bhaduri along with others in the Mohun
Bagan AC team holding aloft the historic 1911
IFA Shield .)
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