National Club of India, Mohun Bagan celebrates the 29th July every year as Mohun Bagan Day. It was on this day in the year 1911 that a team of brave Bengali youth outclassed a team of British soldiers on the football field and annexed the IFA Shield. They not only won the coveted trophy but sowed the seeds of the independence struggle.

To remember and honour the valor and determination of the Immortal XI, the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club observes this day as the Mohun Bagan Day. The Mohun Bagan Ratno is awarded to a senior player of yester year, whose services have brought glory and accolades to the Club and been remembered by the fans and officials alike. It is more or less an award bestowed on the individual for his lifetime achievement. This year it was Mr. Samar (Badru) Banerjee’s turn to be awarded this prestigious award.

The day is also celebrated as a get-together of the fans, supporters, officials, players – past and present. The joy of meeting each other overcomes the boundaries of language, religion and political belief.

On stepping inside the Club premises one is welcomed by the soft tune of the shehenai and the decently decorated Club tent and lawn. The football ground is also dressed up with “green and maroon” lights as is the big shamiana where the felicitation, musical program and the dinner took place.

The day started off early afternoon with junior teams from the Veterans Club and Mohun Bagan’s own, played a friendly match that had all the drama but ended goalless. Quite a few of these boys showed the potential to blossom into fine footballers in the days ahead.

Next there was an exhibition match played between two sets of veteran players of the Club, Shib Das Bhaduri (a member of the immortal team) XI and Bijoy Das Bhaduri (also a member of the immortal side and younger brother of Shib Das Bhaduri) XI which of course ended in favour of Bijoy Das Bhaduri XI winning 3-2. A lot of these veterans players still exhibited the magic in spells and reminded us all of the glory of Kolkata football of yesteryears. A total of 85 players were divided into two teams. They included Kannan, Naimuddin, Balai Dey, Shibaji Banerjee, Binay Panja, Jo Paul Ancheri, Pranab Ganguly, Abdul Khaleq, Achintya Belel, Sukhen Sengupta, Gouranga Banerjee, Sudip Chakraborty, Uttam Mukherjee, Hemanta Dora, Pradip Talukdar, Krishnagopal Chowdhury, Gunabir Singh, Amit Das, Saumitra Chakraborty and many others.

Thereafter, another football match between the Artist XI and the Sports Journalist XI was played. The Artist XI comprised of TV artists from Kolkata. This match was keenly contested and also showed that these artists of the small screen had associated themselves with this beautiful game of football in their school and college days as they did a lot of splendid running and passing. This match ended 1-1.

During play, the other legendary football stars trooped in, Sailen Manna, P. K. Banerjee, Chuni Goswami, Tarun Bose, Shibaji Banerjee, Biswajit Bhattacharya, Samar (Badru) Banerjee came along as did Utpal Ganguly, the IFA Secretary. Coach Karim was seen discussing with both Shibaji and P. K. Banerjee and Shyamal Banerjee.

The focus next moved towards the temporary dias constructed under the huge shamiana. Popular vocalists rendered songs both Rabindra Sangeet and modern. Two giant screens showed the history of the Club, the memorable goals scored and the visits and associations with Pele, Milla, Kahn and Maradona.

The trio of yesteryears, Sailen Manna, P. K. Banerjee & Chuni Goswami rose to hand over the Mohun Bagan Ratno to Samar (Badru) Banerjee with the Hony. General Secretary of the Club, Sri Anjan Mitra lending a hand. The crowd roared to cheer the felicitation as they did again when the Club Officials introduced each of the players and the coaching staff for the current season to the fans and members.

The members thereafter were treated to a lavish dinner with fireworks display in the backdrop.

REPORT: RANA BOSE

PICTURES FROM YESTERDAY’S EVENT (PICTURE: TRIDIP SHEET AND SUMANTA MISHRA)

 

 

 

This year’s Mohun Bagan Ratna recipient, Samar Banerjee, donned the Green and Maroon jersey from 1952-59. Popularly known as “Badru-da”, he joined team Mohun Bagan in 1952 during IFA Shield and the team became IFA Shield champion. In 1953, Mohun Bagan won Durand Cup for the first time, as Badru-da scored both in the semi final and final. In the year 1954, Mohun Bagan won first double (winning IFA Shield and Kolkata League) and Badru-da played an important role in winning these tourneys. In 1955, Mariners won Rovers cup for the first time and again Badru-da was there creating panic in opponent defense and scoring for Green-and-Maroon brigade.

In 1956, Mohun Bagan won double for 2nd time winning Kolkata league and IFA shield in same season. Badru Banerjee was the second highest goal scorer after Keshto Pal, another Mohunbagani. Badru-da became captain of the Indian Football team that participated in the Melbourne Olympics. India reached semi finals and eventually finished fourth. In 1958 he became Captain of the Mohun Bagan football team.

Mohunbaganclub.com met Badru Banerjee at his residence recently. 

"Congrats Badru da on becoming Mohun Bagan Ratna"

Badru-da: Thank you, I am very happy for getting nominated for this award.

"Few days back there was a controversy, few ex-players held a press conference and questions were raised on selection of Mohun Bagan Ratna, what is your opinion regarding this?"

Badru-da: Firstly, regarding Mohun Bagan Ratna, I think if officials follow a certain rule, then there will be no controversy eg. Say first preference will be given to players who are ex-Olympian, then ex-captain etc.  I am just trying to say if they follow certain rules while selecting this prestigious award, then they will not face any problem, otherwise there will be many deserving candidates every year.  Regarding Barreto, I feel he should get the award after he retires.

"Barreto does not deserve this award?"

Badru-da: No, I am not saying that.  He is a great player.  One of the best players I have seen and I think he is among the best foreign players ever to have played not only in Mohun Bagan but also in India.  He has tremendous sense of the game, very skillful, yet prolific scorer and very dedicated, but I feel if he is given Mohun Bagan Ratna now, it will put more pressure on him as after that if in any match he misses any goal or does not perform well, supporters will say "Whom did you give Mohun Bagan Ratna?"  I think it is best to give this award to a person after he retires.  Barreto, I think, is Platini of Mohun Bagan.  He has performed so well over the years.

Regarding ex-players, I feel they should sit with officials and resolve the issue.  I feel, barring 2-3, many ex-players of our time did not get recognition that they deserve.  I was not that popular as I had the courage to call a spade a spade and not yes man like few who got all the recognition.

"Do you feel ex-players should be there in executive committee?"

Badru-da: Yes, not many but if possible may be 15-20% can be ex players.  Presence of technical person definitely will help the committee to function better.  Since they have playing experience, they understand the pulse of the player better.  In our time, there were quite a few ex-players in executive committee and not only players, there were also eminent persons from different field present.  After retiring, I also served Mohun Bagan by being associated with the football team.

"Mohun Bagan won first double during your playing days?"

Badru-da: Yes, in 1952 I came to Mohun Bagan from BNR.  I had started my football career in Bali Pratibha.  Bali Pratibha created some issues , that’s why I had to join BNR, otherwise I would have donned Mohun Bagan jersey an year before.

In 1952 IFA Shield, we became joint winners with Rajasthan, first match score was 2-2 and second match ended goalless.  In 1953, Mohun Bagan won the Durand Cup for the first time.  I scored both in Semi Final and the Final match.  In 1954, it was 1st time Double for Mohun Bagan (Winner of both Calcutta Football League & IFA Shield in the same season).  We beat Hyderabad Police in the final match of IFA Shield by 1-0, I scored the only goal of the match.  In 1955, we won Rovers Cup for the first time.  1956 was the most memorable year of my life, Mohun Bagan won 2nd time Double. I was the second highest goal scorer for Mohun Bagan after Keshto Pal.  That year I became Captain of the Indian Football Team, which played in the Olympics at Melbourne.  India became the first Asian country to reach the semi-final stage of the Olympic Football tournament ever.  In 1958, I became captain of Mohun Bagan, but unfortunately we finished runners up in three tournaments.  In IFA Shield that year, first final between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal ended 1-1, I scored the goal for Mohun Bagan.  However, in 2nd final we lost 1-0.

"Did you play for Bengal?"

Badru-da: Yes, I also represented Bengal in Santosh Trophy from 1952-1956.  I became Captain in 1956.  Bengal won Santosh Trophy in 1953 and 1955.  In 1961, Bengal won Santosh Trophy under my coaching.

 

"Why you did not coach any big team like Mohun Bagan?"

Badru-da: I did not get chance, may be because I was not an "yes man" and protested when I saw anything wrong.  I coached for Barisha and Bengal.  Under my coaching, Bengal won Santosh Trophy but still did not get any offer from big clubs.

I later became a selector.  I am proud that I selected Manas, Bidesh.

"Will you share your experience of 1956 Olympics?"

Badru-da: I was selected as the Captain, I was very excited. Bidhan Roy congratulated me.  That performance of India still is the best so far in Olympics.  In quarter finals, we beat Australia 4-2, in semi finals we faced a very strong Yugoslavian team.  After goalless first half, we scored the first goal but could not resist in last half an hour and conceded 4 goals, final score reading 1-4.  In bronze medal match, we lost 0-3 to Bulgaria.

 In November 22, 1956,the news of Indian team came in the famous newspaper The Tribune of Melbourne.

 "Recently you were felicitated by AIFF."

Badru-da: Yes, after so many years Sports Minister of India Dr. M. S. Gill felicitated the surviving member of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics team to honour us for our achievement, better late than never.

 Unfortunately, I still have not got Padma Shree, I don’t know how can players who are still playing get Padma Shree when there are so many deserving ex-players.

 During the felicitation, I said, “We have been depressed. We didn’t get any recognition for what we have done. I am lucky to get the recognition now but feel sorry for my teammates, who couldn’t get it. I wish they were with me today.  We had six forwards in that team. It was an attacking team and it was Rahim Saheb, who inspired us to play well. His critics used to call him a slave driver, but for us he was the best coach we ever had.”

 

"Do you feel Rahib Saheb is the best coach India have ever produced?"

Badru-da: Definitely, he is one of the best coaches.  He was very strict regarding discipline and a very good tactician.  We enjoyed playing under him.  He was very sincere with his coaching.  He produced many good players for India. Every body was so dedicated and disciplined.

"Do you feel football has slowed down?  In your time there used to be attacking football with 2-3-5 formation."

Badru-da:  Absolutely correct.  In our time football was much more fast.  Nowadays players lack stamina and speed, may be that is why football has slowed down.  I always feel "Best Attack is best defence."  If we continuously put pressure on opponent, they will not have chance to attack more.  Though I was in forward, I also had to come down to help defence, it was like playing from box to box.  Always there were not more than 10-15 yards gap between midfielders and forwards, this requires players to have lot more stamina which we had.  In our time, there was no substitution.  We gave all our effort while playing, not thinking about whether I will be injured or not.  Nowadays, I see players wasting time, falling down so easily, going out on stretcher and again standing and coming inside ground, this all is negative football, this was not there during our time.  Also now players say "I am injured" and does not play many match, we did not do these kind of things.

  Also we performed well as we did not want to lose our position in the team.  We knew many players are ready to take our place.  Even if we are injured, we used to play the match.  By scoring the goal and helping team win the match and then getting praise and cheer from supporters and press gave me a big satisfaction.  (Laughing) I knew if I can score the winning goal, then my photo will come in next day’s newspaper.

 I have seen in recent times, big teams like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal fail against speedy teams which have more junior players.  This should be taken care of to improve standard of game.

 

 

"What is the reason?  Lack of good footballers, lack of good coach or lack of good administration?"

Badru-da: All are to be blamed for this.  I feel depressed the  way AIFF functions, still they are so amateurish in their activities.  AIFF President, Secretary are doing their job by sitting in AC rooms, how often do they visit the ground? The infrastructure is very poor here.

  Even I feel not all coaches are doing their job well.  Training method is not up-to-date with international standards. They do more exercise without ball and less with ball, so ball control is very poor among players, a player should first line how to cushion the ball, that is the basic necessity to be a good footballer.  There should also be more emphasis on short sprinting during the practice which helps a player to turn around quickly during the match and chase the ball, when it has been snatched by opponent.  Also footballers should have good reflex and most importantly the will to play better.

"Do you feel media also is a factor?"

Badru-da: Media can make and also destroy.  Nowadays, media always support players whether they are playing well or not.  I did not get favour of the media, I could have played for few more years, but under-performance in few matches resulted in critics writing against me and this shortened my football career.  Today, media is very soft towards footballers and always protects them and takes their side even in cases where players are found guilty.

"Any other reason for your short football career?"

Badru-da: In 1958, I got job in Burma Shell, posted in Siliguri.  I used to come by flight to Kolkata and do practice but could not continue this for long time.  Also I never used to butter to the officials while few of the co-players used to do.

 You can see that only 2-3 players of our time got so much recognition and became managers and coach many times, but AIFF could not find any more suitable manager or coach and did not give chance to many other deserving ex players.

 

"What qualities are required to be a good striker?"

Badru-da: A player must have good ball control, good position sense and scoring ability to succeed as a striker.  When a player is running and crossing the ball, the job of the person who is receiving the cross is much tougher than the one who is delivering the cross.  If the striker does not position himself nicely according to the cross, he will not be able to meet the ball and score goal.  Sometimes, I used to stand in wrong position in box to give false impression to stopper, but when the ball is coming in box, I used to quickly go towards the ball ahead of the stopper to make an attempt to score.

Also to be a good defender, you should have good anticipation and have to cover the player nicely during set piece.  Last year, in the derby match, Nabi scored two goals from corner without any defender marking him, where was the defence? It gave me lot of pain.

"So you are a Mohun Bagan supporter?"

Badru-da:  No.

"But just now you said, you became depressed when Mohun Bagan conceded the goals?"

Badru-da: I am not a supporter, I am a "Mohun Bagani" by birth, my heart is always with Mohun Bagan.

"Why did you then cancel your membership card?"

Badru-da: It was due to the gotup match in All Airlines Gold cup between Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting.  I was very shocked and canceled my card.  But then after Mohun Bagan won National league under Chattuni, during the celebration, President Tutu Bose requested me and that is why I agreed to become member of Mohun Bagan again after so many years.

 "Who was your best partner in field?"

Badru-da: It was Keshto Pal.  Keshto was a very good header and he used to disturb the goalkeeper a lot, many times due to his disturbance, I got ball in open and scored goals.

"We heard you were a student of medicine"

Badru-da: Yes. I was studying in RG Kar Medical college but after 3rd year I could not concentrate on my studies due to my football career.  While in college, I became All India Captain, Bidhan Ray came and congratulated me. I couldn’t practice medicine.

"You were one of the rarest footballers who has experienced the transformation from bare footed football to playing with boots.  What is your feeling about this unique transformation?"

Badru-da: I had habit of playing with boot from my childhood.  Without boot, a player can run fast but faced problem with team whose players were with boot.  Basically, if a player has talent, he will have no problem whether playing with boot or without it.  In an 1956 Olympic match, during the match, I removed my boots and went to ground barefooted.

"Whom do you treat as toughest opponent? Hyderabad Police or East Bengal?"

Badru-da: Definitely Hyderabad Police, then Mohammedan and after that comes East Bengal, though it was always a pleasure to score against East Bengal.  Jyotish babu knew Badru will score and so instructed his player to hit me.  Their goalkeeper was Dasgupta, a good goalkeeper, I scored couple of goals, I got such a satisfaction.  Not only East Bengal, scoring goals used to give me such happiness, I cannot express by words.  Thinking of those days, brings tears to my eyes.

"Which goal and which win would you rate as your best?"

Badru-da: Scoring the goal against Hyderabad Police in IFA Shield final is one of the most important goals of my career.  That year in semi final, I scored against East Bengal, their famous goalkeeper was Sanjib who was crawling in the ground and could not stop me from scoring.

  Among best wins, there are many, but winning Durand Cup in 1956, we won the final 4-0, was very special.  After the match, the supporters rallied and took use to Delhi Kalibari.  I was behind all the four goals scored in the match.

"Which striker, with whom you did not play in Mohun Bagan, you missed the most?"

Badru-da: I feel I could have made good combination with Mewalal.  He used to release the ball very nicely.  In my team, a so called icon, was very selfish and did not always passed the ball, he used to do a lot of gallery show.

"We have heard that in one of the matches against East Bengal, the referee by mistake have given a goal against Mohun Bagan, which has been directly kicked from an indirect free kick."

Badru-da: True, East Bengal scored from an indirect free kick when their striker shot directly into goal.  I protested and referee admitted his mistake and requested to continue the game and did not cancel the goal.  Our captain, Manna-Da asked me to give it up and later in the match I scored the equalizing goal.  I was not afraid to protest and was not afraid of anyone.

"Which defender you feel was tough to beat?"

Badru-da: Mona Ghosh of George was very tough and used to kick us a lot.  Refereeing was not strict at that time like nowdays.  Even Pele was not spared, remember World Cup 1966 where Pele was hit so badly by opponents.

"Would you like to comment on the Baichung issue?"

Badru-da: He is definitely a very good striker, has very good position sense due to which he has scored so many goals and playing successfully for many years.  But definitely he should not have gone to dance show during I league, that was an extremely bad decision on his part.  Even I feel Mohun Bagan should not have allowed him to go on the first day itself.

 Thanks a lot Badru da.  We had a wonderful time interacting with a stalwart like you.

 Badru-da: Welcome.  I also had a good time talking to you my boys.

INTERVIEW: Kaushik Chaterjee, Shiladitya Mitra and Tridip Sheet.

 REPORT: Shiladitya Mitra, Kaushik Chatterjee, Arindam Das and Subir Mukherjee

 

 

A clutch of Mohun Bagan players met on Monday at a city hotel and decided to boycott the Mohun Bagan Day celebrations on July 29. Subrata Bhattacharya, Prasun Banerjee, Sisir Ghosh, Prashanta Banerjee, Basudeb Mandal, Gautam Sarkar, Aloke Mukherjee, Krishnendu Roy, Atanu Bhattacharya, Bidesh Bose, Compton Dutta, Debasish Mukherjee, Mihir Bose, Subir Ghosh, Jagadish Ghosh, Dulal Biswas, Kesto Mitra, Manas Bhattacharya, Amit Bhadra, Samaresh Chowdhury were present to sign a document voicing their concern against the ill functioning of their former club by the current ruling group.

"There are quite a few reasons for this protest," said Subrata Bhattacharya.  "Firstly, the ruling faction doesn’t know how to treat ex players of Mohun Bagan. Secondly, officials never found us fit to be consulted on any club related issues. Thirdly, they have fascination for foreign coaches when there are several local coaches who have produced far better results."

Anjan Mitra, however, said, "It’s good that they are planning charity events.  If they are true blue Mohun Bagan fans, we respect their own way of celebrating the auspicious day.  As far as their grievances are concerned, we can always sit and sort out the matter across the table."

The football season in Kolkata has always been a high-voltage affair. The traditional rivalry between the two football clubs, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal has been there for ages. Although the season is scheduled to start from the middle of August, the present scenario is in no way uneventful. All of a sudden, a group of disgruntled football players, of yesteryears, with questionable integrity, led by Subrata Bhattacharya have woken up from their slumber, ganged up together, and are crying themselves hoarse for what they claim to being continuously ignored by the Mohun Bagan Club administrative body. Members and the countless supporters of the Club will. however. not be unduly perturbed by this agitation.

The disgruntled ex-players feel that the Club is not functioning properly under the ruling group, that they are being continuously ignored and their services are not being utilized at all for the development in the Club within. All of a sudden, they have turned chauvinistically India and one of them with an eye for the coveted job, is agitating for replacing the Club’s present Moroccan coach, Karim Bencherifa and parking himself as Head Coach.

Mohun Bagan under A license holder Morrocan coach Karim Bencherifa, won the Kolkata Premier League, Federation Cup and the Super Cup and narrowly ending runners-up in the I-League.  Karim Bencharifa has done Bachelor of Sports from Morocco and also an A licence course in Morocco which qualifies him to coach top teams of Morocco as well as the national team of Morocco.  Morocco is presently ranked 55 in world and India is 147. At one point, Morocco even were in the 30s in FIFA world ranking.  When AFC went through his papers, they said that the Diploma from the University of Leipzig in Germany which Karim has done few years back is equivalent to AFC B license and so he will have to do only AFC A licence.

So has the officials done any wrong by recruiting this qualified coach from Morocco, when most importantly he has delivered? After the completion of a successful season of Mohun Bagan, when team has united for preseason training, instead of coming and cheering the players and attending practice sessions, these ex-players are targeting Karim unnecessarily and this might cause undue tension among the players and will keep coach in pressure.  Is this the duty of ex-players?

We should not forget that coach of India at present is a foreigner, Bob Houghton.  Then they should again question why there is a foreign coach in India when there are so many eligible ex Mohun Bagan players would could be coach of India.

A coach should be judged by his performance and not whether he is from India or outside.  Saying that Karim is a "foreign coach" is a racist statement by itself.

About ex-players, Subrata Bhattacharya has been the coach of East Bengal in recent past and at present is the coach of Chirag United.  How many ex players of Mohun Bagan have he taken as Manager or Assistant coach during his coaching stint in these two clubs? Few years back, when he became coach of Mohun Bagan, these present set of officials had decided to appoint Pradip Chowdhury and Compton Dutta as advisor of Subrata, so that he can function better.  Subrata at that time had said, "Even if President of India comes, I will not take anyone’s advice."

Prashanta Banerjee said, "I am an A license holder, why don’t Mohun Bagan take me as coach?"  They should remember that Mohun Bagan is the National Club of India and here coach will have to deliver result, which at present Karim is giving.  Few days back, asst. coach A licence holder Mridul Banerjee said, "It is not important whether after having A licence with me, I am working as assistant coach or not. I want to work, I want myself to be involved with football coaching. The new job which I have got this year has the name "coach" with it, that is enough for me, I don’t mind at all being assistant coach."

Mr. Banerjee also added, "Only doing A licence will not help, how the person performs in field is very important.  Whether he can deliver, what he has learnt, to the players is a very essential quality which is required. Plus officials should have confidence on the person. Last year East Bengal officials and this year Mohun Bagan officials found me suitable for this job and has selected me. I have lot of experience of coaching from lower division to higher division. I have been coach of Bengal in the past and also of Mohammedan Sporting where I did more or less okay job. Actually the main thing is not the degree, yes it is an essential requirement, but how you deliver and perform in field is most important. The performance should speak for you and not degree."  Unfortunately, few ex-players of Mohun Bagan doesn’t have this mentality.

What do these ex-players expect? From its onset in 1889, numerous players have played for Mohun Bagan.  They have played with glory and now have retired.  Mohun Bagan club is open for everybody, they can come, attend practice sessions, sit in the lawn, interact with members, and spend time in the club.  We have seen Pranab Ganguly, late Mangal Purakayastha and many others coming daily to club and interacting with members in evening.  It is not possible for officials to take advice from each and every ex-player; however, if they come and want to interact with officials and want to share their opinion, they are always welcome to do so in the National Club of India.

We have seen in recent past, Mohun Bagan officials donated Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 30,000 respectively to Ashok Chatterjee and Dipu Das respectively.  They even contributed a hefty amount to family of Sanjib Jana, who died before Fed cup final by falling from stands.

Even when we from www.mohunbaganclub.com contributed to his family, our coach Karim, whom these few ex players are targetting contacted us personally and contributed a significant amount and even after winning Fed Cup, he dedicated the trophy to all fans with special mention of Mr. Jana. During the penultimate round match of I league against Dempo, during the injury time when scoreline was 1-1, we have seen coach turning towards the spectators and asking them to cheer and eventually Mohun Bagan scored in the dying moments of injury time and won that match. This showed that Karim being a foreign coach is well connected with fans and even though he is here in Mohun Bagan on a professional assignment as a coach, his heart is with Mohun Bagan at present.

As an arm-twisting measure these footballers have decided to boycott the celebrations and evening dinner to be held in the Club lawn, on the 29th July, observed as Mohun Bagan Day. This day for the Club is synonymous to what 15th August is to every true Indian.  As usual, this coming 29th July, all supporter and members of Mohun Bagan club will come in numbers and enjoy the day and there will be many ex-players also present, many of whom will participate in an exhibition match.  Other than those 20 players, there are hundreds and thousands of ex-players who still feel proud to come to Mohun Bagan club on the auspicious day.

Incidentally, the relationship amongst the members of this group, during their playing days was less than cordial. Their coming together now is more of a marriage of convenience.  Few years back during Mohun Bagan day, Amit Bhadra was slapped by Subrata Bhattacharya in club tent.  Also we have an interview of Krishnendu Roy who after leaving Mohun Bagan blamed Subrata Bhattacharya for his departure.

Regarding honor, perhaps Mohun Bagan is the only club where there is an award called Mohun Bagan Ratna by which the club honors the ex-players on Mohun Bagan day.  Till now Sailen Manna, T. Aao, Late Shibdas Bhaduri, Goshto Pal, Chuni Goswami, Umapati Kumar, Dhiren Dey, Sattar has received the honors.  Then how come there is a question that ex-players don’t get respect in Mohun Bagan?

True Mohun Bagani, Sailen Manna said, "I am not well, but I will definitely try my level best to attend Mohun Bagan day.  Mohun Bagan has not won I league in many years, I wish Mohun Bagan win the league this year, that is my main wish right now, instead of participating with the ex-players."  Chuni Goswami, Satyajit Chatterjee, Shibaji Banerjee are among the many ex-players who did not attend the meeting along with the 20 ex-players.

 

It will be most welcome if these players come and attend Mohun Bagan day this year and celebrate it with the fans and later on discuss their grievance with the officials. General Secretary Anjan Mitra has already contacted and requested them to sit in a meeting which, however, unfortunately they have declined to do.

 

Ex-Mohun Bagan captain and ex-Indian captain in Olympics Samar (Badru) Banerjee will be honored with Mohun Bagan Ratna this year on Mohun Bagan day, 29th July. Snehashish will join Mohun Bagan practice from tomorrow, Mohun Bagan has decided to help Snehasish fight against the injustice done to him. Chiddi and Baretto are supposed to reach Kolkata on 26th and 28th July respectively.

This year’s Mohun Bagan Ratna recipient, Samar Banerjee, has played for Mohun Bagan from 1952-59. He joined Mohun Bagan in 1952 during IFA Shield which team became champion. In 1953, Mohun Bagan won Durand Cup for the first time, he scored in both semi final and final. In 1954, Mohun Bagan won first double (winning IFA Shield and Kolkata League). In 1955, Mariners won Rovers cup for first time.

In 1956, Mohun Bagan won double for 2nd time winning Kolkata league and IFA shield in same season. Sri Badru Banerjee was the second highest goal scorer after Keshto Pal. He became captain of Indian Football team in Melbourne Olympics, where India reached semi finals. In 1958 he became Captain of Mohun Bagan.

 

 Mohun Bagan Athletic Club was established in the year 1889. It is the first-ever Indian Club to have won the IFA Shield defeating East Yorkshire Regiment by 2-1 on 29th July 1911 to create history and make the whole world sit up and take notice of the Indian struggle for freedom against imperial Britain. The Government of India released a postage stamp in 1989 to commemorate this famous victory and to honour the Club and it’s Immortal Eleven for the fight for an oppressed country. This is the only postage stamp in India based on a Club. The Club was also declared as the “National Soccer Club of India”. 29th July is a Red-letter Day in Indian History and a great day for the Club as well and is celebrated as Mohun Bagan Day each year.

To commemorate this great victory we would be organizing three exhibition matches at our Club ground from 1 pm. The matches would be as follows:

· Mohun Bagan U-13 Junior Team vs. Veterans Sports Club U-13 Junior Team

· Between Ex-players of the Club

· Calcutta Sports Journalists Club vs Artists’ Forum

This will be followed by a cultural function in the evening where Mohun Bagan Ratna will be presented to Sri Samar (Badru) Banerjee, former footballer and Ex-Captain of our Club.

Mohun Bagan today had two practice sessions. Karim is satisfied with fitness and progress of team. There will be two residential camps, first one either in Kalimpong or Durgapur from July 31 to August 7, where stress will be on fitness training and endurance training and preparing team for match, there will be one practice match during this camp. After the camp, team will practice in Mohun Bagan club ground, where they will play two practice matches. From August 17th to August 25th, the second camp will likely be held in Kolkata, during this camp team might participate in Airlines Cup. The basic purpose of the 2nd camp is discussing technical and tactical aspect of the game.

Snehashish Chakraborty will join training from tomorrow. Mohun Bagan has decided to help him fight against the injustice that he has faced. Today in a press conference held in club, General Secretary Anjan Mitra said, "We are with Snehasish, his sign has been forged, if he cannot play the whole year, Mohun Bagan will compensate him by paying him through the year. 

 

Today Players Status Committee of IFA slammed a fine of Rs. 2 Lakh on Snehasish Chakraborty, and after he pays the fine he will be a free player and can play in the club of his choice.

The committee had sent the original documents of East Bengal’s contract, which the player claims to have been forged to a handwriting expert. Dr. Rajani Kanta Das, former Director of Question Document Examination Branch of CID and presently works as a consultant for High Court and City Civil Court examined the documents and came to conclusion that they were all Snehasish’s signature and so Snehasish has been fined Rs. 2 lakh, Utpal Ganguly said in a press meet. However, in the contract it was written that East Bengal had paid Rs. 1 lakh to Snehasish, but later they denied that they did not pay anything to him. So, since there was no payment, the contract has been canceled and after paying the fine, he will be a free player and can play in any club of his choice.

The media protested against this decision today and asked why East Bengal was not fined for lying in the contract that they had paid Rs. 1 lakh to the player.

Mohun Bagan official Debasish Dutta said, "The decision was most unfortunate and we will give him full support. The whole meeting was a gotup one. Earlier in Baichung issue also they failed to take any decision against the guilty one, this time also they failed to do so."

When we contacted Snehasish, he seemed very upset with this decision and said that he will first see the papers and then will comment about it. However, we heard from a reliable source that he might pay the fine and sign for Mohun Bagan soon.

It is very unfortunate that IFA could not take any decision against East Bengal even after they have lied in the contract that they have paid Rs. 1 lakh to the player which they later denied.

Meanwhile, after 1 day rest, Mohun Bagan team will resume practice tomorrow, there will be two practice sessions tomorrow.

Mohun Bagan will likely play in All Airlines Gold Cup to be held in late August and will also held a residential camp in Kalimpong; however, the place might be changed to Durgapur due to problem going on in the hill area. Meanwhile, the Players Status Committee (PSC) of the Indian Football Association (IFA) will announce their verdict on the Snehashis Chakraborty-East Bengal dispute on Thursday. The committee decided to send the original documents of East Bengal’s contract, which the player claims to have been forged, with Snehasish Chakraborty to a handwriting expert.

 

 

Snehasish had earlier alleged that East Bengal had forged his signature on the contract papers in their bid to prevent him from playing for Mohun Bagan in the ensuing season.

Snehashis forwarded copy of his two contracts to the media. The first one is for the period 2007-’09 and the other from 2008-10. This means the player had been twice signed by the club for the 2008-’09 season. Snehashis also claimed that he had not received the signing amount of Rs 1 lakh as mentioned in the second contract.

 “I have maintained from the very beginning that, saving one, all other signatures in the second contract are not mine. I want it to be verified by a hand-writing expert. Moreover, I have not received any token amount. That itself invalidates the contract. They have deliberately put a stamp on the amount to create confusion,” he maintained.

 Given below is the training schedule of July and August 2009. There might be few changes in the schedule. A 9 day residential camp has been scheduled to be held in Kalimpong, but due to unrest situation there, it may be postponed to Durgapur. We will be updating the necessary changes as and when it is done. Mohun Bagan may participate in All Airlines Gold Cup scheduled to be start from August 22. Mohun Bagan might get direct semi final berth; however, nothing has been finalized yet.

 

 

 

 GIVEN BELOW IS THE CONTRACT PAPERS OF SNEHASISH CHAKRABORTY AND HIS OBJECTION AGAINST EAST BENGAL CLUB AND HAS DIRECTLY ALLEGED THEM OF FORGING HIS SIGNATURE WHICH IF PROVED RIGHT IS DEFINITELY A GRAVE OFFENSE. WE SINCERELY HOPE THAT HE GETS JUSTICE BY PLAYERS STATUS COMMITTEE WHICH WILL DECIDE ON HIS FATE ON THURSDAY. SNEHASISH HAD ALREADY SAID THAT HE WILL PREFER TO SIT IDLE FOR THIS YEAR RATHER THAN PLAYING FOR EAST BENGAL. HE HAS WISHED TO PLAY FOR MOHUN BAGAN IN THIS SEASON.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. That the player shall participate in all the tournaments (Domestic and International) and all exhibition matches in which the First Party shall participate.

11. That the player shall not participate in any tournament in India for and on behalf of any other Party/Association/Society, other than for the First Party unless the First Party allows him to play for any other team, with prior written consent.

12. That the player has to be aware about the practice venue as well as time and shall participate in eveyr practice session, as routined by the First Party’s Official coach appointed by the First Party.  The First Party will not be responsible to inform any playing member about the practice schedules. The Player shall be entitled to lunch/refreshments and other amenities, free of cost as provided by the First Party during such practice sessions.

13. That the Player shall join the team on the day fixed by the First Party for local/outstation tournaments/Exhibition matches in which the First Party shall Participate.

14. That Player shall have to attend any promotional programme to be organized either by the First Party or by the Sponsors associated to the First Party.

15. The Player declares that he has not signed or taken any money from any other First Party/or Institution to play for the season 2007-08 and 2008-09.

16. (a) The Player will not indulge into making any uncharitable or offensive comments to any media regarding coach, fellow players and officials of the First Party.  Any grievance in respect of any of the above should be brought to the attention of the Football Manager/Secretary for immediate redressal.

     (b) The Player will not divulge or disclose any of the content of his contract to the media or any fellow players.

 17. (a) The First Party shall have the right to take disciplinary action against the Player in case of violation of any clauses mentioned above or if he is guilty of any misconduct or commits any criminal offense by way of suspension or deduction of money from his remuneration/monthly salary as is decided by the Disciplinary Committee appointed by the First Party.

      (b) Not withstanding anything herein before contained the First Party will be entitled to cancel this agreement and terminate his contract and shall also have the right and option to release the player in the event of any unsatisfactory report arising out of continuing substandard performance and/or indiscipline/misconduct reported by the authorized officials.

18. In the event of any disputes and differences between the parties hereto in respect of this agreement of whatsoever nature the same shall be refer to the arbitration of a arbitrator and the decision of the arbitrator, shall be binding on the parties.

19. This agreement will remain in force for a period of 3 years i.e. 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons from the date hereof. If, however, the First Party is of the opinion that the service is not satisfactory for any reason or the player commits a breach of any term of this agreement, the First Party will be entitled to terminate this agreement earlier by giving 15 days notice in writing to the player.

20. For any suit or legal proceedings arising out of this agreement only the Courts at Kolkata shall have the jurisdiction for the purpose of this agreement.

21. In the case of the Player playing for his office team at a location beyond the purview of West Bengal, the Player will have to obtain interstate clearance in favour of the First Party. The salary for the Player will be counted from the date of the registration in favour of the First Party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IT IS FURTHER AGREED UPON

7. In the event of the Player’s consistent and satisfactory performance during the First Party may pay incentive to the Player as is deemed fit.

8. That the Player will liable to pay any dues arising on his account related to Tax, Duty or any other regulatory payment either in India or while traveling abroad on service for the First Party.

9. That the Player shall not play for any other Party or establishment registered or unregistered during his contract period with the First Party.

10. That the Player shall participate in all the tournaments (Domestic & International) and all Exhibition matches in which the First Party shall participate.

11. That the Player shall not participate in any tournament in India for and on behalf of any other Party/Association/Society other than for the First Party unless the First Party allows him to play for any other team, with prior written consent.

12. That the Player has to be aware about the practice venue as well as time and shall participate in every practice session, as routined by the First Party’s Official Coach appointed by the First Party. The First Party will not be responsible to inform any playing member about the practice schedules. The Player shall be entitled to lunch/refreshments and other amenities, free of cost as provided by the First Party during such practice sessions.

13. That the Player shall join the team on the day fixed by the First Party for local/outstation tournaments/Exhibition matches in which the First Party shall Participate.

14. That Player shall have to attend any promotional programme to be organized either by the First Party or by the Sponsors associated to the First Party.

15. The Player declares that he has not signed or taken any money from any other First Party/or Institution to play for the season 2007-08 and 2008-09.

16. (a) The Player will not indulge into making any uncharitable or offensive comments to any media regarding coach, fellow players and officials of the First Party.  Any grievance in respect of any of the above should be brought to the attention of the Football Manager/Secretary for immediate redressal.

     (b) The Player will not divulge or disclose any of the content of his contract to the media or any fellow players.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today Ishfaq, Anand Vashan, Marcos and Santa Kumar has signed in favor of Mohun Bagan. In interstate transfer 2nd list declared by AIFF, Zenith Mashangva has been confirmed to be playing in Mohun Bagan. Mohun Bagan SAIL Football Academy today celebrated their 6th Birthday colourfully through flag hoisting ceremony by Mr. Jeebesh Mishra, ED, Durgapur Steel Plant, SAIL and as usual the school football fiesto has been organized with tremendous enthusiasm. See player list with jersey number inside

7 different English Medium Schools from Durgapur and its surroundings have taken part in this tournament which ran for 2 days – 19th & 20th July 2009. There were 3 groups – class II, class III and class IV. Hem Sheela Model School of Durgapur emerged champions in class II category and Sant Nirankari Public School & St. Xavier’s School, Durgapur became champions in class III and class IV respectively. The senior club officials and their families of Mohun Bagan Athletic Club and the eminent persons of Durgapur attended the lunch followed by the programme. Today also was the birthday of Anjan Mitra, General Secretary of Mohun Bagan club.

Following is the team list of Mohun Bagan club for 2009-10 with jersey numbers of the players (There will be few additions)

1. SANGRAM MUKHERJEE.

2. BISWAJIT SAHA

3. MANJU

4. DIPAK MANDAL

5. HABIBUR REHMAN

6. SEIKH AZIM

7. SUBHOKUMAR

8. SANTAKUMAR

9. CHIDDI

10. JOSE BARRETO

11. ISHFAQ AHMED

12. BRANCO

14. SURAJ MANDAL

16. JAMES SINGH SR.

17. KULUTHUNGAN

18. KARAN ATWAL

19. ZENITH

20. RAKESH MASIH

21. CHIRODEEP

22. KARTICK KISKU

23. LALRAMLUAH

24. RINO ANTO

25. TOMBA SINGH (NOT CONFIRMED)

26. MICKY FERNANDEZ

27. MOHANRAJ

28. MANISH

29. ANAND VASHAN

30. MARCOS PERREIRA

31. SHILTON PAL

32. SUBHOJIT

33. PRALAY

34. MANDI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today was the first day of practice for Mohun Bagan, it was held in 2 sessions, around 1-1/2 hours in morning from 8.30 a.m. and then in afternoon from 3.30 pm. The practice mainly consisted of fitness training, stretching and endurance training. In afternoon, there was handball practice. Due to Bangla Bandh, there will be no practice on Friday. On Saturday there will be two practice sessions. Marcos is scheduled to arrive today from Brazil.

When we had a chat with coach Karim Bencharifa, he said, "Right now, players are back in practice after about 1-2 months gap, right now their muscles are stiff, so basically we will have to do endurance training for few days. I can give you an example, I am preparing my car to travel on the road and travel smoothly (winning trophies), now I am pouring oil in the machines, test drive will start after few days."

Coach was satisfied with condition of players. New recruits Mickey Fernandez, Subho Kumar, Seikh Azim, Zenith etc. were present in practice today. After practice Azim said, "Since officials have decided not to recruit any foreign defenders, our responsibility has increased and I will try my level best to perform well. Our main target is to win all trophies."

Coach Mridul Banerjee, A licence holder from London, who has joined Mariners as assistant coach said after practice, "I have no problem with East Bengal, I joined Mohun Bagan because of better offer. It is not important whether after having A licence with me, I am working as assistant coach or not. I want to work, I want myself to be involved with football coaching. The new job which I have got this year has the name "coach" with it, that is enough for me, I don’t mind at all being assistant coach. My job this year will be to help coach Karim to function well so that Mohun Bagan can win more trophies and perform well in major tournaments. I don’t want to compare between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. For us coaches, it is part of the job to adjust to all situations. Atmosphere of every club is different, even condition in Goa is different, to survive we will have to make ourself accustomed to all these situations."

When asked whether Satyajit has congratulated him on becoming assistant coach, Mridul da said, "No, I have not had any talk with Satyajit. Actually I understand his situation, he has left with a heavy heart. This is the way all organization, not only football team, works. Someone leaves and a new person comes and fills the void. In foreign countries, there is a ritual of congratulating the new person but in our country this is not there. Wish Satyajit best of luck for all his future endeavors."

Commenting on the question that coaches having A licence does not get much chance in Kolkata, he said, "Only doing A licence will not help, how the person performs in field is very important. Whether he can deliver, what he has learnt, to the players is a very essential quality which is required. Plus officials should have confidence on the person. Last year East Bengal officials and this year Mohun Bagan officials found me suitable for this job and has selected me. I have lot of experience of coaching from lower division to higher division. I have been coach of Bengal in the past and also of Mohammedan Sporting where I did more or less okay job. Actually the main thing is not the degree, yes it is an essential requirement, but how you deliver and perform in field is most important. The performance should speak for you and not degree."

Coach Karim said, "I don’t like to compare but yes in this year’s team I have more options and so I might use rotation method to field all players." When a reporter asked in a usual taunting tone that he is famous being runners coach, coach said, "In last two years, I have won 5 trophies including 3 for Mohun Bagan in last year. Then how can you say I am a runners coach? Yes this year we will try hard to win I league also which Mohun Bagan missed marginally last year." Regarding PIO and Asian players, he said, "We are discussing on this and we will let you know in due time."

Captain Sangram said, "Five years back when I was captain of East Bengal, we had won I league. This year also I hope that under my captainship Mohun Bagan wins I league. The last two Federation Cup which Mohun Bagan has won, it gives be satisfaction that I have little contribution in those victories."

PICTURE COURTESY: SANGBAD PRATIDIN

Mridul Banerjee will be the Assistant Coach for the team Mohun Bagan for year 2009-10. Mr. Banerjee is AFC ‘A’ license holder. This was announced by Mohun Bagan officials today in a press conference held in club. Beside the name of the Assistant coach, it was also announced that Sangram Mukherjee will be the Captain of the Mohun Bagan Football Team 2009-10, and Deepak Kumar Mandal will be the Vice Captain. Manish, Micky Fernandez, Zenith, Branco, Rino Anto, Ramlallua, and Karan Atwal signed for Mohun Bagan today.

Coach Karim Bencharifa has completed AFC A licence module A in Singapore and will be completing module B in January 2010. The module A was held from May 25 to June 6, Karim told us from Singapore. Many countries like Singapore, Iran and Australia who conduct this license course divide this into two modules of 2 weeks each.

Karim Bencharifa has done Bachelor of Sports from Morocco and also an A licence course in Morocco which qualifies him to coach top teams of Morocco as well as the national team of Morocco. So the fact is that Mohun Bagan coach is qualified enough and have done A license but surprisingly AFC does not recognize this A license and asked him to do A license again. When Karim sent his papers few months back to AFC, they said that they recognize A license done only in Europe and Asia and not Africa.

Morocco is presently ranked 55 in world and India is 147. At one point, Morocco even were in the 30s in FIFA world ranking and it is surprising that an A license from such a football nation is not considered valid by AFC. However, when AFC went through his papers, they said that the Diploma from the University of Leipzig in Germany which Karim has done few years back is equivalent to AFC B license and so he will have to do ONLY AFC A licence.

Of the present coaches of I league, Mohun Bagan coach Karim Bencharifa is the most qualified coach and he definitely stands out especially over the so called famous coaches of Kolkata. The officials of the National Club of India has chosen a very much qualified person to coach their team as per guidelines of AFC. In 2008-09, in his first year with Mohun Bagan, team won 3 trophies out of 5 and finished runners up in I league where they were title contenders till last round.

Regarding this year’s team, coach said, "We will try our level best to perform well this year also and hope our performance will make the fans happy. I will meet with my team on July 15th at 3 pm in Mohun Bagan ground."

After few days practice in Mohun Bagan ground, team will have a residential camp in Kalimpong from July 30 to August 8.