Category: Down Memory Lane

Remembering Sailen Manna the great on his birth anniversary (1st Sept, 1924 to 27th Feb, 2012)

Sailendra Nath Manna, better known as Sailen Manna, left Howrah Union in 1942 to join Mohun Bagan Athletic Club and served for an impressive 19 odd years, retiring in 1960. He captained the team for six successive seasons from 1950 to 1955. Remarkably, he never accepted any remuneration from the club, choosing instead to rely solely on his salary from his office Geological Survey of India. It was under his captaincy, Mohun Bagan clinched the first Durand Cup title in 1953 the first Rovers Cup title in 1955. Mohun Bagan and Sailen Manna absolutely became synonymous.

Manna was a crucial member of the Indian Olympics football team thrice 1948, 1952 and 1956. Perhaps, he was skipper of the Indian team at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Under Sailen Manna’s captaincy, India won the Gold Medal in the inaugural 1951 Asian Games at New Delhi. He was an indispensable member of the Indian side in 1954 Asian Games too. He was a tough but disciplined defender with great reputation of taking strong free-kicks as well.

In 1953, the England Football Association (FA) rated him among the 10 best skippers of the world in their yearbook. Manna was awarded the Padma Shri in 1971 by the Government of India. He was also awarded the “Footballer of the Millennium” by All India Football Federation (AIFF) in 2000. Sailen Manna was awarded the inaugural “Mohun Bagan Ratna”, the highest honour of the Mohun Bagan AC in 2001. The Drainage Canal Road in his hometown Howrah has been named as Sailen Manna Sarani of late, while the Howrah Maidan is now Sailen Manna Stadium recognising the immortal legend by the West Bengal Government. 

 

Remembering Dhyanchand Singh the great with his connections with the National Club on the National Sports Day

The National Sports Day of India celebrates the birth anniversary of the hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand Singh known as the “Hockey Wizard” solemnly recognizing his extraordinary skills and role in securing India’s three successive Olympic gold medals in hockey in 1928, 1932, and 1936. His unmatched stick-work, scoring ability and sportsmanship brought international fame to Indian hockey.

Such was his ball control, even Adolf Hitler was also highly impressed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. India went on to thrash hosts Germany by 8-1 in the final to clinch the gold medal for the third time in a row. Dhyan Chand put up an outstanding display scoring 4 goals. After the match, Hitler checked out his stick, if any glue or magnet was attached to control the ball. He even offered Dhyan Chand to play for the German national side, which was gladly turned town by the true patriot Major saab at once.

Major Dhyan Chand himself was  a player from Services and not a regular member of Mohun Bagan hockey team. But he donned the prestigious Mohun Bagan jersey on a few occasions and always felt excited to stay connected with the national club. He also attended as a honorary guest in the club’s platinum jubilee program in 1964 and penned a greeting message for the club’s success. 

Major Dhyan Chand had immensely friendly terms with his contemporary stalwarts of Indian sports like Gostha Pal and Syed Mustaq Ali. Later Dhyan Chand inspired his sons Raj Kumar, Ashok Kumar (former India captain) to go on to don the green and maroon jersey. Two legends Dhyan Chand and Gostha Pal in a single frame sharing a candid moment in Mohun Bagan’s Platinum Jubilee in 1964 still remains a treasure of all time in Indian sports history.

16th August, 1980: A ‘Black Day’ for sports

For the 1980-81 season, Mohun Bagan was quite a formidable side on pen-and-paper. On the other hand, arch rivals East Bengal looked a bit weaker, some of their star players of the previous season being left for Mohammedan Sporting. Yet, the battle was on for the first meeting of the season of the two Calcutta giants in the CFL tie at Eden Gardens, since derby or the ‘boro-match‘ is always considered as the 50-50 match. 

There’s a popular opinion in maidan, that EB coach PK Banerjee motivatedly instigated his team’s Dilip Palit to take on Mohun Bagan’s brilliant left winger Bidesh Bose. Palit, actually a left back, was shifted to the other flank for the purpose. Few minutes into the game and Palit was up to his task, charging ugly and unsporting tackles on Bidesh. At one time, gentleman Bidesh lost his cool and retaliated. That triggered the gallery. The fans of  the two teams got involved in a serious brawl, resulting in the police forces to ‘lathi-charge’ heavily. The crowd all started to rush down the gallery, falling one over the other, as many as 14 youths got stampeded to death on spot, 2 died later even after being rushed to hospital. 

Continue reading “16th August, 1980: A ‘Black Day’ for sports” →