29th July will be continued to be cherished as the most iconic day for the Mohun Bagan club and its countless supporters across the globe. Back in 1911, it was on this eventful day that an Indian football team changed the course of the country’s history by defeating a British club – East Yorkshire Regiment to lift the prestigious IFA Shield.
To commemorate that marvelous feat, 29th July is celebrated as the “Mohun Bagan Day” every year where the immortal eleven of 1911, as well as the other great icons of Mohun Bagan, are felicitated for their indispensable contribution to the club over the years.
Swapan Sadhan Bose
Swapan Sadhan Bose, also known as Tutu Bose served as the president of Mohun Bagan AC for nearly three decades. He was first elected in 1989-90 and held the post for 28 years before stepping down in 2017 citing health reasons. He was re-elected as president in 2022.
Sourav Ganguly
‘Maharaja’ Sourav Ganguly is an Indian cricket commentator and a former skipper of the Indian cricket team. He is fondly called ‘Dada’ in the fraternity of Indian Cricket. He used to be an ardent fan of the club from childhood and donned the club’s jersey for club cricket. Ganguly scored 11,363 runs in ODIs and 7,212 in Tests.
Goutam Sarkar
Sarkar was one of the finest midfielders to have played in the 70s and 80s. He represented the country in the Tehran Asian Games in 1974. He served Mohun Bagan for seven consecutive seasons from 1977 to 1983 and captained in his last year at the club. He earned the moniker ‘Beckenbeur of India’.
Shyam Thapa
Shyam Thapa is a former Indian national footballer and was a member of the bronze-medalist side at the 1970 Asian Games. Thapa was one of the most prolific and agile forwards of his time. He represented Mohun Bagan from 1977 to 1982 and captained in his last year at the club. He was known for his special bicycle-kicks.
Shibaji Banerjee
Shibaji Banerjee former Indian national footballer, joined Mohun Bagan in 1975 from Howrah Union but left a year later for Aryan Club. In 1976 his performance against the Kolkata giants earned praise and so in 1977 he returned to Mohun Bagan, to start a new era. He played in Mohun Bagan from 1977 till 1985.
Gurbux Singh
In 1968 he joined Mohun Bagan and sported the Green & Maroon jersey till 1980, a golden age of Mohun Bagan hockey . In 1960 he made his debut for the Indian national team. He was member of the Gold winning national team in 1964 Tokyo Olympics and 1966 Asian Games. He received Arjuna Award in 1967.
Palash Nandi
Palash Nandi, captained Mohun Bagan cricket team in 1976. In 1977 he left the club but returned to Mohun Bagan in 1980. Mohun Bagan official Chitrak Mitra played a vital role in bringing him back to the club. Palash Nandi then went on to stay in Mohun Bagan from 1980 till 1994. He represented Bengal cricket teamfrom 1969/70 season to 1981/82 season
Keshav Dutt
Keshav Dutt, joined Mohun Bagan in 1951 and played till 1960. He was made captain of Mohun Bagan hockey squad from 1951-1953 and again in 1957-1958. As a Mohun Bagan player he won hockey league 6 times and Beighton Cup 3 times in a span of 10 years. He was instrumental of gold winning 1948 London and 1952 Helsinki Olympics team.
Prasun Banerjee
In 1974, Prasun Banerjee joined Mohun Bagan and soon become indispensable member of the Mohun Bagan. After playing for Mohun Bagan from 1974 to 1980 he left bagan before his second stint with Bagan from 1982 to 1984, the team brought home Durand, League, Shield and Federation Cup. Only the second Indian to play for Asian All-star XI.
Pradip Chowdhury
Pradip Chowdhury played for Mohun Bagan from 1976-1981. Sound physique and clear tackling was his assets. He was named captain of Mohun Bagan on 1981. Under his captaincy Mohun Bagan won Federation Cup, Nagji Trophy, Rovers Cup and IFA shield. Beside playing for Indian national team in the 70’s, Chowdhury also served as the manager of the Indian football team.
Subrata Bhattacharya
Subrata Bhattacharya, Arjuna Awardee, famously known as Bablu spent 17 long years in Mohun Bagan. A Bagan loyalist throughout his career captained Mariners against famous Cosmos team in 1977. Under his able captaincy Mohun Bagan won ‘Triple crown” (Durand, Rovers & Shield) in 1977. He was chief architect behind winning two National Leagues in seasons 1999-00 and 2001-02
Syed Nayeemuddin
Sayed Nayeemuddin (born on 1944), popularly known as Nayeem plied his trade for Mohun Bagan for 2 consecutive years 1968-1969. He was a revelation in 1969 shield final when Mariners demolished arch rival East Bengal by 3-1 margin. In 1973 he returned to Mariners and captained on1974. Greatest feat of his illustrious national career is 1970 Asian Games bronze
Karuna Bhattacharya
Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya was a former Indian footballer who represented and captained the Indian football team and Mohun Bagan. He represented Mohun Bagan for 9 consecutive seasons from 1930 onwards. He played in Mohun Bagan alongside legendary players like Gostha Pal, Umapati Kumar, Dr. Sanmatha Dutta, Bimal Mukherjee, Satu Chowdhury among many others. He became the Football Secretary of Mohun Bagan in 1955 and 1961 and also worked as the Tennis Secretary in 1954
Isaiah Arumainayagam
Isaiah Arumainayagam fondly known as Baby Taxi has been a loyalist of the Green and Maroon. The Bangalorean played in Mohun Bagan from 1961 to 1968. Immediately on his arrival in 1961, he left mark with his performance. Under his captaincy in 1968, Mohun Bagan won the Rovers Cup and the Amrita Bazar Centenary. During his 8 years stint, club won 13 tournament. Served as the head coach of the India women’s national team in 1994.
Balaidas Chatterjee
Balaidas Chatterjee joined Mohun Bagan in 1921 donned the green and maroon jersey till 1927. He retired from football in 1930, and continued to serve Mohun Bagan, including the responsibilities of the football secretary of the club. He was the trainer of Indian Football Team in 1948 London Olympics. Beside foot ball he was fond of other sports. He introduced sports like baseball and Rugby in the Kolkata Maidan. He even coached Indian Boxing team in Helsinki Olympic.
Jarnail Singh
Jarnail Singh played in Mohun Bagan from 1959 to 1968 and was the club captain for 3 consecutive years, 1965 to 1967. During 1960s, Jarnail was one of the most outstanding defenders of the country. Be it the club level or the international football, Jarnail’s name evoked fear among the best strikers. Jarnail captained the Indian Football Team from 1965-67. He is also the only Indian to have been selected as captain of Asian All-Star team in 1966.
Pradip Banerjee
Pradip Kumar Banerjee also known as PK was one of the greatest Indian Striker of all time. PK played in Eastern Railways throughout his career but played for Mohun Bagan on loan during a foreign tour to Far-East in 1959-60. He represented India in three Asian Games – 1958 in Tokyo, 1962 in Jakarta, where India won the gold medal, 1966 in Bangkok and two Olympic – 1956 Melbourne , 1960 Rome . Coach of Mohun Bagan in 8 seasons, 1976 to 1979, 1984, 1990, 1994 and 1998
Immortal Eleven
Mohun Bagan won IFA shield as the first Indian club back in July, 1911 during British Raj beating East Yorkshire Regiment by 2-1. It is no short of a fairy tale. The players who were part of this biggest triumph was known as Immortal 11 aka ‘Amor Akadosh’. Back then without any modern transportation system Mohun Bagan received unequivocal support of a huge mass. Every premiere printed media across the globe covered the IFA shield win and its impact.
Badru Banerjee
Samar Banerjee, more popularly known as ‘Badru Banerjee’, is regarded as one of the stalwarts of the Indian football squad that made its name at international stage during the 1950s. He played in Mohun Bagan from 1952 to 1959. He was the Captain of Mohun Bagan in 1958. He also led the Indian team in 1956 Melbourne Olympics. India ended up in fourth position which still remains India’s best finish in the Olympics.
Abdus Sattar
Mohammad Abdus Sattar was a vital player for Mohun Bagan in 1950s. He signed for Mohun Bagan in 1950 and played for the club from 1950 to 1958. Sattar played as an inside forward who could dribble with both feet. He also forged a great combination with Samar Banerjee and Keshto Paul – the trio helped Mohun Bagan to win a number of trophies in 1950s. In 1953 he was part of Mohun Bagan squad, won Durand Cup for the first time.
Dhiren Dey
Dhiren Dey was an eminent administrator of Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. He was associated with club administration for a number of years. He joined as the Executive Committee Member and was the Assistant General Secretary of Mohun Bagan from 1959 to 1977, then he became the General Secretary of the club till 1990. He was pioneer in building club infrastructure like concrete gallery and floodlights.
Umapati Kumar
He joined the club as a youngster in 1916 and would continue to don the Green & Maroon jersey for more than two decades. He played in alongside some of the stars from Mohun Bagan’s famous 1911 IFA Shield winning team, as well as later icons like Gostha Pal and Dr. Sanmatha Dutta. He was the Captain of Mohun Bagan team from 1927 to 1929. He retired from Mohun Bagan in 1936. Later he was the Football Secretary of Mohun Bagan. He also was the Vice President of Mohun Bagan from 1959 to 1979. From 1980 to 1990, Umapati Kumar performed his duties as the President of the club.
Chuni Goswami
Subimal Goswami aka Chuni played for the National Football team during the 1950s and 1960s. He was a part of the junior squad up to 1953 and then graduated to the Mohun Bagan senior team in 1954. He continued playing for Mohun Bagan till his retirement in 1968. He captained the club in 5 seasons from 1960 to 1964. He went on to play for India in 50 international matches including in Olympics, Asian Games, Asia Cup. He captained India to the Asian Games Gold Medal in 1962 and Silver in the 1964 Asia Cup. He received Arjuna Award in 1963 and Padma Shri in 1983.
Gostha Paul
Nicknamed as the “Chinese Wall” he was one of the best defenders of contemporary Indian football. He joined Mohun Bagan at the age of 16. He played in Mohun Bagan from 1913 to 1936. In 1921, Gostho Pal was honored with the captaincy of the Mohun Bagan football team, and he remained as the club captain for next five years. He was the first Indian footballer to be honored with the Padma Shri, on April 28, 1962. A statue was erected in his memory in 1983 on the Gostho Pal Sarani in Kolkata, incidentally club is located on the the same road.
Shibdas Bhaduri
Shibdas Bhaduri joined Mohun Bagan in 1905 and played till 1913. He was captain of Mohun Bagan in 1911 and 1912. He captained Mohun Bagan in the historic 1911 IFA Shield Final, when they defeated the East Yorkshire Regiment with a score of 2-1 to become the first Indian team to win the competition. Shibdas along with his elder brother Bijoydas Bhaduri played as a forward in the 1911 final and scored the equalizer to level the match 1-1 before Abhilash Ghosh scored the winner.
Talimeran Ao
Dr Talimeran Ao, the legendary sports persona was the first captain of Independent India’s national football side. Ao joined Mohun Bagan in 1943 and stayed with the club till 1952. He captained the Green & Maroons in 1948 and 1949. In 1948, a year after India won its independence, Dr, Ao was selected the captain of the national football team and the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent too for the summer Olympics held in London. After his retirement from Mohun Bagan, Dr. Ao completed his MBBS at RG Kar Kolkata
Sailen Manna
Sailen Manna joined Mohun Bagan in 1942 and continued playing for the club for a period of 19 years, till his retirement in 1960. During this period, he was the Captain of Mohun Bagan from 1950 to 1955. As a defender he was known for his anticipation, covering and a strong free kick. He represented India in 1948 London Olympics, 1954 Asian Games and was the captain of the Indian team in 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Under his captaincy, India won the Gold Medal in the 1951 Asian Games.