History of Indian football

General Discussion on Indian Football.

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davindersangha
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History of Indian football

Post by davindersangha »

Reading about India in the past, it's tragic to see how far the national team has fallen. I reckon a revival is round the corner but the past, especially the 50's was stunning. Reaching semi finals in the olympics and then regularly contesting the final round of the asian cup and reaching the finals was the norm.

Unfortunately the legendary manager died of cancer and the team never really recovered. Crcic had a mini revival in the 80s but was hampered by the AIFF.

I reckon Stephen Constantine has had a hugely positive impact on the team as well with modern training methods and fitness levels.

Only time will tell. I hope AIFF keep Constantine on as I really think the Japan and Oman results were freak results. Also the group was hampered by only allowing one team out which meant a lot of the games were meaningless.

What does everyone think.
jorden390
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History of Indian football

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chill davimate


the best is to come
abhishek_bong
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Re: History of Indian football

Post by abhishek_bong »

Mohun Bagan is the oldest football club in the world, established in the year 1889; it predates global giants like Real Madrid (1902), AC Milan (1899).FC Barcelona (1899) and Bayern Munich (1900).
East Bengal club on the other side was established in Kolkata during the post-independence era. It is said that previously this club used to operate from Bangladesh by the Bengalis out there during pre-independence of India.
Mohun Bagan and East Bengal both the clubs have some brave and glorifying history. In the year 1911, 11 patriots under the aegis of Mohun Bagan club some brave hearted Bengalis of that time fought on the football field with the English side East –Yorkshire Regiment and nailed them down on the field with the score of 2-1 and won the IFA shield for the first time. It’s considered as the most glorious win in the history of Indian football. The Mohun Bagan team played barefoot while East Yorkshire Regiment played with the proper football gears. “These brave hearts are still remembered as the IMMORTAL ELEVEN in Kolkata football lore with honor and courage.
On the other hand, East Bengal Club was the first ever Indian club to win an international cup for India after independence. No other club would even break that legendary record today. The cup was AFC Cup and that battle of glory was fought on the foreign soil of Saudi Arabia.
But the history of football in India is not at all initially started with these two clubs.Neither East Bengal nor Mohun Bagan rolled the first football in Indian field it was some else. So how did this all started?
When Kolkata was still the capital of British India Asia’s first football league the Calcutta Football League started in 1898, this is the oldest league in Asia and one of the oldest in the world. In India the first football game was organized between “Calcutta Club of Civilian” and the “Gentlemen of Barrackpore” in 1854.Namely the first football club of India was “Calcutta FC” founded in the year of 1872.Other clubs established in the same year are Traders Club and Naval Volunteers.
It is said that in the year of 1877 a 10 years old boy named Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhi was fascinated by a ball game which was being played between groups of Europeans in the heart of Kolkata. Nagendra Prasad started watching this game more often with his mom, one-day a football came towards him and he happily kicked it back into play, this is said to be the first football kick by any Bengali ever. Nagendra Prasad who did, later on, set up several football clubs in Kolkata proclaimed the title of the father of Indian football. His club Sovabazar Fc challenged and defeated the British East survey Regiment in the year 1892 by a score of 2-1.He, later on, got closely associated with the club Mohun Bagan this club later on Defeated the East Yorkshire club with four other British clubs and won the IFA shield in the year of 1911.
The best footballers of India of that era were chunni Goswami, Gostho pal, Kishan dey, Mohamed Salem, Shailen Manna, P.K Banerjee and presently Bhaichun Bhutia, subrotho pal and Sunil Chetri. Among these legends, the first player to play abroad was Mohamed Salem. He used to play for Glasgow Celtic. He played for Glasgow Celtic in the year of 1930 and he was the best-known skipper of that time.
Not just player’s Kolkata also has an international footstep in football with a coach cum manager Ron Sanyal. He is the CEO and president of Brazilian soccer connection and also was a coach out there a couple of years ago. It’s said that wherever Bengalis goes, football follows; besides their fish and rice and Ron Sanyal was no exceptional. Football was an essential sport for the livelihood of these Bengali when he was living in Kolkata. Being an ardent Bengali football fanatic Ron Sanyal went to the USA in February 1976 from Kolkata with a suitcase and only 750dollars in pursuit of his future. And today he has become the manager of one of the prestigious football association of the world.
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