Chronicle of Mohun Bagan's history and achievements to be released today

Kolkata: Sonae Lekha Itihashe Mohunbagan, a comprehensive book on the history and achievements of India's national football club, will be released on Saturday.

Penned by Subir Mukhopadhyay, a teacher at a private Engineering College, two great footballers have written the foreword and preface of the book, namely Samar (Badru) Banerjee and Chuni Goswami respectively.

This is the first time when a comprehensive book on any football club in Bengal will be published. Earlier, Shibram Kumar had written Sonar Frame e Mohunbagan, while journalist Rupak Saha had written Ekdoshe Surjadoy, on Mohun Bagan winning the IFA Shield in 1911. Egaro, a film in Bengali based on this victory, became very popular.

The first part of the book contains the history and formation of the club. It was formed in North Kolkata in 1889, 129 years ago and a lane has been named after the club.

Mohun Bagan's president was Bhupendranath Basu, a famous lawyer and the vice-chancellor of Calcutta University. Sir R N Mookherjee was one of its patrons.

Bagan defeated Eastern Yorks to lift the IFA Shield in 1911 and the victory had given impetus to the national movement.

The club had produced great Indian players like Gosto Paul, whom the British had named Chinese Wall. Along with football, Mohun Bagan also took part in cricket, hockey and athletics. Under the captaincy of Dr Sanmatha Dutta, the squad defeated English teams in three matches in England.

Badru Banerjee had represented India in the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, while Chuni Goswami had played both cricket and football. There is a chapter on footballers changing the clubs and the resulting drama over the issue.

In part II of the book, there is information on the victories achieved by Bagan since the inception of the club in 1889. Before winning the IFA Shield, Mohun Bagan had won the Trades Cup and Lady Hardinge Trophy.