VICTORY HAS MANY A FATHER BUT DEFEAT IS AN ORPHAN :: The Before and the aftermath of scenario of Football after East Bengal’s 1-0 victory over P.A.S.Club Iran :: September 25th 1970
Pic :: Slogan Of
East Bengal Football Fan , This are the Slogan of the East Bengal's Fans'
The Before and the
aftermath of East Bengal’s 1-0 victory over P.A.S.Club Iran :: September 25th
1970
VICTORY HAS MANY A FATHER BUT DEFEAT IS AN
ORPHAN.
This was the date September 25th 1970 and this
actually was the beginning of an era which could be termed as RESURRECTION of Indian Football
which was there till 1974 and from there it ie the standard of the Indian football started fading and THIS
WAS THE DATE AND THE TIME WHEN THE GOLDEN ERA OF EAST BENGAL’S FOOTBALL STARTED
AND IT REMAINED UPTIL 1976.
I.F.A.Shield 1970
- ::
The governing body of the I F A then, had planned to bring
atleast ONE world class football team to India to participate in the I F A
Shield and the reason was that this shield ie the tournament started at 1893
and by 1970 it had become 77 years of age. People have their memory which is short and it fades with the time.Hence when
in 1968 the I F A Shield was played it was celebrating it’s platinum jubilee
and the organisers could not gather the fact that this old tournament is 75
years of age and they forgot to celebrate it in a grand manner.
Nineteen Sixty Nine ( 1969 ) was an unforgettable year in th
annals of West Bengal as the Naxalite moment had hit the state in a very
crucifying manner. At ome point of a time it was thought of cancelling all the
football tourney that were hld at Kolkatta then, however it was held and Mohun
Bagan had won the I F A League title . During those days the I F A League was
played on a two match return basis and the second encounter saw East Bengal
beating Mohun Bagan by 1-0 but the title however was won by Mohun Bagan with
Mohammedan Sporting finishing as the Runners-up in that year .
It too from 1969
from that match to 1976 when Mohun Bagan could ONCE MORE defeat East Bengal in
the I F A League. They kept on losing to East Bengal in every match that they
played against East Bengal at Kolkatta. The only consolation was that in 1973 when the
match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal ended with the rain washing the match
Mohun Bagan were leading by 1-0 the goal being scored by Sukalyan Ghosh
Dastidar but in the match when it was replayed again East Bengal beat Mohun
Bagan by 2-1 with Subash Bhowmik scoring the two. Well
that was hat and that was it.
Let me come down to the East Bengal and the I F A Tehran’s
final’s of the 1970 Shield Final.
I F A Sheild
Finals’ :: P.A.S Club Tehran completely invincible and “ HIGH ” on sky
This team from Tehran, Iran actually was the last entry into
the tourney. To celebrate the occasion in a grand manner the I.F.A first
invited the Santos Club to participate in the tourney but the rate that they
charged was so phenomenal that the I.F.A took away their hands from it. Santos
were right and correct.Their say was- IF YOU WISH TO SEE PELE, GARSON, TOSTAO,
JAIRZINHO, ALBERTO you will have to pay . These were the players
who were the members of the Brazilian squad that won the
World Cup football title on July 21st 1970.
Thereafter the I.F.A governing body tried out with the other
teams from Europe but none showed any keen interest in coming to India as they
were busy with their home and the European Football engagement. Hitting their
head against the wall the I.F.A then fell onto Mr Alf Ramsay who was the
President of the FIFA and he suggested the name of P.A.S. Club ( Police
Athletics Sports Club ) Tehran which was
the NINTH best team of the
World then in the terms of the club football that existed in the World then.
This Tehran team had as many as seven footballers who were
the members of their respective countries which either played the World Cup
proper in 1970 or who had represented their nation in the World Cup qualifiers.
This team was invited by the I.F.A and they immediately gave their nod. One of
the reason was that this team was to play in the Iranian National League then
and participating in the tourney would mean that it would serve them as the
pre-season training . They decided to come to India without bringing in the
foreigners here because the foreigners that signed to play for the side was on
the basis and the fact that they would only play in the Iranian League and the
knockouts but not in any other tourney’s. Hence those World Cuppers were not
brought in over here.
Standard Of Iran
& India in 1970
Iran for some reason did not participate in the Asian games
Football after 1958. One of the reason of them NOT participating was that
Israel was playing in the Asian games then and the Iranians never wanted to
face or play Israel at any cost because of the belief in their religion and
their attitude towards the country ie , toward Israel. It was only in the 1974 Asian
Games that Iran being the host participated in the Football event in that Asian
Games and as the destiny could be , they DEFEATED Israel by 1-0 in the finals. Ever since that with many a Petro-Dollars countries raising their voice against Israel, Israel was placed to participate from the European Continent to qualify for the World Cup proper by playing in the qualifiers.
IT MAY BE MENTIONED HERE THAT
ISTRAEL WON THE HONOUR OF PLAYING THE 1970 WORLD CUP FOOTBALL AT MEXICO AS THEY
HAD QUALIFIED FROM ASIA TO PLAY IN THAT TOURNAMENT.
Back again to I.F.Shield 1970. East Bengal had
resurrected their team by placing Sudhir Kormokar, Naimuddin, Samaresh
Chowdhury, Mohammed Habib, Ashok Chaterjee, Kali Babu Verma . They had the
services of Prasanto Sinha who then was the BEST CENTRAL MIDFIELDER of Asia,
Kajal Mukherjee who then was perhaps one of the BEST midfielder of Asia, Peter
Thangaraj who was the BEST Goalkeeper then of Asia, That is all. That was East
Bengal in real strength
P.A.S.Club Tehran ::
Ninth Best In The World
Pic :: Pas Club
Tehran that played the 1970 I.F.A.Shield Finals snapped before the Finals
This club was then the NINTH
BEST in the world. They infact are the FIRST team in the annals of
Iranian football to have won their NATIONAL
LEAGUE title in a back-to-back basis in 1967 and 1968. In 1969 they achieved the honour of
representing Asia in the World Club Football championship which is always
played at Tokyo Japan and they surprised one and sundry when they beat Juventus
of Italy by 3-1 and Penarol of Uruguay by 2-1 in their group encounter to
finish second in the group to qualify for the quarters where they beat again a
team from Paraguay to make it to the semis. This performance was NOT expected
of them to achieve but they did it in style to put their signature on the stamp paper for asserting them as the ONE-AND-ONLY-ONE from and of Asia.
Pic :: Asghar
Sharafi , he was one of the most dangerous and one of the best player of Asia then
Iran as we all are
aware have always been a powerhouse of Asian Football and with clubs like Taj
Tehran (now Esteghlal FC),
Persepolis, PAS Tehran Club, they have dominated the Asian Football
competitions since forever. The Iran’s national team were the Champions of Asian Cup in 1968 and 1972
with players like Asghar Sharafi,
Mehdi Monajati, Hassan Habibi etc, who were members of the PAS Club
from Tehran and a HOUSEHOLD name in the WORLD of Asian and WORLD football .
Pic :: Nassr Hejadi
One of their
Goalkeeper Nassr Hejadi was announced as the SECOND-BEST-GOALKEEPER to have played FOOTBALL in Asia in the entire HISTORY of Asian Football by FIFA in 2000 and was awarded by the FIFA for the same . That was the
kind of the quality and the standard of this team.
P.A.S Clubs
performance - ::
In the FIRST three
match before their finals against East Bengal Pas put up a kind of display that
was totally unseen and unbelievable.
That kind of a
football was NEVER to be seen at
India. TAPERED measurement either in
the matter of LONG-PASS or anything as such as SHORT-PASS were something like a TAILOR who cuts the pants and the shirts, for an exact
measurement was something that really put the eye into a wonder and disbelief
that saw them playing at India.
Their goal against
Mohun Bagan in the semis
This team was told all about Mohun Bagan as a team to
conjure with. When they played against
them they won 1-0.They could have whipped Mohun Bagan by atleast FIVE. No
sooner that they scored their first within the first ten minutes of play their
Coach ordered to play a PERCENTAGE-FOOTBALL
, a CONCEPT that was for the FIRST time seen at India.
Percentage football means JUDGE your opponent on the field and whatever is their
strength PLAY to their STRENGTH
and DO NOT WASTE your energy.
The goal that they scored came from a clearance from their goal. The ball was
tossed by their defender to Habibi , their Captain.It was about a sixty METRES
of a PERFECT lob which Habibi trapped it just like a magnet traps an iron and
within a flash he send it to Asgar Sharafi who on the run received the ball and
flicked it from the outside of his left knee.It was a LEG GLANCE actually and the ball REVERSED SPIN with a lot of IN-DIP to beat the Mohun Bagani
Goalkeeper by NOT and NOT giving him any chance to
move from his place. For the remainders they just WARMED themselves up for the
finals against East Bengal .
It maybe RECALLED
here that P.A.S. Club thereafter in 1991 ws RECHRISTENED as : ESTHEGAL
FOOTBALL CLUB and they came here in 1992 to beat Mohun Bagan by 1-0
in the finals of the D.C.M Football
Trophy to win that Trophy .
East Bengal’s mood
before the finals ::
East Bengal had to fight every inch and evey second against
their opponent in the games that they played.Their semi win over Eastern
Railways which was coached by P.K.Banerjee was even harder than the finals that
they played against the P.A.S. Club . If not it had been Samaresh Choudhury who
saved TWO MIRACULOUS GOAL on the goalline and who scored of that MIRACULOUS
FREE-KICK against Eastern Railways to give them a 1-0 victory it would have
been very hard for East Bengal to put it’s feet on the ground for the finals.
Seeing the P.A.S club team playing in front of their eye the
BAANGALS had their SHIT hanging out of their full
pants that they would wear. So TIGHT was the SHIT that inspite of several
attempts and the PRESSURE the SHIT would not come out of their pants. THAT IS A TRUTH VERY HARD FOR ONE TO
BELIEVE but that infact is the GOSPEL
OF TRUTH. That was the HEAT that the East Bengal players were feeling
and that infact was the actual mentality of the East Bengal players before the
match that day.
On September 25th at about 11.00AM when all the
players entered the East Bengal tent to play the finals, as many as 11 players DID NOT GO TO SEE THE NOTICE BOARD.
It is the CUSTOMARY routine of East Bengal since their first victory over Mohun
Bagan was back when they defeated them in the very FIRST encounter that was
played between the TWO-CLUB , that the name of the players were and are put in the notice board by 11.00AM who would play
in that day for that game for the match. That day the NAMES were NOT displayed at all on the notice board.
One of the main
reason was the CHIEF COACH of East Bengal had caught TYPHOID and he was so weak that he could not come to the
club at time to put his team and the name on the notice-board. Mr Mohammed
stepped in at about 12.00PM sharp and he brought his condition to the club
members.
Immediately East Bengal send a notice to their Assistant
Coach, Mr P.K.Banerjee who was the Chief Coach of Eastern railway to come over
and take the charge of the proceedings. Mr P.K. Banerjee leaving everything
rushed to the club and he put the names of ELEVEN players who would take on the
Iranis . After the list was put on the notice board he came up to the players
and said- PUT ON YOUR JERSEYS AND
WITHIN FIVE MINUTES WE WOULD START WALKING TO EDENS GARDENS WHERE THE FINALS
WOULD BE PLAYED.
Every player who thought of himself being in the side wore
their jersey except Samaresh Choudhury. He was of the opinion that he would NOT
be played but when Shankar Maali told him to hurry-up, he went to the notice
board first and saw his name there. He would NOT believe that he was playing in
the finals. He was the LAST who dressed up for the same and the East Bengal
team on FOOT started for Edens Gardens.
During those days the Salt lake stadium was not build and
always the Eden Garden took the honour of staging the big matches which now are
called as DERBIES of FOOTBALL
of India.
East Bengal and it’s players were of the opinion that WE
SHOULD SEE THAT THIS TEAM DOES NOT SCORES TWO AGAINST US AS MOHUN BAGAN WAS
BEATEN BY 1-0 . IF WE CONCEDE MORE THAN ONE IT WOULD BE A BLACK PAINT PAINTED
ON OUR FACE. MOST OF THE PLAYERS WERE OF THE VIEW THAT THEY HAD NO CHANCE
AGAINST P.A.S CLUB ON THAT DAY.
Scenario At Eden
Garden-::
That day the
entire Eden Gardens was full and was overpacked.There were already 86,000
spectators waiting for the Finals to start.
Outside the Eden Gardens there were about 70,000 spectators
who could NOT afford to but the tickets but were waiting outside to see if by
any means they could enter the stadium. Fully knowing well that there wasn’t
any chance they yet believed that they would maybe by some means get into the
stadium to witness the match but they could not.
On that day the VICTORY
MEMORIAL the SHAHID MINAR saw the people
constructing a kind of a stand on it
made by bamboo to be on it to witness the match from a distance of about 500 or
more metres from the Eden Gardens to try
out and see whether they would be able to witness the match from there knowing
fully well that it was an exercise in abort but that is the CRAZE of football for East
Bengal at Kolkatta.
Pic :: The Shahid Minar Stand That The Frenzy Supporters Made On That day To Witness The Finals
These are the scenes and these were the scenes at Eden
Gardens at Calcutta on that day.
After The Final’s,
scene::
The all IMPORTANT
goal for East Bengal that day was scored by Parimal Dey .He scored that goal
just TWENTY SECOND before the final whistle
Pic :: Parimal Dey
It may be recalled here that this was the SECOND goal that
Parimal Dey had scored in the finals of the I.F.A.Shield in the finals played.
Way back in 1966 in an DING-DONG like a swing of pendulum , in the match which
East Bengal was playing against Eastern Railways then , Parimal Dey on that day
had scored a goal to give that trophy to East Bengal.That was an Indian team
and today on this day he scored against a Foreign team which was the NINTH
– BEST – IN – THE – WORLD , then .
Parimal Dey had come in as a substitute for Mohammed Habib
who is known as PELE of Indian football. He took the field in the 85th
minute of the game when Habib was substituted . He scored that goal of a NEEDLE-PINPOINT-ACCURATE PARALLEL pass from Swapan Sengupta who send him a
grounder which was so CLEAN as the CLEAN-DRINKING
water that comes out of a water-filter, and so transparent as the PLAIN GLASS through
which one can see the other side of the glass.
Pic :: The scene
After the Match Got Over Outside The Entrance Gate Of East Bengal Ground
Those who could not conceal their feelings took away their
SHIRTS and the BANIANS, made a TORCH out of them and LIT it
. It appeared that the ENTIRE EDEN
GARDENS was LIT by the TORCH
.
SCREAMS and the OUTBURST were something that IT WAS VERY HARD TO HEAR ANY WORDS
CLEARLY THAT DAY WITHIN THE VICINITY OF EDEN GARDENS THAT DAY.
No sooner that the Radio Commentators announced that the
final whistle was blown and East Bengal had won that match by 1-0 every
KOLKATTANS from every nook and the corner started rushing towards the East
Bengal tent.
“ HANDIS ” OF ROSOGOLLAS,
SONDESH AND MISTI DOI were within NO TIME went OUT and OFF the shops at Kolkatta. Peope
started purchasing it and rushing to the CLUB TENT to hand it over to
their STARS and FAVOURITES
as a GIFT to them. “ MOOKH-MISHTI ” as If a FESTIVAL started happening at
every NOOK and CORNERS of Bengal and
Kolkatta . Anybody who saw the other, FORGETTING whether he was a Mohun Bagani
or any other fan of any other club were fed with SWEETS . The Mohun Bagani’s did not like that but then they had to
eat those as it was a GREAT VICTORY of a team from BENGAL which had defeated
the CHAMPIONS OF ASIA CLUB Football
which had won that title in 1968 Title , then .
It was the time for the players to move from Eden Gardens .
The players came by FOOT but
their return to the club Tent which is hardly situated at a distance of 500
metres from the venue where the finals were played was such that the players
were taken back by the Jeeps.
It took about SIX
HOURS for them and the players to reach the club tent. There was NOT even a PIN POINT space where was available for the jeeps to move
ahead that was carrying the players.
The match on that
day started at 2.00PM sharp and it ended at 3.48PM sharp .
After all the paraphernalia’s after the finals, the tean
started toward the club tent at 4.30 but they could put their feet at the club
tent at about 10.30 PM at the night . People became as if some HYSTERIA had HIT them . It was very HARD and
practically IMPOSSIBLE to contain the FOOTBALL-LOVING-EAST
BENGAL supporters on that day
When the Jeeps carrying the footballers had reached the club
tent Of East Bengal Football club, the players were STUNNED and SURPRISED to see as many as about NINTY THOUSAND
people at the DARK-PITCH hours of the night waiting for them. They were about
10,000 widows waiting for them holding sweets for them. The first to taste that
sweet that day was Parimal Dey the HERO
who had scored that goal.
No sooner that he put his mouth and the neck hanged to ONE
lady a WIDOW to allow her to put a piece of sweet-meat in her mouth , there
were as many as THOUSAND hands who tried to put theirs sweet and the LOVE that
they carried to his mouth. All his SHRIEK-SHRILL-SHOUT “ BAAS KORUN MAA, BAS KORUN ” which means ENOUGH, MOTHERS’ ENOUGH fell into the DEAF EARS.
For everything thereafter the East Bengal players requested
to these ladies- WIDOWS and to the other as such carried no meaning. If at all
they requested the only words that they would hear was- AARAY AAMAGO POLA, MAAER
HAATHER MISTI KI EATO TETO ” which means that OH! MY SON, OH! OUR’S SON, IS
THE SWEET MADE BY YOUR MOTHER IS SO BITTER ” . KHAIBI NAA MANY- KHAITAY HOIBO
which means WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT YOU
WOULD NOT EAT , YOU WILL HAVE TO.
It was very HARD to contain anybody in that moment of JOY and EXCITEMENT.
It also happened that a LADY who could NOT feed a player when she tried, she LAID herself in
front of that Jeep saying that EVEN
IF THE JEEP OVERRUNS HER SHE WILL NOT GET UP TILL SHE IS NOT GIVEN THE
OPPURTUNITY TO FEED EVRY PLAYERS THAT PLAYED IN THE FINALS INCLUDING THE
RESERVE BENCH .For that was the FRENZY and the EXCITEMENT that ran into
Kolkatta that day.
One of the East Bengal player Kamal Guha who played in that
finals all of a sudden started vomiting because of the excessive over feeding.No
sooner that he did that the PEOPLE surrounding him put their HANDS underneath
saying that THEY WILL NOT ALLOW THE EAST BENGALI SWEET AND THE SWEETNESS TO
TOUCH THE GROUND . Such was the AFFECTION and the LOVE showered by
the fans for their players that day and such was the scenario that once he finished all his
vomiting HE AGAIN WAS FED UP BY
INNUMEROUS UNACCOUNTABLE PIECES OF
BENGALI SWEET MEAT.
Scene Inside the
Club Tent
It was at about
11.00 Pm when at last all the players
entered the club.They had assembled in the main room of the Club Tent. All the
players were told to have their bath. Hot water were there at the place.
All the players then again assembled at the club tent. The
DINNER was awaiting them. No sooner that the club had won that Trophy some Club
Officials arranged everything for the dinner.
IT WAS A TYPICAL BAANGAAL DINNER
There was BEGUN-BHAAJA
( The Brinjal Fry ), AALOO-POSTO
( The Potato- POSTO CURRY ) , TOMATOR
CHAATNEE ( The Tomato Sauce Like Receipe ) , CHHOLAAR DAL ( The Dal Made Of Gram seeds ) and ofcourse the
HILSA-MAACH ( The Hilsa Fish
) washed down by Rossogollas
and the Misti- Doi not to
forget to mention the INFAMOUS
Bangaal Rice , the AATOP CHAAL
. For
that was the FEAST on that day. After feeding on those sweets from their
fans, how much could they gulp those feast could be anybody’s guess but that it
was !! ..!!..??..!! .
That night nobody dared to leave the club tent. There were
about 10,000 fans that were seen even at the start of the early morning who
just waited at the night when Kolkata was raining and the entire Bengal was
reeling with flood but these spectators of East Bengal BRAVED the rainfall only
ot fulfil their dreams to feed or touch the feet of their stars who did the
invincible.
East Bengal had won their FIRST ever encounter played
between thee two team when they played against each other at Calcutta in their
I F A League ay back in the twenties. That match was won by Eat Bengal by 1-0
with Nepal Chakravorty scoring in that fifty minutes of the game. The frenzy
caused and the euphoria created was something indescribable, but THIS ONE TILL THE DATE AND THE DATE HAD
NO ANSWER. Never did Kolkatta
seen or saw the kind of an HYSTERIA as such. It was something beyond
imagination. Many many and many sports victories at Kolkatta has taken place
after September 25th 1970, and many scenes were witnessed but the
one that was created on September 25th 1970 has NOT taken a BREAKING
or a BREAK
in terms of any record. The scene was
and still is being INDESCRIBABLE.
Pic :: The paper
clipping Of East Bengal when they beat Mohun Bagan in their first ever meeting
The next day also saw
the Fans in that same numbers wanting to celebrate the sweets and the occasion
with the players.
For all the days, next ie on September 26th 1970 there were many small
gatherings and occasion that took in the clubs like awarding a SHIRT-PIECE to all the players,
the photo shoot session, some pooja ceremony that the club did . It was at about
7.00PM on September 26th 1970 that every player was escorted in a
jeep by the Kolkata Police to put them back into their place place to be with their family or to be at their
home.
SUCH A KIND OF SCENE WAS NEVER WITNESSED IN THE HISTORY OF KOLKATTA
AGAIN FOR A CLUB WINNING A TROPHY AND THE SCENES AFTER THAT .
EAST BENGAL WITH THAT WIN BECAME THE
“ FIRST ” EVER TEAM AFTER INDEPENDENCE
to win a FINALS’ AGAISNT A FOREIGN TEAM IN IT’S OWN LAND
September 25th 1970- East Bengal on August 1st
1970 in that year had celebrated it’s GOLDEN
JUBILEE of it’s establishment and had won the I F A Shield to re-carve and rewrite a HISTORY. Today when it celebrates it’s CENTURY it also celebrate it’s GOLDEN JUBILEE of that INFAMOUS
win and I’m writing that here today
THANKS GOD FOR KEEPING ME ALIVE FOR BOTH THE DAYS TO SEE, CELEBRATE AND WRITE IT
Well in SHORT that is it
Regards and Thanks !!
Pics
Shyamal
Bhattacharjee
Mr Shyamal Bhattacharjee, the author was born at West Chirimiri Colliery at
District Surguja, Chattisgarh on July 6th 1959 He
received his early education at Carmel Convent School Bishrampur
and later at Christ Church Boys' Higher Secondary School at
Jabalpur. He later joined Hislop College at Nagpur and
completed his graduation in Science and he also added a degree
in B A thereafter. He joined the HITAVADA,
a leading dailies of Central India at Nagpur
as a Sub-Editor ( Sports ) but
gave up to complete his MBA in 1984 He thereafter
added a Diploma In Export Management. He has authored THREE books
namely Notable Quotes and Noble Thought published by Pustak
Mahal in 2001 Indian Cricket : Faces That Changed It
published by Manas Publications in 2009 and Essential Of Office
Management published by NBCA, Kolkatta in 2012. He has a
experience of about 35 years in Marketing
Signature Of Shyamal Bhattacharjee
Wow you literally deported me back into the stadium, watching live the 90mts game. What a wonderful day that would have been. Now we can only imagine how much frenzy the city had been for a fortnight after the game....... Never again.....😪😰
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