Durand Cup

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July 2011

Vol. 2 Issue 7 | Rs.75

Purple Beret capping military issues

FORCE football durand cup

2011

Seeking India’s

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DURAND CUP According to its constitution, the Durand committee is headed by the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff committee as its president, with the other two Chiefs as vice-presidents. The other members are the Adjutant General, General-Officer-Commanding, Delhi Area, Chief of Personnel, Indian Navy, the Air Officer-in-Charge Administration, Commissioner of Police, Delhi, the Delhi Municipal Commissioner, President and Secretary of the Services Sports Control Board, representatives of the Delhi Football Association and Railways Sports Control Board and three important non-official civilian personalities elected by the Durand Football Society.

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start up

Atul Bhardwaj is a former naval officer. He is a graduate of King’s College London. He can be contacted at atul.beret@gmail.com

Editorial

Durand is back with a bang

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he 2009 leadership summit organised by the Hindustan Times, featured a panel discussion on the future of cricket. The panellists consisting of Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Richard Hadley fielded numerous questions from the audience. Surprisingly, a gentleman commented on the bleak future of cricket in India, especially in view of the challenges posed by other sports. The gentleman used his personal example to make the point. He narrated that he had a luncheon invitation with Sachin Tendulkar, and he asked his son to accompany him. But to his horror the son curtly said that he was not interested - had it been Beckham, he would have definitely come along. However, the question raised by the gentleman touched a raw nerve – his comment was sacrilegious in a country that reveres both Sachin and cricket.

It is obvious that the gentleman must have been wealthy and influential enough to be invited for lunch with Sachin. As a corollary, his son must be regularly vacationing in Europe besides being a student of an elite school where soccer is a popular sport. That probably explains the son’s exposure to international football and their stars. One does not discount the role that television has played in bringing live international football to Indian homes but the football craze is still, more of an up market phenomenon. It has yet to percolate down to the masses.

For the Indian masses, an unshackled cricket is only a three decade old phenomenon. Prior to the 1983 World cup victory, cricket was more of an urban phenomenon, with ‘copy book’ style batsmen ruling the roost. There was more style than substance in their performances. It is only when commoners from small towns like Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni started arriving on stage that cricket got a new lease of life. IPL further democratized cricket. The hegemony of Delhi and Mumbai over Indian cricket was dismantled and aspirations of ordinary Indians to make it a livelihood have been kindled - one finds gully cricket being played in every nook and corner of the country and even in the middle of pot holed roads. And this bottom up movement explains India’s top ICC rankings in all forms of cricket.

Barring a few towns and schools, football is far from being

the most preferred sport.

Messi and Man United are the topics of discussion among kids born with a silver spoon. In nutshell, the revival of football in India is happening from the top. Furthermore, for these children, the play station rather than the playfield is a more exciting option. Thus, the revival of football in India is not likely to happen in the next decade. It may eventually happen, but it surely is going to be a protracted affair.

The Indian Armed forces with a deep rooted love for football need to be commended for their efforts to take the Durand tournament to the level it deserves - to see India on the international football map. The armed forces can create local football heroes reaching the hearts and minds of Indians

For India to come up in global football reckoning, talent would have to be unearthed from the villages and small towns. But talent can’t be nurtured by thrusting Rolando on the downtrodden by showing them international matches, where the players are as alien to them as Sachin Tendulkar is to people in Germany and Greece. Local heroes have to be groomed and alongside, best sporting practices, devoid of politics and partisanship have to be established. It is these good practices that will ensure that infrastructure that comes up is as world class as the Delhi Metro and tournaments like Durand get adequate support for public as well as private agencies.

The Indian Armed forces with a deep rooted love for football need to be commended for their efforts to take the Durand tournament to the level it deserves - to see India on the international football map. The armed forces have men who hail from remote corners of India and from all communities and can create local football heroes who would be brand ambassadors of the game, reaching the hearts and minds of Indians - fatigued by too much cricket. The Indian army and other two services are more than willing to perform this role with dedication, ‘bend it like Beckham’ to make Durand a grand success.

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The beacon...

COLUMNS HiStORY The legacy DEBRIEF Durand Football SitREP ‘Chak De’ Manipur GUESt COLUMN Football: An inspiration for Infrastructure Development HiStORY Football-Hope of salvation

capping military issues

July 2011 Vol. 2 Issue 7 www.purpleberet.com

Editor Atul Bhardwaj

Hony Chief Consultant Lt Gen (Retd) PC Bhardwaj

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Executive Consultant Vice Admiral (Retd) Venkat Bharathan

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Taking Durand to new heights

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FEATURES diG dEEP Decline of Regimental teams in the Durand Tournament RECALL Playing ball HUMOUR The feat of God ON SCREEN R0ll on Football

Vice President Operations Maj Gen (Retd) Vinay Bhatnagar

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HEROES The Madras Regiment Football team

By A Purple Beret Story

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TOtAL RECALL

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Mike Lahiri

By Lt Col (Retd) A K ‘Sam’ Sharma

the coveted trophy

Durand is the third oldest football tournament in the world and oldest in Asia and India. The tournament is unique because the winning team gets not one trophy, but three! The Durand Cup and Shimla Trophy are rolling trophies while the President’s Cup, first presented by Dr. Rajender Prasad is given to the team permanently.

The tournament is conducted in two phases, ‘knockout’ and ‘quarter finals’ phase. Currently, 20 teams participate in the knockout phase, from which two teams are selected for quarter finals. The top nine league teams, according to their current ranking, and the Services champion team are directly seeded in the quarter finals. The tournament is conducted over twenty days.

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The beacon...

Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, PVSM VSM ADC, President of the Durand Football Society in an interview with Atul bhardwaj, editor Purple Beret comments on the legacy of inter-relationship between the armed forces and sports in general and football in particular as well as the bright future of football The Durand Cup Football is the oldest tournament in the country, how has it helped to awaken the football spirit in the country?

Durand Cup is not only the oldest football tournament in the country but entire Asia and it is the third oldest football tournament in the world. A number of Indian and Asian teams compete for the coveted trophy. The tournament has a lot of mass appeal and enjoys emotional attachment with old and famous clubs. Two of India’s premier football clubs, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, have qualified for the finals 25 times each and have won the Durand Cup 16 times each. Most of the players are of Indian origin, though lately many teams have foreign players also in their ranks. This is an indication of the growing popularity of the tournament, both in India and abroad. The Durand Cup remains an important event in the football calendar every year and has tremendously contributed to the football spirit in the country.

How has the direct association of the armed forces with this prestigious tournament helped the tournament sustain itself over the years?

Armed Forces have the tradition of sustaining themselves against all odds. Similarly, the Durand Cup has continued since 1888, under the patronage of the defence forces. The tournament was only suspended twice during World War I and II for obvious reasons. Otherwise the rich legacy of this exalted tournament still lives on and the armed forces have a special attachment to this tournament. The armed forces are committed to promoting sporting events that encourage camaraderie, esprit-de- corps and sportsmanship.

In a country where cricket is almost a religion do you think it is difficult for football to grow in such an environment?

Cricket is a religion in our country but at the same time other sports are getting popular by the day. Every sporting event has its own charm and followers. I am sure that our country has a

lot of scope to absorb various games and football is one of the more popular ones. In fact, India is being termed as a football sleeping giant. We are realising the immense potential that we have in terms of talent in our country. With improvement in sports infrastructure, availability of professional coaching and adequate sponsorship, I am sure football standards are bound to improve in our country.

What should be done at the national level to promote other sports and especially, football that has a potential following in the country.

To promote football we need to bring in more players from the grassroot levels, develop required infrastructure and ensure greater involvement from the Government and corporates to support the cause. Establishing of Sports Academies in each state will be a beneficial step. We also need to concentrate upon having a scientific approach to training our players. They would also need good medical support. After all, training by good coaches, physiologists, psychologists and fitness specialists is the order of the day. While, some steps have been initiated, the requirement is to increase the penetration of trained staff at all levels. The Indian Air Force has contributed towards this cause by conducting and managing the Subroto Cup Football tournament and sponsoring deserving talent.

What are the important features of the Durand Cup this year?

This year, the Durand Cup is scheduled from mid-September to mid-October. The tournament organisers are trying a transformative approach as far as the format of the tournament is concerned. We are pursuing a strategy of aggressive marketing this time by increasing the prize money and providing the tournament greater media coverage. We hope that these measures will bring in new dynamism to this tournament and it will increase the popularity of football in our country.

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Taking Durand to new heights Maj Gen Manvender Singh, AVSM, VSM, GOC Delhi Area and Chairman Durand Football Tournament Society in an exclusive interview with Atul Bhardwaj and Col (Retd) RS Ratra, spoke at length about rejuvenating Durand to its past glory and his plans to take it to a much higher level and give the sport its due, that will no doubt enthuse football fans in India Last year the Durand Cup faced some problems, how did you manage to save it from becoming extinct?

There was no trouble in conducting the tournament, barring the fact that the financial outlay was not readily available.

Being a part of the uniformed community it is difficult for us to chase sponsors to raise money. It’s not easy for us to go out and ask for money. Yet we made an effort, but there were not many sponsors forthcoming to support this national sporting event. We tried our level best to generate funds through various government agencies, also through corporate bodies, armed forces, and para military forces. We did get some assistance but that support was not adequate. No help came from the corporate sector. So to that extent we did encounter a little problem last year. We ran the tournament on a shoe string budget, cutting down the frills, and the entire money was raised by the Indian Army.

What are the challenges of organizing a sports event at a national level?

The cost of running the tournament of such magnitude is very high. Our main aim is promote football and a sports culture in the country. The Durand football is free for people to watch and enjoy, and hence we do not generate any revenues through gate money. Booking the stadium is not costly and the Delhi government has been supportive in giving us the dates that we want. But electricity tariff bills with respect to flood lights are very high. The matches have to be played in the evening to ensure that maximum crowds get an opportunity to watch them after their office hours. This year we are better prepared, and

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from this year onwards we intend to take the tournament to a much higher level.

What help are you seeking from government agencies?

We are getting all the support from government agencies. Soon I will be meeting the sports minister Mr Ajay Maken too. But we are not banking on government support alone.

What is the scale at which the Durand Cup is being organized this year?

After the experience of last year, I sat with my team and analyzed the entire system. Although complete support is extended by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) I felt that there was a need to change the method in which Durand football was being conducted for the last 61 years. We also understood that any good sporting activity if not backed by solid financial resources loses its appeal not only to those watching it but more so to those who are playing in it. Therefore the first change was the decision to approach the issue of raising money in a more professional manner.

Secondly, it was thought that the tournament cannot continue to be run on a low scale. We needed to scale up the appeal of the tournament or else its impact would be lost. Over the past two decades the tournament has been successively losing its sheen.

Clubs had been coming to participate in the tournament paying for their expenses themselves and players too were not getting anything from us for their effort.

Lastly, we had to evolve a system through which Indian football players would begin to see the sport as a means of livelihood rather than just a stop gap arrangement before getting a job.

To achieve this Durand must pay the players sufficient money so that they put their best foot forward in the tournament and take football to the next level in India. We debated this at length and finally came to a conclusion that to sustain the tournament and to make it more popular, large amount of money will have to be raised. We spoke to football lovers, some friends in the

corporate world and professionals. In fact the idea struck me while I was attending a Golfing conference, their method of raising funds and conducting their tournaments inspired me to approach marketing firms through an open tender system. Now we are in the process of finalizing the selection of the firm.

The new system will ensure that this year onwards Durand will chart a new chapter in the history of football. With continued support from AIFF and working within the norms and frame

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laid out by the parent body of Indian football, we will reestablish the brand value of Durand cup.

What better provisions are you making for the players and clubs in the forthcoming version of Durand?

From this year onward every team that participates even in the preliminary rounds will get paid a sum of money. Of course, the prize money for the winning team, runners up and semi finalists will be substantial. We will also honour yesteryear footballers and encourage players who have brought laurels to the country in the past. This will be done every year. All players will be provided decent boarding and lodging facilities. As of now we have 26 teams participating in the tournament. From next year onwards, when we have a long-term contract with the sports marketing firm, we may increase the number of teams to even forty. We could even be looking at playing some matches in different locations

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across the country in the zonal configuration. We are also looking at inviting some top class foreign teams as a part of promotional activity that will give fillip to the tournament depending on the sponsors generating enough money.

What is your media plan to take Durand Cup to maximum masses in the country?

We are promoting the Durand by creating more awareness among the print media with regard to the history and future scope of the tournament. Coverage in newspapers and magazines will take the message to maximum number of people across the country. As far as broadcasting rights for the tournament etc are concerned, we are not going to get involved in it at any stage. It will be the responsibility of the company that is selected to market Durand. We are looking at the fact that the company must have the adequate experience to hold national and international events.

What are the future plans to take Durand Cup to next level in the coming years?

We are looking at building a Durand stadium, the COAS is very supportive. We will build this within the military authorization.

It will be a multipurpose stadium but only cricket will not played because the pitch in between hampers football. However, it will have athletic tracks and would be of international standards.

The land has already been earmarked.

Currently the Women world cup football is being played in Germany, do you also have plans to promote women football?

Yes, woman football is picking up gradually in our country too. There is some encouraging news that fresh talent among woman footballers is beginning to make its mark. I am sure that from next year onwards we may introduce women football in the Durand format. The idea behind all this is maximum number of players both men and women should get a credible platform to showcase their talent.

In pursuit of Durand By

Col (Dr) MS Gill football (due to unforeseen constraints) and provided DFTS barely a month to organize the National level event. Notwithstanding, the GOC, HQ Delhi Area took on this humongous challenge giving me all the liberty to explore, utilize and move any and every resource to conduct the tournament. Given the paucity of time, no financial resources in terms of sponsors coming forward the challenge seemed larger than life.

Nevertheless in true service tradition under the leadership of GOC, HQ Delhi Area, the Raj Rif Regiment Centre, Comdt Brig A K Shukla, VSM helped organise the conduct of the 123rd Edition of the tournament. The flawless and smooth conduct of the Durand Cup in such a short span of time attracted a lot of media coverage. Actually it turned out to be better than ever before.

took over the position of Honorary Secretary Geneneral Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) in May 2010.

Within a few days of taking over I started interacting with the GOC, HQ Delhi Area, who also happened to be the new incumbent to the office as Chairman, Standing Working Committee of DFTS. The 123rd edition of the Durand Tournament was scheduled for February 2011 as per the AIFF football calendar.

While we overcame the crisis and preserved the rich legacy of the Durand tournament the question as how to save it and carve the future of the tournament lurched on the screen of our minds. During few further interactions on the subject with the Chairman, SWC DFTS it was decided that a long term strategy be put into place for the conduct of the tournament. Working relentless even after the tournament was over the DFTS has finally embarked on the long term strategy to ensure the continuity of the tournament and enhance its visibility. A lot is being put into place for conducting Asia’s oldest and world’s third oldest football tournament in an utmost professional manner. Live broadcasting, logistics, participation, increased prize money, strategies to make it an attractive sport have been planned and are being executed on the ground. A few months down the line will be the deciding factor. Durand will take the envisaged shape and I am sure our efforts will bear fruit and Durand will earn its rightful place in the world football fraternity.

However, the 123rd edition of the Durand Tournament was all set to stumble when AIFF changed the scheduled calendar of

The author is the Hony Secy Gen of the Durand Football Tournament Society

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history

The legacy A Purple Beret Story

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he Durand cup history dates back to 1888 in Shimla.

It is the oldest football tournament in India and also the 3rd oldest in the world-after the English and the Scottish FA cup. It was started by Sir Mortimer Durand, the then foreign secretary of the British Raj. Sir Henry Mortimer Durand was born in Sehore, Bhopal State of India on the 14th of February 1850 and died in England in 1924. During the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880) he was the political secretary at Kabul and from 1884 to 1894 he was the foreign secretary of India. In 1893 he negotiated with Abdur Rahman Khan, Amir of Afghanistan, the frontier between British India and Afghanistan. This line is called the Durand Line after him.

The Durand tournament was basically intended as ‘out-door relief’ and recreation for European troops stationed in India.

The British Indian Army was given the charge of running and organizing the cup. Initially, it was an intra-army cup, where about eleven different teams used to participate. The Royal Scots Fusiliers won the inaugural cup by defeating Highland Light Infantry with a score of 2-1.

Some historians opine that there were two reasons that the British introduced the football tournament in India. Firstly, it was their extreme passion for the game and secondly it was also a way of inculcating camaraderie in the army. However, notwithstanding the larger objectives, the British cannot be condemned for pioneering a harmless sports tournament. In fact, just as we credit them for introducing railways, English and of course cricket, they need to be given their due for ushering in competitive football in India.

The Durand tournament has encouraged generations of Indians to pursue their dream of playing and winning at the highest level. The tournament is also unique wherein the winning team gets not one trophy, but three! The Durand Cup and Shimla Trophy are rolling trophies while the President’s Cup, first presented by Dr. Rajender Prasad is given to the team permanently. The tournament was suspended in 1914 due to World War-I and was revived in the year 1921 and continued as an All India Inter Regimental Football Competition till 1939 at Shimla. Ever since India’s Independence in 1947, the tournament is being organized by the Indian Army and is held

at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi, under the aegis of HQ Delhi Area. It was in 1940, that the Durand Committee decided to hold the tournament at Delhi. In the same year, civil teams were also given permission to participate. That year, Mohammedan Sporting won the tournament to record the first ever victory of a civilian team. With the outbreak of World War-II, the Durand Committee decided to suspend the tournament during the period of war.

In 2005 the sporting clube-de-Goa missed the title by a whisker when Army XI produced an upset win. Earlier in 2002/03, the Army XI lost in the finals to East Bengal club. With the relegation of sports to a low priority owing to many operational and counter insurgency commitments, participation of the Army teams has been quite low key. Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have shared 32 Durand Cup victories between them.

After the down-slide of the high profile teams from Hyderabad, the Durand Cup, with rare exceptions since 1970 has been won mostly by teams from Kolkata -Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, or Punjab - Border Security Force and JCT Mills, Phagwara.

In 1997 FC Kochin from the South won. In 2002, for the first time a team from Mumbai, Mahindra United, won the title twice, while in 1999 and 2003 the Goan side, Salgaocar, won the trophy twice. The new Millennium’s first title was once again won by Mohun Bagan. In 2006 it was won by Goa’s Dempo S.C., who beat JCT 2-0 in the finals. Recent seasons have been dominated by Churchill Brothers from Goa. They won the tournament twice in 2007 and 2009, while finishing as runner’s-up in 2008.

The main aim of the Durand tourney now, is to promote football in the country by conducting it annually. It is open to all club teams in the country and conducted under the aegis of All India Football Federation. This tournament has emerged as the most prestigious one in the country along with IFA Shield of Calcutta and Rovers Football tournament of Mumbai. Of all these it is only the Durand that has managed to preserve its original character, vision and prestige. The support and backing of the AIFF, Sports Ministry, Government of India and the three armed services has been most forthcoming.

The 123rd edition of Durand Cup was conducted from 17 October

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2010 to 7 November 2010. The finals was graced by Hon’ble Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr M S Gill. Chirag United won against JCT Phagwara in a well contested match. The 124th edition of the Cup will be played in October 2011 at Delhi.

A dramatic match that marked the arrival of Indian football and broke the British hegemony over the sport was the Durand cup final in 1940 when Mohammendan Sporting of Calcutta won a niche in the sport’s ‘Hall of Fame”. They lifted the glittering Durand Trophy, becoming the first Indian team to achieve the feat. The tournament which was held at the famous Annandale in Shimla since its inception in 1988, was shifted to New Delhi in 1940 in view of the “policy of the Government of India to retain many of its offices in Delhi”.

Then at their zenith Mohammedan Sporting crushed one opposition after another to finally take on the powerful Warwickshire Regiment. It was chance that the Indian team managed to break the complete British Army monopoly in the tournament. Jk Bose recalled in his 1967 article, “The venue of the fight was the Irwin Amphitheatre, which is now called the National Stadium, New Delhi. It was a battle, as the nationalist Indians loved to think, between ruled India and their illegitimate ruler, Britain. The stage was set with the picturesque Purana Qila as its backdrop. The crowds were distinctly divided into Indians on the one side and British on the other. They had settled down hours before Captain Harnam Singh, a former Secretary of the Durand Committee, whistled for the kickoff. He was the first Indian to referee a Durand final.

The match began after what appeared to be a long wait. Amidst crackers from the British and full-throated shouts from the Indians, the Mohammedans, who were all booted, made piercing attacks and defended heroically. They retired with honours even at half-time with the score at one-all. Excitement mounted high as the second session began. The clock ticked by and still there was no score. Would the golden opportunity for the Indian team

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slip? The Indians became restive but not for long. In the 20th minute the Calcutta forwards initiated a delectable move and their slick inside-left Saboo scored the match-winner.

It was an unforgettable sight of joy and jubilation as the referee blew the long whistle. The Indians were uncontrollable, each one of them trying to greet their eleven heroes. I cannot recollect whether Osman, Hafiz, Rashid and Bachi Khan, all ex-Delhi players, received special cheers. All that I remember is that along with them Saboo, Noor Mohammad (jr), Jumma Khan, Rashid, Masoom, AM Hussain, Karim and Rahman received perhaps the biggest ovation of their lives. Warman, Harris, Lewis, Wharton and company of the Warwickshire Regiment surrendered to the might of the Calcutta team who won all other major soccer trophies except the I.F.A. Shield in that year.

Mohammedan Sporting’s triumph came after years of glorious but vain attempts by other teams to break the British monopoly.

It was, however, another Indian side, East Indian Railways who made the final for the first time in 1927. Assisted by giants like Samad, Rabi Gan Bhowmick and B. Das the Railway went down gallantly to the York and Lancashire Regim 2-0.

Young Men of Delhi, who once reached the semi-final, Sandamoniums of Quetta, Loco Sh Lahore, Collegians and a host of other teams were regular visitors to Shimla. Mohun Bagan had won the I.F.A. Shield in the epochmaking 1911, began to make their appearance in the Durand from the 1920’s. Even if they were beaten they left an indelible impression.

The national feeling was evident every time an Indian team participated. The feeling was never greater than the memorable full tie between Calcutta’s Aryan Club and Green Howards in 1936.

The footed Aryans, ably guided by their mentor Chhoney Mazumdar, not only matched the skill of redoutable rivals but nearly downed them. The Aryans were right on top, an eye-witness tells

history

me. They got a penalty award towards closing stages of the exciting match. They duly converted it amidst deafening cheers.

But to the surprise of all referee Fletcher disallowed the goal, and ordered for the spot kick to be retaken and it was a goal again. But the referee refused and another shot was ordered.

The specatators’ patience had reached the limit. The Aryans, however, sportingly obeyed and scored. There was tumultuous joy. But the joy turned into shock as Flethcer turned down the goal for the third time. No more of such injustice could be tolerated. The volcano of their mass protest erupted. The entire Annandale was on fire and the Aryans left Shimla never to go back there again.

game to a large extent. The Goans were to blame for the defeat as they missed several chances, Dudu being the main culprit.

His misery was complete when he missed the fifth kick in the tie-breaker. Army XI coach Stanley Rozario said that tall and

Mohun Bagan achieved a rare feat of winning the trophy for three years in succession. Two other teams H.L.I and the Black Qatch had done so in the last centuary. H.L.I also holds the distinction scoring the biggest victory, 8-1 in the final of the tournament.

However, the momentous day arrived a day after the Vijay Divas, in 2005. The Army XI won the Durand Cup football tournament for the first time beating Sporting Clube-de-Goa 5-4 in the tie-breaker. The Armymen had lost to East Bengal in the final in 2002. The game remained goal less even after the extra time forcing the implementation of penalty shootout to ascertain the champions. And in the do-or-die moments, the Army team held their nerves to edge out their more fancied rivals as they had done in the semi-final against JCT Mills, Phagwara. Ramachander, Thirunavukarsu, Birendra Bora, Binod Bantava and Raghu Kumar found the net for Army XI while Chidi Edeh, Nicholas Rodregues, Rajesh Meetei and Hardeep Saini were on target for the Goan outfit. The spot kick of Macpheien O Dudu, the Nigerian captain of the Goan club, was saved by substitute custodian Abungobi Singh, who had come on just before the shootout, to win the Durand Cup to Army XI. The soldiers, coached by Stanley Rozario, effectively neutralised the threat of Dudu and Chidi thereby controlling the

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Bangalore, said beating a “big team” which finished second in the National Football Lesgue was a big achievement. “My boys played like brave soldiers and defended their goal like their life depended on it,” he said. “We had very limited resources but got the best out of them.” The threat of Dudu and Chidi was taken care of and the duo became frustrated as a result.

“Only Bebiano Fernandes looked dangerous as he played very well and created a lot of chances,” Rozario said. Admitting that luck was also on Army XI’s side, he said “the Sporting forwards missed a few chances but we reduced their effectiveness to a large extent.” “We played a match against the national team before it left for Karachi as part of our preparation and we learnt a lot from marking players like Bhaichung Bhutia,” Rozario said.

With inputs from JK Bose and Sam Sharma

strong foreign strikers in the opposition camp prompted him to adopt a defensive strategy in the Durand Cup final against Sporting Clube-de-Goa here today. “They had three foreigners in their ranks, two of whom were strikers, so going on all out attack would not have been the right strategy,” Rozario said after his side lifted the coveted trophy for the first time. “But we did have a strategy do go for counter-attacks”, he said. “A win for a team comprising totally of Indian players was a very good sign for the game in India”, Rozario said.

Describing the win as a “dream come true,” the coach, who was previously with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited,

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history

The IAF football team in 1948. Seated 3rd from left : Sqn Ldr Arjan Singh, now Marshal of the IAF

Shimla-the birthplace of the Durand Cup and the Indian Air Force “While the bored soldier circled Jakho and in all likelihood entertained himself by throwing stones at the monkeys, the Simla elite focused on Annandale. This is approached by a sharp descent and is the largest stretch of level ground in Simla; Annandale was the spot that saw the first plane landing in the town at the end on the First World War. It is now used as a helipad. Before aviation became an indispensable part of our lives, this glade surrounded by deodars in all their majesty, was the magnet for everything that required space - fairs, horse races, polo and cricket matches or gymkhanas. Annandale was the original playing field for the Durand Football Tournament named after Sir Mortimer Durand who, when Foreign Secretary, donated the challenge Trophy; this, the oldest soccer tournament in the country, is played up to the present day - but no longer at Simla.” (excerpts from- Shimla The summer capital of British India - by Raaja Bhasin)

AN AIR FORCE IS BORN “The Gazette of India No.41, Simla, Saturday, October 8, 1932” No. 564 In pursuance of sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Indian Air Force Act, 1932 (XIV of 1932), the Governor General in Council is pleased to appoint the 8th October, 1932 as the date on which the said act shall come into force.

No. 565 The Governor General in Council is pleased with effect from the 8th October 1932, to establish the Indian Air Force....”

Contributed by J.R Nanda, CEO AviOil India, from his collection of memorablia on Shimla, his birth place and home town.

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The Durand Year

Winners

Runners-Up

1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902

Royal Scots Fusiliers Highland LI Highland LI Scottish Borders Scottish Borders Highland LI Highland LI Highland LI Somerset LI Black Watch Black Watch Black Watch SW Borders SW Borders Hampshire Regiment

Highland LI Simla Rifles Royal Irish East Lancashire A & S Highlands A & S Highlands Royal Scots Fusiliers Somerset LI Black Watch 2nd (Simla) PVRC N Staffordshire Regiment Yorkshire Regiment E Lancashire Regiment S Staffordshire Regiment E Lancashire Regiment

1914-19

The tournament was not held due to World War I Year

Winners

Runners-Up

1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1920 1921 1922 1923

Royal Irish Rifles N Staffordshire Royal Dragons Cameronians Cameronians Lancashire Fusiliers Lancashire Fusiliers Royal Scots Black Watch Royal Scots Lancashire Fusiliers Black Watch Worchestershire Lancashire Fusiliers Cheshire Regiment

Queen’s Regiment Black Watch Dorsetshire Regiment Bedfordshire Royal Welsh Fusiliers Royal Irish Rifles King’s Regiment 3rd KRR Lancashire Fusiliers Lancashire Fusiliers 3rd KRR Cameronians Royal Fusiliers Brigade RFA Essex Regiment

Year

Winners

Runners-Up

1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1940

Worchestershire Regiment Sherwood Foresters Durham LI York & Lancaster Regiment Sherwood Foresters York & Lancaster Regiment York & Lancaster Regiment Devonshire Regiment King’s Shropshire LI King’s Shropshire LI B Corps Signals Border Regiment A & S Highlanders Border Regiment South Wales Borders Mohammedan Sporting Club

Essex Regiment Worchestershire Regiment Sherwood Foresters East India Railways York & Lancaster Regt East Yorkshire Regiment Leicestershire Regiment Border Regiment Devonshire Regiment Leicestershire Regiment A & L Highlanders R Norfolk Regiment Green Howards Royal Scots Border Regiment Royal Warwickshire Regt

1939 1941-49

The tournament was not held due to World War II The tournament was not held due to World War II & Partition

Winners Years

Winners

Runners-Up

1950 Hyderabad City Police Mohun Bagan AC 1951 East Bengal Club Rajasthan Club 1952 East Bengal Club Hyderabad City Police 1953 Mohun Bagan AC National Defence Academy 1954 Hyderabad City Police Hindustan Aircraft 1955 Madras Regimental Centre Indian Air Force 1956 East Bengal Club Hyderabad City Police 1957 Hyderabad City Police East Bengal Club 1958 Madras Regimental Centre Gorkha Brigade 1959 Mohun Bagan AC Mohammedan Sporting Club 1960 Mohun Bagan & East Bengal (joint winners) 1961 Andhra Pradesh Police Mohun Bagan AC 1962The tournament was not held due to Indo-China War. 1963 Mohun Bagan AC Andhra Pradesh Police 1964 Mohun Bagan AC East Bengal Club 1965 Mohun Bagan AC Punjab Police 1966 Gorkha Brigade Sikh Regimental Centre 1967 East Bengal Club Bengal-Nagpur Railway 1968 Border Security Force East Bengal Club 1969 Gorkha Brigade Border Security Force 1970 East Bengal Club Mohun Bagan AC 1971 Border Security Force Leaders Club 1972 East Bengal Club Mohun Bagan AC 1973 Border Security Force RAC, Bikaner 1974 Mohun Bagan AC JCT Mills 1975 Border Security Force JCT Mills 1976 Border Security Force & JCT (joint winners) 1977 Mohun Bagan AC JCT Mills 1978 East Bengal Club Mohun Bagan AC 1979 Mohun Bagan AC Punjab Police 1980 Mohun Bagan AC Mohammedan Sporting Club 1981 Border Security Force JCT Mills 1982 Mohun Bagan & East Bengal (joint winners) 1983 JCT Mills Mohun Bagan AC 1984 Mohun Bagan AC East Bengal Club 1985 Mohun Bagan AC JCT Mills 1986 Mohun Bagan AC East Bengal Club 1987 JCT Mills Mohun Bagan AC 1988 Border Security Force East Bengal Club 1989 East Bengal Club Mohun Bagan AC 1990 East Bengal Club Mahindra&Mahindra 1991 East Bengal Club Border Security Force 1992 JCT Mills Mohammedan Sporting Club 1993 East Bengal Club PSEB 1994 Mohun Bagan AC East Bengal Club 1995 East Bengal Club Tata Football Academy 1996 JCT Mills Oil Club (IRAQ) 1997 FC Kochin Mohun Bagan AC 1998 Mahindra&Mahindra East Bengal Club 1999 Salgaocar Sports Club East Bengal Club 2000 Mohun Bagan AC Mahindra United 2001-02 Mahindra United Churchill Brothers SC 2002-03 East Bengal Club Army XI 2003-04 Salgaocar Sports Club East Bengal Club 2005 Army XI Sporting Clube de Goa 2006 Dempo Sports Club JCT Mills 2007 Churchill Brothers SC Mahindra United 2008 Mahindra United Churchill Brothers SC

purple beret July 2011 19

The Unforgettables...

Jarnail Singh

Ashoklal Banerjee

arnail Singh, a football legend in his lifetime and one of India’s greatest footballers passed away in 2000, at the age of 64. A stopper-back in the three-back system, Jarnail was a prominent member of the Indian team that won the gold medal in the 1962 Asian Games at Jakarta. Four years later he led the team in the Bangkok Asian Games. He was also the Indian captain for three years in a row in the Kuala Lumpur’s Merdeka tournament in the 60s. At the domestic level, Jarnail spent his best years with Calcutta’s Mohun Bagan. Born in Lyallpur (now in Pakistan) in 1936, Jarnail Singh Dhillon first caught the eye while playing for Punjab University in the DCM tournament. He shifted to Calcutta to play for Rajasthan Club in 1957. Next year he joined Mohun Bagan and remained their most prized catch till he decided to go back to Punjab in 1969.

At the fag end of his career but still possessing enough fire, he led Punjab to their first Santosh Trophy triumph in Jalandhar in 1970. He joined Punjab Government and retired as Additional Director (Sports).

shoklal Banerjee was 64 when he passed away in 2008. He started his footballing career in the Kolkata maidan in the mid sixties as a defender. He first drew attention while playing for Kidderpore Club and switched over to East Bengal Club in 1968 to fill the vaccum created by the sudden departure of legendary stopper Nayeem. He went back to East Bengal in 1971 and was a part of the glamour outfit till 1976. He achieved many laurels with the club winning the Calcutta League continuously from 197175 and I.FA. shield from 1972-1976, the last year jointly with Mohun Bagan. He famously captained the red and golds in triumph over arch-rivals Mohun Bagan in the finals of the 1975 Shield. He also won the Durand Cup with the Club in 1972 and performed consistently throughout the tournament that year. He also won the Rovers Cup (1973, 1975) and DCM trophy (1973, 1974). He individually had some outstanding performances against Pyongyong City Club (1973 IFA Shield Final) and Dok Ro Gang (1973 DCM final). In 1977 he switched over to Mohammedan Sporting. He represented Bengal in the Santosh Trophy from 1969-74 being the Captain. He won the trophy thrice (1969, 1971, 1972). He made his international debut for India in the 1970 Merdeka and won the bronze medal that year.

J

M. Kempiah

M

.Kempiah, the stalwart of Indian football passed away on 3rd July, 2008 at the age of 75 at Bangalore A box to box midfielder who excelled in defensive qualities he stole the eye of the pundits with his uncanny anticipation and neat tackling much so that he not only became a permanent feature but also an asset to the Indian side. Kempiah aptly fit into the role of a defensive half back in the 3-2-5 formation. He made his international debut in the 1955 Quadrangular football tournament. At the International level, he is capped twenty eight times by the country - being the member of the Indian team in the Olympics (1956, 1960), Asian Games (1958), Asia Cup (1959), Merdeka tournament (1959.1961) and Pre Olympics (1959,1960,1963).

He also scored his only international goal vs Afganisthan in Jia’s 5-2 win in Pre Olympic tie in Kabul in 1959. At the club level he shot into prominence with Bangalore Muslims from 1953-55. In the following year he shifted to the Mecca of Indian Football, Kolkata and joined East Bengal. He helped the elite club win Durand Cup and P.K.Nair Gold Cup that year. In 1957 he switched over to Mohun Bagan and stayed with them till he hung up his boots in 1964.

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A

Noor Mohammed

A

luminary of Indian football, Noor Mohammed, died at the age of 80. He played in three Olympics -1948 (London), 1952 (Helsinki) and 1956 (Melbourne) - and three Asian Games -1951 (New Delhi), 1954 (Manila), 1958 (Tokyo). He was a member of the playing eleven which won the gold medal in the 1951 Asian Games, beating Iran 1 -0 in the final and the Indian team which finished fourth in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. In the old 2-3-5 system, Noor Mohammed was a rock-solid left half, with uncanny anticipation, game sense, superb timing of the tackle and fine distribution of the ball. At his peak he was rated as the best in Asia in his position. Lanky and sinewy Noor Mohammed was a fitness freak and never missed a match for his side, the legendary black and yellow shirted Hyderabad City Police.

They won the Rovers Cup at Mumbai, five years in a row from 1950-1954, a record unsurpassed in domestic football. Noor Mohammed was the epitome of dedication.

heroes

The memorable Gorkha Brigade By

Novy Kapadia

I

n 1996, the Gorkha Brigade lost in the first round of the pre-Durand tournament 0-1 to the local league runners up Hindustan F.C. On their way to their first ever Durand triumph (Shyam Thapa’s exploits enabled them win once again in 1969), Gorkha Brigade beat Leaders Club, Jalandhar 4-1, Rajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC) Bikaner of Magan Singh fame, 0-0 and 8-0, former champions Mohammedan Sporting 4-0 in the quarter finals, holders Mohun Bagan 2-0 in the semi final and the mighty Sikh Regimental Centre (SRC) 2-0 in the final to win the Durand tournament, with an enthralling display of speedy, attacking football.

In the last decade of the 20th century, the once mighty Gorkhas were a pale shadow of their all conquering unit of years ago.

The decline was an apt reflection of changing values in society and receding interest in regimental sports. In the 1966 Durand tournament, three of the semi finalists were regimental teams from the Services, Gorkha Brigade, SRC and EME Secundrabad.

Bagan was the only civilian side in the last four of the Durand tournament.

Gorkha’s owed their 1966 triumph to their brilliant quintet of forwards, outside right Rawat, inside right Ranjit Thapa, nippy centre forward Bhupinder Singh Rawat, dapper, diminutive inside left Tika Ram Gurung and wily left winger Amar Bahadur, Their skill, speed, thrust and goal scoring abilities were a source of wonder and delight.

They were ably supported by indefatigable Nar Singh as left half.

The Gorkhas played in the old fashioned 3-2-5 formation, three defenders, two midfielders and five forwards.

However, Ranjit Thapa and Tika Footballer Bhupender Rawat Ram’s versatility and

Chima Okorie greets Shyam Thapa

work rate enabled them to backpedal and bolster midfield when under pressure as well as initiate speedy counter attacks, with deft throughs. So though Gorkha Brigade started in a 3-5-2 formation, they frequently functioned in a 3-3-4 or 3-4-3 formation.

Short-statured Bhupinder Rawat, nicknamed ‘Scooter’ for his blistering speed and quickness off the mark was an ideal poacher of goals. He would hover around the goal area, drift into vacant space, when the inside forwards fell deep and use his speed to brcak through and score with placements or diving headers from measured crosses by Amar Bahadur. With his speed and instinct for goal, Rawat was like a poor man’s Paolo Rossi. Amar Bahadur was all silky skills on the left flank.

His repertoire of dribbling skills drew gasps of admiration. He was not an old fashioned left winger but could cut in and score goals. Above all the five forwards gelled perfectly as a cohesive unit. Of this famous five, four were snapped up by Mafatlal Mills, Bombay. Amar Bahadur joined in 1967 and Bhupinder Rawat, Ranjit and Tika Ram a year earlier. Only right winger Rawat retired with the Gorkha Brigade. Subsequently, Tika Ram ran a provision store in Dehra Dun, Amar Bahadur looked after a family hotel in the outskirts of Bombay and Bhupinder Rawat joined an administrative post with Sports Authority of India (SAI). Only Ranjit Thapa maintained some link with

purple beret July 2011 21

The dribbling skills of Kannan, Arumainayagam and Ashok Chatterjee enabled them retain possession and slow down the pace of the game. Mighty Jarnail Singh, C. Prasad and Sushil Sinha managed to blunt the Gorkha attack.

Coach Shyam Thapa

football, as a sports teacher with St. Mary’s school in Delhi and trained local clubs and occasionally the Delhi state team.

Three of them, speedy Bhupinder Singh Rawat, hard working Ranjit Thapa who shifted to midfield in the 4-2-4 formation and elegant left winger Amar Bahadur became regular internationals. Tika Ram played for India in the 1969 Merdeka tournament. Ranjit and Amar Bahadur were members of the Indian team which finished third in the 1970 Merdeka tournament. Amar Bahadur also scored the winning goal against Japan which enabled India win the bronze medal in the 1970 Games at Bangkok. This was the last great year for the senior national team, the last occasion when it won medals at the Asiad level.

In the 1966 Durand tournament, the final was quite unforgettable, as the Sikh Regiment could not match with the speed and thrust of the Gorkha Brigade. The match to remember was the semi final against Mohun Bagan. For three successive years (1963-65), Bagan inspired by greats like Chuni Goswami, Jarnail Singh, Kempiah, Dipu Das and Arumainayagam, had won the Durand Cup. They were first Indian team to achieve a hat-trick of wins. With East Bengal upset by EME Secundrabad (snap left footed top of the box volley by inside left Jayaraman) and Mohammedan’s trounced by the Gorkha Brigade, in the quarter finals, it was left to Bagan to maintain Calcutta’s pride.

The match played on a cold, sunday afternoon in January 1967, aroused tremendous interest and excitement amongst local football fans. The query on everybody’s lips was, “would the experienced Jarnail Singh, C. Prasad, P. Kannan and Nitu Ghosh be able to thwart the rampaging Gorkhas?” Around the Ambedkar stadium (then known as the Delhi Gate stadium) there were serpentine queues, as eager spectators clamoured to get tickets for this historic match. Touts did roaring business.

The Re. 1 tickets of the third enclosure were sold in the black for Rs. 20 or Rs. 25, a princely sum in those days. The match was well contested. Initially Bagan controlled proceedings.

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Just before half time, Gorkhas changed their approach play and used one touch football to level attacks. Bhupinder Rawat broke the ice with a dream goal. Running in from the blind side bravely flung himself in front of lunging Jarnail and scored with a diving header at the near post a right flank cross. The crowd went ecstatic.

Midway through the second half, Gorkhas sealed victory when tenacious midfielder Nar Singh scored with a snap shot, a rising left footer which somehow deceived the usually reliable Prodyut Burman in the Bagan goal. Bagan exerted pressure in the end, but the Gorkha defenders averted danger with their first time clearances to record a memorable win and end Bagan’s unbeaten six year streak in the Durand tournament.

Prior to this defeat, Bagan had lost in the Durand way back in December 1961. On that occasion they were beaten 0-1 by Andhra Pradesh Police in the final, with inside left Zulfiqar scoring the match-winner. In 1962, the Durand was not held due to the India-China war and Bagan were champions from 1963-65.

This article was earlier published in 1996

P.K Banerjee (right) with Shyam Thapa

heroes

The Madras Regiment Football team

‘

Soccer is very close to the heart of every south Indian especially so in the Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu). The game is passionately played and followed in South India and so is the case with every ‘Thambi’ in the Madras Regiment. The Madras Regiment at the Madras Regimental Centre, Wellington organised and trained the team to reach the pinnacle. From raw soldiers, the team was built with great planning. Some of the known players included Aruldas (Captain), Peter Thangaraj, Sadasivan Nair and Alphonse.

In recognition of the services rendered by Peter Thangaraj, the Regiment re-named a stadium after him as ‘Thangaraj Stadium’ in May 2009.

The team had a tradition of victory and won various tournaments like the Palghat Foot Ball tournament, the Travancore Trophy and their dream run culminated in winning the Durand Cup twice in 1955 and 1958. The MRC had the privilege of receiving the trophy from the then President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad.

The Madras Regiment team was sought after and received invitations to participate in various tournaments all over India. The individual players too were the envy of other teams.

Peter Thangaraj represented India in both Asian and Olympic games in Melbourne and the Rome Olympiad. Thangaraj also represented India in three successive Asian Games from 1958 and was adjudged as the “Best Goal Keeper of Asia” in 1958 and was honoured with “Arjuna Award” in 1967.

Dr Rajendra Prasad, President of India with winners of Durand Cup 1955

Dr Rajendra Prasad having tea with winners of Durand Cup 1958

purple beret July 2011 23

Pandit Nehru, the then Prime Minister

Mike Lahiri, wearing the Gorkha Brigade Football “blue” on his riflegreen blazer

Mike Lahiri

By Lt

Col (Retd) A K ‘Sam’ Sharma

I

t may be hard to believe by many, that, cricket has never been as popular as football in Britain. The British brought football to India. The Gorkha troops picked it up from them. The gorkhas fought alongside a few Scottish Highland infantry units of the line, and to date have association with them, in military accoutrements and procedures, ethos and traditions. The Scots loved football as well and thence the gorkhas too! Why not?

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Football has been popular with the kanchas. They have produced national level soccer players too. M K (Moloy Kumar) ‘Mike’ Lahiri for one. Mike was my CO in 4/3 Gorkha Rifles way back in the early seventies, in NEFA. He was a member of the Indian team that won the Malaysian Merdeka Tournament. Also the one that played Afghanistan in the pre-Olympic fixtures.

Earlier, he had cationed the football team of the National Defence Academy when they reached the Durand finals in 1953; “I do not remember the exact details but it was one hard fought tournament with the kids from NDA proving, even to them, that they could go the extra mile. In the semi finals they beat Mohammedan Sporting Club. And there wasn’t any provision for extra time in those days or penalty shoot outs. The match had to be replayed in case of a draw. It was in the semi finals that they had to play their opponents thrice to finally get into the finals. Dad used to say that every day before the match they used to pack their bags to get back to NDA knowing that they were most likely to lose against a team that had half a dozen India players then. They finally went on to the finals and were so fatigued by their exploits that they were routed by Mohun Bagan 4-0. This was the best ever performance by the NDA team to date,” said Chandan Lahiri, Mike’s elder son.

As Mike also led the Gorkha Brigade team even later, when he was holding the rank of a Captain in 3/3 Gorkha Rifles, Chandan further recounts, “I once asked dad how he ended up joining the Gorkhas. He looked at me and with a wry smile told me, “I heard they played football”. And thus after passing out of NDA he went on to become a 3 Gorkha Rifles officer. The Gorkha Brigade team in those days was a formidable one and went on to play and win in tournaments across the country. He captained

total recall

Mike and team with President Dr Rajendra Prasad

the Gorkha Brigade team for many seasons. As a senior officer he did try and revive the forgotten fortunes of football within the Gorkhas and indeed within the services, but the world had changed by then and football was never the same in the Indian Army after the mid 1960s. Even after his death, his mother took on the mantle of bringing football back in the forefront in the name of one of the Indian Army’s most illustrious players by donating the Lahiri Memorial Trophy to the 39 Gorkha Training Centre. For some reason, the trophy has been ‘lost’.

He represented India in the Asia Cup in Ernakulum, the Merdeka Tournament in Kuala Lumpur and in the Pre Olympics in Afghanistan. He was left out of the Indian team (despite much talk and indignation in the media) for the 1960 Olympics and was named the first reserve. Apparently his name was not nominated for selection, as was the norm for selection in those days. The person who was to have nominated his name was not present at the meeting. The non selection kind of devastated him as a footballer and after a few more months of being on the field, he dedicated himself to the Indian Army, went on to Fort Bragg, North Carolina to become India’s first Green Beret Ranger and then went on to raise the Commando Wing of The Infantry School, Mhow.

In the olden days politics was less hectic and the people in power had a lot of time for sports. Jawaharlal Nehru was present as often as he could be. Dr Rajendra Prasad was often in the ground witnessing matches. He was just too good on the soccer pitch.

Mike could net a goal from either corner flag with aplomb. Such was his ball control and power. And, finally Chandan fondly reminisces of his ‘baba’, “ I have heard a lot of people mention (and among them, his playing contemporaries) that Lahiri was one of the finest strikers of his time, in the world. Fortunately he also had superior officers who encouraged him all the way and gave him leave of absence from his soldierly duties whenever he had to replace his Army fatigues for football boots. He was

lucky to have had the support of his superiors.”

Lt Col Mike Lahiri left the career Senior Command course a week earlier in order to be in time for the 39 Gorkha Training Centre Inter-Battalion Football Competition. As the CO, he lead the 4/3 Gorkha Rifles team to victory in that tournament! He was also graded a straight ‘Alfa’ on the Senior Command course! He told me once, in Babina, that but for his making to the India Football XI, he would have been playing test cricket for the country, as a fast bowler!! He was an outstanding sportsman. One of his endearing habits was to coach the Battalion Football team from the sidelines, as he sat with Staff College aspirant officers, like yours truly, and teach them the finer points of writing military appreciations at the same time, the all-time bug-bear of middlepiece army officers! For ‘objectives’ to be attacked, he used his two nipples and the navel...and devised the artillery fire support plan!! Mike retired as a much acclaimed Lt General. Alas, he is no more...Cancer got him in the end.

The Gorkha Brigade Football team reached the Durand finals in 1958 only to loose narrowly to the Madras Regimental Team.

They however, lifted the Durand trophies in 1966 and 1969, beating the teams of the Sikh Regimental Centre and Border Security Force respectively. Of this, one time ADC to the Indian Army Chief, Brig (Retd) Behram Panthaki recalls, “I was a witness to the 1969 finals between the GBC and BSF. The then Indian Army Chief, Gen Sam Manekshaw, and K Rustomjee, DG BSF were also watching this exciting football match. VV Giri was the President. GBC won hands down. After we reached the Army House, the Chief went into his cellar, and pulled out a bottle of Champaigne and with a small note, told me to go and hand over the bottle to Rustomjee. The note read “Khushrow, here is to drown your sorrow at the defeat by my Gorkhas!” (with inputs from Chandan Lahiri, Mahesh Gill, Chap Narain Gurung, and Behram Panthaki)

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Decline of Regimental teams in the Durand Tournament By

Novy Kapadia

G

oing down memory lane, it is interesting to note that from 1888-1940 British regimental teams held sway in the Durand tournament. The first civilian team to contest the final was the East India Railways in 1927.

The East India Railways team consisted entirely of Indian players. Assisted by stalwarts like Samad, Rabi Ganguly, P. Bhowmickand and B. Das, the Railway team went down gallantly to the York and Lancashire Regiment by 0-2 in the final.

Young Men of Delhi once reached the semi-finals as did Aryans Club of Calcutta in 1936. The first team to break the monopoly of British regimental teams was the mighty Mohammedan Sporting when they beat the Royal Warwickshire Regiment 2-1 in the final, with goals by centre forward Hafiz Rashid and the slick inside left Saboo.

A new era began when the tournament was revived in New Delhi, the capital of independent India. Civilian teams now started dominating the Durand tournament. Hyderabad City Police won in 1950 and 1954, East Bengal in 1951 and 1952 and Mohun Bagan in 1953. Regimental teams of the Indian Army were getting pipped at the post but not totally eclipsed as is happening nowadays. In both 1955 and 1958, the final was contested between two teams from the Services. In 1955 Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) Wellington annexed the Durand tournament for the first time, beating Indian Air Force

26 July 2011 purple beret

3-2 in the replayed final. The match on the first day ended in a goal less draw. D’Cruz, Alfonso and Alwyn scored for the winners. In 1958 for the first time since Independence the final was contested between two regimental sides. MRC Wellington, with mighty goalkeeper Peter Thangaraj in their ranks ousted spirited Gorkha Brigade 2-0 in the final with Mukundan and Abu Backer scoring the goals.

Till the end of the sixties, regimental teams were a force to reckon with in the Durand tournament. Gorkha Brigade twice emerged winners in 1966 and 1969. In 1966 in an all regimental team final, Gorkha Brigade beat Sikh Regimental Centre (SRC) 2-0 in the final. Then three years later, inspired by the mercurial Shyam Singh Thapa they beat BSF 1 -0 in the final to lift the trophy for the second time. After that it has been downhill all the way. No team from the Services has entered the Durand final since then. Indian Air Force (IAF) sparkled briefly in the late seventies, with their excellent forwards Subir Sarkar and Unni and playmaker Paul Raj. The Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), alarmed at declining standards, started the concept of the Army XI, a select team drawn from different regiments which competed in various tournaments. Somehow this concept has not taken off. Army XI is neither as charismatic nor as feared as the regimental teams like Gorkha Brigade, MRC Wellington or MEG Bangalore of yore. In the nineties only once

dig deep players they produced in the past are not forthcoming anymore.

In the sixties, Gorkhas produced some of the nippiest forwards in India’s football, the speedy striker Bhupinder Singh Rawat, nicknamed ‘the Scooter’ by local fans, the dazzling Shyam Thapa, famous for his acrobatic back volleys, the feline grace of left winger Amar Bahadt and the industrious Ranjit Thapa, to mention a few.

has the Army XI entered the Durand semi-finals in 1991 when they lost 0-4 to ultimate runners-up Border Security Force (BSF). The regimental teams, IAF and Indian Navy are now confined to the preliminary rounds of the Durand tournament and play before a few hundred spectators and rarely leave a favourable impression by their participation.

In the last decade of the 20th century, the once mighty Gorkha Brigade is a pale shadow of the conquering unit of a little over three decades ago. In 1996, Gorkha Brigade lost 0-1 to local legend runners-up Hindustan F.C. in the first round of the preDurand tournament. In 1999, Gorkhas fared slightly better and reached the tournament proper, the quarter-final league stage.

On their way to the quarter-finals they overcame local clubs Shastri F.C. and Indian Nationals. Gorkha Brigade was placed in group B along with Salgaocar F.C. Goa and F.C. Kochin.

The twice-former champions of the Durand- tournament lost 0-2 to the ultimate winners Salgaocar F.C. but salvaged some pride by upsetting F.C Kochin 1-0 with a 30th minute penalty kick converted by midfielder Pritam Rai. However, Gorkha Brigade are no longer crowd-pullers. The array of talented

In the decade of the 1950s, Gorkha Brigade also produced classy players like Puran Bahadur, Mole Lahiri, Dhan Bahadur and Siri Bahadur and was renowned for its enthralling, attacking football. Prolific goalscorer, Puran Bahadur had the skill to torment opposing defenders and the charisma to attract large crowds. In the 1954 Durand tournament, Gorkha Brigade was involved in one of the greatest matches in the history of this illustrious tournament. They took on the mighty Hyderabad City Police in a pre-quarter final tie and led 3-0 at half-time. That year Hyderabad City Police were a formidable unit. They had just won the Rovers Cup for the fifth time in succession and would become the first team in India to achieve the Durand and Rovers double crown.

The Hyderabad police changed tactics in the second half and made a dramatic comeback. To stifle the speed of the Gorkhas attack, the Hyderabad Police defence played upfield to catch the opposing forwards in the offside trap. They also used the long ball from the flanks effectively to harass the short-statured Gorkha defenders. In a match, which old-timers consider as one of the best ever seen on the lush green surface of the Ambedkar stadium, Hyderabad City Police rallied to win 6-3 with their centre forward Doraiswamy scoring a hat-trick.

But it is a credit to the Gorkha Brigade for making it such an epic encounter. They continued to play attacking, entertaining soccer and did not resort to defensive tactics to hold on to their lead. They may have been tactically naive, but those were the reasons which made Gorkha Brigade a thrilling side to watch and extremely popular amongst the fans. The Durand organisers were sure of a near full house whenever Gorkha Brigade played because of their enthralling attacking football and talented players. Also the big teams of India feared Gorkha Brigade for their giant killing feats.

Alas, how the mighty have fallen. In the Durand tournament of the new millennium, the Gorkha Brigade has not even qualified

purple beret July 2011 27

as one of the finalists for regimental army teams. Regimental teams nowadays play before a few hundred spectators as they no longer have the charisma or talented players, for spectators to flock to the Ambedkar stadium to see them in action. This decline is both sad and baffling but is an apt reflection of changing values in society and receding interest in regimental sports. It seems like an age gone by, but in the 1966 Durand tournament, three of the semi-finalists were regimental teams from the Services, the ultimate winners Gorkha Briagde, runners-up Sikh Regimental Centre (SRC) from Meerut and EME Secunderabad. Mohun Bagan was the only civilian side in the last four of the tournament. The 950s and 1960s were the heydays of regimental teams in the Durand tournament. In 1965, the newly formed Delhi Garrison, formed after the 1965 Indo-Pak conflict was the cynosure of all attention. This crack regimental team, with stalwarts like Bhupender Singh Rawat, K.B. Sharma and Amar bahadur upfront and Khairuddin and Mahadevan in defence and Arvinder Singh as goalkeeper delighted the crowds with their attacking, spirited football.

They upset mighty East Bengal, which included stalwarts like Peter Thangaraj, Sukumar Samajpati, Parimal Dey, Sushil Sinha and P. Sinha in their ranks, 1 -0 in the quarterfinals. In the semi-finals Punjab Police upset them.

MRC Wellington was a name to conjure with in the Durand tournament. In the 1950s and early 1960s they were a wellknit team of the most successful and best goalkeepers India has produced. He was involved in both their Durand triumphs of 1955 and 1958 and left for Mohammedan Sporting, Calcutta only in 1961, after having played in two Olympics, Asian Games and Asia Cup. Inside forward Kuppaswamy and right winger Kamachi, D’Cruz, Alfonso and Mukundan were some of the other great players who made MRC a formidable team some four decades ago. In the 1958 Durand semi finaIs, they upset a formidable East Bengal 2-1. East Bengal had players like goalkeeper Sanat Sett, defender Byomkesh Bose, midfielders Anil Gupta, Ram Bahadur and Bir Bahadur and forwards Moosa, Tulsidas Balaram and Dhanraj in their ranks. In 1956 MRC also reached the Durand semi-finals and , played an epic encounter with mighty East Bengal. Twice the match ended in goalless draws but on the third day, East Bengal prevailed 2-0 with the astute Kanaiyan scoring the opening goal. In the 1950s, MRC had a lot of support from their commanding officer, who invariably came to witness their important matches and arranged to send them to Delhi well in advance to get acclimatised. Besides the Durand they also won the DCM tournament in 1962 and were runners up in 1961.

EME Secunderabad, never won the Durand tournament but emerged champions of the Rovers Cup in 1961 when they upset Mohun Bagan 1-0, which included legends like Chuni Goswami,

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Arumainayagam, Jarnail Singh, Sanat Sett and T.A. Rehman in their ranks. In that same year EME reached the Durand semifinals but lost 0-2 to Mohun Bagan with goals by Dipu Das and Salauddin. EME also upset East Bengal 1 -0 in the quarter finals in 1966 with left striker Jayaraman scoring a memorable top of the box left-footed volley. EME Secunderabad, emerged champions of the DCM tournament in 1963 beating Punjab Police 3-1 in the replay after the first match ended in a goalless draw. Bir Bahadur, international defender Tarlok Singh and Khairuddin were some of the notable players who donned the colours of EME. MEG Bangalore never reached a Durand final but was always a force to reckon with. They produced some outstanding players, skillful playmaker Ethiraj, goalkeeper K. Sampath and solid defender K. Madhavan. In the 1967 Durand pre-quarter finals they played draws with mighty Andhra Pradesh Police for two successive days. In the second replay they led 2-0 at half-time but inspired by majestic Yusuf Khan, Andhra Pradesh Police rallied to win 3-2. ASC Centre (South) Bang produced two very skillful players in the seventies, Aziz, who later played for Mohammedan Sporting and Shankaran Kutty. BEG Roorkee and AOC Secunderabad were other formidable regimental teams capable of troubling the best in the land.

IAF also produced some notable players, dashing winger Subir Sarkar who later played for Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting, the tall striker Biswas, midfielder Paul Raj, the elusive Ramchandran, Matthews, Kanaran, Balakrishnan and several others. They troubled the best teams in the country by their spirited displays and regularly reached the quarter-final stage of the tournament. India Navy also reached the Durand quarterfinals regularly and were feared opponents.

Support from the officer class, which is now declining, regimental pride and more emphasis on sports were the factors which led to the success of the Regimental teams in the past.

It was a different ethos in the 1950s which produced so many fine Regimental football teams. Now with warfare becoming more technological, the same importance is not being given to football and sports in the Services.

Brig (retd) S K Chatterji is a former artillery officer. He is a well known commentator on defence issues. skchatts@hotmail.com

Debrief

Durand Football

I

n 1947, when the newly formed states of India and Pakistan were duelling to define the international borders as per their own designs, many more prized possessions of British India were also in the midst of the tussle. One such trophy that was being fought for with no less zeal was the Durand Cup Football. It was perhaps the fact of Durand having originated in Shimla that the Indians won in the play off. The trophy has since been played every year, barring a few breaks, to become the blue riband of Indian football. Durand is the oldest Asian football tournament and the third oldest in the word, preceded only by the English FA-Cup and the Scottish FA-Cup. The cup was started by Sir Durand, in 1888, then India’s Foreign Secretary, for British troops stationed in Shimla. Durand’s birth in a military module entailed its remaining a purely army affair till 1939 as an inter – regiment championship. Durand’s history has been influenced by events that shook the world in the twentieth century. The conduct of the tournament suffered disruption during World War I from 1914 - 1919. In 1940, the venue was shifted to Delhi and for the first time football clubs were allowed to participate. However, with the war clouds of World War II gathering, the tournament witnessed another eclipse, starting 1941.

The next edition had to wait, past the end of World War II, and till we won our independence. It was only after ownership of the cup between India and Pakistan was decided that the tournament was revived in 1949. The cup has been played since then, without a break, though of course the 1971 War led to delayed conduct of the tournament by a couple of months to February, 1972. The army conducts the tournament, no longer at Shimla, but at Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi under the aegis of All India Football Association. The centenary celebration of the cup in 1987 heralded the concept of prize money in Indian Football. The last edition – the 123rd – was played out from 17 October 2010 to 07 November 2010 with Chirag United SC emerging as winners. The Durand trophy is also unique.

The winners carry home three trophies. Of the three, while the Durand Cup and Shimla Trophy are rolling trophies that come back for the awards ceremony annually, the President’s Cup, first presented by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, remains with the winning team as a permanent souvenir. For decades, Durand, along with Rovers and IFA shield, has been the mainstay of competitive Indian football, National Football League (NFL)

in 1997 and the Indian Professional League (I-League) which commenced in November 2007, the Indian Football calendar has become very busy, leading to a curtailed Durand Tournament, which otherwise was a month long football festival.

The Durand Football Tournament Society also boasts a galaxy of service officers and bureaucrats. Before independence the committee was headed by the Viceroy. All three services chiefs are at the apex, with Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee, currently Air Chief Marshal P V Naik PVSM VSM ADC, being the President. The committee includes the Chief Secretary of NCT of Delhi, as also the Commissioner of Police. In the Organising Committee, the man who actually leads the team in hosting the tournament is the General Officer Commanding Delhi Area, currently Major General Manvender Singh. He is aided by the Centre Commandant Rajputana Rifles and officers of Delhi Area. The Physical Training Officer of the Centre, currently Lt Col (Dr) MS Gill, the Honorary Secretary General of the Durand Committee, also plays a pivotal role. Durand’s winners include the best clubs in our country. The initial honours naturally went to Army teams and British regiments at that, but as the tournament opened up it became a symbol of superiority in the national football circuit and the best of teams are to be found in the roll of honours. The record of winning the trophy the maximum number of times is shared by India’s primer clubs Mohan Bagan and East Bengal. Both have carried the trophy home 16 times each. They are followed by Border Security Force seven times and JCT on five occasions. Mohameddan Sporting Club, Kolkata was the first Indian non-military team to have won the tournament in 1940, after the gates were opened for football clubs to participate.

The services and sports have always been synonymous. Our armed forces lead the field in equestrian sports, boxing, rowing, shooting, and have produced excellent sportsmen in many other disciplines. However, running a blue riband tournament is not what they have been at. Durand is a singular exception.

The vision of Major General Manvender Singh is, “… to expand the Durand tournament and give it an international flavor, invite teams from abroad to participate. Initially … get Army teams from abroad to participate…”

Hopefully, the vision will witness fruition soon.

purple beret July 2011 29

Nitin A Gokhale is NDTV’s Defence and Strategic Affairs Editor. He is the author of ‘Sri Lanka: from war to peace’ and ‘The Hot Brew’

Sitrep

‘Chak De’ Manipur M ary Kom, Kunjarani Devi, Thoiba Singh Sanamacha. Names that may not ring an instant bell but in the sporting arena they are legends in their own right.

Mary Kom is a top notch woman boxer. Sanamacha Chanu and Kunjarani Devi have been leading international women weightlifters. Thoiba Singh was an important member of the Indian Olympic hockey team. What makes it more commendable is all of them have honed their sporting skills in a distant, insurgency-ridden north eastern state of Manipur.

I remember a stormy July day almost a decade ago in Imphal when the Chanu household sat glued to the telly, praying silently for one simple thing—that there should be no power cuts for the next couple of hours in the day. The electricity did not trip that day, and they could watch their daughter Sanamacha win three weightlifting golds in the 53 kg category at the recent Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Twenty-four hours earlier, another family in the neighbourhood was partying, for a similar feat. N. Kunjarani Devi had once again found her magical touch to pick up three golds in the 48 kg category. But Manipur’s contribution to India’s unprecedented success at recent Commonwealth Games in the past decade did not stop with these two. India’s women’s hockey team, which showed uncharacteristic grit to take the podium with a golden goal in Manchester, was led by a Manipuri, W. Surjalata Devi. Three others in the team—goalkeeper Ksh. Tingonleima, Pakpi Devi and M. Sangai Ibehmal Chanu—all belonged to the state. Even in the October 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games Manipur’s contribution to India’s medal haul was significant.

So what makes a tiny state with a small population of 23 lakh a sports powerhouse—producing more than 150 international andover 500 national players in the past 20 years?

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“We are naturally gifted to do well in sports. Look at our footballers.

We don’t have proper facilities or sponsorship, but we are still among the top 4-5 teams in the country. If all our players who have migrated to other states are allowed to play in the Manipur team, we are good enough to beat the best”

media watch

Theories abound on this trend. L. Ibomcha Singh, a former armyman-turned-Sports Authority of India (SAI)-trained boxing coach says, “Since ancient times we Manipuris have been good at sports. Earlier we played indigenous games, now we excel in contact sports.” A leading journalist says sports helps Manipuris escape the drudgery and poverty in the state.

“Excelling in sports gives Manipuris a chance to move higher up in life.”

This theory is borne out by the fact that all the gold medalwinning Manipuris have jobs outside the state. While Kunjarani and Sanamacha are employed by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), all the women hockey players serve in the Indian Railways.

At least half-a-dozen footballers play in cash-rich clubs like Dempo, Salgaocar and Churchill Brothers, in Goa earning a substantial salary. Even Thoiba Singh and Olympian Neelkamal Singh have been employed with the Food Corporation of India and Indian Airlines respectively.

There are however no jobs at the state level. State sports associations are perpetually short of funds. And yet, Manipur churns out champions in as varied sports as football and archery. Says a football player: “We are naturally gifted to do well in sports. Look at our footballers. We don’t have proper facilities or sponsorship, but we are still among the top 4-5 teams in the country. If all our players who have migrated to other states are allowed to play in the Manipur team, we are good enough to beat the best.”

A visit to the Khuman Lampak Sports complex reveals over 800 boys and girls practicing and honing their skills in as many as 19 disciplines—from hockey to fencing and cycling to sepak teraw, a popular southeast Asian ballgame. The skills and dedication of coaches, players and officials is exemplary.

Indeed, one significant contribution to the state’s rise as a sports powerhouse comes from the local clubs and community network. That and the fierce sense of pride in everything they do makes Manipur’s gritty sportspeople a power to reckon with in India’s fickle sporting world.

purple beret July 2011 31

Air Marshal (Retd) TS Randhawa, VM. He is the former Commandant, National Defence Academy

Football: An inspiration for Infrastructure Development

T

he spring term of 1969 at the National Defence Academy (NDA) was an interesting term. We three course mates and classmates, albeit from different squadrons, all sergeants, would march in the seniority of the squadron which was doing the best in the inter squadron games being held. Most of our course mates knew of this and didn’t have to calculate the positions of at least three squadrons in the current game being played. Not that it mattered to the Academy, but it reflected the competitiveness and high squadron spirit amongst us. This peculiar procedure, I believe, was also a motivator to our junior cadets, as some of them saw us as role models.

As things transpired that term, my squadron was to play the Inter squadron football semi-final match against my course mate’s squadron. The result of the match would decide our marching order and was thus even more important for both

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of us. The build up was intense. Both squadrons practised hard in order to win. There were regular talks by the respective squadron football captains to the teams and the squadron cadets. When the time came both teams were pumped up and a tremendous match was played. Both teams had a number of players who were members of the Academy football team. The match was finally decided by a solitary goal late in the second half.

The other memory of that match was the large number of injuries that both teams sustained. Since it was a match in which no quarters were given, this was bound to happen. A major contributor was the very ground we played on. It was a hard mud ground with some grass. Remember the red clay soil of Maharashtra. That very one was responsible for most of our injuries. That is how games were played in the NDA then. The details of the match have intentionally not been given as this

guest column

article pertains to sports infrastructure and not to the football match as such. Times changed and after the Asian games of 1984 coloured television arrived in the country. After the opening up of our economy, we were able to see more ‘sports channels’ besides many other entertainment channels. The next generation of cadets were being bought up on Star sports, ESPN and Neo sport besides others. One was able to watch the football world cup matches, as also the EPL, and FA cup.

There was some improvement in the sports infrastructure in the country, even so, that it was restricted to the major cities.

I went back to the NDA as the Commandant in December 2007.

While many things had changed in the NDA over the years and for the good, many still reminded me of my own days at the Academy which I left in 1970. The Academy play fields were one such relic. They seemed to have been left in a time warp.

When I witnessed the first football match in the academy and saw the cadets fight tooth and nail to win, it took me back to my own days of playing football at the Academy. At the end of the match, as I was going back to the car I stopped midway and looked back. Like yester years the cadets were limping their way back to the squadron. Some even being assisted by squadron mates detailed by the CSM. The next day I asked the CO of the MH to come and brief me on the extent of injuries suffered by the cadets. It was revealed that a large number of cadets had to miss training, gleefully, because of their injuries.

It was then we at the Academy decided to do something about the playfields of the NDA. Some leg work was then put in to come up with sources that were capable of providing the requirement of improving the Academy’s play fields. The paper work was completed post haste. We were glad that the higher echelons of Command and the financial advisors agreed and cleared the project.

We started small with three football fields. These field were relayed with Bermuda grass on a largely sand based surface.

A sprinkler system was put in place with a captive sump for

irrigating the fields. The task was done by professionals and by the next football season we had the fields ready. To inaugurate the football fields, it was decided to hold a match between the 6th term cadets of No. 1 and 2 battalions and the cadets of No. 3 and 4 battalions. It was a hard fought match even though there was no inter squadron rivalry. The cadets were trying to emulate footballers they had seen on TV. The same sliding tackles, throwing themselves without fear to stop a rival from scoring were not new but the quality suddenly seemed to improve. Their antics were praise worthy even if these were of a lesser degree of finesse and capability compared to what one saw on TV. After the match we interacted with the cadets and for a change there were no injuries. Their shorts were a dirty green with their new found sliding skills but no serious injuries to help the cadets skip training and cross country.

With this success behind us, the NDA team ventured out with other sports infrastructure. Basketball courts got a synthetic cover, new synthetic tennis courts were developed. The hockey fields were levelled to reduce the possibility of injury. The riding and show jumping arena was redone to international standards and an international event held much to the delight of the participants. The golf course was also turned green.

The crowning glory was when we laid an astro turf for the NDA hockey field along the NDA Raj path. The Indian hockey team also played on this ground and praised it when the team revolted against the establishment for non payment of dues and the choice of captain before the last Asian games. Plans were laid for upgrading all the football and hockey fields. I am sure all the plans would be progressing on schedule.

Much more needs to be done, but the NDA support team of 2007 – 2009 laid the foundation for the up gradation of the sports infrastructure at the NDA. Successive generations will only enhance the quality of infrastructure at this elite training Academy.

purple beret July 2011 33

Football-Hope of salvation

By Poonam

Talwar Sayal

F

the sub-continent. Kolkata (previously Calcutta) became the hub of Indian football and initial matches were played between army teams. The first football game was organized in 1854 between the ‘Calcutta Club of Civilians’ and the ‘Gentlemen of Barrackpore’!

‘Bend it like Beckham’ an inspiring movie on women’s football has been an all season favourite, so much so that it inspired my daughters to take on football as a sport. Now Durand Cup and football clubs are regular meal time discussion topics. And so the end of the JCT Football Club, a great football legend had us delving into the depths of ‘football-ing’ in India, its glorious birth and tragic decline!

The sport soon found its way into civilian society and ‘Calcutta FC’, the first football club of India was founded in 1872. Soon many football clubs mushroomed in Kolkata and nearby areas including the famous Mohun Bagan Athletic Club (later named as the National Club of India), which came into existence in 1889. Even today, Kolkata is considered to be the home of Indian football and its existence as an organised sport is almost entirely shouldered by the north eastern states of West Bengal, Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

The history of football in India can be traced back to the preindependent period, when the British introduced the game to

The Indian Football Association (IFA) was created in 1893 and five years later, in 1898 the Durand Cup, which is the oldest

ootball has long been one of the most popular street sports of India. Most kids dabble with football in one form or the other during their growing up years, be it with an actual football, a tennis ball, a stone, an empty tin or simply a scrunched up piece of foil! However despite this apparent innate leaning towards the sport, football has not been able to make a significant mark on our national sports scene.

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history football tournament in India (third oldest in the world) was started in Shimla. It was named after the then foreign secretary of India - Sir Mortimer Durand, who inaugurated it.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) administers the game in India. It is associated with the Asian Football Confederation and the worldwide body FIFA and was responsible for establishing the National Football League, which was the first semi-professional football league of the country. Later the I-League was founded after the disbanding of the National Football League.

The I-League tournament is contested between 14 clubs each season and the bottom two clubs are replaced by two teams which are promoted from the I-League 2nd Division. The popular football tournaments held in India are the Federation Cup, the Durand Cup, the Indian Super Cup, Santosh Trophy and the IFA Shield. India stands at a shocking 147 in the FIFA rankings today. Indian football has not shown any spectacular performances in the past few years, instead two major clubs have folded up due to lack of funds and depressing results.

Mahindra United a strong team withdrew from the I-League last year while recently the Punjab based JCT Club ended its association with the sport causing widespread heartbreaks.

The JCT club pulled out of the I-League after the team was relegated to the 2nd division following a dismal performance.

Several fans were upset and felt concerned about the upcoming and aspiring players in the northern part of the country who will now have no club to join. It means lesser opportunities for the local talent. The standard of Indian football definitely needs a drastic boost. Sponsors, media and the sports authorities need to work out a way to improve the facilities offered for the game and help in enhancing the training and development of players which can hold their own in the world arena. A fan very aptly wonders how “a population of 1 billion can’t produce 11 good footballers”.

This is the thought in my mind as I see my daughters chasing the ball all around my garden, intent only on manoeuvring the ball into my jasmine bush, which is their temporary goal post, oblivious to the mud accumulating as they slip on the wet grass spoiling a pair of decent shorts!

Watching them I think it is time to wake up and focus our energies to encourage such immense pool of raw talent from all parts of our country and work towards improving this exhilarating sport and I am sure one day we will have 11 Bhaichung Bhutias on the Indian team, bringing much awaited laurels to Indian football.

purple beret July 2011 35

Maj (Retd) Viswanath Madhav Rajan is 40th NDA course and currently based in Bangalore

Playing ball

T

he Bridge course was actually a big curse. It is no fun to start running 10 km at 5 pm even before the sun has set and then to come back and play football for another 90 minutes. But Mr Pendred, our football coach (Football Blue from Oxford University, and also our English teacher ) was adamant, “you have got to build up endurance and stamina if you want to be a football player”.

In one of these runs I was following NJ Nair of 38th NDA Course … after a kilometer, I looked down to avoid stepping on a frog (we ran along a stream next to paddy fields). By the time I looked up NJ was no longer there and I was seeing the back of Joseph George and still ahead...Pendred. As we reached back to the school football grounds, I once again saw NJ in front of me. I had known him for an academic genious, winning the best student trophy(a huge brass nilavilakku - a peacock lamp) year after year. But this latest trick of vanishing and reappearing fascinated me.

On one of these bridge course runs, Pendred was in front, pushing himself hard with only him in front of me. As we neared the

football ground I told myself, can I kick in for a final push to first position? I saw myself overtaking and finishing first, my name on the Notice Board looked good. That was the beginning of my stints in the school football team. For years Malayalees believed that the football looked best when it was far up in the sky and anyone who could kick the ball the highest was a terrific footballer.

Then came Pendred and completely changed our notions of good football..anyone kicking the ball high into the air would be sent on a punishment run of two rounds of the football field. A week of this new brand of football and the footballing kazhaks (cadets of the Sainik School Kazhakootam) started playing the ground level passing game, the Brazilians play minus of course their flair. It was a good start. Suresh Bhaskar’s sharp ground pass used to reach his uncle Harindran’s feet .. one tackle to befuddle a defender and in the next step, he used to send the ball curling towards the net.

Col Somaiah, our Principal’s elder son became an exponent of precision ground passing in the “D”- a selfless act.

We crushed the pretensions of Kaniyapuram high school in their own grounds when Gopalakrishna Pillay beat their goal keeper like the German, Klose. But we were put into our place in the hierarchy by the Kerala State Team. They crashed the ball into our nets from outside the D, beating G.R Mohan hands up and legs down.

I took Pendred’s lessons to the Army...never lost a football match I captained whether playing for the Battalion, Brigade, Division or Northern Command. George Best from England, Platini from France and Johan Cruyff of Holland provided inspiration from across the seas.

I took my football team to a morning 10 km run to build stamina and endurance, as my teacher Mr Pendred had instructed. We did push ups, sit ups, and rope to strengthen our upper torso, and I coached the team meticulously, in every art of footballing skills like dribbling, tackling, heading, passing, creating spaces, running into open spaces, defending fiercely, corner kicks, penalty kicks I made a chart that is displayed on the following page and stuck to it like glue .. resulting in victory after victory.

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Period

Activities

Purpose

First week Running upto 3 kilometers progressively Basic ball control, running with the ball , passing , kicking, heading Sprinting practice

Stamina building, strengthening leg muscles , enlarging lung capacity Develop confidence with the ball To outrun the opposition

Second Week Running up to 5 kilometers progressively Dribbling ,tackling, shooting at goal,heading,taking corners Taking throws, goal keeper’s job, organize defence Sprinting practice

Stamina building, strengthening leg muscles , enlarging lung capacity Taking the first steps towards attacking enemy defence Thwarting enemy attacks To outrun the opposition

Third week Stamina run 5 kms Taking corners,converting corners, wall pass,back pass

Dominate opposition

Passing into open space, running into open space Feeding forwards Sprinting practice

Fourth week

Tactics for attack To outrun the opposition

Stamina run 5 kms Counter attack,long range shooting, leadership Scannning before passing & shooting Sprinting practice Free kicks, penalty shoots, bicycle kicks,feints,deceipts

Total destruction of enemy Winning a tackle To outrun the opposition Dominate opposition

purple beret July 2011 37

Brig (Retd) SK Raychaudhuri is a prolific writer based in Kolkata. He is in the process of completing his book on military humour

F

The feat of God

ootball is not such a popular game as hockey in the army. One never knows why. Yet, football was the CO’s passion. On the other hand, hockey, the army game, was an anathema to the CO. It is not that he was disloyal to the country or to the army, it being our national game, it was just that though he still wielded a hockey stick out of sheer patriotism, the stinging shots he had taken on the shins by either the ball or the stick, had left too indelible an impression on him to attempt to be the next Dhyan Chand! As luck would have it, the CO got command of a unit where hockey was the fixation and football their alienation. 17 footballs and 34 football boots in mint condition in the sports store did not require a UN resolution to endorse it so. The CO had just taken over. He had to make his mark. Opportunity presented itself – and opportunity knocks at the door but once! The CO realised that. What opportunity could be better than winning the Divisional Football Championship that was looming in the horizon? Of course, nothing could be better, except that none in the unit would have qualified for the girl guides weekend picnic football, let alone anything at the Division level! Heart wrenchingly pathetic was the state if one wanted to make a mark! Ein Volk, Ein Reich (read unit), Ein Führer (meaning him, the CO) rang in his ears. If devastated Germany could rise as the phoenix, so could this football team, but hopefully, not meet the same fate as Germany. So, all charged up like Hitler, nearly doing a Nazi salute to instil the required fervour, the CO met the so called football team, rounded up for his august presence!

Having met them, he collared the most hyperactive junior, Ramu, and read him the Riot Act. There were no two ways for Ramu. For Ramu, it was Ein Volk, Ein Unit and Mein Führer (that meant the CO of course!) Ramu heard the CO out. He was an intelligent boy, hardworking and all that, but he did get a lingering feeling that there is a limit to intelligence in the Army and this CO surely was proving the point. Imagine winning the Div football with a team that did not know the difference between a football and a hockey ball! In fact, it was a case of all balls. Crestfallen, Ramu went to the games ground and got the team together. Fortunately, apart from two, all were from the new draft that had come just the last week to the unit - still not brainwashed that hockey was the only game in the world.

The CO observed the boys hard at football during Games. It didn’t warm the cockles of his heart. In fact, it definitely left the cold hand of fate gripping his heart harder by the minute.

38 July 2011 purple beret

Nonetheless, he steeled himself like Nelson at Trafalgar facing the mighty Spanish Armada. If Nelson could do it with a blind eye, so could he and he had both his eyes 6/6!

The CO was distinctly pleased that Ramu statistically was kicking around the most, even if not quite contacting the ball.

It was a good sign indeed! It reminded him of Major Shaminder Singh, the second-in-command of his old unit, whose motto was – ball jae, lekin aadmi na jae! The CO felt assured. This theory won many a championship in his last unit! So, there was hope.

Yet, in his heart, the CO had a feeling that it would take a Pele and Maradona rolled in one to win the Championship and that too not without a slight nudge from God himself! Even so, there still was this hope. After all, wasn’t it Wordsworth who wrote – My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky? The CO’s heart was leaping up since there was no chance to go down any further. He saw stars of despair, even if not a colourless rainbow! Ramu was trying his best to get the team going.

And as the CO saw the progress every day, his blood pressure rose – with hope and excitement and he was encouraged and courageous enough to drop by with a tip or two! After all, the CO was a hands-on man! They were shaping up since getting shipped out was not on Ramu’s mind.

The boys are not bad, thought Ramu subconsciously as he saw the new draft of Bengalis, Oriyas and Assamese racing enthusiastically all over the field with the ball even if not quite under control. They were getting a hang of football or so it appeared. All that was required was coordination and a strong defence. The CO’s joke of ball jae, lekin aadmi na jae suddenly jolted Ramu from his reverie. He walked to the burly Sikh, Kashmira, who was the stopper full back. ‘Oi sardar, you heard the CO sahib’s idea of ball jae, lekin aadmi na jae. What do you think of that?”

“Ek dum Sardar wali baat hai”. Ramu wondered whether Kashmira meant it was a crazy idea, or was he being sheer earnest that the defence should be rock solid.

“To kia karna?”

“Sahabji, Hukum manunga”.

Ramu thought that over. Maybe, things were looking up,

humour

though he felt a bit uncomfortable. He soon forgot about it and started training the boys, subconsciously confident, with greater vigour. The team improved by the day. The coordination between the team players was so good the number of spectators amongst the unit personnel (who had earlier thought them to be a joke and a flight of fancy of the CO) started to increase by the day. Even a few spontaneous cheers of encouragement were heard. The team seemed to have arrived.

The Divisional Football Championship commenced. The butterflies catapulting within the unit personnel’s stomach calmed down as the team soared from success to success. The first round came and went; the second round was another easy success. Confidence amongst the unit personnel grew.The semi final against the Artillery Medium Regiment was a nail biter.

They were a contender for the finals. Kashmira, the ball jae aadmin na jaiye man had saved the team from a catastrophe.

The hawk eyed referee saw through his gambit and gave him a yellow card. It brought him to his senses, but he still managed to stop the raids by the Artillery men, who pompously called themselves the Ferozpur Arsenal!

The Artillery scored twice and there was no reply from the unit. Cold sweat broke out. Half time came and went. No spark came from the unit team. This state of affair continued and then suddenly, out of the blue, some deft dribbling by Ramu from the half line netted a beautiful low bend it like Beckam to drop the margin. 10 minutes were left. There was no hope in hell to square the goals and go into the extra time. Ramu, once again proved his mettle. This time he got tripped in the goal mouth by a desperate artillery gun loader who rammed him as if he was ramming a charge. Ramu flew out like a Charge 8 Bofor shell and hit the ground. Yells of penalty rent the air. The referee looked nonplussed. There was a good chance he had

not seen this deliberate thuggery! The time ticked by, tension grew….. and the unit was crestfallen. Then the shrill whistle came and the referee pointed to the dreaded spot – the penalty spot! Thunderous cheer rent the air as the goal’s net bounced with the impressively deceptive shot by Chintaharan. The CO, forgetting that he was a CO, thumped the astonished Brigade Commander hard on the back, not once but thrice!!! The score was two all! What a turnaround!

There was still 5 minutes to go. The game was furiously fought.

It went back and forth. The spectators were on their feet. Three minutes to go and there was still no result yet. The game was sure to go into extra time. The spectators were biting their nails.

And then suddenly, out of nowhere, Kashmira, the stopper full back, for no rhyme and reason charged forward, leaving the unit goal mouth empty! A dangerous thing to do, but there was no stopping Kashmira. He charged past the half line, got into a melee at the 25 yarder and heaved one God almighty kick in no direction at all! The ball whizzed forward, hit a defender, deflected past another and went straight past the bewildered goalkeeper and into the goal!! The unit had won the semis!!

The scene was chaotic within the unit stands. The spectators were ecstatic. The CO ran into the field, the Brigade Commander wanting to restrain him caught hold of his shirt and in the bargain was pulled along and so sheepishly tried to cover up as if he too had come in to congratulate the team!Our joy knew no bounds and the CO threw an impromptu barakhana that night!

His cup of joy bubbled over the brim and so did the pegs of rum that flowed as if there was no tomorrow.

Then catastrophe hit the team! Kashmira, the stopper full back, who looked and acted as Rocky Marciano aka Rocco Francis Marchegiano aka the Brockton Blockbuster/ the Rock from

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Brockton, the only heavyweight champion to finish his career undefeated, fell ill. He had an upset stomach! And a day later was the Finals! Bad luck knew no bounds. A non-entity of a team that had stormed into the final was being robbed of its rightful hour of glory by fate. The star of the show was down and out due to over indulgence. The whole team was demoralised. The CO drowned his sorrow in ‘malt’! He was on the verge of crying himself a river!

The final was with a boisterous, gung ho Sikh unit, which was deft in Shaminder Singh’s adage of ‘the man never to be allowed to follow the ball’. The whistle blew the start. The game started.

The unit was there in full strength though they had not the cheer that had become their routine. The CO appeared as if he was participating in a matam. The Brigade Commander tried to cheer him up, but nothing seemed to get the CO back to his boisterous self. He sipped his Campa Cola as if he were a child sucking on his thumb. Though the star was missing, the unit’s team was at it with all the josh as if no one was being missed! It did nothing to cheer up the CO or the unit. The fat Assamese boy who had replaced Kashmira was dancing around the goalmouth as if he were Mohammed Ali of football. He danced like a butterfly and stung the ball like a bee. Things were not going too bad. The unit was holding its own. Not a goal had yet been scored by either side. The tension was palpable. The Sikh unit’s ranks were getting restless and more furious.

Then relief came for all. Half time was blown and still it was goalless! Half time over, the game commenced. The CO watched the game proceed as it grew thick, fast and furious. No quarters were given and no quarters were asked. The game swung from one half to another and still there was no score. The frustration was growing both on the field and amongst the spectators. The nonpartisan crowd seems to be favouring the unit since the Sikh unit had been the undisputed champions for two years successively and it was expected that the Medium Regiment of the Artillery would give them the run for their money and here was a team that was unheard of, holding them off! The clock ticked on. There was just 5 minutes to go. It was still goalless. Two players had already been shown the red card and were out. One from the unit and one from the Sikh. It appeared that some more were asking for it!

Three minutes to go. There was a melee in front of the unit goalmouth when the fat Assamese stopper full back gave one mighty kick and sent the ball well beyond the half line and into the Sikh half. All ran towards the Sikh half including Sikh and the unit forwards and the midfielders. The ball was sent back into the unit half. The Assamese chap who had advanced dangerously near the half line, trapped the ball neatly, dribbled past a few Sikh chaps

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and gave an almighty kick.

It was just 30 seconds to time! There was a huge melee in front of the Sikh goalmouth. The goalkeeper had gripped the ball. It slipped. Someone ran up, but the goalkeeper pounced on the ball.

It appeared that it had slipped again. None could make out what was happening, when Ramu came from nowhere and in the melee gave another almighty kick. And the goalkeeper and the ball were in the goal! The goal judge furiously waved his flag indicating a goal. The referee blew his whistle and it was over. The unit had won the finals one nil! The CO was ecstatic and the unit stand went berserk. The Sikhs protested that there was a foul and so the goal should be disallowed. The referee consulted the goal judge.

They were firm on their decision. It was a goal, fair and square.

Catch the Sikhs giving up. They appealed to the Committee. The Committee turned down the appeal. Thus, the unit won their first sports Championship and that too with a team that had no hope in hell! It was a grand success. The CO was overwhelmed and when he was told to take the Trophy from the GOC, he smiled wanly and waved Ramu to do the honours. He deserved to lift the Trophy more than anyone else! It was a historic win.

Many years afterwards when the CO met Ramu and they were reminiscing about the Football match that made unit history, the CO gushingly congratulated Ramu. Ramu looked embarrassed.

The CO wondered why and he asked him so.

“Well sir, we did win. It was not only our win, but it was also by the feet of God!”

“Feat of God, Ramu?”

“Yes sir, it was a feat of God and the feet of God too!”

“Feat of God and the feat of God too?”

“Yes sir, the feat of God and f-e-e-t of God too!”

“What are you talking about? Are you in your cups?

“No sir. It was a feat of God because it was done by the feet of God. Something like Maradonna’s ‘hand of god’!’ Ramu gave a pregnant pause and continued, “You see, sir, in that melee, I am not too sure if the ball had slipped the goalkeeper’s hand, but I gave a God Almighty kick that saw both the ball and the Goalkeeper in the net!

Ramu paused for effect.

“It was a feat with the feet and God alone knows the truth!”

on screen

Roll on Football By

Khursheed Dinshaw

B

ollywood’s John Abraham needs no introduction as his fans swoon and go ga ga over him but how many of us know of the existence of John Abraham, an American who is a professional national level footballer? Or for that matter how many of us crazy cricket Indians really follow the sport of Football with the same passion and devotion as cricket? Not many right? Realizing this Bollywood stars have been doing their bit to increase awareness for the world’s favourite sport.

John Abraham himself is a self confessed football fanatic and has acted in the movie “Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal” whose plot revolved around a UK based amateur football group that did whatever it took to save their local club. The movie was India’s first all-out football-related movie. Apart from that Abraham has been the chief guest at the opening I-League game, shot commercials for the Premier League and alongwith Baichung Bhutia is actively promoting the sport. His passion for the sport reflected before the Word Cup where he rushed the workers to complete not his house that was being renovated but his home theatre so that he could watch the matches.

Bipasha Basu is also a football fan but when it comes to merging reel and real life then Abhishek Bachchan takes the goal. A Chelsea supporter in real life, he played one in the movie “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”. He also got any football fans dream come true when he became the first fan who was handed the Blues’ new home kit by Chelsea Football Club last year. And Being Human is not the only cause that Salman Khan supports. He is the ambassador for football, as named by the AIFF and has spoken about football’s immense growth potential in India. He has also participated in celebrity football charity matches and his presence at the Nehru Cup final was a bonus to the game’s followers.

Ranbir Kapoor is also an avid footballer who got to show his skills on the field when he played for a cancer charity match in Pune. The audience here didn’t get to see him clad in a towel ala Saawariya but they did get to shout and applause him for the four goals he scored. And while one is visiting Bandra

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in Mumbai, one can get lucky and spot Dino Morea enjoy the game on the field. Former model turned choreographer Marc Robinson is such a football fan that he started a yearly tournament in Mumbai to give a platform to amateur football teams to show their talent. After conquering the hearts of UP, Bihar and London after Big Brother, Shilpa Shetty willingly gave hers to Indian football. Even hubby Raj Kundra can’t seem to compete with her interest in the game.

Football has also been responsible for giving hope to a youth named Basharat Bashir Baba who is an aspiring Kashmiri football player. He faced discrimination but persevered and is pursuing his dream of playing football as a professional player. Baba also has a movie “Football, Inshallah” made about him that has been directed by Ashwin Kumar. With an award in its kitty the movie is about angry Baba who found hope in football, his father who turned a militant and then mended his ways and the football coach who came to Kashmir to instill hope in young Kashmiris. This 83 minute movie emphasizes the importance of football, in Kashmir that is plagued by unrest and violence. The sport helps to instill values and positivity, ensure challenge, adrenalin rush, improve mental creativity and help deal with stress. In Baba’s own words, “The mentality of a Kashmiri youth is that if the police cannot change, nobody can change. But I think football can change”.

When he initially started Baba faced discrimination while playing for a big club in Calcutta. Statements like “You are from Kashmir, you are a terrorist, you are a militant. We don’t want to play with you.” forced him to leave the club. But the young promising talent found help at ISAT (International Sports Academy Trust) founded by the Argentinean coach Marcus Trio and has been training there.

When things began going well for Baba his application for a passport was denied stating past militant links of his father.

Baba was furious but later proud that his father had mended his ways. After Chief Minister Omar Abdullah intervened, and got him the required police security clearance Baba got his passport and says, “My passport is a life for me now. It’s everything.”

His vision is to play for India and then open an academy in Kashmir. Football gave him a life line and there are many other unknown Baba’s out there who live and dream the sport of football. May the sport continue to instill optimism and hope for all of them.

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RNI No.: DELENG/2010/33162 POSTAL No.: DL(N)/256/2011-13