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
