CALCUTTA (India): Calcutta’s once popular nursery football clubs are racing against time to fight for survival in the cut-throat competition due to lack of sponsors and motivation.
Many star footballers of the past were a product of these nursery clubs on the Maidan, once the nerve centre of Calcutta football.
Aryan FC and Kalighat (now known as Kalighat Milan Sangha FC) used to be the top feeder institutions for star teams — East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting.
Players like PK Banerjee, Prasun Banerjee, Goutam Sarkar and Sudhir Karmakar started out in Aryan, before moving on to the bigger clubs.
But sadly these ‘small’ clubs are on the verge of extinction due to lack of finance among other reasons.
Burgeoning costs one of the main reasons
Most officials admit the burgeoning costs has led to the downfall of their clubs as it’s difficult to raise a good squad on a shoe-string budget.
Tollygunge Agragami, Bhratri Sangha, Kumartuli, Sonali Shibir are the breeding grounds of unheralded and talented players, who came from far flung districts of Bengal and became top names in Indian football later in their careers.
“The condition of these clubs isn’t good. There’re no sponsors. I’m trying my best to run the club forward as the budget is around ten lakhs a year,” Aryan’s Samar Pal told Khel Updates on Monday.
With two wins, six defeats and three draws, Aryan, founded in 1884, finished 10th in last season’s Calcutta Football League’s Premier Division with nine points.
We put in our own savings to manage expenses: Samar Pal
“We struggle to get funds. We also put in money from our own savings as we’ve to take care of the salaries of coaches, footballers and support staff,” added Pal.
Reigning champions Peerless, Bhowanipore, BSS Sporting Club, George Telegraph, Calcutta Customs, Southern Samity, Kalighat MS and Rainbow were the lesser-known teams that participated in the 2019 CFL.
“There’re staffs at our club tent who’re also taken care of by the club,” said Pal.
These teams were in the thick of action in the late 1990s by producing several talented footballers. But the downslide started soon due to the poor planning and infrastructure in the state.
“We have almost given up our football team. We’re helpless as we don’t get monetary support from IFA,” said Kumartuli club president Shara Pal.
The year 1885 was a landmark year when Kumartuli was founded along with Wellington Club, Town Club and National Club.
“The reason why we focus on cricket because we get aid from the Cricket Association of Bengal. IFA has no income of their own. We only generate revenues from our football academies at Deshbandhu Park in north Calcutta. We’re intent on producing players through coaching,” he added.
Tollygunge competes in CFL Second Division
Tollygunge Agragami once competed in the National Football League and later I-League, but lost out in the stiff competitive market of modern football due to cash crunch and lack of leadership.
Regarded as one of the giant-killers in the local football, Tollygunge now find themselves in the CFL Second Division, where they finished third last season.
“In the recent past, the club had a visionary leader like Montu Ghosh. His death had left a big gap in club’s administration as there’s no one who can help the club overcome the crisis,” said club’s Executive Committee member Biswajit Saha.
Ghosh, who died in 2018 at the age of 84, was a former IFA joint-secretary but it was through his association as the club’s secretary that he shot into eminence.
During his time, Tollygunge featured in the NFL for seven seasons before being relegated in 2004-05.
If lack of finances is one of the main reasons, poor leadership may also have doomed their future. It has had an indelible impact on Bengal football as these clubs have lost their focus on nurturing local players while East Bengal and Mohun Bagan have looked elsewhere to fill up their squads.
