Shibdas Bhaduri

Bhaduri took his first formal football training from legendary coach Sir Dukhiram Majumder,^{[8][9][10][11][12]} who was father figure of Kolkata football and first Indian football coach.^[13][14][15] Considered as Indian football's first icon, Bhaduri began his club football career with Mohun Bagan in 1905.^[16] In the same year, he helped the team reaching Gladstone Cup final, held in Chinsurah.^[17] They won title defeating Dalhousie AC in the final,^[18] in which he scored four goals.^[16] Seeing his evasion technique in field, British sahibs of that time used to say him "Slippery Shibdas".^[16][19] In 1906, they won the Minto Fort tournament by defeating Calcutta FC.^[1]

Ahead of the IFA Shield of 1911, he was given the opportunity of assembling a squad to fight against British army teams. Except Reverend Sudhir Chatterjee, Shibdas and other players appeared in the tournament barefooted. He captained Mohun Bagan in the tournament, in which they defeated multiple British teams.^{[18][20][21][22]}

A team of Bengalees won the Football Association Shield in India after defeating the crack teams of three British Regiments amidst the applause of 80,000 of their countrymen. There is no reason of course to be surprised. Victory of association football goes to the side with the greatest physical fitness, the quickest eye, and the keenest wit.

— The Manchester Guardian commented after Bhaduri led Mohun Bagan clinched IFA Shield title on 29 July 1911.^[23]

Along with elder brother Bijoydas Bhaduri, he played as a forward in the tournament and began their journey defeating St. Xavier's College 3–0.^[24] They later went on to beat Calcutta Rangers Club 2–1, Rifle Brigade 1–0 in pre-quarter and quarter final respectively.^[25][26] The semi-final rematch against Middlesex Regiment (after the first match initially ended in a 1–1) also went in favour of them as Mohun Bagan defeated the side 3–0 to reach the Shield final.^[27] In the final on 29 July, in front of thousands of spectators, Bhaduri scored the equalizer to level the match 1–1 before Abhilash Ghosh scoring the winner from his pass in their historic 2–1 win.^[28] That is why, July 29 is celebrated as the "Mohun Bagan Day".

After winning the Shield, Bhaduri continued playing for the club and appeared until 1917.^[16] He represented Mohun Bagan consecutively in Calcutta Football League second division with players like Gostha Pal,^[29] Abhilash Ghosh and others, and appeared in the first division for the first time in 1915 when they became one of few non-military teams, promoted to CFL premier division.^[30][31][32] He also played in Asanullah Cup in Decca in 1916 with latter stars like Umapati Kumar and Bhuti Sukul, in which Mohun Bagan went down to Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari's Sovabazar Club in final.^[33]

Bhaduri was born on 6 November 1887 in Barishal, Bengal Presidency (now in Bangladesh). In his childhood, Bhaduri family settled in Shyambazar.^[16] Outside of football, he was a veterinarian, and was associated with Calcutta Veterinary College.^[34]

Bhaduri had five brothers, Haridas, Tulsidas, Dwiajdas, Bijoydas and Ramdas; four of them except Haridas played football for Mohun Bagan.^[16][35]

Bhaduri was suffering from Tuberculosis.^[16] While visiting the Indian pilgrim town of Puri in 1932, he was contracted malaria and died on 26 February, aged 44.^[16]

After the Shield win in 1911, Bhaduri was felicitated by Nripendra Narayan, Maharaja of the Cooch Behar State.^[36] In 1960, the Calcutta Municipal Corporation renamed Fariapukur Street to Shibdas Bhaduri Sarani in memory of him.^[16] During the centenary celebration in 1993, the Indian Football Association (IFA) organized Shibdas Bhaduri Trophy as a tribute to him.^[16] In 2003, he was posthumously awarded the Mohun Bagan Ratna by Mohun Bagan AC.^[4]

In 2011, a Bengali movie named Egaro (Egaro, the Immortal Eleven) was released, in which Shibdas Bhaduri was portrayed by actor Hirak Das.^[37] Directed by debutant director Arun Roy, the film is predominantly based on the historical events leading to a football match between Bhaduri led Mohun Bagan and British army team East Yorkshire Regiment on 29 July 1911, a time when India was under the British rule.^[38][39] This was the first time when Mohun Bagan, or any native team won the IFA Shield.^[40] The film commemorated that event in its centenary year 2011. Abhilash Ghosh is portrayed by Ronodeep Bose. In an upcoming Bollywood movie named 1911, based on the 1911 IFA Shield final match, Shibdas will be portrayed by actor John Abraham.^[41][42]

The victory awakened a freedom struggle that had seemingly lost its momentum a little bit and provided the much-needed inspiration to the youth of a colonised nation. I am fortunate to get married in this family (Bhaduri's), which has such a great heritage. The honour we are receiving today is due to Shibdas Bhaduri. FIFA's recognition of the triumph and getting the first ticket of the U-17 World Cup is a huge honour.

— Gouri Bhaduri, granddaughter-in-law of Shibdas Bhaduri, after receiving the first ticket of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup from FC Barcelona legend Carles Puyol.^[43]

In July 2022, Mohun Bagan AC announced the club awards have been named after famous personalities to be awarded to sportspersons every year henceforth, and "Best Football Player" award was renamed as Shibdas Bhaduri Award in memory of him, which was won by Liston Colaco.^{[44][45][46][47]}

Mohun Bagan^{[1][5][48][16]}

• Gladstone Cup: 1905, 1906, 1908, 1911
• Minto Fort Cup: 1906
• Cooch Behar Cup: 1905, 1907, 1908, 1916
• IFA Shield: 1911
• Trades Cup: 1906, 1907, 1908
• Bengal Jimkhana Shield: 1910, 1911, 1912
• Asanullah Cup runner-up: 1916

Individual

• Mohun Bagan Ratna Award: 2003^[49][50]

• History of Mohun Bagan AC
• Football in Kolkata
• History of Indian football

Cited sources

Bibliography

• Sen, Dwaipayan (2013). "Wiping the Stain Off the Field of Plassey: Mohun Bagan in 1911". In Bandyopadhyay, Kausik; Mallick, Sabyasachi (eds.). Fringe Nations in World Soccer. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-99810-5.
• Sen, Ronojoy (2015). "The Empire Strikes Back: The 1911 IFA Shield and Football in Calcutta". Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-16490-0.
• Majumdar, Boria; Mangan, J. A. (13 September 2013). Sport in South Asian Society: Past and Present. Oxford: Routledge. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-317-99894-5. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
• Mitra, Soumen (1 January 2006). In Search of an Identity: The History of Football in Colonial Calcutta. Kolkata: Dasgupta & Co. Private Ltd. ISBN 978-8182110229. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022.
• Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
• Dineo, Paul; Mills, James (2001). Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora. London, United Kingdom: Frank Cass Publishers. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7146-8170-2. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022.
• Martinez, Dolores; Mukharjiim, Projit B (2009). Football: From England to the World: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-88353-6. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022.
• Majumdar, Boria; Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). A Social History Of Indian Football: Striving To Score. Routledge. ISBN 9780415348355. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021.
• Basu, Jaydeep (2003). Stories from Indian Football. UBS Publishers' Distributors. ISBN 9788174764546. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022.
• Bolsmann, Chris; Vahed, Goolam (2 November 2017). "'They Are Fine Specimens of the Illustrious Indian Settler': Sporting Contact between India and South Africa, 1914–1955". Journal of Southern African Studies. 43 (6): 1273–1291. doi:10.1080/03057070.2017.1379689. ISSN 0305-7070. S2CID 148862123. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
• Nath, Nirmal (2011). History of Indian Football: Upto 2009–10. Readers Service. ISBN 9788187891963. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022.
• "Triumphs and Disasters: The Story of Indian Football, 1889—2000" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
• Mukhopadhay, Subir (2018). সোনায় লেখা ইতিহাসে মোহনবাগান (transl. Mohun Bagan in the history written in gold). ISBN 978-93-850172-0-9.
• Majumdar, Boria; Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation. Penguin India. ISBN 9780670058747.
• Banerjee, Argha; Basu, Rupak (2022). মোহনবাগান: সবুজ ঘাসের মেরুন গল্প (transl. Mohun Bagan: Green fields' Maroon stories). Shalidhan. ISBN 978-81-954667-0-2.
• Kausik Bandyopadhyay (29 November 2020). Scoring Off the Field: Football Culture in Bengal, 1911–80. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000084054. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
• "Regionalism and club domination: Growth of rival centres of footballing excellence". Soccer & Society. 6:2–3 (2–3). Taylor & Francis: 227–256. 6 August 2006. doi:10.1080/14660970500106410. S2CID 216862171. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
• Sharma, Nikhil Paramjit; Gupta, Shantanu (4 February 2019). India's Football Dream. SAGE Publications India. ISBN 9789353283063. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
• "From recreation to competition: Early history of Indian football". Soccer & Society. 6 (2–3): 124–141. 6 August 2006. doi:10.1080/14660970500106295. S2CID 216817948. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
• Banerjee, Ankan (25 March 2015). "The Introduction of Football in Colonial Calcutta- Part 1". footballcounter.com. Kolkata: Football Counter. Archived from the original on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
• "Football — the passion play in Kolkata". ibnlive.in. IBN Live. 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
• Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2008). "Football in Bengali culture and society: a study in the social history of football in Bengal 1911–1980". Shodhganga. University of Calcutta. p. 35. hdl:10603/174532. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.

Further reading

• "History of Mohun Bagan – Presented by MohunBaganClub.com  • The Beginning: 1889–1909". mohunbaganclub.com. Kolkata. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
• "The passage of football in India". ifawb.org. Kolkata: Indian Football Association. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
• Sarkar, Dhiman (25 March 2018). "India's football past gasping for survival". hindustantimes.com. Kolkata: Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
• Nag, Utathya (19 April 2023). "Calcutta Football League: East Bengal kings of Asia's oldest league competition — full winners list". olympics.com. The Olympics Football. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
• Ghoshal, Amoy (23 November 2016). "All time Indian XI". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
• Choudhury, Chandrahas (11 June 2014). "Blame India's World Cup Drought on the Shoes". bloomberg.com. Bloomberg View. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
• Bhattacharya, Ayan (10 September 2023). "বাংলা ভাগের ক্ষত কিভাবে বিষিয়ে দিল মোহনবাগান আর ইস্টবেঙ্গলকে?" [How did the wound of the partition of Bengal poisoned both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal?]. inscript.me (in Bengali). Kolkata: ইনস্ক্রিপ্ট বাংলা নিউজ. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
• Biswas, Koushik (16 July 2023). "কেন 'বিতর্কিত' সুব্রত ভট্টাচার্যের আত্মজীবনী? 'ষোল আনা বাবলু' নিয়ে মুখ খুললেন সাহেব" [Why 'controversial' Subrata Bhattacharya's autobiography? Saheb opened his mouth with 'Sixteen Anna Bablu']. eisamay.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: এই সময় সংবাদপত্র. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
• "Mohun Bagan Day 2010 celebrated; MB Ratna given to relations of Immortal XI — McDowell's Mohun Bagan — News Mohun Bagan News". 9 August 2013. Archived from the original on 9 August 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
• Pilgrim, Satanic (30 July 2007). "Mohun Bagan AC — The National Club of India!: Celebration!". Mohun Bagan AC - The National Club of India!. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
• Mukhopadhyay, Atreyo (4 May 2019). "When Swami Vivekananda claimed seven wickets and other Eden Gardens tales". newindianexpress.com. Kolkata: The New Indian Express. Express News Service. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
• Das Sharma, Amitabha. "Football and the Big Fight in Kolkata". digital.la84.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
• Ahmed, Rasel (1 February 2019). "জাদুকর সামাদ: বাংলার একজন অতিমানব" [Magician Samad: The Wizard from Bengal]. roar.media (in Bengali). Dhaka: Roar Media News. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
• Bhattacharya, Nilesh (22 August 2023). "Mad about football". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Kolkata: The Times of India. TNN. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2024.