Monoranjan Bhattacharya

Monoranjan Bhattacharya, nicknamed Mona, is a retired Indian professional footballer and football manager.[1] During his playing career, he represented the "Big Two" of Kolkata football, East Bengal[2] and Mohun Bagan. He also represented India in various international tournaments between 1978 and 1989.

Not to be confused with Manoranjan Bhattacharya.

Monoranjan Bhattacharya
Personal information
Full name Monoranjan Bhattacharya
Place of birth Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
George Telegraph
1977–1986 East Bengal Club ? (?)
1986 Abahani Krira Chakra 1 (0)
1986–1991 East Bengal Club ? (?)
1991–1992 Mohun Bagan ? (?)
1993 East Bengal Club ? (?)
International career‡
1978–1989 India ? (?)
Managerial career
1996–1998 East Bengal Club
2000–2001 East Bengal Club
2008 East Bengal Club
2008–2009 Hindustan
2018 Tollygunge Agragami
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 April 2008
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 April 2008

He was one of the finest Indian stopper-back during his time in Indian football. Foreigners who played against him have said he was physically strong, was good in aerial tussles and a very clean tackler. East Bengal supporters worship him.[3] Legendary football coach Amal Dutta was influential nurturing talents including Bhattacharya.[4][5][6][7]

Club career

Bhattacharya appeared with Calcutta Football League club George Telegraph,[8] before joining East Bengal Club in 1977. With the "red and gold brigade", he created a club record for continuously representing the club in a period spanning fourteen years.[3] He was one of the most successful defenders of his time and was known for his strong and skillful game. He captained the club in 1981–82 season.[9][10][11] In 1985, he won Federation Cup with the club and went on to represent his team at the 1985–86 Asian Club Championship in Saudi Arabia.[12] Managed by legendary P. K. Banerjee,[13][14][15] his team played in the Central Asia Zone (tournament named "Coca-Cola Cup"), where they defeated numerous foreign clubs to win it. They defeated New Road Team of Nepal 7–0, Abahani Krira Chakra of Bangladesh 1–0, thrashed Club Valencia of the Maldives 9–0 (the biggest margin of victory by an Indian team over any foreign opponents).[16]

In the 1980s, Bhattacharya as stopper-back and Bhaskar Ganguly as goalkeeper, made East Bengal defense unbreakable.[17] In 1986, he along with Bhaskar Ganguly signed with Bangladeshi club Abahani Krira Chakra for a crucial Dhaka Derby match to decide the Dhaka League champions, and became one of the few Indian players who plied their trades abroad.[18][19][20][21] However, after suffering a 2–0 defeat, both players returned to East Bengal. At the end of 1990–91 season, he left East Bengal to join their arch-rival Mohun Bagan AC. After spending a couple of seasons with Mohun Bagan, Monoranjan returned to East Bengal in 1993 for his last season as a player.

International career

Monoranjan was a regular for India national football team between 1978 and 1989 and competed football tournaments within the period.[3] He is praised for his performance against Argentina in 1984 Nehru Cup,[3] where India was narrowly defeated by 1–0 with the goal from Ricardo Gareca.

Coaching career

Monoranjan is a qualified AFC coach who managed East Bengal Club from 1996 to 1998 and again in the season of 2000–01.[3] Under his coaching, the club won its first National Football League title in 2000–01.[3] In that season, they won Federation Cup.[3] Due to East Bengal FC's poor showing in the inaugural 2007–08 I-League, their coach Subrata Bhattacharya resigned and Monoranjan became the coach of East Bengal for the third time.[22] He guided the club hanging in the relegation zone to a sixth-place finish in the I-League.[23][24] After the league ended, he decided not continue in the post citing prior family engagements.[25][26]

In 2008, he was appointed head coach of DSA Senior Division side Hindustan FC for a season.[27]

In 2018, Bhattacharya was appointed head coach of CFL Premier Division side Tollygunge Agragami.[28][29][30]

Career statistics

Managerial
As of 13 September 2022
Team From To Record
GWDLGFGAGDWin %
India East Bengal 1 April 1996 31 March 1999 176 111 36 29 289 117 +172 063.07
13 January 2001 24 January 2002 52 31 13 8 84 29 +55 059.62
16 January 2008 19 February 2008 7 3 2 2 6 5 +1 042.86
1 July 2008 15 September 2008 14 7 4 3 21 12 +9 050.00
Total 249 152 55 42 400 163 +237 061.04

Honours

Player

East Bengal

India

Individual

Manager

East Bengal

See also

References
  1. "Manoranjan Bhattacharjee". IndianFootball.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  2. "THROWBACK: When East Bengal FC became the Champions of Central Asia!". BADGEB. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  3. Roy, Gautam; Ball, Swapan (2007). "East Bengal Football Club – Famous Players". www.eastbengalfootballclub.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  4. Bhattacharya, Rupayan (21 July 2016). "অমল আলোর কমল বনে [Amal Dutta and his days in Indian football]". eisamay.com (in Bengali). Ei Samay. Archived from the original on 11 April 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  5. Bhattacharya, Nilesh (23 July 2016). "Diamond Touch". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 October 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  6. Mitra, Atanu (12 July 2016). "Amal Dutta (1930-2016): the Indian football coach whom players swore by and swore at". Scroll. Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  7. Singhal, Akshat (27 August 2020). "Amal Dutta: The Tactical Genius". The Turf Football. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  8. "ফুটবলার তুলে আনতে জেলামুখী জর্জ টেলিগ্রাফ স্পোর্টস ক্লাব" [District oriented George Telegraph Sports Club to pick up footballers]. insidesports.in (in Bengali). Kolkata: Inside Sports Bengali. 18 July 2021. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  9. "Kolkatafootball.com :East Bengal League History: Indian Football Capital's News". kolkatafootball.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  10. "East Bengal FC » Historical squads". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  11. "East Bengal Club — The Official Site of East Bengal Club". eastbengalclub.co.in. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  12. Kapadia, Novy (7 October 2012). "East Bengal's Federation Cup successes". www.sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  13. Sportstar, Team (1 August 2020). "100 years of East Bengal: A timeline". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  14. The World Sports Today (1 August 2020). "100 years of East Bengal: A timeline of Kolkata giant's key milestones". The World Sports Today. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  15. Das Sharma, Amitabha (20 March 2020). "Obit: The incomparable P. K. of Indian football". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  16. Mukherjee, Soham (1 April 2020). "How have Indian clubs fared in AFC Champions League and AFC Cup?". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  17. "No mechanism for nurturing talent". The Sunday Guardian. 19 September 2015. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  18. জনকণ্ঠ, দৈনিক. "ফুটবলার রণজিৎ সাহার আশির দশক" [The 1980s of legendary footballer Ranajit Saha]. dailyjanakantha.com (Daily Janakantha) (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  19. Tuhin, Saifur Rahaman (16 February 2023). "ঢাকার মাঠ মাতানো বিদেশি ফুটবলাররা" [Those iconic foreign players during the golden days in Dhaka football]. Eye News Bangladesh (in Bengali). Dhaka. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  20. Hossain, Moharraf (1 October 2020). "পদ্মার ঢেউ ও'রে ,মোর শূণ্য হৃদয় পদ্ম নিয়ে যা, যা..রে" [The waves of river Padma, my empty heart take the lotus]. Durbin24.com (in Bengali). Dhaka. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  21. Tuhin, Saifur Rahaman (20 April 2018). "'কোচ বললেন, তোর নাম দিলাম চিতাবাঘ'" ['The coach said, I named you Leopard']. kalerkantho.com (in Bengali). Dhaka: Kaler Kontho Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 9 September 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  22. "Monoranjan is new East Bengal coach". in.rediff.com. Rediff. Press Trust of India. 16 January 2008. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  23. "The Hindu News Update Service". Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  24. "I-LEAGUE - The Home of India's Premier Football League". Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  25. East Bengal Football Club – News in Detail Archived 2 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  26. "CFL 2018: Bimal Ghosh replaces Manoranjan Bhattacharya as Tollygunge Agragami coach". Goal. 25 August 2018. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  27. "Delhi calling: Manoranjan all set to coach Hindustan Football Club". Indian Express. 10 October 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  28. Tollygunge Agragami have sacked him on Friday, August 24, 2018 after an abysmal start to the 2018/19 Calcutta Premier Division 'A' campaign, which has seen them sitting on the bottom of the log without points from four matches and has also failed to score a single goal in the process. He will be replaced by Bimal Ghosh against Food Corporation of India on Sunday, August 26, 2018.
  29. "CFL 2018: Bimal Ghosh replaces Manoranjan Bhattacharya as Tollygunge Agragami coach". Goal.com. 25 August 2018. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  30. "Match called off after downpour". telegraphindia.com. Kolkata: The Telegraph. 4 August 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  31. The World Sports Today (1 August 2020). "100 years of East Bengal: A timeline of Kolkata giant's key milestones". The World Sports Today. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  32. "East Bengal to confer Kapil Dev with Bharat Gaurav award". www.outlookindia.com. Outlook India. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  33. PTI (30 April 2001). "East Bengal win National League". Rediff. Pres Trust of India. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.

Bibliography
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