Sailen Manna

Manna graduated from the Surendranath College, an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta. He worked for the Geological Survey of India.[16]

Manna started his playing career with Howrah Union, then a club in the second Division of the Kolkata Football League, in 1940.[14][17][18] After turning out for the club for a couple of seasons, he joined Mohun Bagan in 1942 and continued playing for the club till his retirement in 1960.[19] Between 1950 and 1955, he featured as the club's captain.[14] During his 19-year association with the club as player, he reportedly earned only ₹19.[20] Speaking to Sportstar in 2006, he reasoned that he "played out of love for the sport and was happy with the salary I got from my employer, the Geological Survey of India."[21]

As a defender, Manna was known for his anticipation, covering and a strong free kick.[20] He also represented Bengal football team in Santosh Trophy and played alongside Sheoo Mewalal,[22] winning the tournament in 1953–54 season defeating Mysore 3–1 in final.[22] He was also part of Bengal's multiple Santosh Trophy wins under coaching of Balaidas Chatterjee.[23]

Manna was part of the India national team managed by Balaidas Chatterjee[24][25] that participated at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.[26][27] He went to Europe with the national team in July to play preparatory matches against English teams like Pinner F.C., Hayes F.C. and Alexandra Park FC before the main tournament.[28][29][30][31] In the Olympics, their first match was against Burma, and it was a walkover. Then, they played their one and only match against France, and was defeated by a margin of 1–2 with Indian goal coming from Sarangapani Raman.[32][33][34] Manna played in the tournament in bare feet; their bravery earned admiration of Princess Margaret of England.[35][36] With India, he later went on to play few friendly matches with captain Talimeren Ao in their Nederlands tour, where they went down to Sparta Rotterdam but won 5–1 against Ajax Amsterdam.[37][38][39]

Under his captaincy, India won the gold medal in the 1951 Asian Games,[40][41] and also won the Quadrangular Tournament for four consecutive years from 1952 to 1956.[42][43][44][14] In 1953, the England Football Association rated him among the ten best skippers of the world in its yearbook.[15] Manna was also the captain of the Syed Abdul Rahim managed Indian team in 1952 Helsinki Olympics[45] and a member of the 1954 Asian Games.[46] The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki was not suitable for his team as they tasted a defeat of 10–1 to Yugoslavia.[47][48]

Manna used to keep a picture of the Hindu deity Kali, tucked away in his pocket. Two of his greatest regrets in life are missing the first penalty kick against France in the London Olympics, and turning down the chance of taking the second penalty because he was afraid of missing again, and India had not gone to the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil,[49][50][51] with him as captain, because the Indian Football Federation had not realized its importance.[52][53][54]

He hung up his boots on 27 August 1960 after playing in India's international charity match against Indonesia in New Delhi.[55]

After retiring from football, Manna went on to become head coach of India at the 1961 Merdeka Cup in Malaysia,[56] in which he guided some of India's notable players like Jarnail Singh,[57] P. K. Banerjee,[58] Peter Thangaraj and Tulsidas Balaram. He also managed the national team in 1968 Merdeka Cup.[59] He later became team official of Mohun Bagan and went with Karuna Bhattacharya managed team to newly independent Bangladesh in May 1972, where they defeated Dhaka Mohammedan in first match, but lost to Shadhin Bangla football team in their last match.[60]

Plaque dedicated to Sailen Manna, at the Central Park of Salt Lake City, Kolkata, erected in 2013.

After being unwell for quite some time, Manna died at a private hospital in Kolkata on Monday, 27 February 2012. He was 87 years old and was survived by his wife and daughter.[61]

Statue of Manna at the Central Park, Salt Lake City, Kolkata.

I have no hesitation in calling him one of the best footballers of the country. He was definitely an accomplished player and also endeared everyone with his great human qualities.

— Samar Banerjee, former Indian captain and Olympian, on Manna in March 2012.[62]

Mohun Bagan Athletic Club began giving the "Sailen Manna Memorial Award for best sportsperson" in memory of him.[63][64]

Pavilion of Sailen Manna Stadium in Howrah

In 2013, Howrah Municipal Corporation Stadium, which was one of the venues of the 2006 AFC Youth Championship, was renamed as Sailen Manna Stadium by the HMC in honour of him.[66][67] In March 2020, Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee announced the renaming of Dumurjola Indoor Stadium as Sailen Manna Indoor Stadium.[68][69]

India

• Asian Games Gold medal: 1951[70]
• Colombo Cup: 1952, 1953, 1954[71]

Mohun Bagan[72]

• CFL 1st Division: 1944, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
• Durand Cup: 1953,[73] 1953, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965
• IFA Shield: 1947, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1961, 1962
• Rovers Cup: 1955, 1956

Bengal[72]

• Santosh Trophy: 1945–46, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1962–63

Individual

1. Included in the list of the 10 best Captains of the world by English FA in 1953.[15]
2. Awarded the Padma Shri in 1971 by the Government of India.[14][74]
3. Awarded the "Footballer of the Millennium" by All India Football Federation in 2000.[75]
4. Awarded "Mohun Bagan Ratna" in 2001.[76][77]
5. Awarded Banga Bibhushan in 2011 by the Government of West Bengal[78]
6. Sportskeeda All time Indian Football XI[79]

• History of Indian football
• List of India national football team managers
• History of the India national football team
• List of India national football team captains
• India national football team at the Olympics

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• 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.

• Sailen Manna at FIFA (archived)
• Sailen Manna at Olympedia
• Saliendra Manna – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Obituary - The Economist