Surajit Sengupta

Surajit Sengupta (30 August 1951 – 17 February 2022) was an Indian footballer who played as a winger. He played for the India national team, representing the country in the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran and the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok. In a domestic career spanning twelve years between 1971 and 1983, he had represented all three of Calcutta's football clubs, Mohun Bagan FC, East Bengal FC, and Mohammedan Sporting FC, and was considered one of the finest forwards of his time. Sengupta won the IFA Shield and the Calcutta Football League six times each and the Durand Cup thrice while representing East Bengal FC.

Surajit Sengupta
Personal information
Date of birth (1951-08-30)30 August 1951
Place of birth Hooghly, West Bengal, India
Date of death 17 February 2022(2022-02-17) (aged 70)
Place of death Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Position(s) Winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1971 Kidderpore
1972–1974 Mohun Bagan
1974–1980 East Bengal
1980–1981 Mohammedan Sporting
1981–1983 Mohun Bagan
International career
1973–1979 India 14 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He appeared with East Bengal from 1974 to 1980 and captained the team in 1978–79.[1][2][3] He received the lifetime achievement award from East Bengal in 2018.

Early life

Sengupta was born on 30 August 1951, in Chakbazar in the Hooghly district of West Bengal.[4] His father, Suhas Sengupta, was a football and cricket player who worked for Dunlop India. Sengupta studied at the Hooghly Branch School where he was spotted by coach Ashwini Bharat. He went on to study at the Hooghly Mohsin College and made his second division debut for Robert Hudson FC.[5]

Club career

Sengupta made his domestic debut playing for the Kidderpore club[6] in 1971 before moving to Mohun Bagan AC and playing for the club between 1972 and 1974. He was part of Mohun Bagan's Bangladesh tour in May 1972, where they defeated Dhaka Mohammedan and lost to Dhaka XI.[7] He later moved to East Bengal FC for six seasons between 1974 and 1980. He represented Mohammedan SC between 1980 and 1981 before returning to Mohan Bagan between 1981 and 1983.[4]

Amongst his best experiences was a 1975 IFA Shield Final where he led East Bengal's 5–0 win against their Kolkata rivals Mohun Bagan.[8] Most of his victories came during his time with East Bengal FC. He was also the captain of the West Bengal team in the 1976 Santosh Trophy.[8] In a domestic career spanning twelve years he represented all three of Calcutta's football clubs and had won the IFA Shield and the Calcutta Football League six times each and the Durand Cup thrice for East Bengal FC.[9][10]

Sengupta received the lifetime achievement award from East Bengal in 2018.[4]

International career

Sengupta made his debut for the India national team in 1974 in a game against Thailand in the Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur.[4][11] He represented the country in 14 games,[10] including the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran and the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok.[10][12][13] He also represented the country in the 1974 Merdeka Cup and the 1977 President's Cup in Seoul.[4]

Style of play

Sengupta played as winger and was known for his playing speed and passing range. Per an article in the Indian newspaper The Hindu, he was considered one of the finest and creative forwards of his time.[8]

Personal life and death

Sengupta was married to Shyamali Sengupta, with whom he had a son.[8] After his retirement he was involved with the game as a sports editor with a Bengali language magazine writing their football columns.[4] He learnt singing and would play the Tabla with his son.[8] East Bengal coach and former Indian footballer P. K. Banerjee had named him Sócrates after the Brazilian footballer, given his sporting a beard and his varied interests.[14]

Sengupta died from COVID-19-related complications on 17 February 2022, at the age of 70.[4]

Honours

East Bengal

See also

References
  1. "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.
  2. "East Bengal FC » Historical squads". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  3. "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.
  4. "Surajit Sengupta, India Football Legend And 'Heartthrob' Of Fans, Dies At 70". Outlook India. 18 February 2022. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  5. "Indian Football Great Surajit Sengupta Dies, Mamata Banerjee Leads Tributes | Football News". NDTVSports.com. 18 February 2022. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  6. "IFA (WB) – Team: KIDDERPORE SC". ifawb.org. Indian Football Association. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  7. Alam, Masud (19 April 2022). "৭ কোটি মানুষের জন্য ভালোবাসা নিয়ে ঢাকায় এসেছিল মোহনবাগান" [Mohun Bagan came to Dhaka with love for 7 crore people]. www.prothomalo.com (in Bengali). Dhaka, Bangladesh: The Daily Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  8. Amitabha Das Sharma (17 February 2022). "Surajit Sengupta Passes Away at 71". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  9. "Surajit Sengupta, former East Bengal captain, passes away at 70 due to Covid-19". India Today. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  10. "Former East Bengal captain Surajit Sengupta passes away". Sportstar - The Hindu. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  11. "East Bengal Football Club – Famous Players". www.eastbengalfootballclub.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  12. "Sengupta passes away: সুরজিৎ চলে গেলেন স্মৃতির দেশে" [Surajit Sengupta passes away]. Anandabazar Patrika (in Bengali). 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  13. "Former India midfielder and East Bengal legend Surajit Sengupta dies". The Telegraph. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  14. "Former India footballer Surajit Sengupta dies at 70 after Covid-19". Hindustan Times. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  15. Raunak, Majumdar (31 May 2019). "The DCM Trophy- Oldest Indian Tournament with International Exposure". chaseyoursport.com. Chase Your Sport. Retrieved 4 December 2021.

Bibliography
  • Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
  • Martinez, Dolores; Mukharji, 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.
  • 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.
  • Banerjee, Argha; Basu, Rupak (2022). মোহনবাগান: সবুজ ঘাসের মেরুন গল্প (transl. Mohun Bagan: Green fields' Maroon stories). Shalidhan. ISBN 978-81-954667-0-2.
  • Roy, Gautam (1 January 2021). East Bengal 100. Allsport Foundation. ISBN 978-8194763109.
  • Bandyopadhyay, Santipriya (1979). Cluber Naam East Bengal (in Bengali). Kolkata: New Bengal Press.
  • Chattopadhyay, Hariprasad (2017). Mohun Bagan–East Bengal (in Bengali). Kolkata: Parul Prakashan.

Further reading
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