The forgotten club: Md. Sporting

My father once told me that Md. Sporting had a huge fan following even in the UP, evidentially because of their name and the people who where helm at the club, this club was the third pillar of the Kolkata football apart of Mohan began and East Bengal. This is only few of handful club in India who can be proud of their rich history and past. I am not sure lots of people today know about the club, even my knowledge is very limited. I have seen them in last decade going up and down from I league, losing to east Bengal and Mohan Began, In CFL they where even behind from United FC. So last year was very important for this club, when they regain possession in I league under the guidance of Sujoy sen. Frankly I don’t know about the coach so much but he did a great job in getting the team in I league with the squad and budget he has at his disposable.

When this new season started, there coach Sujoy sen decide not continue with his job. He deiced to quit his job citing the personal reason. I was really worried about the club, because when you come up from League 2, it is really important to maintain the continuity in the club, for that the Kolkata clubs are very infamous for.  So Mr. sporting was again on the same route to pick up the unwanted player form the other club, and also to be competitive in the I league. There is always danger of changing too much of the winning team, because in Kolkata if you fail, they will not forget. They will make it a big headline and there will be pubic pressure also. So in that case what they do that was the question?

They made two big signing this summer, Penni and Tozlab. There is big significance of both the signing for Md. Sporting, for a long time they have been not able to attract the big name in the club due to non presence in the league, but also due to there is no presence of star in the team. Penni and Tozalb are the start who will attract the players in the team, but also they were bought from there Kolkata rival East Bengal and Mohan Bagan, which eventually will weak them. The new look Md. Sporting looks good to me in term of team, but still they have to perform and win the match.

This is actually a good sign for Kolkata football and Indian football; we need old club like Md. Sporting in a healthy state so the player can have more choice of club and there is added spice of rivalry club have from the old time. We should applaud the work of Md. Sporting club in this summer and also the way club has closed its signing way before the start of the season rather than waiting for the start. As  I write this piece, Md. Sporting are already in the final of Durand cup, which is one of the oldest cup in the world after FA cup of England. If they win it, it will be huge boost for their confidence before start of CFL and I league. I hope they finish this season high on I league so the club can move forward rather than taking one step forward and two steps backward.

P.S.:  One time they had huge popularity in the Bangladesh and Pakistan also, They could not hold to that clout due to various reasons.