Events leading up to the disaster
The Kolkata Derby has been an eternal rivalry between the two oldest clubs in Indian football— Mohun Bagan and East Bengal—and has been featured on the list of FIFA's Classic Rivalries. The fanaticism around football in Kolkata in the 1970s was unparalleled and the ''Bangal''-''Ghoti'' rivalry was the pinnacle of football rivalries in Asia, as football became an escape from the political turmoil of the 70s in Kolkata. East Bengal had the better of their arch-rivals in the better part of the previous decade by winning almost all trophies between 1970-1975. Mohun Bagan were fast growing back into their old stature, winning the Triple Crown in 1978. Just a few months back, the two teams had a bitter clash in the 1980Confrontation
Usually, the East Bengal and Mohun Bagan fans are seated in separate galleries so that any kind of fan riots are prevented. However, on that day, both sets of fans were made to sit together in the stands. In the absence of segregation and inadequate police protection in the stands, the riots spread like wildfire and people started running towards exits to save themselves. Young fans jumped off the high stands onto concrete floors to save themselves while many tried to flee through the narrow gates, which led many to fall down. It caused an inevitable stampede that took the lives of 16 football fans.The match
The players and the officials did not have any idea of what was happening in the stands. The game was stopped for few moments after the double red cards and the game went on where both teams played with 10 men and the game finished at 0-0.Match Details
Aftermath of the disaster
The bodies of the injured were taken over to the nearby hospitals and people flocked over at the various locations to identify their missing kin. The police report claimed that 16 fans were dead and many were left injured. All the matches for the rest of the season were cancelled and both the teams were heavily fined.Impact on people
This tragedy sent the entire sports fraternity and the Bengali community into shock and people who were regulars to the Kolkata Maidan suddenly disappeared on the aftermath of the disaster. The football-crazy Bengali was nowhere to be seen, as they faced stiff resistance from their families to attend the next set of matches. People who went to the matches every week now either snapped their ties from the Kolkata Maidan or attended the games with fear in their minds. The fanaticism in Kolkata regarding the Beautiful Game was gone and took nearly two decades to recover, until when the Salt Lake Stadium saw a record-breaking attendance of 131,000 in the 1997Commemorations
The Indian Football Association observes Football Lovers' Day as a memorial to the 16 Football Fans who died on 16 August 1980. The first memorial, held in 1981, saw a total number of 1203 people donating blood. The IFA and other District Associations observe the Football Lovers' Day every year on 16 August and the players who were part of the ill-fated match are present at the event and hand over signed certificates to the blood donors. The legendary singer Manna Dey sang a song, ''Khela football khela'', composed by Suparnakanti Ghosh, to pay homage to those unfortunate souls who lost their lives on that ill-fated day.The 16 fans
The names of the 16 football lovers who died on that day: * Kartik Maity * Uttam Chowle * Samir Das * Aloke Das * Sanat Basu * Nabin Nashkar * Kalyan Samanta * Ashim Chatterjee * Robin Adak * Kartik Maji * Dhananjoy Das * Shyamal Biswas * Madam Mohan Bagli * Prashanta Dutta * Himangshu Sekhar Das * Bishwajit KarReferences
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