Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya (1909–1979) was a former Indian footballer who represented and captained the
India national football team
The India national football team represents India in international football and is governed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The team is affiliated to FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Indian team, which was once cons ...
and
Mohun Bagan
Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...
, a football club in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. The Karuna Bhattacharya Award is given to the best player of Mohun Bagan in every season. On 11 July 2015 Mohun Bagan conferred the "Mohun Bagan Ratna" to Karuna Bhattacharya.
He was the first captain of the
India national football team
The India national football team represents India in international football and is governed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The team is affiliated to FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Indian team, which was once cons ...
during their first officially recognised match in the international tour of Australia against the
Australia national football team Australia national soccer team may refer to:
* Australia men's national soccer team
** Australia men's national under-23 soccer team
** Australia men's national under-20 soccer team
** Australia men's national under-17 soccer team
** Australia ...
in 1938.
Football career
Bhattacharya represented Mohun Bagan for nine consecutive seasons from 1930 onwards. He played alongside
Gostha Pal,
Syed Abdus Samad,
Umapati Kumar
Umapati Kumar was a former footballer who played mostly as an inside forward. As a footballer, he represented India in international football, and Mohun Bagan AC in the Calcutta Football League.
Personal life
Umapati Kumar was born on 8 Februar ...
,
Balaidas Chatterjee
Balaidas Chatterjee (10 March 1900 – 1974) was a former Indian football player and was the first head coach the India national football team during the 1948 Summer Olympics. During his playing days, Chatterjee played for Mohun Bagan in various ...
, Sanmatha Dutta,
Bimal Mukherjee,
R. Lumsden, Satu Chowdhury, and many others during that time. The period from 1933 to 1939 was a golden era for Mohun Bagan, and they won 29 trophies during this time. In these 7 years, Mohun Bagan was virtually invincible in derby losing only 1 match that period to an East Bengal. From 1938 onwards, he did play few years in Customs.
After brushing up his skills under the coaching of
Dukhiram Majumder
Dukhiram Majumder (born Oomesh Chandra Majumder, also Mazumdar; 1875 – 16 June 1929) was an Indian footballer, football manager, scout and club official, who is regarded as the first football coach in the country. He first understood the impo ...
, Bhattacharya started his career in
Aryan
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
before joining Mohun Bagan in 1930. He was scouted by Dukhiram Majumder in Berhampur, and was signed by Aryan in 1928.
Bhattacharya debuted for the club in
Rovers Cup
The Rovers Cup was an annual football tournament held in India, organized by the Western India Football Association. It was the second oldest tournament in India after Durand Cup.
History
Rovers Cup was incorporated by some British football e ...
.
He joined Mohun Bagan in 1930. With the club, he scored several important goals in his football career while playing as the right-in in the 2–3–5 formation. He was one of the most vital players in the team when Mohun Bagan won their first ever league title, winning the
Calcutta Football League
The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by Indian Football Association (WB), under state football leagues in India. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is off ...
in 1939. He also played few exhibition matches in Bangladesh with
IFA XI in 1930.
In July 1938, Bhattacharya went on to play an international charity match against an 'all European team' in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, where they were defeated by a solitary goal. He was the captain of the
Indian team, managed by
Pankaj Gupta
Pankaj Kumar Gupta (10 September 1898 – 5 March 1971) was one of the earliest Indian sports administrators involved in professional football, hockey and cricket. He is best known for his involvement in professional hockey where he worked va ...
, that went to Australia in 1938 after the invitation from
Australian Football Association. He was one of the stars during the Australia tour, scoring a brace against Queensland and the Australia National Team. He was also part of the Indian team that played against the Olympic team of China in 1936. The match ended in a 1–1 draw.
Bhattacharya also was part of several Indians vs. Europeans football matches from 1931 to 1939. During this period, he played against the Europeans in 1932 (5–0), 1933 (2–0), 1935 (5–0), 1937 (1–0), 1938 (0–1), and 1939 (2–2). In this series which was held once a year, Karuna Bhattacharya scored in 1932 (2 goals), 1935 (2 goals), 1939 (1 goal). He also was part of the
IFA XI side that went to
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
tour in 1933 and 1934 respectively. IFA XI won 4 matches in Ceylon (3–2, 4–1, 1–0, 2–0) while the other match ended in a 1–1 draw. Out of the 19 games played in South Africa, IFA XI won 18 (6–0, 6–1, 6–1, 2–0, 2–0, 7–1, 9–0, 6–1, 3–1, 4–1, 6–1, 8–1, 1–0, 2–1, 4–1, 2–0, 2–0, 5–0) and lost just 1 match (1–3).
Under the captaincy of Bhattacharya, the Indian team played 15 games, out of which they won 6 (6–1, 5–2, 5–2, 4–1, 6–4, 3–1), drew 2 (4–4, 3–3) and lost 7 matches (2–4, 4–6, 1–2, 3–5, 4–5, 4–6, 1–5).
Post-playing career
After retiring from football, he became the football secretary of
Mohun Bagan
Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...
in 1955 and 1961, and also worked as the tennis secretary in 1954.
He later became manager of the "green and maroon brigade" in several tournaments including their tour of Indonesia in 1956, tour of East Africa in 1961, and tour of Sri Lanka in 1968.
As manager of Mohun Bagan, Bhattacharya along with club officials
Sailen Manna
Sailendra Nath Manna ( bn, শৈলেন মান্না; 1 September 1924 – 27 February 2012), known popularly as Sailen Manna, was an Indian football player who represented the India national team between 1948 and 1956. Predominantly p ...
and
Chuni Goswami
Subimal "Chuni" Goswami (15 January 1938 – 30 April 2020) was an Indian professional footballer and first-class cricketer. As footballer, he played as a striker or winger, captained both the Mohun Bagan club and the Indian national te ...
went with team to newly independent
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
in May 1972, where they defeated
Dhaka Mohammedan
Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited Dhaka, founded in 1936 at Dhaka, is one of the oldest and one of the most popular football clubs in Bangladesh, with a support base in all parts of the country. The club currently plays in the Bangladesh Premie ...
in first match but lost the second match to
Shadhin Bangla football team.
International statistics
:''Scores and results list India's goal tally first.''
Honours
Mohun Bagan
*Coochbehar Cup: 1931, 1935, 1936
*Lakhsmibilas Cup: 1937
*
Trades Cup
The Trades Cup (also known as the Trades Challenge Cup or IFA Trades Challenge Cup) is an Indian football tournament held in Kolkata and organised by Indian Football Association. Incorporated in 1889, it is the second oldest football tournament i ...
: 1938
Individual
*Mohun Bagan Ratna: 2015
Legacy
Mohun Bagan Athletic Club
Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...
began giving the "Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya Memorial Award for best footballer" in memory of him.
See also
*
Football in Kolkata
Football is one of the most popular sports in Kolkata, West Bengal. East Bengal, ATK Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan are the heart of Kolkata football. The rivalry between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal is one of the fiercest in the world and is conside ...
*
History of Indian football
The history of football in India is a long and detailed one, as it was the national sport at one time. The impetus for this was to unify the Indian Army. There is evidence for refereed between a team of football games being played in the Indian ...
*
History of the India national football team
The history of the India national football team dates back to the 1920s. They have never played in the FIFA World Cup, World Cup although they qualified in 1950 FIFA World Cup, 1950. They have had no entries in the tournament from 1950 onwards. I ...
*
List of India national football team captains
This article lists all the captains of the India national football team.
The first India captain in their maiden international tour was Gostha Pal, organised under the control of Indian Football Association (Bengal) before the formation of All ...
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattacharya, Karuna Sankar
1909 births
1979 deaths
Indian footballers
India international footballers
Mohun Bagan AC players
Aryan FC players
Association football wingers
Footballers from West Bengal
Calcutta Football League players