Monoranjan Bhattacharya, nicknamed ''Mona'', is a retired Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and football manager. During his playing career, he represented the "Big Two" of Kolkata football,

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

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 ...

. He also represented India in various international tournaments between 1978 and 1989. He was one of the finest Indian stopper-back during his time in Indian football. Foreigners who played against him have said he was physically strong, was good in aerial tussles and a very clean tackler. East Bengal supporters worship him. Legendary football coach

Amal Dutta Amal Dutta (4 May 1930 – 10 July 2016) was a former Indian footballer, coach and football manager. Born in Calcutta, then Bengal Presidency, he is considered as the first professional football coach in the country. A finest thinker of the sp ...

was influential nurturing talents including Bhattacharya.

Club career

Bhattacharya appeared with

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 offi ...

club George Telegraph, before joining

East Bengal Club East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top fl ...

in 1977. With the "red and gold brigade", he created a club record for continuously representing the club in a period spanning fourteen years. He was one of the most successful defenders of his time and was known for his strong and skillful game. He captained the club in 1981–82 season. In 1985, he won Federation Cup with the club and went on to represent his team at the

1985–86 Asian Club Championship The 1985–86 Asian Club Championship was the fifth edition of the annual Asian club football competition hosted by the Asian Football Confederation, and was the first such tournament in 14 years. Several clubs played in the qualifying round in t ...

in Saudi Arabia. Managed by legendary

P. K. Banerjee Pradip Kumar Banerjee (23 June 1936 – 20 March 2020) was an Indian professional footballer who played as a striker for the India national football team. He also captained the national team and later on became the coach of the national ...

, his team played in the Central Asia Zone (tournament named "Coca-Cola Cup"), where they defeated numerous foreign clubs to win it. They defeated

New Road Team New Road Team ( ne, न्यु रोड टिम; better known by its abbreviation NRT) is a Nepalese multi-sports club, widely known for its football achievements. The club is based in Tripureshwor, Kathmandu. They compete in the Martyr's ...

of Nepal 7–0,

Abahani Krira Chakra Abahani Limited Dhaka ( bn, ঢাকা আবাহনী লিমিটেড), also referred as Dhaka Abahani or Abahani Limited, is a Bangladeshi professional football club based in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club curr ...

of Bangladesh 1–0, thrashed

Club Valencia Club Valencia is a Maldivian football club based in Malé, Maldives. Nicknamed ''The Sunrisers'', the club competes in the Dhivehi Premier League, the top tier of Maldivian football. History The notion of establishing a football club named C ...

of the Maldives 9–0 (the biggest margin of victory by an Indian team over any foreign opponents). In the 1980s, Bhattacharya as stopper-back and Bhaskar Ganguly as goalkeeper, made East Bengal defense unbreakable. In 1986, he along with Bhaskar Ganguly signed with Bangladeshi club

for a crucial

Dhaka Derby The Dhaka Derby is a football rivalry between the Dhaka teams of Abahani and Mohammedan, although the rivalry was bigger in the past, it is still considered to be the biggest game in the country's domestic football scene. Mohammedan was foun ...

match to decide the

Dhaka League Dhaka Senior Division Football League, also referred as First Division Football League, is the third tier of football league in Bangladesh. Until 2006, it was the top-tier league of the country. It was established in 1948 as Dhaka League, while B ...

champions, and became one of the few Indian players who plied their trades abroad. However, after suffering a 2–0 defeat, both players returned to East Bengal. At the end of 1990–91 season, he left East Bengal to join their arch-rival

Mohun Bagan AC 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 ...

. After spending a couple of seasons with Mohun Bagan, Monoranjan returned to East Bengal in 1993 for his last season as a player.

International career

Monoranjan was a regular for

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 ...

between 1978 and 1989 and competed football tournaments within the period. He is praised for his performance against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

1984 Nehru Cup The 1984 Nehru Cup was the third edition of the Nehru Cup. It was held between 11 and 27 January 1984 in Calcutta. Format A total of 6 teams participated in the tournament through being invited by the All India Football Federation. The tourn ...

, where India was narrowly defeated by 1–0 with the goal from

Ricardo Gareca Ricardo Alberto Gareca Nardi (; born 10 February 1958), nicknamed ''el Tigre'' and ''el Flaco'' ("Tiger " and "Slim"), is an Argentine football manager and former player. Gareca was the manager of the Peru national team, with his contract endi ...

Coaching career

Monoranjan is a qualified AFC coach who managed East Bengal Club from 1996 to 1998 and again in the season of 2000–01. Under his coaching, the club won its first

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

title in 2000–01. In that season, they won Federation Cup. Due to

East Bengal FC East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top fli ...

's poor showing in the inaugural

2007–08 I-League The I-League 2007–08 kicked off on 24 November 2007 at the Fatorda Stadium, Margao, Goa. The first match of the season was played between the two Goan clubs Dempo and Salgaocar. The top team in the I-League qualified for the qualifying ph ...

, their coach

Subrata Bhattacharya Subrata Bhattacharya is an Indian football manager and former professional footballer who played as a defender for the Indian national team and spent 17 years playing for Mohun Bagan. He was the stopper back for Mohun Bagan during 1975 IFA Sh ...

resigned and Monoranjan became the coach of East Bengal for the third time. He guided the club hanging in the relegation zone to a sixth-place finish in the I-League. After the league ended, he decided not continue in the post citing prior family engagements. In 2008, he was appointed head coach of

DSA Senior Division The Delhi Football League is organised by Football Delhi (FD) as a ladder-based State football leagues in India, state association football, football competition involving a total of #Competition structure, four divisions and over 80 teams in th ...

side

Hindustan FC Hindustan Football Club is an Indian professional association football, football club based in New Delhi. Affiliated with Football Delhi (FD), the club last participated in Delhi Football League, Delhi Premier League. Founded in 1948, Hindust ...

for a season. In 2018, Bhattacharya was appointed head coach of CFL Premier Division side

Tollygunge Agragami Tollygunge Agragami Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Tollygunge, Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1943, the club primarily competes in the Calcutta Premier Division League. It previously participated in the Natio ...

Career statistics

Managerial

Honours

Player

East Bengal * Federation Cup: 1978–79, 1980–81, 1985 *

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association. The IFA is the governing body of football in the state of West Bengal, came into existence in 1893. Named after the association, the IFA Shield to ...

: 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991 *

Durand Cup The Durand Football Tournament, commonly known as Durand Cup, is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Shimla. Hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) and All India Football Federation ...

: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993 *

: 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993 *

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 ent ...

: 1990 *Wai Wai Cup (Nepal): 1993 *

All Airlines Gold Cup The All Airlines Gold Cup was a domestic football tournament organised by the Indian Football Association The Indian Football Association, abbreviated as IFA, is the organisation that administers association football in the state of West Be ...

: 1987, 1988, 1990 *

Darjeeling Gold Cup All India Darjeeling Gold Cup, also known as All India Brigade of Gorkha's Gold Cup Football Tournament, or simply GTA Chairman's Gold Cup, is an Indian association football tournament held in Darjeeling and organized by the Indian Darjeeling G ...

: 1985 *SSS Trophy: 1989, 1991 * Sait Nagjee Trophy: 1986 *Stafford Cup: 1986 India *

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic ...

Gold medal:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

Individual * East Bengal "Lifetime Achievement Award": 2019

Manager

East Bengal * Federation Cup: 1996 *

: 2000–01

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *Chattopadhyay, Hariprasad (2017). ''Mohun Bagan–East Bengal'' .

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 ...

: Parul Prakashan. *

External links

News archive
at

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattacharya, Monoranjan Living people Indian footballers India men's international footballers Footballers from Kolkata East Bengal Club managers East Bengal Club players Mohun Bagan AC players Abahani Limited Dhaka players Indian expatriate footballers Indian expatriate sportspeople in Bangladesh Expatriate footballers in Bangladesh Indian football coaches Indian football managers Men's association football defenders Year of birth missing (living people) Tollygunge Agragami FC managers Footballers at the 1982 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for India