Karuna Bhattacharya Explained

Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya
Fullname:Karuna Sankar "Habla" Bhattacharya
Birth Date:1909
Death Date:1979
Position:Winger
Years1:1928–1930
Clubs1:Aryan
Years2:1930–1938
Clubs2:Mohun Bagan
Nationalyears1:1938
Nationalteam1:India
Nationalcaps1:5
Nationalgoals1:3
Managerclubs1:Mohun Bagan

Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya (1909–1979) was a former Indian footballer who represented and captained the India national football team and Mohun Bagan, a football club in Kolkata.[1] [2] 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.[3] He was the first captain of the India national football team during their first officially recognised match in the international tour of Australia against the Australia national football team in 1938.[4] [5] [6]

Football career

Bhattacharya represented Mohun Bagan for nine consecutive seasons from 1930 onwards.[7] [8] He played alongside Gostha Pal,[9] [10] Syed Abdus Samad,[11] Umapati Kumar,[12] Balaidas Chatterjee,[13] [14] Sanmatha Dutta, Bimal Mukherjee, R. Lumsden,[15] [16] Satu Chowdhury, and many others during that time. The period from 1933 to 1939 was a golden era for Mohun Bagan,[17] 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,[18] [19] Bhattacharya started his career in Aryan before joining Mohun Bagan in 1930.[20] He was scouted by Dukhiram Majumder in Berhampur, and was signed by Aryan in 1928.[21] Bhattacharya debuted for the club in Rovers Cup.[21]

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 in 1939.[22] 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, where they were defeated by a solitary goal. He was the captain of the Indian team, managed by Pankaj Gupta,[23] that went to Australia in 1938 after the invitation from Australian Football Association.[24] He was one of the stars during the Australia tour, scoring a brace against Queensland and the Australia National Team.[25] 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 and South Africa 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).[26] 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).[26]

Post-playing career

After retiring from football, he became the football secretary of Mohun Bagan in 1955 and 1961, and also worked as the tennis secretary in 1954.[3] 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.[3] As manager of Mohun Bagan, Bhattacharya along with club officials Sailen Manna and Chuni Goswami went with team to newly independent Bangladesh in May 1972, where they defeated Dhaka Mohammedan in first match but lost the second match to Shadhin Bangla football team.[27]

International statistics

Scores and results list India's goal tally first.

Goal Date Venue Opponent Result Competition
1 3 September 1938 Royal Agricultural Show Ground, Sydney, Australiaalign=center 3–5Friendly
2 10 September 1938 Royal Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, Australiaalign=center 4–4Friendly
3 17 September 1938 Newcastle Sports Ground, Newcastle, Australia align=center 4–1Friendly

Honours

Mohun Bagan[28] [29]

1938

Individual

Legacy

Mohun Bagan Athletic Club began giving the "Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya Memorial Award for best footballer" in memory of him.[33] [34]

See also

Bibliography

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mohun Bagan: Blaze of Glory. Kapadia. Novy. 7 June 2015. indianexpress.com. The Indian Express. 4 March 2016. 22 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160222151228/http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/football/mohun-bagan-blaze-of-glory/.
  2. Web site: Football in Bengali culture and society: a study in the social history of football in Bengal 1911–1980 . University of Calcutta . . 35 . Bandyopadhyay . Kausik . 2008 . 10603/174532 . 7 October 2022 . 7 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221007174156/https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/174532 .
  3. News: IANS . Mohun Bagan to honour legend Karuna Bhattacharya | Business Standard News . Business Standard India . Business-standard.com . 12 July 2015 . 2020-03-02 . 24 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924131133/http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/mohun-bagan-to-honour-legend-karuna-bhattacharya-115071200728_1.html . live .
  4. Web site: 1938 Indian Tour of Australia . ozfootball.net . Australian Online Football Museum . 24 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180923052751/http://www.ozfootball.net/museum/index.php/tours/252-1938-indian-tour-of-australia . 23 September 2018 . live .
  5. Web site: Greg Stock . Thomas Esamie . John Punshon . Socceroo Internationals for 1938 . ozfootball.net . OZfootball . 24 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180806202225/http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Socceroo/1938A.html . 6 August 2018 . live .
  6. Web site: Matches 1938 . fifa.com . FIFA . 24 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180924110047/https://www.fifa.com/live-scores/teams/country=ind/men/matches/index.html#year1938 . 24 September 2018 . dead .
  7. Web site: Era of Legends – 1930 to 1939 . 2022-05-05 . Mohun Bagan Club . en-US . 5 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220505232956/http://www.mohunbaganclub.com/history/history-1930-1939/ .
  8. News: Mohun Bagan to honour legend Karuna Bhattacharya . 6 May 2022 . Business Standard . 12 July 2015 . 6 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220506103740/https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/mohun-bagan-to-honour-legend-karuna-bhattacharya-115071200728_1.html .
  9. Web site: The Golden Years of Indian Football. www.chaseyoursport.com. Chase Your Sport. Kolkata. Rounak. Majumdar. 22 April 2019. 28 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20201107230046/https://www.chaseyoursport.com/Football/The-Golden-Years-of-Indian-Football/659. 7 November 2020.
  10. Web site: Gostha Pal – IFAWB: biography. ifa.org. Indian Football Association. 2 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220922012801/https://ifawb.org/gostha-pal/. 22 September 2022.
  11. Web site: Somnath. Sengupta. Legends Of Indian Football : The Pioneers. thehardtackle.com. The Hard Tackle. 24 April 2012. 20 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20171026053626/http://www.thehardtackle.com/2012/legends-of-indian-football-the-pioneers/. 26 October 2017.
  12. Web site: Mohun Bagan Ratna — Late Balaidas Chatterjee to receive the award posthumously. www.mohunbaganac.com. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. 26 July 2013. 28 September 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035503/http://www.mohunbaganac.com/interview-detail/mohun-bagan-ratna-late-balaidas-chatterjee-to-receive-the-award-posthumousl. 4 March 2016. dead.
  13. Web site: Balai Das Chatterjee is Mohun Bagan Ratna 2013. 26 February 2020. 26 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200226015358/http://www.mohunbaganclub.com/Balai-Das-Chatterjeea/. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club.
  14. Web site: Balaidas Chatterjee. 26 February 2020. 26 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200226015358/https://themohunbaganac.com/jarnail-singh-2/. themohunbaganac.com.
  15. Web site: Indian's first ever International tour to Australia – 1938 (Part 1) . eastbengalclubrecords.wordpress.com . 17 November 2014 . 16 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181112101642/https://eastbengalclubrecords.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/indias-first-ever-international-tour-to-australia-1938-part-1/ . 12 November 2018 .
  16. Web site: Indian's first ever International tour to Australia – 1938 (Part 2) . eastbengalclubrecords.wordpress.com . 17 November 2014 . 16 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180923052813/https://eastbengalclubrecords.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/indias-first-ever-international-tour-to-australia-1938-part-2/ . 23 September 2018 .
  17. Web site: The Golden Years of Indian Football. www.chaseyoursport.com. Chase Your Sport. Kolkata. Rounak. Majumdar. 22 April 2019. 28 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20201107230046/https://www.chaseyoursport.com/Football/The-Golden-Years-of-Indian-Football/659. 7 November 2020.
  18. Web site: ভাইপোকে পোস্টে বেঁধে লাথি মেরে ছিলেন স্যার দুখিরাম মজুমদার…. Xtratime Bangla. Webdesk. xtratimebangla.in. Xtratime Bangla. bn. Sir Dukhiram Majumdar tied his nephew to a post and kicked him.... Kolkata. 21 April 2020. 21 October 2022. 21 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221021061329/https://xtratimebangla.in/sir-dukhiram-majumder-kicked-his-nephew-by-tieing-up-with-a-lamp-post/.
  19. Web site: A 19th century visionary: The legend behind one of India's first football scouts. Atanu. Mitra. scroll.in. Scroll. en. Kolkata. 9 October 2017. 21 October 2022. 23 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211023142230/https://scroll.in/field/852994/a-19th-century-visionary-the-legend-behind-one-of-indias-first-football-scouts.
  20. Web site: শিবদাস ভাদুড়ী, গোষ্ঠ পাল সকলেই তাঁর ছাত্র, বাঙালি মনে রাখেনি বাংলার ফুটবলের প্রথম কোচ দুখীরাম মজুমদারকে. banglaamarpran567383012.wpcomstaging.com. Bangla Amar Pran – The glorious hub for the Bengal. 4 December 2020. 13 April 2022. Avik. Mondal. https://web.archive.org/web/20220413052022/https://banglaamarpran567383012.wpcomstaging.com/untold-story-of-first-football-coach-of-bengal-sir-dukhiram-majumdar/. 13 April 2022. bn.
  21. Web site: প্রসঙ্গঃ স্যার দুখীরাম মজুমদার. Context: Sir Dukhiram Majumdar. bn. 11 October 2020. 21 October 2022. Biplab. Dasgupta. Kolkata. justnews24x7official.com. Just News 24×7. https://web.archive.org/web/20221021165636/https://justnews24x7official.com/%E0%A6%96%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%99%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%83-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%96%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AE-%E0%A6%AE/. 21 October 2022.
  22. Web site: Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya - Mohun Bagan Athletic Club . 2 March 2020 . 2 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200302063255/https://themohunbaganac.com/karuna-sankar-bhattacharya/ .
  23. Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), 1976/1998, Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical dictionary) Vol I,, p. 279, .
  24. Web site: History in Timeline of Indian Football. https://web.archive.org/web/20200308124507/http://www.the-aiff.com/history. 8 March 2020. 2021-02-15. the-aiff.org. All India Football Federation.
  25. Web site: 1938 Indian Tour of Australia . Ozfootball.net . 2020-03-02 . 24 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924130108/http://www.ozfootball.net/museum/index.php/en/tours/252-1938-indian-tour-of-australia .
  26. Book: Majumdar, Boria . Bandyopadhyay, Kausik . 1 February 2006 . Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation . . . 9780670058747 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220408140616/https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Goalless_the_Story_of_a_Unique_Footballi.html?id=i55oAAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y . 8 April 2022.
  27. Web site: ৭ কোটি মানুষের জন্য ভালোবাসা নিয়ে ঢাকায় এসেছিল মোহনবাগান. Masud. Alam. www.prothomalo.com. The Daily Prothom Alo. bn. Mohun Bagan came to Dhaka with love for 7 crore people. Dhaka, Bangladesh. 19 April 2022. 19 October 2022. 2 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221002192020/https://www.prothomalo.com/sports/football/%E0%A7%AD-%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF-%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%9F%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%A2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A7%9F-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%9B%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B2-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8.
  28. Web site: Sabuj Maroon Swapno | THE BEGINNING OF THE JOURNEY : 1889–1903 . 2015-09-24 . dead . sabujmaroonswapno.in . https://archive.today/20140825191125/http://sabujmaroonswapno.in/wordpress/the-beginning-of-the-journey-1889-1903/ . 2014-08-25 .
  29. Web site: Countrywide success – 1920 to 1929 . 2022-05-05 . Mohun Bagan Club . en-US . 5 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220505224747/http://www.mohunbaganclub.com/history/history-1920-1929/ .
  30. Web site: Mohun Bagan Ratna – The Jewels of Mohun Bagan . dead . mohunbaganac.com . Mohun Bagan Athletic Club . 2015-09-20 . 9 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150909184150/http://www.mohunbaganac.com/mmb-ratna-day .
  31. Web site: 2016-04-17 . Mohun Bagan Day 2015 celebrated — Mohun Bagan News . 2023-07-30 . 17 April 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160417130646/http://www.mohunbaganac.com/news-detail/mohun-bagan-day-2015-celebrated-4698 .
  32. Web site: 2016-04-17 . Mohun Bagan Ratna 2015 — Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya (posthumous) — Mohun Bagan News . 2023-07-30 . 17 April 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160417193817/http://www.mohunbaganac.com/news-detail/mohun-bagan-ratna-2015-karuna-sankar-bhattacharya-posthumous-4485 .
  33. Web site: Balaidas Chatterjee posthumously awarded Mohun Bagan Ratna . dead . www.business-standard.com . Business Standard India . 29 July 2013 . 13 October 2022 . Kolkata . . 13 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221013060233/https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/balaidas-chatterjee-posthumously-awarded-mohun-bagan-ratna-113072901219_1.html .
  34. Web site: Balaidas Chatterjee posthumously awarded Mohun Bagan Ratna. The Times of India. 29 July 2013. Press Trust of India. timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Kolkata. 1 March 2014. 14 April 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170414235115/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/Balaidas-Chatterjee-posthumously-awarded-Mohun-Bagan-Ratna/articleshow/21465335.cms. live.

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