The History and the Men Behind 1911 Shield Wining

From 1910 to 1912,Mohun Bagan consecutively triumphed Bengal Jimkhana Shield. Obviously Mohun Bagan earned the highest position among all the Indian teams. 

Then came the year 1911,one of the most memorable years, in the history of Indian football. Mohun Bagan reached the final after defeating St. Xavier’s in the first round, by 3 goals to nil, Rangers in the second round by the same score again, Rifle Brigade in the third round by 1 goal to nil and Middlesex Regiment in the Semifinal .1st day of semifinal was a draw.But finally Mohun Bagan reached final after victory by 3 goals to nil against Middlesex Regiment. 

Mohun Bagan Before 1911 I.F.A Shield

East York Before 1911 I.F.A Shield

The 29th of July 1911. Mohun Bagan lost in toss and was placed towards Eden Garden, and East York towards Fort William. The match referee was H.G.Puller.Under the captainship of Shibdas Bhaduri,Mohun Bagan players entered the ground encircled by thousands of supporters hopefully looking forward for the victory. The captain of East York team was Sergeant Jackson. The total match time at that time was 50 mins and a break of 5 mins in between. In the first half, Mohun Bagan was in an aggressive approach. The effort of Kanu Roy, Shibdas Bhaduri and Bijoydas Bhaduri is worth mentioning. Equally attacking was East York. But there was no goal.In the second half, Mohun Bagan was under tremendous pressure. At the end of 15 mins, Sergeant Jackson lobbed the ball to score the first goal. But hardly 5 mins passed and Shibdas Bhaduri of Mohun Bagan equaled the scoreboard. And eventually after a restless tug of war Mohun Bagan experienced the final strike. The hero of this historical moment was Abhilash Ghosh who hit the neat goal, by grabbing a quick pass from Shibdas, just at the verge of the end of the game, when only 2 minutes were left. Mohun Bagan won IFA Shield. All the spectators were astonished by the stunning performance of Mohun Bagan. The Indians burst in ecstasy. The most incredible fact of the game was that all the players of Mohun Bagan were barefooted. And those outstanding 11 players of the final match were

1.  Hiralal Mukherjee (Goal)

2.  Bhuti Sukul(Back)

3.  Sudheer Chatterjee (Back)

4.  Monmohan Mukherjee (Back)

5.  Rajen Sengupta (Back)

6.  Neelmadhav Bhattacharya (Half back)

7.  Kanu Roy (Forward)

8.  Habul Sarkar (Forward)

9.  Abhilash Ghosh (Forward)

10. Bijoydas Bhaduri (Forward)

11. Shibdas Bhaduri (Forward)

Post Credit: mohunbaganac.com