Mohammedan SC : The third giant of Bengal
Mohammedan SC is one of the oldest club in India and the club is more than 130 years old. With this kind of legacy the club witnessed the growth of Indian football. Although the club was born in 1891 it got the fame around first decade of 20th century. The club had a tremendous journey from protesting against the British to become the first Indian club to win CFL in 1934.
The ‘Black Panthers’ came into limelight after they won the Cooch Behar Trophy in 1902, 1906 and in 1909. Although it was not before 1927 that the financial condition of the club improved when the team was promoted to the second division of the Calcutta Football League. It was in the 1930s that the Mohammedan Sporting Club became a household name. C.A. Aziz of Mohammedan was a mastermind in Indian football who first understood the importance of wearing boots and started to make a team which is invincible.
They started to recruit the rejects of Mohunbagan and from the corners of the nation to make a team of future. They won the CFL in 1934 and continued their run till 1938 becoming the first club to do so. The men in ‘black and white’ became the first Indian club to win the Durand Cup in 1940 and history is created again.
They won a number of tournaments in the next two decades. Their next big achievement came in 1960 when they won the Aga Khan Gold cup thus becoming the first Indian side to win a trophy on foreign soil. They came up as the giant of Indian football.
Everything was going like a fairy tale till that time. But the downfall came in an unexpected manner. The last CFL they won was in 1981. It was the era which shifted the focus to the Federation Cup, which was the most important club tournament back then. After a consecutive win in the Federation Cup in 1983 and 1984, Mohammedan Sporting never won the title again.
In1996 NFL came and became the most popular league in India. They were unable to qualify for the main rounds. Although the managed to get up on the table and played in the top flight they were unable to make a mark. Same thing went with the I-league and they are currently playing in the second division I-league. Their last achievements were counted as winning the Durand cup in 2013 and winning the IFA shield in 2014. They became the champion of the IFA shield by defeating Seikh Jamal FC , the best club of Bangladesh who defeated both Mohunbagan and East Bengal in that year.
The club is re-emerging as a power in Indian football and are having a great run the I-league 2nd division. The club had a constant support from their community and that is the reason for passing through the tough situations.
