East Bengal's memorable 1973 DCM tournament triumph

File Photo: P.K Banerjee

In the same 1973 DCM football tournament, there was further evidence of P.K. Banerjee’s clever game reading. In the initial stages of the semi final, his team East Bengal struggled to find their rhythm against the hard tackling Leaders club of Jalandhar. P.K. realised that this was happening as their frail playmaker and midfielder Samaresh ‘Pintu’ Chowdhury was being repeatedly body charged by the better -built midfielders of Leaders club, especially ex-international Gurkripal Singh. Hence within fifteen minutes he substituted Samaresh by the combative and stockily built Chandan Gupta who coped with the physical challenge and slowly East Bengal re-grouped and dominated play. In the second half, East Bengal was leading 1-0 when P.K. made another clever substitution. He introduced another ball playing midfielder Biman Lahiri in order to create more chances. Lahiri along with international inside forward Mohammed Habib tormented the Leader’s Club defence with their clever passing and East Bengal emerged comfortable 3-1 winners. During the 1970s, just two substitutions were allowed, so P.K. took a risk but he was confident of his game plan. Astute substitutions, clever change of tactics and variation in approach play always made the teams coached by P.K. Banerjee attractive to watch.

Also in this semi final match, two of East Bengal’s regular defenders stopper back Shymal Ghosh and left back Probir Mazumdar were unavailable due to niggling injuries. Their replacements stopper back Salil Das and left back Abhani Ghosh played with great maturity and were not overawed by occasion or the hustling tactics and speed of the Leaders Club attack. This showed the depth of talent in East Bengal’s squad.

East Bengal started their campaign on Saturday Oct. 20, with a 2-2 draw against Tata Football club in a quarter final league match. Samaresh Chowdhury and Mohd Akbar scored for East Bengal and Jahar Das and Shabbir Ali for Tatas. The Calcutta club looked disjointed and rusty as there had been a lay-off due to the Puja festival after the IFA Shield final. Also coach P.K. Banerjee had been unable to get leave from his employers Eastern Railway so there was nobody to inspire or motivate them in this listless match.

Their next quarter final league match was on Monday Oct. 22 against Mafatlal Mills, Bombay, which included internationals Amar Bahadur, Ranjit Thapa and Bhupender Singh Rawat. To progress to the semi finals, East Bengal had to win. P.K. Banerjee had joined the squad and East Bengal was galvanized. The intricacy and rapidity of East Bengal’s passing movements on that day was a joy to behold. The team maintained their concentration throughout the match and there were always plenty of passing options for the player with the ball. East Bengal in 1973 resembled Barcelona of the 21^st century, intelligent movement and clever passing.

Habib was at his astute best and created many moves with his through passes. The tenacity of Gautam Sarkar, Probir Mazumdar and Habib enabled East Bengal to quickly recover the ball. For long periods they dominated the match and won 5-0, with a goal each by Lahiri, Swapan Sengupta, Mohd. Akbar, Bhowmick and Habib. A top class outfit, Mafatlal Mills, Mumbai were not just defeated but outclassed.

The quality football that East Bengal displayed in the four matches they played in the 1973 DCM tournament within seven days, against Mafatlal Mills, Leaders Club (semi finals) and against Dok Ro Gang (both final and replay) has not been surpassed by any Indian club till now. They were a delight to watch throughout that season, winning the Calcutta league, IFA Shield, DCM tournament and Rovers Cup. East Bengal’s brilliance in 1973 will linger in memory forever.