Shimla-the birthplace of the Durand Cup and the Indian Air Force ...

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2010 to 7 November 2010. The finals was graced by Hon’ble Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr M S Gill. Chirag United won against JCT Phagwara in a well contested match. The 124th edition of the Cup will be played in October 2011 at Delhi. A dramatic match that marked the arrival of Indian football and broke the British hegemony over the sport was the Durand cup final in 1940 when Mohammendan Sporting of Calcutta won a niche in the sport’s ‘Hall of Fame”. They lifted the glittering Durand Trophy, becoming the first Indian team to achieve the feat. The tournament which was held at the famous Annandale in Shimla since its inception in 1988, was shifted to New Delhi in 1940 in view of the “policy of the Government of India to retain many of its offices in Delhi”. Then at their zenith Mohammedan Sporting crushed one opposition after another to finally take on the powerful Warwickshire Regiment. It was chance that the Indian team managed to break the complete British Army monopoly in the tournament. Jk Bose recalled in his 1967 article, “The venue of the fight was the Irwin Amphitheatre, which is now called the National Stadium, New Delhi. It was a battle, as the nationalist Indians loved to think, between ruled India and their illegitimate ruler, Britain. The stage was set with the picturesque Purana Qila as its backdrop. The crowds were distinctly divided into Indians on the one side and British on the other. They had settled down hours before Captain Harnam Singh, a former Secretary of the Durand Committee, whistled for the kickoff. He was the first Indian to referee a Durand final. The match began after what appeared to be a long wait. Amidst crackers from the British and full-throated shouts from the Indians, the Mohammedans, who were all booted, made piercing attacks and defended heroically. They retired with honours even at half-time with the score at one-all. Excitement mounted high as the second session began. The clock ticked by and still there was no score. Would the golden opportunity for the Indian team 14 July 2011 purple beret slip? The Indians became restive but not for long. In the 20 th minute the Calcutta forwards initiated a delectable move and their slick inside-left Saboo scored the match-winner. It was an unforgettable sight of joy and jubilation as the referee blew the long whistle. The Indians were uncontrollable, each one of them trying to greet their eleven heroes. I cannot recollect whether Osman, Hafiz, Rashid and Bachi Khan, all ex-Delhi players, received special cheers. All that I remember is that along with them Saboo, Noor Mohammad (jr), Jumma Khan, Rashid, Masoom, AM Hussain, Karim and Rahman received perhaps the biggest ovation of their lives. Warman, Harris, Lewis, Wharton and company of the Warwickshire Regiment surrendered to the might of the Calcutta team who won all other major soccer trophies except the I.F.A. Shield in that year. Mohammedan Sporting’s triumph came after years of glorious but vain attempts by other teams to break the British monopoly. It was, however, another Indian side, East Indian Railways who made the final for the first time in 1927. Assisted by giants like Samad, Rabi Gan Bhowmick and B. Das the Railway went down gallantly to the York and Lancashire Regim 2-0. Young Men of Delhi, who once reached the semi-final, Sandamoniums of Quetta, Loco Sh Lahore, Collegians and a host of other teams were regular visitors to Shimla. Mohun Bagan had won the I.F.A. Shield in the epochmaking 1911, began to make their appearance in the Durand from the 1920’s. Even if they were beaten they left an indelible impression. The national feeling was evident every time an Indian team participated. The feeling was never greater than the memorable full tie between Calcutta’s Aryan Club and Green Howards in 1936. The footed Aryans, ably guided by their mentor Chhoney Mazumdar, not only matched the skill of redoutable rivals but nearly downed them. The Aryans were right on top, an eye-witness tells
me. They got a penalty award towards closing stages of the exciting match. They duly converted it amidst deafening cheers. But to the surprise of all referee Fletcher disallowed the goal, and ordered for the spot kick to be retaken and it was a goal again. But the referee refused and another shot was ordered. The specatators’ patience had reached the limit. The Aryans, however, sportingly obeyed and scored. There was tumultuous joy. But the joy turned into shock as Flethcer turned down the goal for the third time. No more of such injustice could be tolerated. The volcano of their mass protest erupted. The entire Annandale was on fire and the Aryans left Shimla never to go back there again. Mohun Bagan achieved a rare feat of winning the trophy for three years in succession. Two other teams H.L.I and the Black Qatch had done so in the last centuary. H.L.I also holds the distinction scoring the biggest victory, 8-1 in the final of the tournament. However, the momentous day arrived a day after the Vijay Divas, in 2005. The Army XI won the Durand Cup football tournament for the first time beating Sporting Clube-de-Goa 5-4 in the tie-breaker. The Armymen had lost to East Bengal in the final in 2002. The game remained goal less even after the extra time forcing the implementation of penalty shootout to ascertain the champions. And in the do-or-die moments, the Army team held their nerves to edge out their more fancied rivals as they had done in the semi-final against JCT Mills, Phagwara. Ramachander, Thirunavukarsu, Birendra Bora, Binod Bantava and Raghu Kumar found the net for Army XI while Chidi Edeh, Nicholas Rodregues, Rajesh Meetei and Hardeep Saini were on target for the Goan outfit. The spot kick of Macpheien O Dudu, the Nigerian captain of the Goan club, was saved by substitute custodian Abungobi Singh, who had come on just before the shootout, to win the Durand Cup to Army XI. The soldiers, coached by Stanley Rozario, effectively neutralised the threat of Dudu and Chidi thereby controlling the history game to a large extent. The Goans were to blame for the defeat as they missed several chances, Dudu being the main culprit. His misery was complete when he missed the fifth kick in the tie-breaker. Army XI coach Stanley Rozario said that tall and purple beret July 2011 15
Page 1 and 2: www.purpleberet.com July 2011 Vol.
Page 3 and 4: start up Editorial The 2009 leaders
Page 5 and 6: the coveted trophy Durand is the th
Page 7 and 8: The beacon... Air Chief Marshal P V
Page 9 and 10: Lastly, we had to evolve a system t
Page 11 and 12: What are the future plans to take D
Page 13: The legacy A Purple Beret Story The
Page 17 and 18: The IAF football team in 1948. Seat
Page 19 and 20: Winners Years Winners Runners-Up 19
Page 21 and 22: heroes The memorable Gorkha Brigade
Page 23 and 24: The Madras Regiment Football team
Page 25 and 26: the Gorkha Brigade team for many se
Page 27 and 28: has the Army XI entered the Durand
Page 29 and 30: Debrief Durand Football In 1947, wh
Page 31 and 32: Theories abound on this trend. L. I
Page 33 and 34: article pertains to sports infrastr
Page 35 and 36: football tournament in India (third
Page 37 and 38: Period Activities Purpose First wee
Page 39 and 40: though he felt a bit uncomfortable.
Page 41 and 42: Roll on Football on screen By Khurs
Page 44: RNI No.: DELENG/2010/33162 POSTAL N

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