The tale is all about an
unforgettable gem of Mohun Bagan Mr. Arumoy Naigam. The septuagenarian and a
perfect gentleman, sitting at his Bangalore residence, would still love to reminisce
his heydays playing in Indian football’s Mecca, Kolkata donning the
green-and-maroon colours. He is so passionate about the club that he says Mohun
Bagan runs in his blood, and that gusto took him all the way to the Kanteerava
Stadium on 31st May, 2015 to be a part of Mohun Bagan’s I-league
triumph. He uses to attend the ‘Mohun Bagan Day’ programs over the past few
years, if his health permits. He was conferred as the ‘Mohun Bagan Ratna’ award
for the year 2014, which he considers to be the best accolade received ever in
his lifetime.
Arumoy Naigam represented Mohun
Bagan for 8 consecutive years and was also named the Captain of the team in
1968. A winger known for his pace and acceleration, he made an immediate impact
in Kolkata as the fans adored him with a nickname of “Baby Taxi”. It was his
stellar performance for Mysore in the Santosh Trophy that caught the attention of
the then Mohun Bagan officials. In 1961, Arumoy officially joined the Mariners
and was included for a tour to East Africa where he scored 7 goals.
He used to play as the left out in 3-2-5 formation, with the other 4 upfront players in Mohun Bagan being Chuni Goswami (left in), Amiya Banerjee (central forward), Amal Chakraborty (right in), and Dipu Das (right out). He had a good combination with Chuni Goswami, which resulted in a number of goals for the green and maroon brigade. Despite getting several offers from arch-rivals East Bengal, Arumoy Naigam decided against leaving Mohun Bagan, mainly because of the love that he got from the supporters.
Apart from Chuni Goswami, Jarnail Singh and Kempiah are his favourite players who have played for Mohun Bagan. However, according to him, the 3 greatest players that he has ever played with (in Indian team) are Chuni Goswami, P. K. Banerjee and T. Balaram.
Arumoy Naigam has the distiction of playing Santosh Trophy for 4 states - Mysore (1958-1960), Bengal (1961-1966), Railways (1969-1970), and Tamil Nadu (1971). Bengal became Champion in 1962.
He took a coaching degree from NIS and then became the coach of Southern Railways. After that, he also became the coach of the Indian Women's National team for 4 years. While he was the coach, the team went for a tour of Germany (exposure tour), China (Asia Cup) and Bangkok (1998 Bangkok Asian Games).
Rahim Saheb being his favourite coach, Arumoy Naigam was part of the Asian Games Gold medal winning team in 1962. He also represented India in 1964 Asian Cup, where India finished runners up.
Among the several derby games that he has played for Mohun Bagan, he scored one of the goals in Amritabazar Centenary Cup (2-0; Arumoy Naigam, Kannan), one goal in 1964 CFL return leg derby (3-1; Ashoke Chatterjee, Chuni Goswami and Arumoy Naigam), 1964 Durand Cup Final (2-0; Arumoy Naigam and Ashoke Chatterjee).
During his 8-year stay at Mohun Bagan, he was part of the squad that won 15 trophies, details of which is given below:
Durand Cup - 1963, 1964, 1965
Rovers Cup - 1966, 1968
IFA Shield - 1961, 1962, 1967
Calcutta Football League - 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
Amritabazar Centenary Cup - 1968
Coochbehar Cup - 1962
Trades Cup – 1965
He used to play as the left out in 3-2-5 formation, with the other 4 upfront players in Mohun Bagan being Chuni Goswami (left in), Amiya Banerjee (central forward), Amal Chakraborty (right in), and Dipu Das (right out). He had a good combination with Chuni Goswami, which resulted in a number of goals for the green and maroon brigade. Despite getting several offers from arch-rivals East Bengal, Arumoy Naigam decided against leaving Mohun Bagan, mainly because of the love that he got from the supporters.
Apart from Chuni Goswami, Jarnail Singh and Kempiah are his favourite players who have played for Mohun Bagan. However, according to him, the 3 greatest players that he has ever played with (in Indian team) are Chuni Goswami, P. K. Banerjee and T. Balaram.
Arumoy Naigam has the distiction of playing Santosh Trophy for 4 states - Mysore (1958-1960), Bengal (1961-1966), Railways (1969-1970), and Tamil Nadu (1971). Bengal became Champion in 1962.
He took a coaching degree from NIS and then became the coach of Southern Railways. After that, he also became the coach of the Indian Women's National team for 4 years. While he was the coach, the team went for a tour of Germany (exposure tour), China (Asia Cup) and Bangkok (1998 Bangkok Asian Games).
Rahim Saheb being his favourite coach, Arumoy Naigam was part of the Asian Games Gold medal winning team in 1962. He also represented India in 1964 Asian Cup, where India finished runners up.
Among the several derby games that he has played for Mohun Bagan, he scored one of the goals in Amritabazar Centenary Cup (2-0; Arumoy Naigam, Kannan), one goal in 1964 CFL return leg derby (3-1; Ashoke Chatterjee, Chuni Goswami and Arumoy Naigam), 1964 Durand Cup Final (2-0; Arumoy Naigam and Ashoke Chatterjee).
During his 8-year stay at Mohun Bagan, he was part of the squad that won 15 trophies, details of which is given below:
Durand Cup - 1963, 1964, 1965
Rovers Cup - 1966, 1968
IFA Shield - 1961, 1962, 1967
Calcutta Football League - 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
Amritabazar Centenary Cup - 1968
Coochbehar Cup - 1962
Trades Cup – 1965
Wish him good health and long
life. May his blessings be always with the Mariners.
# Data courtesy: www.mohunbaganac.com
...
Shubhagata Chandra
No comments:
Post a Comment