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1977: Getting Pele to India

The Times of India, Oct 12 2015

Nilesh Bhattacharya

How Mohun Bagan pulled off the Pele coup in 1977

The legend's first trip with Cosmos had a backstory

How Pele came, saw and conquered Calcutta (as Kolkata was then called) 38 years ago is well-documented. The mass hysteria which followed Pele's every step from the airport to the Eden Gardens was a sight his teammates got accustomed to during New York Cosmos' farewell tour with the legend in 1977. Quite understandably , the God of football took centre stage from the moment he descended on the city . But to get an idea of how the then-short, now historic trip materialized, one needs to travel a back in time. It may have be faded knowledge today , but in 1977, Pele and NY Cosmos were in India as guests of Mohun Bagan. Their visit was preceded by a troubled and turbulent phase for the Calcutta super club. The scars of the 0-5 humiliation at the hands of East Bengal in the 1975 IFA Shield final had still not been wiped out and the green and maroons were still being forced to play second fiddle to their arch-rivals, who then ruled not only the Maidan but also Indian football.

There was pressure on Mohun Bagan officials to deliver something quick. In 1976, the revered Dhiren Dey , who was the club's general secretary then, pulled off a coup by snatching away a clutch of stars who had orchestrated East Bengal's domination in Indian football. With the likes of Subhas Bhowmick, Shyam Thapa and Surajit Sengupta switching allegiance, Mohun Bagan managed to win the Calcutta Football League crown that year, halting East Bengal's record-breaking run of six successive titles.

But that turned out to be an `aberration'. Despite boasting of a star-studded line-up, Mohun Bagan failed to displace the red-and-golds as the dominant power. Bagan lost to ITI in the 1977 Federation Cup final in Bangalore in May . In June, it was further catastrophe for Bagan as a muchweakened East Bengal rode goals from Mihir Bose and Samaresh Chowdhury to stun them en route to regaining the CFL crown. Bagan players were attacked by angry and disenchanted fans at the club tent. Some of the players even sought protection from Dey , telling him that their family members were also being targetted. Pushed into a corner, Dey was desperately looking for `salvation'. It was then that he learnt about Cosmos' tour of Asia. Following a discussion with then-IFA secretary Ashok Ghosh, he quickly chalked out a blueprint and got cracking on the audacious project of Mohun Bagan hosting Pele and his Cosmos team.

When Cosmos received Dey's communication, the club asked for an exorbitant sum as appearance fee. So steep was that figure that it almost led to the grand project falling through.

However, undaunted by the initial `setback', Dey shot off another letter, this time to Pele's agents, highlighting Mohun Bagan club's role in India's struggle for independence and how “the country where Mahatma Gandhi was born“ was eagerly waiting for a date with the Brazilian legend. Much to the delight of Dey and Mohun Bagan, Pele agreed to play ball and convinced the Cosmos management to add India to the list of destinations in Asia. Most importantly , thanks to Pele's intervention, Mohun Bagan had to cough up less than what was initially demanded.

At a time when East Bengal were still basking in the glory of regaining the CFL crown from their arch-rivals, Bagan had staged a silent coup with a stunning impact.

Torrential rain greeted Pele and Cosmos when their Air India flight landed on Sept 22. The rest, as they say , is history. Pele was largely off-colour in the match, but Mohun Bagan went on to hold Cosmos 2-2 in a performance which brought about a remarkable change in their fortunes.

As Pele returned to New York to play his testimonial match against Santos, Mohun Bagan players -buoyed by the swagger of playing against the greatest footballer of all time -tore East Bengal apart in the IFA Shield final a week later, winning by a Shyam Thapa goal. Thapa was at it again in December, scoring a brace to get the better of East Bengal in the Rovers Cup semifinal, on way to the title beating Tata Sports. This was followed by another triumph in the Durand Cup.

If the early and mid-70s belonged to East Bengal, the post-Cosmos period was Mohun Bagan's as they re-emerged as a force to reckon with in Indian football.

See also

Mohun Bagan

Details

Subhro Niyogi, Dec 31, 2022: The Times of India

Pele in action during the 1977 match between Cosmos and Mohun Bagan
From: Subhro Niyogi, Dec 31, 2022: The Times of India

KOLKATA: The exhibition match between Mohun Bagan and Cosmos on September 24, 1977 was more than just football. It was as though Durga Puja had arrived a month early that year. Such was the excitement and anticipation. And it was all because of Pele.

The build-up to the match that would feature the football legend had begun a month ago with the Brazilian dominating addas in Kolkata's paras. "Our wildest dream was coming true. Hardly anyone had seen Pele play. Yet he was a household name as people had read about his many exploits on the pitch," recalled chemist-turned-businessman Alok Ghosh, a Mohun Bagan member for over five decades.

His wife Manju, a schoolteacher, was one of the earliest woman football fans and a regular at Mohun Bagan matches (the two had met there in 1968 and tied the knot two years later). She could attend the match, courtesy a ticket from then Mohun Bagan general secretary Dhiren Dey.

"There were hardly any women at football matches. The club didn't accept women members. I could access the ground as Dhiren-da had given me a special pass. It was 9pm on the match eve that he handed me the ticket and said: 'Now go home and relax'," recounted Manju. Agog with excitement of seeing Pele in flesh and blood, the two barely slept that night.

Former bureaucrat Shantanu Prasad Kar, who had just graduated then, has vivid memories of the next day, an overcast one that had everyone worried. "The buses and trams to Esplanade spilled over. Pele was on everyone's mind but there was only one prayer on their lips: 'God, please don't let the rain spoil the day'," he recalled.

Pradip Mukherjee, who worked in a bank, loved cricket more than football. But when he heard Pele, the 'God', was coming, he pestered his father to manage a ticket. But with the skies opening up, he, like thousands of others, feared they would miss seeing Pele in action that evening. "The rain had turned the clay in the ground into muck. It was not ideal for any game of football, leave alone one for Pele to step into. But thankfully, the rain stopped. And the match was on," he recounted.

When Pele finally took the pitch, the 80,000-odd spectators who had crammed the Eden Gardens stands stood up to a thunderous ovation. A 17-year-old schoolgirl held on to her elder brother's shirt sleeves and soaked in the atmosphere.

"I was there but couldn't see Pele until much later. Those in the stand in front were so excited, they were on their feet. Though I am a football fan now, I didn't follow the game then and was there because dada had a spare ticket. I was enjoying the thrill. That was the first time I saw T-shirts being sold with Pele silhouette etched on them," said Mausumi Mitra.

Though Pele was in the twilight years of his professional career, Ghosh had glimpses of the genius when Cosmos was a goal down, particularly a free-kick that sent the ball swerving like a banana and appeared to be heading into the goalpost till Shibaji Banerjee dived full-stretch to the left and fingertipped it just beyond the woodwork.

"That wasn't the only time he denied the crowd and Pele a goal. He snatched a ball from Pele's feet after he had dribbled past three players. The crowd actually got everything that evening. They saw God. And they saw their team playing like bravehearts. It was only poor refereeing that allowed Cosmos to draw the match that Mohun Bagan should have won," said Ghosh.