Indian football legend Subrata Bhattacharya honoured with 'Mohun Bagan Ratna'

Kolkata: Mohun Bagan on Friday decided to honour its legendary former India defender Subrata Bhattacharya with its highest decoration — the Mohun Bagan Ratna. The club’s executives, who met to decide the awardees to be honoured on its foundation day on 29 July, also chose Balwant Singh as the Mohun Bagan Player of the Year. Debabrata Das was adjudged Best Cricketer, while they also chose Indian women’s cricket team pacer Jhulan Goswami, middle-distance runner Lili Das and Mount Everest conqueror Shaikh Sahabuddin as special awardees. [caption id=“attachment_3763375” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representative photo. Getty Images[/caption] Known for his unflinching association with the club as a player for 17 years, Bhattacharya’s relationship with it had soured over the years and the decision signaled that they have mended ways. Bhattacharya will be the 17th recipient of the award, which was instituted in 2001, with late Sailen Manna being the first recipient. The club also discussed the resignation of its long-serving president Swapan Sadhan Bose. “We have not accepted his resignation and I’ve taken up the responsibility to speak to him,” Mohun Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra said. Mitra further said they they are hoping to make Mohun Bagan ground as their home venue for I-League. “We have got Rs 50 lakh from the state government and we will use the amount as infrastructure development. We hope to make this our home venue,” he said. Bhattacharya was captain of Mohun Bagan’s ‘Class of 1977’ in a pathbreaking season when they won a historic treble — Durand, Rovers and IFA Shield — and also locked horns against a star-studded New York Cosmos team that had living legend Pele in a match that ended in a 2-2 draw. A staunch Mohun Bagan player, Bhattacharya, however had mixed fortunes as a coach. Bhattacharya helped the team lift 12 titles in his 40-month stay with the club, including winning the 2001-02 national league. But he was unceremoniously sacked in 2003 for ‘anti-club activities’.