• Source: Balaidas Chatterjee

Balaidas Chatterjee (10 March 1900 – 1974) was an Indian footballer and football manager, who played predominantly as defender. He became the first head coach of the India national team and guided them at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. During his playing days, Chatterjee played for Mohun Bagan in various domestic competitions.
On 29 July 2013, it was announced that Chatterjee would receive the Mohun Bagan Ratna posthumously for his achievements while at the club.




Playing career


Chatterjee was brought up and coached by legendary Dukhiram Majumder, founder of Aryans. He joined then Calcutta Football League side Mohun Bagan in 1921 and was part of the "golden era" of the club during British rule in India. Being a multi-sports personality, he was a tough guy on field, known for giving a "fitting reply" to the Europeans during matches. In 1923, they participated at the Rovers Cup in Bombay and defeated several English teams to reach the final, the first Indian team to do so, but went down 4–1 to a technically superior team 2nd Battalion of Durham Light Infantry. They later defeated Calcutta' FC (the oldest football club in India with having Europeans in squad) for the first time in the return leg of Calcutta Football League. In 1925, his team became the first civilian Indian team to be invited in the historic Durand Cup, where they were defeated by Sherwood Foresters in semi-finals.
Chatterjee played for the club successfully as center half in 2–3–5 formation throughout his career. In the 1930s, He represented Mohun Bagan in multiple tournaments alongside some of club's legendary players — Karuna Bhattacharya, Syed Abdus Samad, Umapati Kumar, Sanmatha Dutta, Bimal Mukherjee, and Satu Chowdhury. After leaving Mohun Bagan, he appeared with Aryan, one of the oldest clubs in the city.




As referee


After retirement, he went on to become match referee and officiated numerous football matches between Indian and visiting European teams.




Managerial career






= Mohun Bagan

=
Chatterjee began his managerial career as trainer cum head coach in his former club Mohun Bagan and guided the team in Calcutta Football League until joining the Indian team in 1948. He later served as secretary of the club. Under his leadership, youth department of Mohun Bagan was set up in 1944. During his tenure, Sheoo Mewalal signed with and played for "the mariners".




= India: 1948 Summer Olympics

=
After gaining independence from Great Britain in 1947, India sent a football team to the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. Chatterjee became head coach of India and he had prepared the team that defeated Department Store XI 15–0 on 13 July, and Metropolitan Police F.C. 3–1 on 16 July. As part of preparation, they toured to Europe and went on to defeat English teams, Pinner F.C. 9–1 on 24 July, Hayes F.C. 4–1 on 26 July, and Alexandra Park FC 8–2 on 28 July.
In the main tournament, their first match was against Burma, but the game was a walkover. India played their one and only match of the tournament against France, in which Chatterjee was the head coach of the Indian side. India lost the match 2–1 through goals from René Courbin and René Persillon, with the Indian goal coming from Sarangapani Raman. His team was having some legendary footballers of the country, captain Talimeren Ao, Sailen Manna, Sheoo Mewalal, Mahabir Prasad, and Ahmed Khan. After the tournament, Indian footballers' bravery and brilliance in bare feet, earned them admiration of Princess Margaret, younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II.
India later went on to play few friendly matches in their Nederlands tour, where they went down to Sparta Rotterdam, but managed to win 5–1 against Ajax Amsterdam.




= India: 1953–54

=
Chatterjee again took charge of India in 1953 and managed the team in Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament in Rangoon. India won title as few new faces like Amal Dutta, Anthony Patrick, and Chandan Singh Rawat. got the opportunity to play.




= Mohun Bagan

=
He was associated with Mohun Bagan in the 1950s and 60s, and mentored some of India's notable footballers, predominantly Chuni Goswami, and Kajal Mukherjee. When Arun Sinha became coach, Chatterjee became team manager of the club. In the 1960s, the club won Calcutta Football League, IFA Shield and Durand Cup multiple times. He was in the team management of Mohun Bagan, and was part of Jarnail Singh led team that toured to East Africa and played matches in Uganda, Kenya, Zanzibar and Tanganyika.




= Bengal: Santosh Trophy

=
Chatterjee became coach of Bengal football team in 1949. He trained players for the Santosh Trophy, one of the prestigious tournaments in the country. With Bengal, he won six Santosh Trophies between 1949 and 1959, and groomed players like Sailen Manna, Sheoo Mewalal, P. K. Banerjee.




Honours






= Player

=
Mohun Bagan

Rovers Cup runner-up: 1923
IFA Shield runner-up: 1923




= Manager

=
India

Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament: 1953
Bengal

Santosh Trophy: 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1958–59
Individual

Mohun Bagan Ratna: 2013




See also



Football in Kolkata
History of Indian football
History of the India national football team
India national football team at the Olympics
List of India national football team managers




References






Further reading


Bibliography

Majumdar, Boria; Mangan, J. A. (13 September 2013). Sport in South Asian Society: Past and Present. Oxford: Routledge. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-317-99894-5. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2008). "Football in Bengali culture and society: a study in the social history of football in Bengal 1911–1980". Shodhganga. University of Calcutta. p. 35. hdl:10603/174532. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
Martinez, Dolores; Mukharjiim, Projit B (2009). Football: From England to the World: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-88353-6. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022.
Sen, Dwaipayan (2013). "Wiping the Stain Off the Field of Plassey: Mohun Bagan in 1911". In Bandyopadhyay, Kausik; Mallick, Sabyasachi (eds.). Fringe Nations in World Soccer. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-99810-5.
Sen, Ronojoy (2015). "The Empire Strikes Back: The 1911 IFA Shield and Football in Calcutta". Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-16490-0.
Mitra, Soumen (1 January 2006). In Search of an Identity: The History of Football in Colonial Calcutta. Kolkata: Dasgupta & Co. Private Ltd. ISBN 978-8182110229. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022.
Nath, Nirmal (2011). History of Indian Football: Upto 2009–10. Readers Service. ISBN 9788187891963. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022.
Dineo, Paul; Mills, James (2001). Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora. London, United Kingdom: Frank Cass Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7146-8170-2. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022.
Majumdar, Boria; Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). A Social History Of Indian Football: Striving To Score. Routledge. ISBN 9780415348355. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021.
Basu, Jaydeep (2003). Stories from Indian Football. UBS Publishers' Distributors. ISBN 9788174764546. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022.
"Triumphs and Disasters: The Story of Indian Football, 1889—2000" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
Mukhopadhay, Subir (2018). সোনায় লেখা ইতিহাসে মোহনবাগান (transl. Mohun Bagan in the history written in gold). ISBN 978-93-850172-0-9.
Majumdar, Boria; Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation. Penguin India. ISBN 9780670058747.
Banerjee, Argha; Basu, Rupak (2022). মোহনবাগান: সবুজ ঘাসের মেরুন গল্প (transl. Mohun Bagan: Green fields' Maroon stories). Shalidhan. ISBN 978-81-954667-0-2.
Shreekumar, S. S. (15 August 2020). THE BEST WAY FORWARD FOR INDIA'S FOOTBALL. HSRA Publications. p. 244. ISBN 9788194721697. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
Other sources

Sengupta, Somnath (14 May 2018). "Legends of Indian Football : Peter Thangaraj". thehardtackle.com. Mumbai: The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
"The passage of football in India". ifawb.org. Kolkata: Indian Football Association. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
"SportMob – Best Indian football players of all time". SportMob.com. 12 May 2021. Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
Guha, Chandak (5 September 2019). "ইংরেজরাও ভয় পেত বাংলার প্রথম কিংবদন্তি ফুটবল কোচকে" [The Englishmen too feared Bengal's legendary first football coach]. bongodorshon.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Bongodorshon Information Desk. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
Banerjee, Ritabrata (12 March 2015). "4 instances when India could have played in FIFA World Cup". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023.
Mukhopadhyay, Atreyo (4 May 2019). "When Swami Vivekananda claimed seven wickets and other Eden Gardens tales". newindianexpress.com. Kolkata: The New Indian Express. Express News Service. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
Ahmed, Rasel (1 February 2019). "জাদুকর সামাদ: বাংলার একজন অতিমানব" [Magician Samad: The Wizard from Bengal]. roar.media (in Bengali). Dhaka: Roar Media News. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2023.




External links


Balaidas Chatterjee at Olympedia (archived on Wayback Machine on 16 February 2022)
Balaidas Chatterjee at WorldFootball (archived)

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Balaidas Chatterjee
• Syed Abdus Samad (footballer)
• Dukhiram Majumder
• List of India national football team managers
• Karuna Bhattacharya
• West Bengal football team
• Aryan FC
• India national football team at the Olympics
• Talimeren Ao
• Sailen Manna