Monoranjan Bhattacharya (), nicknamed Mona, is a retired Indian professional footballer and football manager. During his playing career, he represented the "Big Two" of Kolkata football, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. He also represented India in various international tournaments between 1978 and 1989.
He was one of the finest Indian stopper-back during his time in Indian football. Foreigners who played against him have said he was physically strong, was good in aerial tussles and a very clean tackler. East Bengal supporters worship him. Legendary football coaches Amal Dutta, Pradip Kumar Banerjee and especially Arun Ghosh were influential in nurturing his talent.
Club career Bhattacharya appeared with Calcutta Football League club George Telegraph, before joining East Bengal Club in 1977. With the "red and gold brigade", he created a club record for continuously representing the club in a period spanning fourteen years. He was one of the most successful defenders of his time and was known for his strong and skillful game. He captained the club in 1981–82 season. In 1985, he won Federation Cup with the club and went on to represent his team at the 1985–86 Asian Club Championship in Saudi Arabia. Managed by legendary P. K. Banerjee, his team played in the Central Asia Zone (tournament named "Coca-Cola Cup"), where they defeated numerous foreign clubs to win it. They defeated New Road Team of Nepal 7–0, Abahani Krira Chakra of Bangladesh 1–0, thrashed Club Valencia of the Maldives 9–0 (the biggest margin of victory by an Indian team over any foreign opponents).
In the 1980s, Bhattacharya as stopper-back and Bhaskar Ganguly as goalkeeper, made East Bengal defense unbreakable. In 1986, he along with Bhaskar Ganguly signed with Bangladeshi club Abahani Krira Chakra for a crucial Dhaka Derby match to decide the Dhaka First Division League champions, and became one of the few Indian players who plied their trades abroad. However, after suffering a 2–0 defeat, both players returned to East Bengal. At the end of 1990–91 season, he left East Bengal to join their arch-rival Mohun Bagan AC. After spending a couple of seasons with Mohun Bagan, Monoranjan returned to East Bengal in 1993 for his last season as a player.
International career Monoranjan was a regular for India national football team between 1978 and 1989 and competed football tournaments within the period. He is praised for his performance against Argentina in 1984 Nehru Cup, where India was narrowly defeated by 1–0 with the goal from Ricardo Gareca.....
Coaching career Monoranjan is a qualified AFC coach who managed East Bengal Club from 1996 to 1998 and again in the season of 2000–01. Under his coaching, the club won its first National Football League title in 2000–01. In that season, they won Federation Cup. Due to East Bengal FC's poor showing in the inaugural 2007–08 I-League, their coach Subrata Bhattacharya resigned and Monoranjan became the coach of East Bengal for the third time. He guided the club hanging in the relegation zone to a sixth-place finish in the I-League. After the league ended, he decided not continue in the post citing prior family engagements.
In 2008, he was appointed head coach of DSA Senior Division side Hindustan FC for a season.
In 2018, Bhattacharya was appointed head coach of CFL Premier Division side Tollygunge Agragami.Tollygunge Agragami have sacked him on Friday, August 24, 2018 after an abysmal start to the 2018/19 Calcutta Premier Division 'A' campaign, which has seen them sitting on the bottom of the log without points from four matches and has also failed to score a single goal in the process. He will be replaced by Bimal Ghosh against Food Corporation of India on Sunday, August 26, 2018.
Career statistics Managerial
TeamFromToRecordGWDLGFGAGDWin %East Bengal1 April 199631 March 199913 January 200124 January 200216 January 200819 February 20081 July 200815 September 2008Total
Honours Player East Bengal Federation Cup: 1978–79, 1980–81, 1985 IFA Shield: 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991 Durand Cup: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993 Calcutta Football League: 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993 Rovers Cup: 1990 Wai Wai Cup (Nepal): 1993 All Airlines Gold Cup: 1987, 1988, 1990 Darjeeling Gold Cup: 1985 SSS Trophy: 1989, 1991 Sait Nagjee Trophy: 1986 Stafford Cup: 1986
India South Asian Games Gold medal: 1985, 1987
Individual East Bengal "Lifetime Achievement Award": 2019
Manager East Bengal Federation Cup: 1996 National Football League: 2000–01
See also List of Indian expatriate footballers List of East Bengal Club captains List of East Bengal Club coaches List of India national football team captains
References
Bibliography
Chattopadhyay, Hariprasad (2017). Mohun Bagan–East Bengal . Kolkata: Parul Prakashan.
External links
News archive at The Times of India