Arun Ghosh

Arun Ghosh

Personal information
Date of birth	(1941-07-07) 7 July 1941 (age 82)
Place of birth	Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (now Kolkata, West Bengal, India)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	Howrah Union[1]
	Mohun Bagan
	East Bengal
International career
	India
Managerial career
1978[2]	India
1978–1980	East Bengal
1980	Mohun Bagan
1984[3]	India
1985[4]	India
Medal record Men's football Representing  India Asian Games 1962 Jakarta Team AFC Asian Cup Runner-up 1964 Israel Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Arun Ghosh (born 7 July 1941) is a former Indian football player who represented India internationally.^[5][6] He also played club football for both the Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan and East Bengal Club. He later managed the India national team.^[7]

Playing career

He was part of the team that played in the 1960 Rome Olympics under coaching of Syed Abdul Rahim. He later appeared in 1964 Merdeka Cup, where they achieved second place. In the same year, he went on to represent his nation at the 1964 AFC Asian Cup, where they also finished as runners-up as Israel clinched the title.^[8][9] He was also a member of the squad that won gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games Football Championship in 1962. He also played in the final, where India defeated South Korea 2–1.^[10][11]

When I was young, I used to play both badminton and football well. At that time, we did it, have proper grounds to play badminton so we used to organize matches with friends during evenings and football, I used to play at a local club. This was in 1954 or 1955. One day, one of my school friends named Tota had a trial in Howrah Union, then in the second division of Kolkata League. At that time I was very fit and strong and Dashu Mitra was impressed with my physique. He asked me if I played football. Hearing that I did, he asked me to come to practice the following day. Initially we were given the job of ball boys but Howrah Union eventually became my first club.

— Ghosh, on the beginning of his playing career.^[12]

Ghosh represented Bengal in Santosh Trophy,^[13] and played club football for then Calcutta Football League side East Bengal. He shifted to the "red and gold brigade" after playing for Mohun Bagan in the early 1960s.^[14]

Managerial career

In 1974, Ghosh went on to became coach of the India U-20 team along with Syed Abdul Salam, ahead of the 1974 AFC Youth Championship in Thailand.^[15] After a brief training camp in Patiala, his team participated in the tournament and reached the final. A 2–2 scoreline against Iran-20 insured that both the teams shared the trophy.^[16] Under his coaching, India U-20 team achieved their first ever continental title, in which Shabbir Ali scored five goals.^[17]

Ghosh also served as director of Tata Football Academy in Jamshedpur from 1997 to 2003.^[18]

Honours

Player

India

• Asian Games Gold medal: 1962
• AFC Asian Cup runners-up: 1964^[19]
• Merdeka Tournament third-place: 1965,^[20] 1966^[21]

Manager

India U20

• AFC Asian U-19 Championship: 1974^[22]

East Bengal

• Federation Cup: 1978–79

Mohun Bagan

• Federation Cup: 1980–81

Individual

• Arjuna Award: 1965^[23][24]
• East Bengal "Bharat Gaurav Award": 2013^[25]

See also

• History of Indian football
• History of the India national football team
• India national football team at the Olympics
• List of India national football team captains
• List of India national football team managers

References

Further reading

Bibliography

• Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
• 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.
• 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Banerjee, Argha; Basu, Rupak (2022). মোহনবাগান: সবুজ ঘাসের মেরুন গল্প (transl. Mohun Bagan: Green fields' Maroon stories). Shalidhan. ISBN 978-81-954667-0-2.

Others

• Banerjie, Indranil (15 May 1985). "Money, violence and politics enter Calcutta football". India Today. Kolkata. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.

External links

• Arun Ghosh at Olympedia