Surajit Sengupta

Surajit Sengupta (30 August 1951 – 17 February 2022) was an Indian footballer who played as a winger.

He played for the India national team, representing the country in the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran and the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok. In a domestic career spanning twelve years between 1971 and 1983, he had represented all three of Calcutta's football clubs, Mohun Bagan FC, East Bengal FC, and Mohammedan Sporting FC, and was considered one of the finest forwards of his time. Sengupta won the IFA Shield and the Calcutta Football League six times each and the Durand Cup thrice while representing East Bengal FC.

He appeared with East Bengal from 1974 to 1980 and captained the team in 1978–79.^[1][2][3] He received the lifetime achievement award from East Bengal in 2018.

Sengupta was born on 30 August 1951, in Chakbazar in the Hooghly district of West Bengal.^[4] His father, Suhas Sengupta, was a football and cricket player who worked for Dunlop India. Sengupta studied at the Hooghly Branch School where he was spotted by coach Ashwini Bharat. He went on to study at the Hooghly Mohsin College and made his second division debut for Robert Hudson FC.^[5]

Sengupta made his domestic debut playing for the Kidderpore club^[6] in 1971 before moving to Mohun Bagan AC and playing for the club between 1972 and 1974. He was part of Mohun Bagan's Bangladesh tour in May 1972, where they defeated Dhaka Mohammedan and lost to Dhaka XI.^[7] He later moved to East Bengal FC for six seasons between 1974 and 1980. He represented Mohammedan SC between 1980 and 1981 before returning to Mohan Bagan between 1981 and 1983.^[4]

Amongst his best experiences was a 1975 IFA Shield Final where he led East Bengal's 5–0 win against their Kolkata rivals Mohun Bagan.^[8] Most of his victories came during his time with East Bengal FC. He was also the captain of the West Bengal team in the 1976 Santosh Trophy.^[8] In a domestic career spanning twelve years he represented all three of Calcutta's football clubs and had won the IFA Shield and the Calcutta Football League six times each and the Durand Cup thrice for East Bengal FC.^[9][10]

Sengupta received the lifetime achievement award from East Bengal in 2018.^[4]

Sengupta made his debut for the India national team in 1974 in a game against Thailand in the Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur.^[4][11] He represented the country in 14 games,^[10] including the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran and the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok.^[10][12][13] He also represented the country in the 1974 Merdeka Cup and the 1977 President's Cup in Seoul.^[4]

Sengupta played as winger and was known for his playing speed and passing range. Per an article in the Indian newspaper The Hindu, he was considered one of the finest and creative forwards of his time.^[8]

Sengupta was married to Shyamali Sengupta, with whom he had a son.^[8] After his retirement he was involved with the game as a sports editor with a Bengali language magazine writing their football columns.^[4] He learnt singing and would play the Tabla with his son.^[8] East Bengal coach and former Indian footballer P. K. Banerjee had named him Sócrates after the Brazilian footballer, given his sporting a beard and his varied interests.^[14]

Sengupta died from COVID-19-related complications on 17 February 2022, at the age of 70.^[4]

East Bengal

• Calcutta Football League: 1974, 1975, 1977
• DCM Trophy: 1974^[15]
• IFA Shield: 1974, 1975, 1976
• Darjeeling Gold Cup: 1976
• Federation Cup: 1978–79
• Rovers Cup: 1973–74, 1975–76
• Durand Cup: 1978
• Bordoloi Trophy: 1978

• List of SC East Bengal captains

• Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
• Martinez, Dolores; Mukharji, 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.
• "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.
• Banerjee, Argha; Basu, Rupak (2022). মোহনবাগান: সবুজ ঘাসের মেরুন গল্প (transl. Mohun Bagan: Green fields' Maroon stories). Shalidhan. ISBN 978-81-954667-0-2.
• Roy, Gautam (1 January 2021). East Bengal 100. Allsport Foundation. ISBN 978-8194763109.
• Bandyopadhyay, Santipriya (1979). Cluber Naam East Bengal (in Bengali). Kolkata: New Bengal Press.
• Chattopadhyay, Hariprasad (2017). Mohun Bagan–East Bengal (in Bengali). Kolkata: Parul Prakashan.

• "Kingfisher East Bengal FC | Legacy-History". eastbengalfootballclub.com. 18 August 2012. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
• "AIFF condoles Surajit Sengupta's death". AIFF. 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
• Nag, Utathya (19 April 2023). "Calcutta Football League: East Bengal kings of Asia's oldest league competition — full winners list". olympics.com. The Olympics Football. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.

• News on Surajit Sengupta at The Telegraph