The Iconic Bordoloi Trophy Football Tournament

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Making its debut in 1952, Bordoloi Trophy's popularity kept on sky-rocketing during the 70s and 80s. There was participation from almost all the celebrated football teams of the country along with a number of foreign teams resulting into stiff competition. The congregation of huge football followers from Assam and across the North east at the picturesque Nehru Stadium of Guwahati, was a familiar sight to the local sports lovers. 

It might sound hackneyed to reiterate the paradigm shifts caused by internet and technology on human lives. We are witnessing an all-embracing and tangible impact of science in terms of transforming old life styles and thought processes. This transformation has extended to all conceivable forms and sources of human entertainment too.

Consequently today connoisseurs of sports get to see the best display of skills in every sports discipline (football, cricket, tennis etc) sitting in their drawing rooms. Now this was something that the preceding generations could never dream of. As a natural corollary, the ' hoi-polloi' need not venture out compulsively to watch a game unlike in the yesteryears.

There was a time when the Bordoloi Trophy Tournament was the heart-throb for every sports lover in Assam. Making its debut in 1952, Bordoloi Trophy's popularity kept on sky-rocketing during the 70s and 80s. There was participation from almost all the celebrated football teams of the country along with a number of foreign teams resulting into stiff competition. The congregation of huge football followers from Assam and across the North east at the picturesque Nehru Stadium of Guwahati, was a familiar sight to the local sports lovers.

Records show that till the early 60s, Bordoloi Trophy was confined to competition among the local teams- intense rivalry between Gauhati Town Club and Maharana A.C. Club , particularly used to draw crowds in numbers. The old timers recall the name of Prafulla Hazarika who was an outstanding goalkeeper of Gauhati Town Club. In 1964, 'The Assam Rifles' team became the champion of Bordoloi Trophy Tournament breaking the bastion of local teams. With the increase in popularity and stature of the Bordoloi Trophy, the flood gates were opened for outstation teams and the then giants of Kolkata-- Mohon Bagaan, East Bengal and Mhd Sporting became the regular participants that definitely gave a new dimension to the tournament.

While the big names of Kolkata football teams were attraction for the admirers, Assam Police Football Club was emerging as a strong contender and fierce fighter with their never-say-die attitude. With the advent of the 70s, it became the heart-throb of the football lovers of Assam on the basis of its superlative performance. Mention must be made of the names of Chandra Mohon Gonju,Bijay Nath, Subir Choudhury, Salil Marak and Kalimuddin, the great daring goalkeeper. However, the man who won the heart of every one was Gilbertson Sangma. Sangma had all the ingredients of a modern footballer---skill, speed and stamina.

I vividly remember that in 1971 the Assam Police Football Team was playing the final of Bordoloi Trophy Tournament against Mhd Sporting. Backed by a strong fifty thousand approximated crowd, Assam Police Football Team displayed scintillating football from the beginning itself and had caught the Calcutta giant on the wrong food on a number of occasions. Towards the dying moments of the game, Gilbertson, out witting two Mhd Sporting defenders by his deft dribbling, had rushed towards the penalty region and then foxed the goalkeeper with a left footed flick to score the solitary winning gold amidst the thunderous applause of the crowd. The star-studded Mhd Sporting Team was stunned. When the referee had whistled finally, there was jubilation in the entire state.

The Assam Police team displayed another brilliant performance in 1981 to lift the coveted trophy beating Dempo Club, Goa

During the seventies, Gilbert Sangma was the darling of the crowd. The Hindustan Times, the celebrated English daily, termed him as a man with "golden boot" following his scintillating performance against Han Yang University, Korea, in 1976. Gilbertson had represented Team India in 1975-76 in Indonesia and Malaysia and displayed his class in three international matches. Even today, sports lovers nostalgically remember the golden days of Assam Police Football Team and the performance and skill of Gilbertson Sangma.

From the point of view of records, Mohon Bagan team had won the prestigious tournament five times, a record still not achieved by any other team. In the mid seventy, Bangkok Port Authority Club, took part in the tournament adding to the intensity of competition. The Port Authority had won the trophy thrice so far. It is worth mentioning that the growing popularity coupled with traditional hospitality extended to foreign teams contributed in attracting teams from Russia, Uzbekistaan, Iran, Nepal and even Bangladesh (Abahani) to participate in the tournament.

Ever since the telecast of FIFA World Cup at Mexico in 1986 a treasure box in terms of the superlative skills of Diego Maradona, Gary Linekar, Platini etc has been unfurled to Indian soccer lovers. Thereafter, interest in Indian football has diminished abysmally. Gone are the days when sports lovers from far off places like Barpeta, Tezpur, Sivasagar and neighbouring Meghalaya to name a few, used to hire buses or taxis to come to Guwahati to watch Bordoloi Trophy matches.

Remembrances of glorious moments of Bordoloi Trophy are priceless for the older generation. Now that the popularity of Indian football, in general, is on the wane despite attempts by AIFF to revamp the pristine glories we gratefully recollect some of the magnificent memories associated with the iconic Bordoloi Trophy Tournament.

Gautam Ganguly

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