By Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh
After the short-lived euphoria over the I- League football home matches brought to us by the Shillong Lajong FC and Ar-Hima FC, now football lovers in town are feeling happy that the Durand Cup 2024 is coming home for the first time. However this edition of Durand Cup 2024 is not exclusive to Shillong as it’s being hosted by three other important footballing centres, Kokrajhar, Kolkata and Jamshedpur. But one has no doubt that the Shillong edition will delight football fans of the State/Nation and Shillong in particular and hope that it ushers in a new era of football in Shillong.
Durand Cup Gala 2024:
Shillong is geared up for the grand opening of the Shillong edition of the 133rd Durand Cup on August 2, 2024 and the air is abuzz with enthusiasm that after a very long gap, football lovers are going to witness one of the oldest and major football tournaments in the continent. The stage is all set, despite the critical hiccups that the city is facing due to the intensive drive against “undocumented migrant labourers,” which has hampered the works at the construction site of the football venue at J. N Sports Complex. But the fact still remains that the Durand Cup’s Shillong edition may also suffer from incompletion of the entire Sports Infra at J. N Stadium, Polo, as major works are happening simultaneously in and around the sports complex. Unless the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is able to completely clear the mountain of debris generated daily from the ongoing major constructions within the premises of J. N Sports Complex, it may hinder the free flow of people who would throng the football stadium. Thus, the LOC will have to take great care to prevent any mishaps during the ensuing Durand Cup matches and avoid embarrassment to the State.
Slices of Indian
Football History:
The first Durand Cup was held in 1888 in Shimla, the summer capital and famous retreat for the British then. The tournament was organized by the British Indian Army under the able leadership of Sir Henry Durand, a famous Indian Civil Servant and Foreign Secretary of India. While recovering from an illness in the hill retreat, Sir Henry Durand realized the importance of physical health for the soldiers and subsequently the Inter Regiment Units football tournament was organized in Shimla. Since then, the Durand cup is being played annually, with a few exceptions and has become the oldest football tournament in Asia and one of the prestigious tournaments in Indian Football.
Meanwhile 1875 marked an important beginning of organized soccer in India. The Hare School of Calcutta under the inspiring leadership of Nagendra Prasad Adhikary, the headmaster of the school played a pioneering role in the introduction of “Desi” football in India by organising football matches among its students that year. With the growing popularity of football, arose the need of football clubs and thus the first Desi team, the Shova Bazar Club was formed in Calcutta…during these early years and in 1893 the Indian Football Association (IFA) the maiden football Association of the country was formed in Calcutta with about twenty clubs and introduced two major football tournaments, the IFA Shield and Trades Cup in that very year…In 1935 at the Conference at Darbhanga the IFA however strongly felt that a national body is required for the betterment of football in India in the future and this dream of having a national football association was materialized in 1937 in which the All India Football Federation (AIFF) came into existence and elected its first officials. The Federation also adopted the rules for the administration and conduct of football in India. One of the first acts of the AIFF was to organise the Inter-State or Inter-Provincial Football Championship in 1941 and this championship is also popularly known as the Santosh Trophy. (The Assam Tribune March 5, 1989).
Shillong Footballing Stories:
According to Jatish Datta, “The British officers who came to Shillong after the formation of the new Province brought with them football, cricket, golf, hockey etc., among other things. They established the Shillong Club. Following their footsteps the Bengalis established the Shillong Town Club in 1891…Gradually the thrills and excitements about football attracted the young boys who adopted the game. The first Khasi Club – the Christian Athletic Club or C.A.C was formed with the patronage of some British Missionaries in the last part of the 19th century. It is important to note here that the first batch of prominent Khasi football players were Jogendro Roy, Wilson Reade, Raju Giri, Willief Lewis, Rihin Singh, Hamuin Roy and Dr Brojogendro Diengdoh.
Political developments and the Partition of Bengal in 1905 which resulted in the shifting of the capital of the Chief Commissioner’s Province to Dacca had an impact on sports. This acted as a brake in the progress of Shillong football and it was until 1912 when the Partition was annulled that Shillong was restored as the Capital of Assam (Chief Commissioner’s Province) and after the return of all the offices from Dacca, Shillong football took a new shape and began with three soccer competitions, namely, Association Cup, National Cup and Earle Cup. Two new clubs were further introduced and these were the Survey of India Club and the Khasi National Club. In fact, the year 1916 was an important milestone in the history of football in Shillong with the formation of the Shillong Sports Association and Laban Athletic Club (now known as the Laban Sports Club).
The article “Shillong Football” by L. Gilbert Shullai highlights the emergence of local clubs and the contributions of footballers from the region. According to Shullai, in 1937, an Inter-Valley Football Tournament was held between Assam Valley and Surma Valley. At that time, T. Ao, who later played for Mohun Bagan, represented Assam Valley as a student at Jorhat. Surma Valley won the match by a single goal, scored by Nando Wankhar, a prominent player of Shillong Government High School and Jaintia Football Club.
The Hills United Club was another prominent club in Shillong. The team’s players would gather at Hiwet Pariat’s shop at Mawkhar. Bah Wiseman Swer was one of the notable players, along with Bridin, Medro, Edro, Dolishon, Welbar, Presswell, Maxwell, Ableman, Wendrick Mawlong and others. After the matches, players would take lemonade from special bottles collected from Bah Sumar Singh Sawain’s mother’s house, as they manufactured it.
During World War II, the Nongthymmai Sports Club was prominent. Their team was known for its short passing game and the art of playing Roosevelt and Jimmy was displayed. Sunil Das was a formidable full-back who played for Shillong in an exhibition match against Mohammedan Sporting, Calcutta. Other notable players included Niranjan Bhattacharjee (Central Excise & Land Custom Football Team) who excelled as a centre-half and Major Dal Bahadur Rana who played for Hills United Club.
In 1956, Shlur Nongbri became a national sensation in football. His performance during the Santosh Trophy in Ernakulam was praised by National Sports Magazine: “There were a few goals, but the one scored by Assam’s inside-right Shlur Nongbri against Delhi was a gem…Eighteen-year-old Nongbri…the youngest member of his team…is a product of Mawkhar Christian High School in Shillong. He showed rich promise, appearing facile in both inside and outside positions. He also displayed an equable temperament.”
Shillong Durand Cup 2024 and Inter-State & Intra-State Migrant Workers:
In a few days the J. N Sports Stadium at Polo has to appear good for the Durand Cup 2024 Gala and Grand Shillong Opening. Excepting the plush grassy green football ground, the rest will be just a facade by the time the first Shillong match is played. The migrant workers, both the Inter-State and Intra-State workers, have been working round the clock to ensure that everything is in place before the first match. The Inter-State migrant workers are here to fill up the State’s labour deficit and also to provide services in areas which require skills where locals are not sufficiently available. There is no second guessing that they (Inter-State migrant workers) must be regulated as per laws and registration and work permits must be provided to them. At the same time all workers must have access to rights like safety and security, better working conditions, living wages, health care, leisure, overtime etc. Most importantly every worker must be treated with respect and we must acknowledge that this sports infrastructure etc are built on their backs.
So Let’s Football! Cheers!