Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya (1909–1979) was a former Indian footballer who represented and captained theIndia national football team andMohun Bagan, a football club inKolkata.[1][2] The Karuna Bhattacharya Award is given to the best player of Mohun Bagan in every season. On 29 July 2015 Mohun Bagan conferred the "Mohun Bagan Ratna" to Karuna Bhattacharya.[3] He was the first captain of theIndia national football team during their first officially recognised match in the international tour of Australia against theAustralia national football team in 1938.[4][5][6]
Bhattacharya represented Mohun Bagan for nine consecutive seasons from 1930 onwards.[7][8] He played alongsideGostha Pal,[9][10]Syed Abdus Samad,[11]Umapati Kumar,[12]Balaidas Chatterjee,[13][14] Sanmatha Dutta,Bimal Mukherjee,R. Lumsden,[15][16] Satu Chowdhury, and many others during that time. The period from 1933 to 1939 was a golden era for Mohun Bagan,[17] and they won 29 trophies during this time. In these 7 years, Mohun Bagan was virtually invincible in derby losing only 1 match that period to an East Bengal. From 1938 onwards, he did play few years in Customs.
After brushing up his skills under the coaching ofDukhiram Majumder,[18][19] Bhattacharya started his career inAryan before joining Mohun Bagan in 1930.[20] He was scouted by Dukhiram Majumder in Berhampur, and was signed by Aryan in 1928.[21] Bhattacharya debuted for the club inRovers Cup.[21]
He joined Mohun Bagan in 1930. With the club, he scored several important goals in his football career while playing as the right-in in the 2–3–5 formation. He was one of the most vital players in the team when Mohun Bagan won their first ever league title, winning theCalcutta Football League in 1939.[22] He also played few exhibition matches in Bangladesh withIFA XI in 1930.[23]
In July 1938, Bhattacharya went on to play an international charity match against an 'all European team' inCalcutta, where they were defeated by a solitary goal. He was the captain of theIndian team, managed byPankaj Gupta,[24] that went to Australia in 1938 after the invitation fromAustralian Football Association.[25] He was one of the stars during the Australia tour, scoring a brace against Queensland and the Australia National Team.[26] He was also part of the Indian team that played against the Olympic team of China in 1936. The match ended in a 1–1 draw.
Bhattacharya also was part of several Indians vs. Europeans football matches from 1931 to 1939. During this period, he played against the Europeans in 1932 (5–0), 1933 (2–0), 1935 (5–0), 1937 (1–0), 1938 (0–1), and 1939 (2–2). In this series which was held once a year, Karuna Bhattacharya scored in 1932 (2 goals), 1935 (2 goals), 1939 (1 goal). He also was part of theIFA XI side that went toCeylon andSouth Africa tour in 1933 and 1934 respectively. IFA XI won 4 matches in Ceylon (3–2, 4–1, 1–0, 2–0) while the other match ended in a 1–1 draw. Out of the 19 games played in South Africa, IFA XI won 18 (6–0, 6–1, 6–1, 2–0, 2–0, 7–1, 9–0, 6–1, 3–1, 4–1, 6–1, 8–1, 1–0, 2–1, 4–1, 2–0, 2–0, 5–0) and lost just 1 match (1–3).[27] Under the captaincy of Bhattacharya, the Indian team played 15 games, out of which they won 6 (6–1, 5–2, 5–2, 4–1, 6–4, 3–1), drew 2 (4–4, 3–3) and lost 7 matches (2–4, 4–6, 1–2, 3–5, 4–5, 4–6, 1–5).[27]
After retiring from football, he became the football secretary ofMohun Bagan in 1955 and 1961, and also worked as the tennis secretary in 1954.[3] He later became manager of the "green and maroon brigade" in several tournaments including their tour of Indonesia in 1956, tour of East Africa in 1961, and tour of Sri Lanka in 1968.[3] As manager of Mohun Bagan, Bhattacharya along with club officialsSailen Manna andChuni Goswami went with team to newly independentBangladesh in May 1972, where they defeatedDhaka Mohammedan in first match but lost the second match toShadhin Bangla football team.[23]
^abGreg Stock; Thomas Esamie; John Punshon."Socceroo Internationals for 1938".ozfootball.net. OZfootball.Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved24 September 2018.
^Webdesk, Xtratime Bangla (21 April 2020)."ভাইপোকে পোস্টে বেঁধে লাথি মেরে ছিলেন স্যার দুখিরাম মজুমদার…" [Sir Dukhiram Majumdar tied his nephew to a post and kicked him...].xtratimebangla.in (in Bengali). Kolkata: Xtratime Bangla. Archived fromthe original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved21 October 2022.
^abDasgupta, Biplab (11 October 2020)."প্রসঙ্গঃ স্যার দুখীরাম মজুমদার" [Context: Sir Dukhiram Majumdar].justnews24x7official.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Just News 24×7. Archived fromthe original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved21 October 2022.
Kapadia, Novy (2017).Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House.ISBN978-0-143-42641-7.
Sen, Dwaipayan (2013). "Wiping the Stain Off the Field of Plassey: Mohun Bagan in 1911". In Bandyopadhyay, Kausik; Mallick, Sabyasachi (eds.).Fringe Nations in World Soccer. Routledge.ISBN978-1-317-99810-5.
Sen, Ronojoy (2015). "The Empire Strikes Back: The 1911 IFA Shield and Football in Calcutta".Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India. Columbia University Press.ISBN978-0-231-16490-0.
Ahmed, Rasel (1 February 2019)."জাদুকর সামাদ: বাংলার একজন অতিমানব" [Magician Samad: The Wizard from Bengal].roar.media (in Bengali). Dhaka: Roar Media News. Archived fromthe original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved17 December 2023.
Dutta, Prasenjit (22 May 2022)."ময়দানের তৃতীয় নয়ন" [The Third Eye of Kolkata Maidan].prohor.in (in Bengali). Kolkata: Prohor News. Archived fromthe original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved21 October 2022.
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