Amalesh Sen (; 2 March 1943 – 7 October 2017) was a Bangladeshi

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. He started his career in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

by playing for Fire Service Team and

Shadhin Bangla Football Team The Shadhin Bangla football team ( Bengali : স্বাধীন বাংলা ফুটবল দল; ''lit. Independent Bengal football team'') was formed by Bangladesh Krira Samity of the Bangladeshi government in exile shortly after the ...

, but spent most years as a player and coach for

Dhaka Abahani Abahani Limited Dhaka (), also referred as Dhaka Abahani or Abahani Limited, is a Bangladeshi professional football club based in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club currently competes in the Bangladesh Premier League, the top ...

. Amalesh is the first ever goalscorer in a Dhaka Derby match, he scored the historic goal for Abahani in 1973. He later coached both Abahnai Limited Dhaka and

Muktijoddha Sangsad KC Muktijoddha Sangsad KC () is a Bangladeshi professional football club based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club plays in the Bangladesh Championship League, the second level of Bangladeshi football league system, as they suffered relegation from th ...

in the

Bangladesh Premier League Bangladesh Premier League (), also known as Dutch-Bangla Bank BPL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was formed in 2011 by the BCB, after the su ...

. Amalesh holds the record for the most Bangladesh Premier League titles won by a single coach (3 for Abahani Limited Dhaka), and is also the first coach to win three consecutive Bangladesh Premier League titles.

Playing career

Amalesh began his football career in the Byton Club, he played for

Bogra District Bogra District, officially Bogura District (), is a district in the northern part of Bangladesh, in Rajshahi Division. Bogra is an industrial city where many small and mid-sized companies are sited. Bogra was a part of the Pundravardhana terri ...

for almost two seasons in the National Football Championship competition between district team since 1958. And again under his leadership, Bogra district team became national champion in 1969. His Dhaka First Division League journey started in 1962 for the Fire Service Team, where he played for seven years. Amalesh then went onto play for the famous East End Club. Amalesh joined for Mohammedan SC in 1970. During the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, he also played in the

, where he along with his teammates played 16 exhibition games in India, in order to raise money for the war. After that, from 1972 to 1984, he played continuously for

. Dhaka Abahani and Dhaka Mohammedan first played each other during the 1973 First Division League. The battle between of these two giants is now commonly known as Dhaka Derby, and Amalesh is the first player to score in the derby. During the game, Amalesh swifted past Moahmmedan stopper back

Zakaria Pintoo Zakaria Pintoo (; 1 January 1943 – 18 November 2024), alternatively spelled Zakaria Pintu, was a Bangladeshi footballer who played as a defender. He was the first captain of the Bangladesh national team. Pintoo gained fame as the captain of ...

and goalkeeper Abul Kashem to score the famous goal. Amalesh was part of Abahani's first league winning team, and further went onto win four more league titles along with the 1982 Federation Cup, which was shared with Mohammedan SC. Amalesh Sen first played for the

Bangladesh national football team The Bangladesh national football team () is the national recognised football team of Bangladesh and is controlled by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). It is a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) since 1973 and of FIFA sin ...

in Malaysia, during the

1975 Merdeka Tournament The 1975 Merdeka Tournament was the nineteenth edition of the annual football tournament hosted by Malaysia. It took place from 29 July to 17 August 1975 with eight participating nations. Venues Group stage ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ...

. However, due to injury, he later withdrew and did not play for the national team for a long time. Although, Amalesh got a chance to join the Bangladesh team for the Bangkok

1978 Asian Games The 8th Asian Games (), also known as Bangkok 1978 (), were held from 9 to 20 December 1978, in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally, the host city was Singapore but Singapore dropped its plan to host the Games due to financial problems. Then Islamabad, ...

, that opportunity was also not taken by him, as all of Abahani's 7 footballers refrained from playing due to the teams captaincy complications involving their teammate

Monwar Hossain Nannu Monwar Hossain Nannu (; 27 August 1948 – 16 February 2008) was a Bangladeshi football player during the 1970s and early 1980s. Initially, he played as an attacking midfielder for Abahani Krira Chakra in the First Division. Following an injury ...

Coaching career

Sen continued his playing career till the early 80s before embarking on his coaching career in 1986. He stayed with

Abahani Limited Dhaka Abahani Limited Dhaka (), also referred as Dhaka Abahani or Abahani Limited, is a Bangladeshi professional Association football, football club based in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club currently competes in the Bangladesh Pr ...

till the late 90s before having a two-year stint with

. He returned to Abahani in 1999 and remained with the club until his death, in 2017. He was Abahani's main coach from 2007 to 2010, 2010 to 2011, 2014 and 2015. He was a regular member of the clubs coaching panel for 18 years straight. He won three consecutive league titles as the clubs coach from 2007 to 2010, becoming the coach with the most

Bangladesh Premier league Bangladesh Premier League (), also known as Dutch-Bangla Bank BPL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was formed in 2011 by the BCB, after the su ...

titles wins. Amalesh also served as the vice-president of Bangladesh Football Coaches' Association.

Personal life and death

Amalesh's family consists of his wife and two sons. On 7 October 2017, Amalesh passed away after suffering a heart attack during a training session with

. He was admitted to the

Bangladesh Medical College Hospital Bangladesh Medical College (BMC; ) is the oldest private medical college in Bangladesh. It was established in 1986. The college is located in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. It is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Dhaka. It offers a five- ...

where he was declared dead.

Legacy

In 1998 Amalesh received the National Sports Awards, for his contribution to the

. On 5 January 2018, Abahani emerged as the champion of the Bangladesh Premier League for the record sixth time. The club dedicated the title to the late Amalesh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Amalesh 1943 births 2017 deaths People from Bogra District Bangladeshi men's footballers Bangladesh men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Bangladeshi football managers Bangladeshi Hindus Recipients of the Bangladesh National Sports Award Abahani Limited Dhaka players Mohammedan SC (Dhaka) players Abahani Limited Dhaka managers Footballers from Rajshahi Division Bangladeshi expatriate sportspeople in India 20th-century Bangladeshi sportsmen 20th-century Pakistani sportsmen