Football Lovers' Day is observed in memorial to be the most tragic day in Indian football history, when 16 football fans died due to a stampede and riot inside the

Eden Gardens Eden Gardens is an international cricket stadium in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Established in 1864, it is the oldest and second-largest cricket stadium in India and third-largest in the world. The stadium currently has a capacity of 68,000. ...

stadium in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

on 16 August 1980 on the occasion of a

Kolkata Derby The Kolkata Derby (locally known as "Boro Match") is the association football, football match in Kolkata, between Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal FC, East Bengal. The rivalry between these two teams is over 100 years old, ...

match in the

Calcutta Football League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by the Indian Football Association (WB) as part of the state leagues. It is the oldest football league in Asia. The CFL ...

Events leading up to the disaster

The

has been an eternal rivalry between the two oldest clubs in Indian football—

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

and

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

—and has been featured on the list of FIFA's Classic Rivalries. The fanaticism around football in Kolkata in the 1970s was unparalleled and the ''Bangal''-''Ghoti'' rivalry was the pinnacle of football rivalries in Asia, as football became an escape from the political turmoil of the 70s in

had the better of their arch-rivals in the better part of the previous decade by winning almost all trophies between 1970 and 1975.

were fast growing back into their old stature, winning the Triple Crown in 1978. Just a few months back, the two teams had a bitter clash in the 1980 Federation Cup final, which ended 1-1; both were declared joint winners. Both sets of fans were eager to get the bragging rights and the tempers were already high before the

kick-off Kickoff, kick-off or kick off may refer to: Sport * Kick-off (association football), the method of starting a match or restarting after half-time or a scored goal ** ''Kick Off'' (magazine), a South African football magazine ** ''Kick Off'' (ser ...

in the ill-fated

was led by Compton Dutta while the

team was led by Satyajit Mitra. The match began in high intensity as Dilip Palit, who started in an un-orthodox

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

position for the Red and Golds and committed a rash foul on Bidesh Bose, who was full of trickery on the left flank, in the 11th minute of the game. The referee, Sudhin Chatterjee, didn't produce a card for Dilip Palit, which was a shock for all. After the break, a similar incident happened in the 57th minute and Bidesh Ranjan Bose retaliated, which led the referee to give marching orders to the

left winger while Dilip Palit was again left unpunished. The referee committed another blunder when he gave Dilip Palit marching orders a few moments later as an act of balancing his previous decision. This started a riot in the stadium among both sets of fans.

Confrontation

Usually, the

and

fans are seated in separate galleries so that any kind of fan riots are prevented. However, on that day, both sets of fans were made to sit together in the stands. In the absence of segregation and inadequate police protection in the stands, the riots spread like wildfire and people started running towards exits to save themselves. Young fans jumped off the high stands onto concrete floors to save themselves while many tried to flee through the narrow gates, which led many to fall down. It caused an inevitable stampede that took the lives of 16 football fans.

The match

The players and the officials did not have any idea of what was happening in the stands. The game was stopped for few moments after the double red cards and the game went on where both teams played with 10 men and the game finished at 0–0.

Match Details

Aftermath of the disaster

The bodies of the injured were taken over to the nearby hospitals and people flocked over at the various locations to identify their missing kin. The police report claimed that 16 fans were dead and many were left injured. All the matches for the rest of the season were cancelled and both the teams were heavily fined.

Impact on people

This tragedy sent the entire sports fraternity and the Bengali community into shock and people who were regulars to the Kolkata Maidan suddenly disappeared on the aftermath of the disaster. The football-crazy Bengali was nowhere to be seen, as they faced stiff resistance from their families to attend the next set of matches. People who went to the matches every week now either snapped their ties from the Kolkata Maidan or attended the games with fear in their minds. The fanaticism in

regarding the Beautiful Game was gone and took nearly two decades to recover, until when the

Salt Lake Stadium The Salt Lake Stadium, officially known as Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), is a multi-purpose stadium, used mostly for football matches, located in Salt Lake City, Greater Kolkata, with a capacity of 68,000 spectators. Named after S ...

saw a record-breaking attendance of 131,000 in the 1997 Federation Cup.

Commemorations

The

Indian Football Association The Indian Football Association, abbreviated as IFA, is the organisation that administers football in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the oldest football association in India and was founded in 1893. Among the founders was former Engli ...

observes Football Lovers' Day as a memorial to the 16 Football Fans who died on 16 August 1980. The first memorial, held in 1981, saw a total number of 1203 people donating blood. The

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Act ...

and other District Associations observe the Football Lovers' Day every year on 16 August and the players who were part of the ill-fated match are present at the event and hand over signed certificates to the blood donors. The legendary singer

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (; 1 May 1919 − 24 October 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an Indian playback singer, music director, and musician. He had a classical music background, being part of the Bhendibazaar gharana, Bhendibazaar Gh ...

sang a song, ''Khela football khela'', composed by Suparnakanti Ghosh, to pay homage to those unfortunate souls who lost their lives on that ill-fated day.

The 16 fans

The names of the 16 football lovers who died on that day: * Kartik Maity * Uttam Chowle * Samir Das * Aloke Das * Sanat Basu * Nabin Nashkar * Kalyan Samanta * Ashim Chatterjee * Robin Adak * Kartik Maji * Dhananjoy Das * Shyamal Biswas * Madan Mohan Bagli * Prashanta Dutta * Himangshu Sekhar Das * Bishwajit Kar

References

External links

IFA official site
{{Indian state football associations Mohun Bagan Super Giant East Bengal FC Human stampedes in India Human stampedes in 1980 Disasters in sports venues Stadium disasters Disasters in West Bengal