Subrata Bhattacharya (; born 3 March 1953) is an Indian football manager and former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He primarily played as a defender for India national team and spent seventeen years playing for Mohun Bagan. Regarded as one of the greatest defender in Asia. He was the stopper ever margin in the

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, ...

. He won the Indian

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

twice as a coach of Mohun Bagan. He was conferred with the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

in 1989.

Playing career

As a defender, influenced by players like Jarnail Singh, Bhattacharya played for seventeen years for Mohun Bagan, from 1974 to 1990. In the club, he played under coaches

P. K. Banerjee Pradip Kumar Banerjee (23 June 1936 – 20 March 2020) was an Indian professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), striker for the India national football team. He also captained the nationa ...

and Amal Dutta. He became the Captain of Mohun Bagan in 1977; Mohun Bagan won the triple crown that season and became the first club to do so in Indian football history. He also led the side against a star-studded

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

spearheaded by

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

on 24 September 1977; both the teams shared honours as the match ended 2–2. Under his captaincy, Mohun Bagan's performance against the American club featuring Pelé, Carlos Alberto Torres and

Giorgio Chinaglia Giorgio Chinaglia (; 24 January 1947 – 1 April 2012) was an Italian association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with ...

, earned popularity worldwide. With Mohun Bagan, he won numerous trophies. They won Bordoloi Trophy with win against Mohammedan Sporting, and the "triple crown",

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, and was named after the association. The IFA Shield to ...

Durand Cup The Durand Cup (also called the IndianOil Durand Cup Powered by Coal India Limited for sponsorship reasons) is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hosted by the ...

, and

Rovers Cup The Rovers Cup was an annual football tournament held in India, organized by the Western India Football Association. Incorporated in 1890, it was the third oldest tournament in India after Trades Cup. History Rovers Cup was incorporated by s ...

. The duel between him and Chima Okorie of

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 ...

was a high point of Calcutta Football League in 80s, though he believes Majid Bishkar is the greatest foreigner to have played in Kolkata. He was a pivotal part of the state team against

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

and Mohun Bagan in Mohun Bagans centenary celebration against a team led by Roger Milla.

Managerial career

During his coaching career, he managed all three

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 ...

-giants East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting. He took charge of Mohun Bagan first in 2000 when the club was undergoing a period of transition, and signed few notable foreigners including Igor Shkvyrin from Uzbekistan, Sammy Omollo from Kenya, and

Dusit Chalermsan Dusit Chalermsan (born 22 April 1970; ) is a Thai association football manager and former player who played as a left-back. He is currently the technical director of Thai League 1 club Kanchanaburi Power. He played as a defender and scored 1 ...

from Thailand. He was sacked by the club in April 2003 after he was accused of having instigated some players of the team not to wear the Mohun Bagan jersey for the remaining two

matches as they were yet to get full payment. In 2007, Bhattacharya was appointed head coach of

, but after their poor showing in the inaugural

2007–08 I-League The 2007–08 I-League kicked off on 24 November 2007 at the Fatorda Stadium, Margao, Goa. The first match of the season was played between the two Goan clubs Dempo and Salgaocar. The top team in the I-League qualified for the qualifying ...

, he resigned. He also managed then

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

side Tollygunge Agragami in 2003. He later served as both coach and technical director of Prayag United (then known as Chirag United). Bhattacharya also managed ONGC in I-League. In 2015, Bhattacharya fought against

Satyajit Chatterjee Satyajit Chatterjee is an Indian former footballer and coach, who captained Mohun Bagan and represented India internationally. He served as India Captain in the year 1991. He also became the captain of bengal team and Mohun Bagan team. He has ...

for the post of football secretary in Mohun Bagan club election and was defeated by more than 2000 votes. In May 2018, it was officially announced that Bhattacharya was appointed head coach of another Kolkata based club Bhawanipore. After unveiled new coach, he quoted "I am joining Bhawanipore instead of Tollygunge Agragami. They are offering me a better package so I decided to join them. The management has agreed that the team would practice in Kalyani instead of

. So from the first week of June, we will start preparing for the season in Kalyani." In 2019, he joined Mohammedan Sporting as technical director.

Personal life

Bhattacharya is father of actor

Saheb Bhattacharya Saheb Bhattacharya (or Bhattacharjee) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. He made his debut with Prabhat Roy's National Film Award The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given ...

, who appears in Bengali films. His daughter Sonam is married to Sunil Chhetri, who captained

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and is the country's all-time top goal scorer. In October 2022, Bhattacharya was admitted to a city hospital after suffering from

dengue Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease caused by dengue virus, prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas. Asymptomatic infections are uncommon, mild cases happen frequently; if symptoms appear, they typically begin 3 to 14 days after ...

. His autobiography, named ''Sholo Anna Bablu'' (; "ষোলো আনা বাবলু"), was official unveiled on Mohun Bagan Day on 29 July 2023.

Honours

As player

Mohun Bagan * Federation Cup: 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987 *

: 1974, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986 *

: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1989 *

: 1976, 1977, 1981, 1985, 1988 * Calcutta Football League: 1976, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990 Bengal *

Santosh Trophy The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), th ...

: 1986 Individual *

: 1991 *

Banga Bibhushan Banga Bibhushan Samman () is a title instituted by the West Bengal government to honour the services of personalities in various fields. The Banga Ratna Samman and the Banga Bhushan Samman ("Bengal ornament" বঙ্গ ভূষণ) awards are a ...

: 2018 (by the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

) * Mohun Bagan Ratna: 2017

As manager

Mohun Bagan *

: 1999–2000, 2001–02 *

: 1999 Tollygunge Agragami * Yamaha Libero Cup: 2003

References

External links

Subrata Bhattacharya stats
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

Subrata Bhattacharya
at Khel Now (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattacharya, Subrata Living people Indian men's footballers India men's international footballers 1984 AFC Asian Cup players People from North 24 Parganas district Footballers from West Bengal 1953 births Men's association football defenders Mohun Bagan Super Giant players East Bengal Club managers Calcutta Football League players Recipients of the Arjuna Award Indian football managers Mohammedan SC (Kolkata) managers Tollygunge Agragami FC managers Footballers at the 1978 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for India