Secret to Kings’ success
No one perhaps imagined that Bashundhara Kings would break the dominance of country’s traditional football forces likes Abahani, Mohammedan SC, Sheikh Jamal DC and Sheikh Russel KC in top-flight football when they made their entry into the football scene through the Pioneer Football League in 2015-16 season.
Bashundhara Kings, who finished third in that entry-level league to qualify for Third Division League, were given an opportunity to directly compete in the Bangladesh Championship League, the second-tier league, where they emerged unbeaten champions in 2016-17 season, earning promotion into the Bangladesh Premier League in the 2018-19.
Within a span of only four years, Bashundhara Kings have climbed to the top of professional football league by clinching the title of Bangladesh Premier League with two matches in hand.
Their triumph was a result of good management, hard work from the players and coaching staff, good training facilities, corporate approach and inspiration from the patrons.
Backed by one of the biggest conglomerates of the county, Bashundhara Kings made their presence felt during the players’ transfers by roping in some experienced and promising players from the previous season while signing up four quality foreigners including World Cupper Daniel Colindres and Spanish coach Oscar Bruzon.
Winning the Bangladesh Premier League title was not an accident for the debutants, rather they showed promise at the start of the season by ensuring final berths in the Federation Cup and the Independence Cup. They had to be content with a runners-up finish in the Federation Cup before taking the first major trophy home in the Independence Cup. And now they have become the fourth club to win the top-tier professional league title with consistent performance.
“As a new outfit, we could not expect more than these achievements,” said Bashundhara Kings president Imrul Hassan, who credited the players, coaching staff and the patrons of the club for this success.
“The players and coaches did everything to perform on the pitch and we did nothing but provide proper support,” Hassan said. “Providing all the support to the team was possible due to the immense inspiration from Bashundhara Group, which is a sports-loving family.”
“The players were really determined and passionate to deliver something new and they have been disciplined throughout the season while we operated the club in a corporate culture which helped us take some quick decisions,” said Hassan.
Experienced defender Nasiruddin Chowdhury explained how Bashundhara Kings management adopted professionalism from the start of the season.
“The club management introduced proper diet which the national team followed. The players have to strictly follow recovery after training. The players get regularly checked on their weight so that they can maintain fitness, but the biggest boost is to get salary regularly,” said Nasir, who previously won three league titles with Sheikh Jamal DC and once with Abahani.
Comparing the Bashundhara Kings management to two those of Sheikh Jamal DC and Abahani, Nasir said, “Sheikh Jamal had a good bond among all players, who performed as a champion team and [Manjur] Kader bhai was a big inspiration to all the players. Wearing Abahani jersey was something different and the players really became more committed to deliver the title. But at Bashundhara Kings, coaching staff is everything and management is nothing,” said Nasir.
Club officials often say it is not possible to win league title without players having the experience of winning league title previously. In this case, experienced players like Nasir, Towhidul Alam Sabuz, Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Emon Babu, Alamgir Kabir Rana and Rezaul Karim played key roles to share the good and bad experiences with the promising players and guided Bashundhara Kings to focus on each match instead of looking too far.
Hassan said that they are now looking forward to producing good results in next year’s AFC Cup by retaining services of at least 15 current squad players while signing up new foreign players.
“We haven’t come to play only the Bangladesh Premier League, rather we came here to revive our past football glory and Bashundhara Group is expected to continue supporting country’s football in future,” said Hassan.