The sole remnant of a glorious past

It may now be a football outpost, but Mymensingh was the cradle of the sport in Bangladesh; not only were the first tournaments formed here, but the central region is also home to arguably the country's oldest club.

The Mymensingh Mohammedan Sporting Club was established in 1898, 17 years after the formation of Kolkata Mohammedan SC (1881) and 38 years before the launch of the popular Dhaka Mohammedan SC (1936).

Mymensingh Mohammedan, which is situated in the city's Town Hall Mor, once dominated all sporting events and produced many famous players for district teams. However, the two-storied white building of the Black and Whites is now the only remaining legacy of its glorious history, with the club -- like Dhaka Mohammedan -- now struggling in local football, cricket and hockey competitions.

“Having studied Mymensingh sports, I can say that Mohammedan SC is the first indigenous club and the second one -- Friends Eleven Club – was also formed here. Mohammedan was established by Khan Bahadur Ismail Hossain and the father of Dhanbari zaminder Hasan Ali Chowdhury in 1989,” said Amir Ahmed Chowdhury Raton, the former general secretary of Mymensingh District Sports Association (DSA).

“The district of Mymensingh has a rich heritage in sports and Mohammedan SC made a great contribution in the flourishing all disciplines, but the the club is presently not in a good position,” said Chowdhury.

There is also a conventional notion among clubs that Mymensingh Mohammedan had a great contribution in taking Dhaka Mohammedan to the First Division from Second Division Football before separation.

“I have heard from my predecessors that most of our players went to Dhaka to play for Dhaka Mohammedan and helped them qualify for the First Division Football League,” said general secretary AKM Shafiqul Islam, who had played for the club in the early 1960's before joining his beloved club as an organiser in 1972.

Mymensingh Mohammedan have a record number of trophies in both football and cricket but they have no records; even organisers had to struggle to find out the last trophy Mohammedan won in local leagues.

“We last became champions in football in 2010 and hockey in 2009 but I can't say the exact championship year in cricket, which may have been in late 1980,” said football secretary and treasurer AKM Mahabubul Alam.

“Presently, financial constraints are the main problems in the running of the club. The only source of the income is the card room from where we get approximately 3 lakh taka yearly, while the rest of money is arranged from the well-off club members and selling life-time memberships,” said Alam, adding that they needed Tk 15 to 17 lakh per year.

Although there was no record-list of its previous presidents and general secretaries, it was seen that the club authority maintained an honour-board for life-time members and anyone could etch their names into history by donating just Tk 10,000.