#2 Golden era of Mohun Bagan
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The decade between 1960 and 1970 is deemed as the best era of Mohun Bagan. The Bengal club began the decade on a very high note as they went on to win the Calcutta League, IFA Shield and Durand Cup in 1960.
The following year witnessed Bagan’s triumph in IFA Shield, but barring that, there wasn’t much success for the Kolkata stalwarts.
However, the notable feat came after that when the team became the first Indian outfit to tour East Africa. They played 19 matches against teams from Uganda, Nairobi, and Zanzibar. Out of those 19 matches, the team managed to win 15 of them, scoring 61 goals. Amiyo Chatterjee and Dipu Das were two important players for Bagan.
In 1962, they also became the first club to win the Calcutta League 10 times, and also managed to win the IFA Shield in that year. Mohun Bagan stalwart Gostha Pal became the first Indian footballer to be awarded the Padma Shri on 27th April 1962.
The year 1963 saw a triumph in Calcutta Football League and also in the Durand Cup. It was followed by the inauguration of a new club tent. The next year was marked by the flamboyant and a year-long celebration of the club’s platinum jubilee. The jubilee celebration events spanned from cricket to football.
In football, Hungarian team, FC Tatabanya, played a few friendly matches in India. In cricket, players like Sir Garfield Sobers, Farokh Engineer, Mushtaq Mohammad and Lance Gibbs graced the city with their presence.
1965 again witnessed the triumph in Durand and Calcutta Football League. Mohun Bagan became the first team to win the Durand and Calcutta Football League for three times and four times, respectively, on the bounce.
The only silverware that eluded Bagan till then was the Rover’s Cup, but they changed that dubious record in 1966 as Bagan romped over Vasco SC to notch up the Rover’s Cup as well.
Bagan ended the decade on a promising note, notching up the Calcutta League and the IFA Shield, and made a number of appearances in the Durand and Shield finals.
