• When Pele came, saw & conquered Kolkata
    Times of India | 31 December 2022
  • KOLKATA: The exhibition match between Mohun Bagan and Cosmos on September 24, 1977 was more than just football. It was as though Durga Puja had arrived a month early that year. Such was the excitement and anticipation. And it was all because of Pele.

    The build-up to the match that would feature the football legend had begun a month ago with the Brazilian dominating addas in Kolkata's paras. "Our wildest dream was coming true. Hardly anyone had seen Pele play. Yet he was a household name as people had read about his many exploits on the pitch," recalled chemist-turned-businessman Alok Ghosh, a Mohun Bagan member for over five decades.

    His wife Manju, a schoolteacher, was one of the earliest woman football fans and a regular at Mohun Bagan matches (the two had met there in 1968 and tied the knot two years later). She could attend the match, courtesy a ticket from then Mohun Bagan general secretary Dhiren Dey.

    "There were hardly any women at football matches. The club didn't accept women members. I could access the ground as Dhiren-da had given me a special pass. It was 9pm on the match eve that he handed me the ticket and said: 'Now go home and relax'," recounted Manju. Agog with excitement of seeing Pele in flesh and blood, the two barely slept that night.

    Former bureaucrat Shantanu Prasad Kar, who had just graduated then, has vivid memories of the next day, an overcast one that had everyone worried. "The buses and trams to Esplanade spilled over. Pele was on everyone's mind but there was only one prayer on their lips: 'God, please don't let the rain spoil the day'," he recalled.

    Pradip Mukherjee, who worked in a bank, loved cricket more than football. But when he heard Pele, the 'God', was coming, he pestered his father to manage a ticket. But with the skies opening up, he, like thousands of others, feared they would miss seeing Pele in action that evening. "The rain had turned the clay in the ground into muck. It was not ideal for any game of football, leave alone one for Pele to step into. But thankfully, the rain stopped. And the match was on," he recounted.

    When Pele finally took the pitch, the 80,000-odd spectators who had crammed the Eden Gardens stands stood up to a thunderous ovation. A 17-year-old schoolgirl held on to her elder brother's shirt sleeves and soaked in the atmosphere.

    "I was there but couldn't see Pele until much later. Those in the stand in front were so excited, they were on their feet. Though I am a football fan now, I didn't follow the game then and was there because dada had a spare ticket. I was enjoying the thrill. That was the first time I saw T-shirts being sold with Pele silhouette etched on them," said Mausumi Mitra.

    Though Pele was in the twilight years of his professional career, Ghosh had glimpses of the genius when Cosmos was a goal down, particularly a free-kick that sent the ball swerving like a banana and appeared to be heading into the goalpost till Shibaji Banerjee dived full-stretch to the left and fingertipped it just beyond the woodwork.

    "That wasn't the only time he denied the crowd and Pele a goal. He snatched a ball from Pele's feet after he had dribbled past three players. The crowd actually got everything that evening. They saw God. And they saw their team playing like bravehearts. It was only poor refereeing that allowed Cosmos to draw the match that Mohun Bagan should have won," said Ghosh.
  • Link to this news (Times of India)