Kolkata: When it was most needed he left us, keeping a great void in Bengal football. One of the mercurial officials in Kolkata football, Mantoo Ghosh left for his heavenly abode on 23rd January 2018. While rendering his services as the secretary of Tollygunge Agragami, one of Kolkata’s front running clubs for the last 31 years, Ghosh became a legend and an inspiring personality to upcoming football officials in Kolkata.
In his early life, he played football and
cricket with distinct elegancy. While unfurling his quality as an official of Tollygunge Agragami, Ghosh showed nice acumen in dealing with players and the system with utmost sincerity. He had an impeccable sense to realize the potential of a football player. For this reason, he played pivotal roles in transforming players like Pradip Dutta, Atanu Bhattacharjee, Pratap Ghosh, Krishnendu Roy, Dulal Biswas, Ranjon Chaudhuri, Mehtab Hossain, Chandon Das, Shastri Dule and many more into Indian football stars.
His sincere efforts in bringing some fresh air in Bengal football, fetched him
a chance to become the Joint Secretary of the IFA. Ghosh soon proved his worth in that effort by winning Indian football’s statewise supremacy-Santosh Trophy, six times consecutively, from 1993-94 to 1999-2000.
His unending effort for upgrading a local club into an I-League participant ended when Tollygunge Agragami became a team of National Football League (NFL). Ghosh’s main asset was to keep himself very close to the heart of his team’s players. He always tried to feel the difficulties of local players. In fact, he was a real grass root level official, who always fought for the legitimate demands of the players.
Due to decaying health, he kept himself out of the post of secretary of
Tollygunge Agragami from 2005. But love for football brought him to the practice ground of the club every day. His inspiring presence in the practice
sessions made a perceptible difference in the attitude of the players in their effort to reach their goals.
As an official of Tollygunge Agragami club, he had to face innumerable financial hardships to bring glory for the club and he overcame all of it with consummate ease. But Ghosh failed in his fight against cardiac arrest which came as a bolt from the blue and deprived Kolkata’s football fraternity from one more appropriate advice from a genuine good Samaritan.