Indian Football: Down the memory lane - Mohun Bagan’s triple crown win in 1977

Under the leadership of assistant general secretary Dhiren Dey, Mohun Bagan became the first club in Kolkata Maidan to install floodlights. Later that year, on September 24, Mohun Bagan also got the opportunity to rub shoulders with Pele's Cosmos Club at the Eden Gardens. It was a star-studded squad with the likes of Subrata Bhattacharyya, Pradip Chowdhury, Compton Dutta, Subhas Bhowmick, Shyam Thapa all donning the green and maroon stripes. They lost the Federation Cup final to a humble Indian Telephone Industries and subsequently, the Calcutta Football League to East Bengal after losing the derby. Habib squared the ball to the former India international, who in turn dodged past Manoranjan Bhattacharyya and Shyamal Banerjee to go on and beat Bhaskar Ganguly under the sticks. Goutam Sarkar in midfield also played a vital role in that match as he did not allow the likes of Surajit Sengupta and Samaresh Chowdhury of the opposition to take control of proceedings in the centre of the park. Skipper Subrata Bhattacharya also showed his mettle as he helped repel East Bengal's numerous attempts to breach Bagan's fort with elan. It would have been another clash with their fierce rivals if East Bengal had not withdrawn from the tournament, protesting against a red card shown to Surajit Sengupta during a group game. Skipper Bhattacharya and coach Banerjee finally managed to achieve the feat which had almost become an obsession for a club that had dominated the Indian football scenario since independence. After the phenomenal success on the pitch, Dhiren Dey went on to become the General Secretary of the club and in 1978, he managed to retain the core of the squad that would go on to win three trophies (CFL, Federation Cup and IFA Shield) once again.