Debanjan Sen Memorial Cup 2012

A Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (CCFC) XI held the Football Players Association of India (FPAI) XI to a one-all draw in the Debanjan Sen Memorial Cup 2012 held at the CC&FC ground yesterday evening.

For the FPAI XI seasoned striker Dipendu Biswas opened the scoring in the 20th minute with Jahan Mehta (who is FPAI General Secretary but plays for CC&FC) equalizing just a minute later.

Former Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia played for CC&FC while the FPAI XI was represented by Indian national team players Gouramangi Singh, Syed Rahim Nabi, Mehtab Hossain, Subrata Pal, Arindam Bhattacharya and ex-internationals Dipendu Biswas and Basudeb Mondal plus many others.

The FPAI were also fortunate enough to have two World Cuppers in Steven Bryce and Carlos Hernandez from Costa Rica to play for them as both of them were in Kolkata and are big supporters of FIFPro and the Costa Rica Football Players Association.

FPAI's Debanjan Sen Memorial Trophy 2012 next Thursday

A mixed Football Players Association of India (FPAI) XI faces a team from the Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (CCFC) at the latters home in Ballygunge, Kolkata for the Debanjan Sen Memorial Cup next Thursday, June 28 evening. The FPAI will once more organise the memorial match in the name of their former employee the late Debanjan Sen, who died in an motorbike accident last year. Debanjan, who was very much liked in football circles, was only 22 years old.

The FPAI XI will be featuring some of India's footballing heavyweights especially those who were close to Debanjan Sen and they include Mehtab Hossain (FPAI Player of the Year 2011), Syed Rahim Nabi (FPAI Player of the Year 2012), Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Subrata Pal, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Anit Kumar Ghosh, Arindam Bhattacharya (who will play as a centre forward), Dipendu Biswas and many more.

FPAI president Baichung Bhutia is highly sought after by both teams for the match and it looks like he will be strengthening the CC&FC defence rather than playing for his own FPAI team.

Last year the match was held and had ended in a 0-0 draw. The match will kick-off at 7 pm on Thursday, June 28.

FPAI's Debanjan Sen Memorial Trophy

A Football Players Association of India XI faced a team of the Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (CCFC 'A') at the latters home in Ballygunge, Kolkata for the Debanjan Sen Memorial Cup on Sunday afternoon. The FPAI organised the memorial match in the name of their former employee the late Debanjan Sen, who died in an motorbike accident a few weeks ago. Debanjan was only 22 years old.

Debanjan Sen worked for the FPAI as their Executive - Player relations, Media & Marketing. He was besides Anuj Kichlu the man behind the FPAI and contact for the Indian footballers across the country. All those who knew Debanjan will remember him as someone hardworking, always friendly and helpful, always good for a laugh. I can say that after we worked together on the 2010 FPAI Awards in New Delhi last September.

The game was one of the most awaited matches in the CCFC football calendar then the CCFC had to take on some of India's biggest football stars in the FPAI XI. Players like Gouramangi Singh, Nirmal Chetri, Sanju Pradhan, Robin Singh, Syed Rahim Nabi, Mehtab Hussain and others took the field. Both teams were introduced to Debanjan's parents and the CCFC president Ravi Kidwai.

The match was for a good cause, but it became clear from the onset that both CCFC and FPAI XI wanted to win on a sunny Kolkata afternoon. The match was entertaining to watch from start to end. The FPAI XI put the CCFC side under a lot of pressure, but CCFC were able to hold their ground as the match ended goalless after 70 minutes. Both teams gave in all they had in memory of a great friend Debanjan.

Both teams played the match with zeal and passion and above all both teams made Debanjan proud as he was shining his light on the both sides. After the game the cup that each team was fighting for was given to Debanjan's younger brother Debdatta Sen and FPAI president Baichung Bhutia.

May Debanjan's soul rest in peace.

FC Bayern Kids Clinic in Kolkata

As part of the FC Bayern Munich Allstars journey to Kolkata a Kids Clinic was organised on the first day of the trip on last Tuesday, November 16 at the Calcutta Cricket & Football Club by Adidas India. And the big prize for six of the 96 participating children under the age of 15 was a two week training stint in Munich with the relevant age group Academy team of FC Bayern Munich.

And the Allstars took their scouting work really seriously as a number of the team members are now scouts and youth coaches back in Europe. The lovely CCFC grounds had been split into three fields, the FCB players also split themselves into equal numbers with the children divided into teams to play out a tournament, so the scouts could have a proper look at all of them to select the final six. But as the scouts weren't sure which six to choose it was decided to have a sort of final with 12 players plus two goalkeepers showing themselves to all scouts in a final game.

And in the end the final list of six were decided by the Allstars and announced by me to the public. Amongst the six winning kids are four boys in Ram Chetri, Suman Rai, Donborlang Nongkynrih and Jacob Lalrawngbawla from Shillong Lajong FC plus two local Bengal boys in Sanchayan Samadder and Simanta Murmu. An interesting story and commendable fact that the youth development work being put in at Lajong FC brought such success against the mighty Bengal, which is said to be the home of Indian football. Lajong had brought down 10 children from the Northeast for the clinic with seven being from Shillong and three selected from trials in Sikkim. A great ratio for the club of the Northeast as Shillong Lajong refers to itself as.

But the scouts also liked another boy who should have been amongst the kids chosen to come to Germany, so maybe Raju Chakraborty will join the other six kids when they come to Munich next year. A final decision will have to be taken on this issue by the FCB officials. The dates aren't finalised yet, but it is likely that the children will be in Germany in March/April 2011 after the harsh winter is gone to enjoy a memorable camp with FCB.

And maybe we will hear more from these boys in the future...