Latey Bhakundo

In a ground near Siliguri at Kholachand Fapri called Lokenath Math, A group of boys can been seen training every morning. All of them are mostly under 23 years of age and harbours a collective dream of playing professional football one day.  These are the boys of relatively new outfit Bright Sporting Club which was started in 2018 in Siliguri. From the touchline a young man can be seen watching anxiously. "I was always attracted to football but I didn't play too much but when I became old enough I started to think that there are so many talented players in Siliguri and they don't have the platform so I thought about starting this club so that these boys get a chance to show their talent." Said Kamish Roy who is the founder and most active member of the club. He further added that he discussed this concept with few of his friends and dadas (Brothers) and all of them supported the idea and the club was started. "Yes we knew the journey ahead would be to...

Samip Gurung is that kind of a player who will run through a brick wall for his team. A no nonsense defender, he has peformed consistently for number of years now in the various tournaments. He has also gone to Bhutan and Nepal for some well known tournaments in those countries. Samip started playing football early and with the SUMI school team he went to participate in the Subroto Mukherjee Football Tournament 2 times and also won many trophies representing the "HEROES". After school he joined Share Football Club and was a Captain for Number of years winning the prestigious Sukna Gold Cup Trophy in 2014 along with number of other tournaments. After taking Share FC to new heights, Samip and his friends got together and formed United Brothers FC and now he is fully settled with them. Samip's all time favorite player is former Manchester United defender, Nemanja Vidic and he has taken a lot of inspiration from him. Tough player inside the field who doesn...

Women's football is making a slow but steady progress in the country from the days when we used to hear "Keti jasto na khel hai" (Don't play like a girl) to this day, girls have proved football is not just a Man's game. The Indian Women's team just won the South Asian Games Gold medal by defeating Nepal 2-0. Both the goals were scored by Bala Devi who was on trails recently with Rangers FC. I am not too aware about the history of women's football in India but for myself it all started as a kid in my village. That was for the very first time I had watched girls playing football and with no offence to anyone it was a boring affair. Girls running in a pack wherever the ball went and shooting wherever they felt like and some running aimlessly around the ground. For many years after that I was not in touch with women's football may be I watched a few games of the world cup thats it. Next chance came when I was working with Zee Sports in 2009-10 I gu...

That sandy Polo ground had a charm of its own. Probably even during that time its official name was Paljor Stadium but very few people used it back then. Polo ground was what people liked calling it. The ground had those wooden galleries and that kuna ko dhara. Which quenched the thirst of many footballers. Plastic mineral water bottles was not much in fashion then "Ghopto paryo haath thapyo pani ghut ghut paryo" . We used to play all day long wit h dunga ko post, feeling as if we were Chinday Ronaldo or Micheal Owen. Sometimes even managing a commentary like "Ronaldo with the ball....." and falling down. After the game listening to the senior dajus speak and pull each others legs was always fun. Football was everything to us then we needed nothing else. Later the digging started and Polo Ground was slowly forgotten and Paljor Stadium became that ultra modern facility. It was a welcome change.Gangtok had finally got a state of the art football arena. But I am...

I just watched the Highlights of India vs Bangladesh match and felt a bit disappointed.I had almost given up writing about Indian Football but here as a fan have penned down some lines. I also remembered my dad telling me "Keep writing even if nobody reads it" and also with these lines from Evita with slight editing Chamling started clicking his old laptop "Don't cry for me Indian Footbal The truth is I never left you All through my wild days My mad existence I kept my promise Don't keep your distance" I thought it would have been a cake walk for India in the present form but the match ended in a 1-1 draw. They say sometimes its hard to play at home with all the expectations, may be that came true for India on Tuesday playing in front of a vociferous home crowd at the Iconic Salt Lake Stadium. By watching the Highlights I will not like to comment on the technical aspects and also I have always believed in leaving that to the experts of the game. But ...

Its been a so long, so many years have passed and my memory might fail me but when I think hard what I remember is the 1990 World Cup when West Germany and Argentina had reached the finals, this was I guess the start of my love affair with football, because before that I don't remember much. In the later years all those talk with my father and grandfather about football also had an impact on me along with that atmosphere in school and my bunch of friends who were all crazy about the game. I was in Kalimpong then spending my summer holidays at my aunt’s place, the town was gripped with football fever like it happens every four years during the World Cup. I remember my Uncle who was a die hard Argentina fan praying before the matches in front of Maradona’s poster. Color television had just entered the households in the hills and my uncle had that classic TV cased in plywood with sliding doors! I remember before the Final match betting Rs 5 against my sister on West ...

Football is played and loved all across the world. Every place we go we are bound to meet those crazy football fans. For them football is everything. This beautiful game would not have been the same without the fans. Its always boring to play in an empty stadium. Along with the fans many other set of people have made football into the most popular game in the world. To list them out- its the players themselves, coaches, support staffs,media and officials. This is what came to my mind at this ungodly hour when I am writing this piece. Most of the football officials work behind the scenes and remain very low profile, but their contribution is immense. Without them a team cannot run smoothly. I have over the years come across many such individuals who love the game so much that they have dedicated their lives to it. One such individual is Arjun Rai, the ever smiling Senior Manager of United Sikkim FC. Arjun has been in football for more than three decades now, first as a player ...