Kolkata: Mohammedan Sporting on Monday, went through to the final on of the Durand Cup after a gap of eight years beating FC Bengaluru United 4-2 in a thriller match. The home crowd also played their part as well appearing in number to support their beloved club.
However, amidst the excitement and intensity of the game, the one thing that everyone’s attention was the presence of a banner of a certain East Bengal club. Among all the supporters of Mohammedan who had their traditional banners of black and white, it was not hard to recognize the Red and Yellow one between them.
Traditionally though, Mohammedan Sporting serves as one of three giants of football apart from East Bengal and Mohun Bagan(currently ATK Mohun Bagan) not just in Kolkata but in all-over the nation. Despite that, quite a few number of East Bengal fans quite unusually travelled to the stadium in support of Mohammedan Sporting.
As per reports, After East Bengal’s absence in the tournament, The Red and Yellow fans showed their support as they wanted a side from West Bengal to play in the final. This kind of a gesture is quite unusual among footballing fraternity.
Historically, the Durand Cup, the oldest running tournament in the country was always dominated by the famous trident of Kolkata. Despite, not traditionally serving as domestic league or cup, the tournament itself was a quite a big fixture for clubs from Bengal in the golden era of 60’s to 80’s as a powerhouse of Indian football. However, over the course of the last few decade, their dominance started to tame as club from other regions of nations started to pick the tournament quite seriously.
However, the Black Panther can bring the glory back to the football crazy city as they gear up for the final playing either of Bengaluru FC and FC Goa on Sunday (October 3).
