Ghoti-Bangal face-off at London football match

KOLKATA: Kolkata Maidan may be missing its favourite sport, but the Ghoti-Bangal football battle cry resonated through London this Independence Day, when the Bengali diaspora had its fan football tournament at the Slough Town FC ground. IFA (Indian Fans Alliance) Shield UK, which took a Covid break last year, featured three games between Covid warriors and survivors, one for women, and the iconic East Bengal-Mohon Bagan derby.
The day-long football extravaganza also sported a delectable spread of illish and chingri delicacies. “Kolkata Maidan’s century-old friendly enmity between the two giants of Calcutta Football League brings out the quintessential Bengaliness not only in the City of Joy but also the UK,” quipped Londoner Anirban Mukhopadhyay, a die-hard East-Bengal fan, who conceived the idea in 2018.
“Yesterday’s match also celebrated 100 years of derby,” said Subhadeep Bose, member, organizing committee.
Bhaskar Bhattacharyya, who helped get the FA accreditation, said, “It was heartening to see Bengalis from different walks of life united by the spirit of football, just when the game seems swept over by consumerism.”
Along with the UK Bengalis, Subhojit Ghosh Choudhury of Belghoria, Debashis Ghosh from Jadavpur and Kumartuli artisan Kaushik Ghosh, who designed the shields, were involved in the event. The men’s final saw Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal 3-1 to bag the shield, a replica of Kolkata’s IFA Shield. Virendra Sharma, MP, Ealing Southall, and chairman, Indo-British Parliamentary Group, gave away the trophies. The eves’ trophy was christened after Lakshmi Chopra, mother of Kolkata-based businessman Pradip Chopra, director, Heritage Bengal Foundation, the non-profit organization which supported the event along with Pointers Business Forum.