KOLKATA: Former East Bengal captain Chandan Banerjee passed away in the early hours of Thursday, following prolonged illness. He was 88.
Banerjee, who had been suffering from cancer, was admitted to a city hospital where he breathed his last at around 3am, according to the club and family sources.
Having started his playing career in the mid-1950s, Banerjee — who was a defender — joined East Bengal in 1963 and was made the team’s captain three years later.
His captaincy in 1966 was significantly marked by East Bengal’s march to the CFL crown, ending Mohun Bagan’s four-year rule in the local football league.
“I was new at East Bengal at the time, but Chandan-da guided and inspired me throughout the season,” legendary striker Shyam Thapa, who was a member of East Bengal’s 1966 team, recalled.
“I can still remember an incident during that season in 1966 when I scored a hat-trick and he lifted me in the air. It was a huge recognition for a youngster from his captain and he always stayed around me like a guide. I’ve lost the first guardian of my playing career,” Thapa added.
Many former players such as Mihir Bose, Bhaskar Ganguly, Biswajit Bhattacharya and Sumit Mukherjee paid tributes to him when his body was brought to the club tent in the afternoon.
Former East Bengal captain and India defender Manoranjan Bhattacharya echoed the sentiment. "Chandan-da was such an inspiration for players like me. I always got myself motivated by hearing of the struggles of players of the older generation and how they had overcome those challenges. His story was always an inspiration for me," Bhattacharya said.
East Bengal club conferred the lifetime achievement award on Banerjee in 2015.
