KOLKATA: Ranjan Chowdhury is back to take charge of Bengal for the upcoming Santosh Trophy.
Chowdhury is currently employed as coach of Bhawanipore FC, who have made it to the Super Six stage of the ongoing CFL Premier Division.
The coaches' committee of the Indian Football Association went through a number of applications before settling on Choudhury. Unlike previous years, when the IFA committee would select a coach, the game's governing body in the state has instead sought applications from potential candidates for the post of Bengal coach this time around.
According to the IFA's criteria, a potential candidate must be 'A' license holder and should have the experience of coaching for at least five years.
Choudhury managed Bengal in the 2018 edition of the tournament in which they lost to Kerala in the final via a penalty shootout. He would replace Biswajit Bhattacharya in the post and is tasked with the challenge of reclaiming glory for the first time since 2016-2017.
"Many have applied for the post and their names have come up for discussion. But Ranjan has been doing extremely well as a coach for the past few years and we believe the right man has been picked for the job," said former India defender Manoranjan Bhattacharya, who is also the chairman of the IFA coaches' committee.
The Santosh Trophy qualifying campaign will comment in Amritsar next month.
The IFA also announced on Monday that the state women's football league for the Kanyashree Cup will begin on October 5.
Sixteen teams will take part in it this year.
