The footballing past in the bustling paths: the museumization of topophilia at the seedbed of the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club in North Kolkata

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to examine a kind of open-air museumization of topophilic aspects of football in the birthplace of the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club in North Kolkata, West Bengal, India. While dealing with some graffiti, memorial plaques, and relief sculptures implanted in some public lanes of the Bagbazar-Sovabazar-Shyambazar area, it explores a sports-landscape bonding, which becomes instrumental for reminiscing, representing, and interpreting the heritage of an age-old football club during the new millennium. In doing so, this paper not only differs from the extant scholarships, which perceive museumizing of football only within the narrow premises of modern museums but also postulates that museumization of sports in an urban public space does not always get swayed by the for-profit model.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. North Kolkata is a heterogeneous urban space that is dominated by a number of narrow lanes and hundreds of old buildings, bazaars, shops, and shrines.

2. The words “path”, “lane”, and “street” are used interchangeably throughout this paper to simply denote an urban public space on which various sociocultural activities are practiced, shaped, and sustained. However, this paper is completely aware about the notion of “streets in motion”, which presents more nuanced understanding of the production of urban space in colonial and post-colonial periods through the life of the streets. See Bandyopadhyay, Streets in Motion.

3. The designation “home” is imparted here to indicate the Bagbazar-Sovabazar-Shyambazar area of North Kolkata as a cultural geographical setting from which the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club once originated, flourished, and succeeded. For the denotation of a place as the ‘home’ of a particular sport or team, see Wilson, ‘Homes of Sports’.

4. My application of the word “community” is quite akin to John Bale’s understanding of urban football community “ … in which the club is located, after which it is invariably named, and which the club can be said to ‘represent’”. See Bale, ‘The Changing Face’. The term mohunbagani is used here to signify a football community, which is deeply connected with the cultural heritage of the MBAC. The term is popularized by words of mouth of zillions of supporters of the Club, who feel delighted to be called themselves as mohunbaganis.

5. It is difficult to cite huge literature on the material culture of football museums. For some recent discussions, see Brabazon, Playing on the Periphery, 41–71; de Pablo and Walton, ‘Culture, Commerce, Capitalism’; Johnes and Mason, ‘Soccer, Public History’; Moore, ‘Sports Heritage’; idem, ‘Football and Museums’; idem, ‘Triumph in Austerity’; Yang, ‘Football Meseums’. For the classification of “formal” and “informal” sports museums, see Phillips, ‘Introduction’.

6. For example, see de Pablo and Walton, ‘Culture, Commerce, Capitalism’; Ramshaw, Gammon, and Tobar. ‘Negotiating the Cultural’, Triet, ‘A Sports Museum’.

7. See Bandyopadhyay, Khela Jakhan Itihas, 22–36; idem, Playing for Freedom, 19–47; idem, Scoring Off the Field, 19–56; idem, 1911, 5–23; Majumdar and Bandyopadhyay, Goalless, 9–31.

8. See Tuan, Topophilia.

9. Ibid, 4.

10. Ibid, 247.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid, 93.

13. Bale, Sport, Space and the City, 64.

14. See Tuan, Landscapes of Fear.

15. See, for example, Bale, ‘Space, Place and Body Culture’.

16. See, for instance, Bale, Sport, Space and the City; idem, Landscapes of Modern Sport, 120–147; Bandyopadhyay, ‘In Search of a Football Ground’, Edgar, ‘Football and the Poetics of Space’, Giuliantti, Football; idem, Sport, 121–137; Gordon, ‘Emotion and Memory in Nostalgia Sport Tourism’, Hughson, ‘Sport in the ‘City of Culture’.

17. Bale, Landscapes of Modern Sport, 121.

18. Ibid.

19. Bale, ‘The Place of “Place”’, 513.

20. Giuliantti, Football, 69.

21. Ibid.

22. Bale, Sport, Space and the City, 64.

23. Haldar, ‘Astitwer Abichchhedya’, 32. My translation. Parenthesizes added.

24. Chattopadhyay, ‘Mohun Bagan-East Bengal’, 54. My translation. Parenthesis added.

25. Also see, Chatterjee and Chatterjee, ‘Bharatbarsha Anek Pichhiye’, 92.

26. Anon, Mohun Bagan Club Platinum Jubilee Souvenir, 1–5; Arbi, Arbi Rachita Kolkatar Football, 113–114; Bhattacharya, Mohun Bagan Cluber Itihas, 3; Chattopadhyay, ‘History of Mohun Bagan: The Beginning’, Mukhopadhyay, Sonay Lekha Itihase Mohun Bagan, 19–20.

27. Bandyopadhyay, Playing for Freedom, 41.

28. Arbi, Arbi Rachita Kolkatar Football, 113; Mukhopadhyay, Sonay Lekha Itihase Mohun Bagan, 20.

29. See Bandyopadhyay, Playing for Freedom, 41.

30. See, for details, Arbi, Arbi Rachita Kolkatar Football, 101–104; Bandyopadhyay, Scoring Off the Field, 26–42. For the British creation of the stereotype of effeminate and nonmartial Bengalis, see Sinha, Colonial Masculinity.

31. Bandyopadhyay, Playing for Freedom, 35.

32. Mukherjee, ‘Tin Paribarer’.

33. Arbi, Arbi Rachita Kolkatar Football, 114; Chattopadhyay, ‘History of Mohun Bagan: The Beginning’, Mukhopadhyay, Sonay Lekha Itihase Mohun Bagan, 20.

34. Bandyopadhyay, Playing for Freedom, 42.

35. Anon, Mohun Bagan Club Platinum Jubilee Souvenir, 5; Arbi, Arbi Rachita Kolkatar Football, 114; Bhattacharya, Mohun Bagan Cluber Itihas, 4; Chattopadhyay, ‘History of Mohun Bagan: The Beginning’, Mukhopadhyay, Sonay Lekha Itihase Mohun Bagan, 22.

36. Anon, Mohun Bagan Club Platinum Jubilee Souvenir, 5; Arbi, Arbi Rachita Kolkatar Football, 114; Bhattacharya, Mohun Bagan Cluber Itihas, 4–7; Chattopadhyay, ‘History of Mohun Bagan: The Beginning’, Mukhopadhyay, Sonay Lekha Itihase Mohun Bagan, 22–25.

37. The emblem of the MBAC is made of an impressive image of a sailing boat, symbolizing the rich history of Bengali people as good sailors and fishers. Following this, the patrons, players, and supporters of the Club feel proud of denominating themselves as the ‘mariners’.

38. See, for instance, Chowdhury, ‘Mohun Bagan Villa’.

39. For a reminiscence of the house of the Sens, see Mitra, ‘Ami Mohunbaganer’.

40. Aside from the houses of the Sens and the Basus, the Mitra Bati, the house of the Mitras at 103/A, Bidhan Sarani in Shyambazar, was also museumized by erecting a marble plaque at the entrance of the house. Although the Mitra Bati is locally well-known as the second office of the MBAC, currently neither the plaque is found in its place, nor the house is in the state of display.

41. Mitra, ‘Mohun Bagan’, 51. My translation.

42. I have borrowed the concept “canonization” from McGuinness, ‘The Canonisation of Common’.

43. For sociocultural indigenization of football in colonial Bengal, See Bandyopadhyay, Playing for Freedom, 44–47; idem, Scoring Off the Field, 53–56; Majumdar and Bandyopadhyay, Goalless, 27–30.

44. Anon, Mohun Bagan Club Platinum Jubilee Souvenir, 10–15; Arbi, Arbi Rachita Kolkatar Football, 115; Bandyopadhyay, Khela Jakhan Itihas, 39–40; idem, Playing for Freedom, 50–52; idem, Scoring Off the Field, 64–65; idem, 1911, 16–22; Bhattacharya, Mohun Bagan Cluber Itihas, 6–10; Biswas, ‘Footballe Mohunbagan’, 277; Chattopadhyay, ‘History of Mohun Bagan: The Beginning’; Mukhopadhyay, Sonay Lekha Itihase Mohun Bagan, 25–31.

45. Bandyopadhyay, Playing for Freedom, 50–52; idem, Scoring Off the Field, 65–66.

46. Majumdar and Bandyopadhyay, Goalless, 30–31.

47. For a detail description of the Club’s entire venture to win the IFA Shield, see Anon., Mohun Bagan Club Platinum Jubilee Souvenir, 15–17; Arbi, Arbi Rachita Kolkatar Football, 117–122; Bandyopadhyay, 1911, 24–34; Mukhopadhyay, Sonay Lekha Itihase Mohun Bagan, 32–39; Nandi, Mohun Bagan 1911, 17–119.

48. For a brief biography of these players, see Bandyopadhyay, 1911, 135–141; Kumar, ‘1911-R Juddhe’, 129–142; Nandi, Mohun Bagan 1911, 158–171. Sudhir Chatterjee was the only player who played with boots in the tournament.

49. Bandyopadhyay, Khela Jakhan Itihas, 37–72; idem, Playing for Freedom, 85–94; idem, Scoring Off the Field, 73–91; idem, 1911, 54–73; Majumdar and Bandyopadhyay, Goalless, 32–50.

50. See various chapters in Bandyopadhyay, Khela Jakhan Itihas; idem, Playing for Freedom; idem, Scoring Off the Field; and idem, 1911.

51. Bandyopadhyay, ‘1911 in Retrospect’, 378.

52. See Sen, ‘Wiping the Stain’.

53. See, for example, Banerjee, ‘Explained’; Mohun Bagan Day – History.

54. See, for example, Mohun Bagan Day Celebration on 29.07.2019; Mohun Bagan Day׀Mohun Bagan Club׀׀29th July.

55. See Mohun Bagan 100 Years IFA Shield Win Rally׀׀Atin Ghosh.

56. See Mohun Bagan Day 2020 Celebration; Mohun Bagan Day Celebration; Mohun Bagan Day Celebrated at Club Premises.

57. For details, see Saha, ‘Bipra-Kutirer’.

58. My translation.

59. De, ‘Sidhu Jyathar’, 19. My translation. Parenthesis added.

60. Bale, Landscapes of Modern Sport, 134.

61. See, for instance, de Pablo and Walton, ‘Culture, Commerce, Capitalism’; Ramshaw, Gammon, and Tobar. ‘Negotiating the Cultural’; Triet, ‘A Sports Museum’.