Date of birth 1909 1930–38 Mohun Bagan Date of death 1979 Name Karuna Bhattacharya | Years Team Died 1979 –1930 Aryan | |
Full name Karuna Sankar "Habla" Bhattacharya | ||
Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya was a former footballer who represented and captained Indian national football team and Mohun Bagan. "Karuna Bhattacharya Award" is given to the best player of Mohun Bagan in every season. On 11 July 2015 Mohun Bagan conferred the "Mohun Bagan Ratna" to Karuna Bhattacharya.
Football career
Karuna Sankar (Habla) Bhattacharya represented Mohun Bagan for 9 consecutive seasons from 1930 onwards. He just Mohun Bagan alongside legendary players like Gostha Pal, Umapati Kumar, Dr. Sanmatha Dutta, Bimal Mukherjee, Satu Chowdhury among many others. It may be noted that 1933 to 1939 was a golden period of Mohun Bagan and they won 29 trophies during this time. In that 7 years Mohun Bagan was virtually invincible in derby losing only 1 match that period to a East Bengal. From 1938 onwards, he did play few years in Customs.
After brushing up his football skills under the coaching of Dukhiram (Umesh Chandra) Majumdar, Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya started his football career in Aryan before joining Mohun Bagan in 1930. He scored several important goals in his football career while playing as the right-in in the 2-3-5 formation. He was one of the most vital players in the team when Mohun Bagan won their first ever league title, winning the Calcutta Football League in 1939.
Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya was the Captain of the Indian team that went to Australia in 1938. He was one of the stars during the Australia tour, scoring a brace against Queensland and Australia National Team. He also was part of the Indian team that played against the Olympic team of China in 1936. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with India playing their hearts out.
Karuna Bhattacharya also was part of several Indians vs Europeans football match from 1931 to 1939. During this period, he played against the Europeans in 1932 (5-0), 1933 (2-0), 1935 (5-0), 1937 (1-0), 1938 (0-1), and 1939 (2-2). In this series which was held once a year, Karuna Bhattacharya scored in 1932 (2 goals), 1935 (2 goals), 1939 (1 goal).
He also was part of the IFA XI side that went to a Sri Lanka and South Africa tour in 1933 and 1934 respectively.
IFA XI won 4 matches at Sri Lanka (3-2, 4-1, 1-0, 2-0) while the other match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Out of the 19 games played at South Africa, IFA XI won 18 (6-0, 6-1, 6-1, 2-0, 2-0, 7-1, 9-0, 6-1, 3-1, 4-1, 6-1, 8-1, 1-0, 2-1, 4-1, 2-0, 2-0, 5-0) and lost just 1 match (1-3).
Under the captaincy of Karuna Bhattacharya, Indian team played 15 games, out of which they won 6 (6-1, 5-2, 5-2, 4-1, 6-4, 3-1), drew 2 (4-4, 3-3) and lost 7 matches (2-4, 4-6, 1-2, 3-5, 4-5, 4-6, 1-5).
After retiring from football, he became the Football Secretary of Mohun Bagan in 1955 and 1961 and also worked as the Tennis Secretary in 1954. He also was the Manager of the green and maroon brigade in several tournaments including tour of Indonesia in 1956, tour of East Africa in 1961 and tour of Sri Lanka in 1968.