Crowdless Football in Dhaka Stadium!
Till the last day of the eighties, every match of the Senior Division Football League drew huge crowds in the Dhaka Stadium (now Bangabandhu National Stadium). Soccer fans fought for tickets, failing which they waited outside the stadium for results. Sometimes mild clashes between the supporters of the rival teams invited Police intervention to restore law and order. There were also waves of joys, romance, nervousness, tension, fear and firm swearword to come back.
Mohammedan SC, Dhaka Wanderers Club and Abahani KC were the most popular clubs during those days. There were appeals for Brothers Union, Rahamatganj MFS, Wari AC, East End Club, Victoria SC and Farashganj SC.
I remember that day in 1985 when Brothers Union missed their first league title due to a wrong decision of the team coach on replacement of players. At interval, the BU were leading 2-0 against Abahani KC. But after the interval, the team from Dhanmondi scored three goals one after another and thereby added another title to their fleet. The joys of the supporters of Abahani KC knew no bounds. On the other hand, the supporters of the team from Gopibagh left the stadium weeping and wailing. The good news was that there was no clash, nor even light chasing. Fans took the result sportingly.
This was football of those days. People loved football, watched every league match. We think that suspension of the Aga Khan Gold Cup Football Tournament on the plea of fund crisis damaged soccer’s future in this country in terms of popularity.
We think that the BFF should make an in-depth analysis of the field environments of the past as well as of the current days and initiate corrective measures to bring the crowds back in the stadium.
It is needed to save football as the popular game.
Khurshida Haque
Dhaka
