Arun Ghosh

Arun Ghosh (born 7 July 1941) is a former Indian football player who represented India internationally.

He also played club football for both the Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan and East Bengal Club.

He later managed the India national team.

This was in 1954 or 1955.

One day, one of my school friends named Tota had a trial in Howrah Union, then in the second division of Kolkata League.

At that time I was very fit and strong and Dashu Mitra was impressed with my physique.

He asked me if I played football.

Hearing that I did, he asked me to come to practice the following day.

Initially we were given the job of ball boys but Howrah Union eventually became my first club.

Ghosh represented Bengal in Santosh Trophy, and played club football for then Calcutta Football League side East Bengal.

He was part of the team that played in the 1960 Rome Olympics under coaching of Syed Abdul Rahim.

He shifted to the "red and gold brigade" after playing for Mohun Bagan in the early 1960s.

He was also a member of the squad that won gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games Football Championship in 1962.

He also played in the final, where India defeated South Korea 2–1.

When I was young, I used to play both badminton and football well.

At that time, we did it, have proper grounds to play badminton so we used to organize matches with friends during evenings and football, I used to play at a local club.

He later appeared in 1964 Merdeka Cup, where they achieved second place.

In the same year, he went on to represent his nation at the 1964 AFC Asian Cup, where they also finished as runners-up as Israel clinched the title.

In 1974, Ghosh went on to became coach of the India U-20 team along with Syed Abdus Salam, ahead of the 1974 AFC Youth Championship in Thailand.

After a brief training camp in Patiala, his team participated in the tournament and reached the final.

A 2–2 scoreline against Iran-20 insured that both the teams shared the trophy.

Under his coaching, India U-20 team achieved their first ever continental title, in which Shabbir Ali scored five goals.

Ghosh also served as director of Tata Football Academy in Jamshedpur from 1997 to 2003.

India

India U20

East Bengal

Mohun Bagan

Bibliography

Others