Bangalore Muslims Football Club, is a professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka, the club emerged as one of the strongest football teams in British India during the 1930s, and 1940s, continuing the same success after partition. The club is also credited with contributing to majority of Bangalore talent Pre-partition.

History

Emergence (1930s)

The Bangalore Muslims football club emerged in the early 1930s, where they would participate in several local tournaments and fixtures.

In 1937, Bangalore Muslims enrolled into the 41st edition of the Rovers Cup, the team would face several tough opponents, but would ultimately defeat every one of them until they reached the final, where they played against another power-house, Mohammedan Sporting, the final took place on 31st August 1937, the match saw fast play of the Bangalore players, with Laxminarayan scoring the winning goal in the 18th minute of the final. This achievement led the club to become the first Indian club to win Rovers Cup, the second oldest football tournament in India, Due to this performance, several players, such as Masoom, Saboo, Habib, Rahmat, Abdus Sattar, etc, from the club, were bought by Mohammedan Sporting later on.

The following year, the club again regained the championship, being defending champions of the tournament, winning back-to-back titles, becoming the first civilian team to defeat a British regimental side in the final. In that edition, they defeated the Argyll and Scottish Highlanders by 3–2.

Continuity (1940s)

In 1941, the club clinched Stafford Challenge Cup title, the final played on 24th May, saw an exciting amount of play, players Decruz, and Lakshman, scored for the club, and became first Indian club to do so.

The club also had the services of players such as, Ahmed Khan, Mohammad Abdus Sattar, Mariappa Kempaiah, etc. It was Bangalore Muslims that challenged the hegemony of Hyderabad City Police achieving success continuously as a non-Kolkata club.

Decline (1960s)

In the 1960s, the trust that ran the team sold its share of the club to Mumtaz Ali Khan whose trust, the Al-Ameen trust took over the club. During the 1960s and 70s, domestic football in Bangalore was dominated by the PSU teams such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), Electronic Radar Development Establishment (ERDE) and thus drew over the talent from the rest of the clubs. This led to the decline of the football clubs in Bangalore, which also affected Bangalore Muslims.

Later years

The team continues to exist in the lower divisions of the Bangalore Football League. It participates in the Bangalore District Football Association C Division Championship. The Al-Ameen college football team also participates as the Bangalore Muslims team.

Honours

See also

Further reading

Bibliography

  • Majumdar, Boria; Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). . Routledge. ISBN 9780415348355. Archived from on 29 June 2021.
  • Basu, Jaydeep (2003). . UBS Publishers' Distributors. ISBN 9788174764546. Archived from on 11 October 2022.
  • Shreekumar, S. S. (15 August 2020). . HSRA Publications. p. 244. ISBN 9788194721697. Archived from on 4 February 2023.

Others

  • Sarkar, Dhiman (25 March 2018). . hindustantimes.com. Kolkata: Hindustan Times. Archived from on 6 January 2022.
  • Ghoshal, Amoy (23 November 2016). . sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from on 24 June 2021.