Mohammedan Sporting Club (SC) are no strangers to making history. The first Indian club to win the Calcutta Football League (in 1933) as well as the first to win a trophy on foreign soil (Aga Khan Gold Cup in 1960), Mohammedan SC are now playing in their first-ever season in the Indian Super League (ISL). After clinching the I-League title last term, the Black Panthers are one of three Kolkata clubs to be involved in Indian football’s top division in 2024-25, alongside familiar rivals in the form of Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal.
But it has been a baptism by fire so far for Mohammedan in the big time. At the time of writing, they are languishing in 10th (out of 13 teams) on the ISL table, with just four points from four games. In their first Kolkata derby in the ISL, they were beaten 3-0 by Mohun Bagan, with their skipper Samad Ali Mallick only seeing 23 minutes of playing time off the bench. However, there is no need to press the panic button for Mohammedan and their Russian manager Andrey Chernyshov. For Mohammedan have a plan. And a process in place. My Kolkata got a glimpse of both while speaking to Mallick and Dipak Kumar Singh, co-owner and director of the club and founder-chairperson at BunkerHill Sports, at the Salt Lake stadium.
‘We want to play an interesting brand of football and revive our fanbase’
Dipak Kumar Singh (second from left) shared his thoughts on the long-term journey of Mohammedan Mohammedan SC
“We have a vision and a well-knit group. Eight of our players have been with us over the past two years. Our coach, who has been with us for three years now, has been given the time he needs to build something meaningful,” said Singh, not someone who believes in flying a plane while making it, unlike many decision-makers at football clubs.
With a bigger budget to play around with after their promotion to the ISL, Mohammedan have made quite a few new signings to bolster their squad. “Our target is to build a sustainable model within a limited budget. The target is to win the league within three years. Mohammedan is a huge club in terms of history and heritage. We used to have a massive following in the ’70s and the ’80s, not just in Kolkata or Bengal, but even in places like Delhi, Hyderabad and Kerala. We want to play an interesting brand of football and revive our fanbase so the current generation can witness the success of Mohammedan that their ancestors had seen,” described Singh.
‘It’s a great feeling to be in the ISL… There’s a buzz around the dressing room’
Samad Ali Mallick marshalling the defence against Mohun Bagan Ashim Paul
Arguably the most crucial piece of the Mohammedan puzzle is their skipper Mallick, a reliable right-back who can fill in as a centre-half and also turn into a wing-back if required. As someone who came through the ranks at East Bengal, the 30-year-old knows what it takes to play under the burden of expectations for a Kolkata giant. Prior to his switch to Mohammedan in the summer of 2022, Mallick plied his trade for Sreenidi Deccan and Punjab FC.
Hailing from Akuni, a village in the Hooghly district, Mallick recollected how his journey began in “our para fields where the elders would tell me that they wanted to see me becoming a big player playing for a big club”. With his rise to prominence, Mallick has inspired dozens of youngsters from his village to take up the game professionally, including many at a local academy for whom the Mohammedan leader is the ultimate inspiration.
Speaking about his and Mohammedan’s ISL debut season, Mallick said: “It’s a great feeling to be in the ISL… There’s a buzz around the dressing room, our coach and support staff have been giving us exactly what we need and getting that first win under the belt against Chennaiyin was an important moment for us.” In most leagues across the world, promoted clubs are usually among the favourites to slide back down. But Mallick is not someone to entertain pessimistic thoughts: “I’ve heard a lot of talk about how nobody expects us to do well. But we know what we are capable of as a group. We have already set our eyes on finishing in the top eight this year. It’s a long season and, hopefully, it’ll be an exciting one.”
Mallick, who started playing football at the age of 14, has been well supported by his family. His brother saw his talent and took him to a camp in Dhakuria where Mallick trained for two to three years: “After developing my game in Dhakuria, I started playing for Bata. Then I moved to Rainbow FC, followed by Uttarpara, where I saw players like Pritam Kotal and Narayan Das. I thought that if such big players could train on such a small ground and play at the highest level, then so can I,” said Mallick.
‘My favourite cheat meal is mutton biryani and chicken chaap’
Mallick rose through the ranks at East Bengal Ashim Paul
In terms of his attributes, Mallick’s power, pace and agility as a defender reminds one of Uruguay and Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo. But Mallick looks closer home when identifying his idol. “For me, it’s Kotal. I have trained with him and seen him from very close quarters. He’s the one I look up to.” Apart from the obvious high of playing in the Kolkata derbies, Mallick is most excited about home and away fixtures against Mumbai City, because “they are a versatile team who will be a good challenge for us”.
Even as Mallick rued not being able to go pandal hopping during Durga Puja due to an intensive training schedule this year, he revealed to My Kolkata that his favourite cheat meal is mutton biryani and chicken chaap. During his downtime, Mallick’s favourite thing to do “is to walk around Eco Park or talk to my kid over the phone.” A family man who understands the pulse of Kolkata, Mallick is keen to make a mark by returning to the starting line-up for Mohammedan in their next ISL face-off, against the Kerala Blasters on October 20. Win that and Mohammedan would have notched up more history — their first triumph on home soil in India’s number one domestic football competition.
