Sailen Manna

Sailendra Nath Manna (Bengali: শৈলেন মান্না; 1 September 1924 – 27 February 2012), known popularly as Sailen Manna,^[2][3] was an Indian football player who represented the India national team between 1948 and 1956.^[4] Predominantly played as a left-back,^[5] Manna is considered as one of the best defenders the country has ever produced.^[6][7] He has represented and captained India in different international competitions, including the Olympics^[8][9] and Asian Games.^[10]

Sailen Manna

Manna (right) being felicitated by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (left), 2006
Personal information
Full name	Sailendra Nath Manna
Date of birth	(1924-09-01)1 September 1924
Place of birth	Howrah, Bengal Presidency, British India
Date of death	27 February 2012(2012-02-27) (aged 87)
Place of death	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1940–1942	Howrah Union
1942–1960	Mohun Bagan
International career
1948–1956^[1]	India	14
Managerial career
1961	India
1968	India
Honours Men's football Representing  India Asian Games 1951 New Delhi Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He also has represented Mohun Bagan in club football,^[11][12] one of the oldest clubs in India,^[13] for a continuous period of 19 years.^[14] Manna was the only Asian footballer to be named among the ten best Captains in the world by the English FA in 1953.^[15]

Education

Manna graduated from the Surendranath College, an affiliated college of the University of Calcutta. He worked for the Geological Survey of India.^[16]

Club career

Manna started his playing career with Howrah Union, then a club in the second Division of the Kolkata Football League, in 1940.^[14][17] After turning out for the club for a couple of seasons, he joined Mohun Bagan in 1942 and continued playing for the club till his retirement in 1960.^[18] Between 1950 and 1955, he featured as the club's captain.^[14] During his 19-year association with the club as player, he reportedly earned only ₹19.^[19] Speaking to Sportstar in 2006, he reasoned that he "played out of love for the sport and was happy with the salary I got from my employer, the Geological Survey of India."^[20]

As a defender, Manna was known for his anticipation, covering and a strong free kick.^[19] He also represented Bengal football team in Santosh Trophy and played alongside Sheoo Mewalal,^[21] winning the tournament in 1953–54 season defeating Mysore 3–1 in final.^[21] He was also part of Bengal's multiple Santosh Trophy wins under coaching of Balaidas Chatterjee.^[22]

International career

Manna was part of the India national team managed by Balaidas Chatterjee^[23][24] that participated at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.^[25][26] He went to Europe with the national team in July to play preparatory matches against English teams like Pinner F.C., Hayes F.C. and Alexandra Park FC before the main tournament.^[27][28][29] In the Olympics, their first match was against Burma, and it was a walkover. Then, they played their one and only match against France, and was defeated by a margin of 1–2 with Indian goal coming from Sarangapani Raman.^[30][31][32] Manna played in the tournament in bare feet; their bravery earned admiration of Princess Margaret of England.^[33][34] With India, he later went on to play few friendly matches with captain Talimeren Ao in their Nederlands tour, where they went down to Sparta Rotterdam but won 5–1 against Ajax Amsterdam.^[35][36][37]

Under his captaincy, India won the gold medal in the 1951 Asian Games,^[38] and also won the Quadrangular Tournament for four consecutive years from 1952 to 1956.^{[39][40][41][14]} In 1953, the England Football Association rated him among the ten best skippers of the world in its yearbook.^[15] Manna was also the captain of the Syed Abdul Rahim managed Indian team in 1952 Helsinki Olympics^[42] and a member of the 1954 Asian Games.^[43] The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki was not suitable for his team as they tasted a defeat of 10–1 to Yugoslavia.^[44][45]

Manna used to keep a picture of the Hindu deity Kali, tucked away in his pocket. Two of his greatest regrets in life are missing the first penalty kick against France in the London Olympics, and turning down the chance of taking the second penalty because he was afraid of missing again, and India had not gone to the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil,^[46][47][48] with him as captain, because the Indian Football Federation had not realized its importance.^[49][50]

He hung up his boots on 27 August 1960 after playing in India's international charity match against Indonesia in New Delhi.^[51]

Managerial career

After retiring from football, Manna went on to become head coach of India at the 1961 Merdeka Cup in Malaysia,^[52] in which he guided some of India's notable players like Jarnail Singh,^[53] P. K. Banerjee,^[54] Peter Thangaraj and Tulsidas Balaram. He also managed the national team in 1968 Merdeka Cup.^[55] He later became team official of Mohun Bagan and went with Karuna Bhattacharya managed team to newly independent Bangladesh in May 1972, where they defeated Dhaka Mohammedan in first match, but lost to Shadhin Bangla football team in their last match.^[56]

Death

After being unwell for quite some time, Manna died at a private hospital in Kolkata on Monday, 27 February 2012. He was 87 years old and was survived by his wife and daughter.^[57]

Legacy

I have no hesitation in calling him one of the best footballers of the country. He was definitely an accomplished player and also endeared everyone with his great human qualities.

— Samar Banerjee, former Indian captain and Olympian, on Manna in March 2012.^[58]

Mohun Bagan Athletic Club began giving the "Sailen Manna Memorial Award for best sportsperson" in memory of him.^[59][60]

"He was a great defender, with one of the best tackles in business. His man-marking was perfect and it was a tough task for any striker to go past him."

"Manna da never retaliated and remained a perfect gentleman. He was never booked during his very long career!"

—former Indian captains S. S. Narayan & Samar Banerjee remarked on Manna's flawless career.^[61]

 

Pavilion of Sailen Manna Stadium in Howrah

In 2013, Howrah Municipal Corporation Stadium, which was one of the venues of the 2006 AFC Youth Championship, was renamed as Sailen Manna Stadium by the HMC in honour of him.^[62][63] In March 2020, Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee announced the renaming of Dumurjola Indoor Stadium as Sailen Manna Indoor Stadium.^[64][65]

Honours

India

• Asian Games Gold medal: 1951^[66]
• Colombo Cup: 1952, 1953, 1954^[67]

Mohun Bagan^[68]

• CFL 1st Division: 1944, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
• Durand Cup: 1953,^[69] 1953, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965
• IFA Shield: 1947, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1961, 1962
• Rovers Cup: 1955, 1956

Bengal^[68]

• Santosh Trophy: 1945–46, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1962–63

Individual

1. Included in the list of the 10 best Captains of the world by English FA in 1953.^[15]
2. Awarded the   Padma Shri in 1971 by the Government of India.^[14][70]
3. Awarded the "Footballer of the Millennium" by All India Football Federation in 2000.^[71]
4. Awarded "Mohun Bagan Ratna" in 2001.^[72][73]
5. Awarded Banga Bibhushan in 2011 by the Government of West Bengal^[74]

See also

•  India portal
•  Biography portal
•  Association football portal

• History of Indian football
• List of India national football team managers
• History of the India national football team
• List of India national football team captains
• India national football team at the Olympics

References

1. Kapadia, Novy. . Mohun Bagan Gorbo. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
2. . 123india.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
3. Chakraborty, Debojyoti (29 August 2017). . www.goaldentimes.org. Goalden Times. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
4. "Quadrangular Football: India's Win". The Indian Express. Rangoon, Burma. 25 October 1953. p. 9. from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
5. Nag, Utathya (31 January 2022). . olympics.com. The Olympics. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
6. Calcuttaweb - Sports Personality : Sailen Manna 21 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
7. Top 10 Bengali footballers in the history of Indian football 12 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Khel Now. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
8. Hassan, Mehedi (1 August 2018). . www.prothomalo.com (in Bengali). Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
9. Nag, Utathya (3 February 2022). . olympics.com. The Olympics. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
10. . NDTV. 23 April 2011. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
11. Kapadia, Novy (7 June 2015). . indianexpress.com. The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
12. . Kolkata: Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. 2014. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
13. Sengupta, Somnath (4 July 2011). . thehardtackle.com. Kolkata: The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
14. . www.kolkatafootball.com. Kolkata Football. 14 September 2008. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
15. Patronobish, S; Das Sharma, Amitabha (15 April 2006). . hinduonnet.com. Sportstar. The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007.
16. "Sailen Manna". The Economist. 17 March 2012. from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
17. Chaudhuri, Arunava. . indianfootball.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
18. . www.goal.com. Goal. 7 October 2008. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
19. Harmony Archived 15 August 2007 at archive.today
20. "India's greatest footballer". Sportstar. April 2006. from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
21. Kapadia, Novy (27 May 2012). . www.sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
22. . www.mohunbaganac.com. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. 26 July 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
23. . Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
24. . themohunbaganac.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
25. "Sailen Manna". Olympedia. from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
26. Basu, Jaydeep (29 March 2022). "Indian football: Of captains and controversies". scroll.in. Scroll.in. from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
27. Dutta, Anindya. . sportstar.thehindu.com. The Hindu. Archived from the original on 18 September 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
28. Morrison, Neil. . RSSSF. Archived from the original on 10 March 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
29. Daniel, Chris Punnukattu. . blog.cpdfootball.de. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
30. . FIFA. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
31. . Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
32. Majumdar, Rounak (22 April 2019). . www.chaseyoursport.com. Kolkata: Chase Your Sport. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
33. . FIFA. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
34. Amitabh, Sharma (15 April 2006). . sportstarlive.com. The Hindu. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
35. . www.john-woodbridge.com. John Woodbridge & Sons Makers Ltd. 21 November 2019. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
36. Majumdar, Boria, Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (1 February 2006). . New Delhi: Penguin India. ISBN 9780670058747. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022.
37. Rahim (24 May 2020). . theawayend.co. Flying Goalie. The Away End. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
38. Media Team, AIFF (15 August 2022). . www.the-aiff.com. New Delhi: All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
39. . The Indian Express. Rangoon, Burma. 25 October 1953. p. 9. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
40. Morrison, Neil (1999). . rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022.
41. Chaudhuri, Arunava (2000). . indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
42. . sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
43. Sengupta, Somnath (13 July 2011). . thehardtackle.com. Kolkata: The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
44. Chaudhuri, Arunava. . indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
45. . FIFA. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
46. Kapadia, Novy (2 July 2013). . SportsKeeda. Archived from the original on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
47. "Were India Banned From World Cup 1950 For Wanting To Play Barefoot?". Peter Jones. World Football Index. 11 July 2018. from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
48. . twelfthman blog. 25 November 2019. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
49. Kapadia, Novy. . The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
50. Cronin, Brian (19 July 2011). . latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
51. Mukherjee, Soham (30 April 2020). . www.goal.com. Goal. Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
52. Chaudhuri, Arunava (2003). . indiafootball.de. IndiaFootball. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
53. . www.sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
54. Amitabha Das Sharma (20 March 2020). . The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
55. Chaudhuri, Aunava (2003). . indiafootball.de. IndiaFootball. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
56. Alam, Masud (19 April 2022). [Mohun Bagan came to Dhaka with love for 7 crore people]. www.prothomalo.com (in Bengali). Dhaka, Bangladesh: The Daily Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
57. Manna, Sailen; Press Trust of India. . Tribute to Sailen Manna. NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
58. Das Sharma, Amitabha (15 March 2012). . sportstar.thehindu.com. Kolkata, West Bengal: Sportstar. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
59. . www.business-standard.com. Kolkata: Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 29 July 2013. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
60. "Balaidas Chatterjee posthumously awarded Mohun Bagan Ratna". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Kolkata: The Times of India. Press Trust of India. 29 July 2013. from the original on 14 April 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
61. . sankalpindia.net. Sankalpindia. Archived from the original on 26 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
62. "Howrah Municipal Corporation Stadium — Sailen Manna Stadium". www.howrahonline.in. Howrah Online. 2015. from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
63. Basu, Preetam (1 September 2013). "উদ্যোক্তা বামেরা, তাই শৈলেন-স্টেডিয়ামে এল না তৃণমূল পরিবার" [Entrepreneurs left, that's why Trinamool family didn't come to Shailen-Stadium]. eisamay.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Ei Samay Sangbadpatra. from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
64. Mondal, Dipankar (13 March 2020). "কিংবদন্তী শৈলেন মান্নার নামে ডুমুরজলা স্টেডিয়ামের নামকরণের ঘোষণা মমতার" [Mamata announces naming of Dumurjala stadium after legend Shailene Mannar]. www.sangbadpratidin.in (in Bengali). Kolkata: Sangbad Pratidin. from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
65. Patra, Sanjoy (13 March 2020). "Dumurjala Stadium To Be Named After Sailen Manna: হাওড়ার ডুমুরজলা স্টেডিয়ামের নাম বদলে হচ্ছে ফুটবলার শৈলেন মান্নার নামে, ঘোষণা মমতা ব্যানার্জির". bangla.latestly.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Latest Ly Bangla. from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
66. . Arunava about Football. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
67. Morrison, Neil (1999). . www.rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
68. . www.kolkatafootball.com. Kolkata Football. 14 September 2008. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
69. . Mohun Bagan AC. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
70. Chaudhuri, Arunava (2000). . indianfootball.de. IndianFootball. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
71. "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Sport Tribune". from the original on 26 January 2005. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
72. . timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Kolkata, West Bengal: The Times of India. 29 July 2001. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
73. . mohunbaganac.com. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
74. Staff Reporter (24 July 2011). . www.thehindu.com. Kolkata: The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.

Bibliography

• Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
• Dineo, Paul; Mills, James (2001). . London, United Kingdom: Frank Cass Publishers. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7146-8170-2. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022.
• Martinez, Dolores; Mukharjiim, Projit B (2009). . Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-88353-6. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022.
• Majumdar, Boria; Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). . Routledge. ISBN 9780415348355. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021.
• Basu, Jaydeep (2003). . UBS Publishers' Distributors. ISBN 9788174764546. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022.
• Mitra, Soumen (1 January 2006). . Kolkata: Dasgupta & Co. Private Ltd. ISBN 978-8182110229. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022.
• Nath, Nirmal (2011). . Readers Service. ISBN 9788187891963. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022.
• (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
• Mukhopadhay, Subir (2018). সোনায় লেখা ইতিহাসে মোহনবাগান (transl. Mohun Bagan in the history written in gold). ISBN 978-93-850172-0-9.
• Majumdar, Boria, Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006). Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation. Penguin India. ISBN 9780670058747.
• Banerjee, Argha; Basu, Rupak (2022). মোহনবাগান: সবুজ ঘাসের মেরুন গল্প (transl. Mohun Bagan: Green fields' Maroon stories). Shalidhan. ISBN 978-81-954667-0-2.

External links

• at FIFA (archived)  
• Sailen Manna at Olympedia 
• – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Obituary - The Economist