Our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI: Peers, contemporaries, football enthusiasts and people of Guwahati paid rich tributes to former international footballer Gilbertson Sangma during a memorial service organized jointly by All Guwahati Students’ Union and Assam Sports Journalists’ Association in association with various organisations of Kahilipara area at Rudra Baruah Auditorium, Jyoti Chitraban here on Wednesday.
Prominent among those who paid tributes to the legendary footballer included his wife Bendangla Sangma and family members, his teammate Kalimuddin Ahmed, for India internationals Debashish Roy and Molong Ao, All Assam Students’ Union’s (AASU) chief advisor Dr Samujjal Kr Bhattacharjya, various sports organisers and veteran sports journalists such as Balendra Mohan Chakravarty, Pabitra Gogoi and Subodh Malla Barua.
Debashish Roy, the only footballer from Assam to don the colours of all three Kolkata giants -- Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting – turned emotional while addressing the gathering on the occasion, while Molong Ao elaborated on how Gilbertson Sangma inspired generations after generations of footballers in Assam.
Dr Bhattacharjya recalled how he himself was a fan of Gilbertson Sangma and his later association with the legend. “I’m not the one who can analyse Gilbertson Sangma as a footballer in the presence of so many experts in the field here. But, all I can say is that he was humility personified. He never wore any aura of the legend he was. He was a source of courage and ambition for the people of Assam,” Bhattacharjya said.
He announced that the AASU would associate itself with any sports organisation in any initiative to preserve the legacy of Gilbertson Sangma and keep his memory and ideals alive to help develop and promote sports in Assam.
Pabitra Gogoi, who authored a book on Sangma a few years ago, reminisced his close bonding with the legendary player and his brand of football. “We trained together as NIS coaches in Kolkata in 1985-86. I was stunned by the respect Sangma commanded among his contemporaries in Kolkata. Even the legendary PK Banerjee complimented him when he introduced Sangma as the Assam Police man for whom all opponents from Kolkata had to take extra care in designing a gameplan and engage 2-3 men to mark him in every match,” Gogoi said.
Elaborating on Sangma’s career bests, Subodh Malla Barua said Gilbertson Sangma was the first footballer from Assam to score a goal as India international when he scored one against Taiwan in 1975. “I’ve come across many football legends in my life, but two men, incidentally both from Assam – Tohsen Bora and Gilbertson Sangma – were class apart both as footballers and human beings… Gilbertson Sangma was as humourous as he was humble. His sense of humour was a treat to be in his company,” Barua said.
Abhiruchi founder and veteran sports journalist Balendra Mohan Chakravarty said he was a regular to visit Gilbertson Sangma at Dergaon Police Training College every time he visited Upper Assam and was all praise for the captivating humility of the legend.
All India Kho-kho Federation’s president Rajib Prakash Baruah recalled watching Gilbertson Sangma’s brand of football and said: “I’ve seen most of the great footballers who cast their spell in the Guwahati turf. But, Gilbertson Sangma really had the magic in his feet and thus he is nicknamed the ‘Man with the Golden Boot’.
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