Hitting a Six and Remembering Fallen Heroes!

Saturday 13th November 2010

After enjoying a hearty breakfast, preparations are made for the coaching clinic that has been arranged at our hosts, Mohammedan SC’s, stadium. The lads doing the coaching are Chris Dolby, Gav Smith, Matt Roney, Lee Cooksey and Greg Wright.

Around a hundred youngsters are expected, but over two hundred come, some we are told having been up since 3 a.m. with excitement. Dolby and the lads handle the situation perfectly and groups are quickly formed doing drills, exercises, tricks and finishing with penalty competitions. I sign certificates for the youngsters and they treat them as treasures, asking for autographs and pictures from the players and manager.

As the session is completed, the lads doing the coaching make their way back to the hotel for a bite to eat while the team bus calls to collect me. We have decided to buy a thousand match tickets for the final to distribute to the local poor and are being escorted into one of the local neighbourhoods to distribute them. The average wage for a skilled person is 4,000 rupees per month (less than £2 per day) and for the unskilled worker it is around half of that. It is a joy to see the delight of some of these kids that have nothing and the travelling party mix in splendidly – even having an impromptu game of cricket. Shane Fox manages to hit a six! We are accompanied by a TV crew that has been following us during most of the tour so far.

The night is splendidly rounded off with a dinner hosted by Mohammedan S.C. The night is low key and relaxed and we get lots of positive comments on how the children enjoyed the coaching earlier in the day. Word is that the mums and dads enjoyed watching from the sidelines.

The Deputy High Commissioner of West Bengal is present at the dinner and is receiving lots of positive feedback from the community. We are invited to the Cenotaph to present a wreath at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony in the morning and are honoured to be asked and accept. Finding the Cenotaph could be tricky though!

Sunday 14th November 2010
I wake up not feeling quite 100%, (jetlag and the schedule are taking their toll on everyone) and have to pull out of the Cenotaph visit, but we are well represented. The lads going to the service get lost on the way, as roads are not marked, but they manage to find the splendid Queen Victoria building, a magnificent marble palace in the heart of the city, home to treasures from the Raj and get some great pictures for my blog.

The journey up sounds eventful including having to cross lethal expanses of Kolkata roads, seeing a dead dog abandoned and decaying by the roadside and crossing the large park expanse, The Miadan, a haven for the locals, who graze goat herds and play cricket. The atmosphere in the city is completely non-threatening and lots stop by to chat. 

Government representatives from numerous countries attend the ceremony and it is a privilege for the club to be able to lay a wreath. The service is commenced in the presence of the RAF by Indian buglers sounding the ‘Last Post’. The Deputy High Commissioner has asked if he can put a photograph on the Foreign Office website. We are considering having a charity match between SFC and the RAF for ‘Help For Heroes’ and ‘Boots For Africa’ as the beneficiaries. If logistics can be sorted it would be fantastic!

After a bite to eat, the entire party heads out to Salt Lake Stadium for the final match of the tournament between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. This is the fiercest derby in Indian football and trouble has been known to break out previously. Our seats are fairly central and near to both sets of fans, but hopefully it will be quiet today.

The match is slow to come to life, but a crowd of around 25,000 to 30,000 is still noisy and animated. A goal from Mohun Bagan breaks the deadlock and triggers bottles of water being thrown backwards and forwards between the two sets of fans, followed by plastic seats. A lump of concrete hitting a fan on the head sparks police intervention and we are ushered into a different section of the ground. A league game between the two sides would generally mean a capacity gate of 120,000. It is difficult to imagine what the atmosphere would be like. East Bengal equalise sending the Red and Gold East Bengal fans delirious. Their nickname of ‘Crazy’ and ‘Gold’ is spot on.

The game see-saws backwards and forwards, East Bengal grabbing a second before Mohun Bagan equalise once more to square the game. The first goal in extra time goes to Mohun Bagan sparking more chaos, but East Bengal again level to send the game to penalties. East Bengal under manager and ex-Football League professional, Trevor Morgan, edge the penalty shoot-out 6-5 to lift the cup.

Hopefully the work we have done on and off the pitch here will see SFC return again to take on the giants of West Bengal and Indian football.

We have seen some sights up to press but a Cow on the back of a truck must take some beating!!

After dinner, we pack our cases for the 3 a.m. wake up call to begin the next leg of the adventure.