Mohun Bagan to honour legend Karuna Bhattacharya

Legendary footballers Karuna Bhattacharya and 1962 Asian Games gold medallist Arumainayagam will be awarded the 'Mohun Bagan Ratna' this year, a prize given to the greats of the game who have earlier donned the green and maroon shirts.

Bhattacharya played for Mohun Bagan alongside stalwarts like Gostha Pal, Umapati Kumar, Sanmatha Dutta, Bimal Mukherjee, Satu Chowdhury among many others.

He also led the Indian team that went to Australia in 1938. He was also part of the Indian team that played against the Olympic team of China in 1936. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Bhattacharya was part of several Indians versus Europeans football match from 1931 to 1939.

Under his leadership, the national team played 15 games out of which they won six, drew two and lost seven.

Arumainayagam - a winger known for his speedy bursts down the left - turned out for eight years for the city giants in the 1960s.

"We could not celebrate 125th year of the club last year because of financial constraints, so we have decided to award both of them this year with the Mohun Bagan Ratna," club secretary Anjan Mitra said on Saturday.

The best footballer of the year award this time around will be awarded to custodian Debjit Majumder who had a brilliant I-League season. Also Japanese playmaker Katsumi Yusa would be given the same award as he was adjudged the best in 2014.