Rahmatganj: Of passion & dedication

Dhaka football is no longer the most followed sporting event in the country. You can now only find a couple of hundred die hard football fanatics turning up at the famous Bangabandhu National Stadium apparently confused about which team to support in an era where that magnificent rivalry no longer exits.

Dhaka football without its soul – the fans who has gradually distanced themselves after years of decline of the standard of football -- is now being played, won or lost just for the records. Nobody even bothers to follow a particular team, let alone a player or a coach of any repute.

There are many reasons behind the freefall of Dhaka football as well as the decline of the national football team. And one of those is football has now become 'limited' instead of being passionate. The game at club level is now run by people who are anything but selflessly passionate for the cause of the beautiful game which was once everyday dose of entertainment for millions of fans.

And how passion and commitment can still make a lot of difference even for a lightweight Dhaka club and win the hearts of fans has already been well documented this year by Rahmatganj Muslim Friends Society.

With an age-old reputation as giant-slayers and often criticised as the ringleader of 'trading points', the club from the southern part of Old Dhaka are the surprise title contenders in the Professional Football League,  finishing two points behind leaders Chittagong Abahani at the end of the first phase.

The secret of success of Rahmatganj, who are gunning to be like the Leicester City of last season, has so far been very simple. The club management has a home grown coach who is hardworking. They did not splash money like the big teams but judiciously used their resources to strike a proper balance.       

When their coach Kamal Babu said that his team would be one of the title contenders at the pre-league briefings, many had laughed it out. But after three-and-a-half-months' hard work with a set players, whose payments range from a meagre Tk 50,000 to Tk 1000,000, Babu has already floored a lot of heavyweights on the field and at the technical area. 

“It is an outcome of hard work,” was the simple answer from Babu, who believes that this was a league where there is little difference between the so-called top players and average players.

“It was not easy to change the mentality of the players and make them fit for the 90-minute game. I made my players understand that there is little difference between the national footballers and the others. I think my boys believe it now which is evident on the field. If you talk about the difference between Rahmatganj and other teams, I will tell you that my players are capable of playing full ninety minutes at the same pace and rhythm,” said Babu, whose match reading about the opponents gives him an edge in the matches.

According to Babu, discipline at the camp also played a big part in his team's success. They made sure of uninterrupted training and players have been strictly barred from playing on 'hire' in any other lesser known competitions across the country.

“Proper plan, effort, hard-work and honesty have taken us to this stage. We have already paid 80 to 90 percent payment to all players, we are giving them monthly salary regularly and conducting training sessions regularly despite financial constraints,” Rahmatganj's general secretary Imtiaz Hamid Sabuj said, adding that the club is being run by money earned from the cattle market of Eid-ul-Azha (Tk 50-60 lakh), rents of the club's market (Tk 20 lakh) and donation from different business associations and individuals (Tk 12 to 15 lakh) of the locality.

The consistently good performance of the club has already created enormous enthusiasm among people of the locality. The club management is being confronted with an influx of demand for tickets for each of their games.

“It's not only about tickets, we are also struggling to keep the local fans away from training sessions and sometimes we have to force the fans out of the training venue,” said the coach with a big smile on his face.

The enthusiasm among a small section of people is only a reflection of football's glorious past when passionate club officials drove the passionate fans.