Nagpur: If Kolkata is the football capital and the game endured its passion in Goa and Kerala, closer home at Kamptee, the sport made its way to the electoral turf during assembly polls. Candidates across party lines felt football could also be a game-changer in the political match this time. Residents of narrow, clogged lanes in this 200-year-old Cantonment town consider soccer a way of life that is intertwined in their livelihood. A lost playground can be a question of life and death.
Amid claims of higher doles, loan waivers, or fervent calls of unity, almost every candidate in the fray in Kamptee promised a new football ground if voted to power. So much is their love for football that it became a poll promise this time, a hyperlocal entry in election manifestos, something unheard elsewhere in India’s political dust bowl.
Entry to the ground in the very Cantonment, where generations of Kamptee residents grew up playing from colonial days, has been restricted by the Army since Covid pandemic. As this has left soccer lovers gasping and grimacing, politicians thought of cashing in on their passion for the game.
Prior to that entry to the ground was not restricted and it would be full of different teams. Now the number of entries has been limited and around 70 passes issued based on police verification. The passes have to be renewed periodically, said the locals.
“This has always been a class A defence land, and the Army reserves the right to entry. The football players are being allowed access to the ground only after due permissions. Even the locals may claim of a free entry, this has always been the rule,” the Army replied through defence PRO’s office here.
Congress’ Suresh Bhoyar, who lost the elections to state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, took a blistering shot at the latter. A sports complex was sanctioned away at Koradi, where Bawankule has followers. The location is within the same assembly constituency, but a ground is a necessity close to Kamptee town, he says. “I will continue with the fight for a football ground,” he says. Locals say even though BJP did not officially have the football ground promise in its agenda, many party workers promised it when they met people during campaigning.
The townspeople boast that the first-ever goal by any team in independent India was scored by a player from Kamptee. He was Mushtaq Ahmed, known as Mushtaq Kaptan (Captain). He did it by dodging none other than the famed Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin — the Black Spider, say the people here. The then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who saw the match, congratulated him personally, is the story everyone narrates in Kamptee.
However, love for football here dates back beyond Ahmed’s times or even the 94-year-old Rabbani Club. Locals say British soldiers who came here in the early 1820s and established a Cantonment, introduced the game to natives. Years down the line, football for Kamptee became what cricket would be for most of the country.
In 1930, Syed Hussain Rabbani, a philanthropist, started the Rabbani School in the town. With it, the Rabbani Club, the first football club, began. And soon, over two dozen clubs mushroomed in the town.
“Just see,” says Shakeeb Ur Rehman, a member of the Kamptee Municipal Council, as he stops passersby standing in a narrow lane. He asks them if they have played football. “Yes, centre forward, right out, left out, goalkeeper, all-rounder,” comes the answer. From engineers, traders to professionals, everyone stops to acknowledge
“Football is the lifeline for people at Kamptee, but everything has changed since the ground was taken away. Now, only players of Rabbani Club have entry to the Cantonment ground for whom passes are issued. It’s not just Rabbani; there are many teams in Kamptee,” says Rehman stating Kamptee has produced many national and state-level players.
Rabbani may be what Mohun Bagan is for Kolkata, but there are many other clubs. “The list is endless: Ansar Club, Noor ul Islam, Gulfam, Bharat, Iqbal Sporting, Ehbab, Guncha-e-Islam, and many more,” counts an enthusiast. Certainly, majority players are Muslims, but there have been many famed players from other communities too, said one of them.
“One should understand what makes football so important here. Most got jobs under the sports quota because of the game. They are employed at the AG’s office, railways, police, Coal India Limited (CIL), and so on. We may not have new players if there’s no ground to practice and play,” says Mohd Asif, a veteran and an AG office employee. Railway employee and goalkeeper Ishrat Ahmed also owes his job to football. “I could make it to the national team. Kamptee has many football stars. I remember an occasion when a player was showered with gifts more than what he got in his dowry or the match-winning prize. The whole town flocked to witness the carnival,” he says.
Rehman says an alternate site near Dragon Temple was chosen when Sunil Kedar was minister of sports during MVA regime. It was challenged in court by Sulekatai Kumbhare, a former MLA. An accommodation for visitors to the temples has been approved there, Kumbhare told TOI. A site was proposed near the weavers’ colony, but it remains frozen. A ground is proposed at Gada, 4km away, but locals find it far too, says Rehman.
Close to Rabbani School, 80-year-old Kamiluddin says it was the Army that would invite local players for matches. Their Army Postal Service (APS) team made tough rivals. Senior Army officers used to be chief guests at the events. Maqsood Ahmed, son of Mushtaq Kaptan, claims it was an Army Colonel who spotted his father’s talent at the same ground and engaged him to train soldiers. “It was because of the Army that people of Kamptee learnt to play football. Now, the military authorities have curbed entry,” says Rehman. An ageing bridge links the Kamptee town to Cantonment ground. Less than a stone’s throw, the ground remains out of bounds for many now, he says.
Residents now plan to meet Bawankule with the request. Back at the square, the mention of football lights up old men’s eyes as they call out veterans’ names. “You’ll find a captain in every house here,” says a man in his eighties, boasting of his football skills. “Why is our staple food snatched away from us? We just need space to play,” he says.
Amid claims of higher doles, loan waivers, or fervent calls of unity, almost every candidate in the fray in Kamptee promised a new football ground if voted to power. So much is their love for football that it became a poll promise this time, a hyperlocal entry in election manifestos, something unheard elsewhere in India’s political dust bowl.
Entry to the ground in the very Cantonment, where generations of Kamptee residents grew up playing from colonial days, has been restricted by the Army since Covid pandemic. As this has left soccer lovers gasping and grimacing, politicians thought of cashing in on their passion for the game.
Prior to that entry to the ground was not restricted and it would be full of different teams. Now the number of entries has been limited and around 70 passes issued based on police verification. The passes have to be renewed periodically, said the locals.
“This has always been a class A defence land, and the Army reserves the right to entry. The football players are being allowed access to the ground only after due permissions. Even the locals may claim of a free entry, this has always been the rule,” the Army replied through defence PRO’s office here.
Congress’ Suresh Bhoyar, who lost the elections to state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, took a blistering shot at the latter. A sports complex was sanctioned away at Koradi, where Bawankule has followers. The location is within the same assembly constituency, but a ground is a necessity close to Kamptee town, he says. “I will continue with the fight for a football ground,” he says. Locals say even though BJP did not officially have the football ground promise in its agenda, many party workers promised it when they met people during campaigning.
The townspeople boast that the first-ever goal by any team in independent India was scored by a player from Kamptee. He was Mushtaq Ahmed, known as Mushtaq Kaptan (Captain). He did it by dodging none other than the famed Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin — the Black Spider, say the people here. The then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who saw the match, congratulated him personally, is the story everyone narrates in Kamptee.
However, love for football here dates back beyond Ahmed’s times or even the 94-year-old Rabbani Club. Locals say British soldiers who came here in the early 1820s and established a Cantonment, introduced the game to natives. Years down the line, football for Kamptee became what cricket would be for most of the country.
In 1930, Syed Hussain Rabbani, a philanthropist, started the Rabbani School in the town. With it, the Rabbani Club, the first football club, began. And soon, over two dozen clubs mushroomed in the town.
“Just see,” says Shakeeb Ur Rehman, a member of the Kamptee Municipal Council, as he stops passersby standing in a narrow lane. He asks them if they have played football. “Yes, centre forward, right out, left out, goalkeeper, all-rounder,” comes the answer. From engineers, traders to professionals, everyone stops to acknowledge
“Football is the lifeline for people at Kamptee, but everything has changed since the ground was taken away. Now, only players of Rabbani Club have entry to the Cantonment ground for whom passes are issued. It’s not just Rabbani; there are many teams in Kamptee,” says Rehman stating Kamptee has produced many national and state-level players.
Rabbani may be what Mohun Bagan is for Kolkata, but there are many other clubs. “The list is endless: Ansar Club, Noor ul Islam, Gulfam, Bharat, Iqbal Sporting, Ehbab, Guncha-e-Islam, and many more,” counts an enthusiast. Certainly, majority players are Muslims, but there have been many famed players from other communities too, said one of them.
“One should understand what makes football so important here. Most got jobs under the sports quota because of the game. They are employed at the AG’s office, railways, police, Coal India Limited (CIL), and so on. We may not have new players if there’s no ground to practice and play,” says Mohd Asif, a veteran and an AG office employee. Railway employee and goalkeeper Ishrat Ahmed also owes his job to football. “I could make it to the national team. Kamptee has many football stars. I remember an occasion when a player was showered with gifts more than what he got in his dowry or the match-winning prize. The whole town flocked to witness the carnival,” he says.
Rehman says an alternate site near Dragon Temple was chosen when Sunil Kedar was minister of sports during MVA regime. It was challenged in court by Sulekatai Kumbhare, a former MLA. An accommodation for visitors to the temples has been approved there, Kumbhare told TOI. A site was proposed near the weavers’ colony, but it remains frozen. A ground is proposed at Gada, 4km away, but locals find it far too, says Rehman.
Close to Rabbani School, 80-year-old Kamiluddin says it was the Army that would invite local players for matches. Their Army Postal Service (APS) team made tough rivals. Senior Army officers used to be chief guests at the events. Maqsood Ahmed, son of Mushtaq Kaptan, claims it was an Army Colonel who spotted his father’s talent at the same ground and engaged him to train soldiers. “It was because of the Army that people of Kamptee learnt to play football. Now, the military authorities have curbed entry,” says Rehman. An ageing bridge links the Kamptee town to Cantonment ground. Less than a stone’s throw, the ground remains out of bounds for many now, he says.
Residents now plan to meet Bawankule with the request. Back at the square, the mention of football lights up old men’s eyes as they call out veterans’ names. “You’ll find a captain in every house here,” says a man in his eighties, boasting of his football skills. “Why is our staple food snatched away from us? We just need space to play,” he says.
