Fans pay respect as Indian football legend Shibaji Bandopadhyay's body is taken to Mohun Bagan club

THE INDIAN FOOTBALL FAMILY is mourning the loss of one of its greatest stars ever; former national team veteran goalkeeper and Shibaji Bandyopadhyay has passed away.

Aged 63, his passing came as a surprise to everybody because he was active in football till last day. He attended Mohun Bagan's home match on Saturday and attended a sports-related event in Kolkata only hours before succumbing to a heart attack in his Salt Lake residence.

Bandyopadhyay came into prominence in 1977 when he was promoted to the status of first choice keeper at Mohun Bagan. Incidentally, that year itself he took part in one of the most famous club football matches ever to take place on Indian soil; when New York Cosmos, led by Pele, visited Kolkata to play a friendly match against Mohun Bagan. The hard-fought match ended in a 2-2 draw, and much of the credit for stopping Pele from scoring a goal went to Bandyopadhyay who pulled off two famous diving saves where he collected the ball from Pele's feet. He also pulled off a brilliant diving save from a swerving free kick taken by Pele.

In IFA Shield 1978, Bandyopadhyay once again rose to prominence with a memorable performance in the final against Ararat Erevan, a well known club from the Soviet Union, who were held by Mohun Bagan to a 2-2 draw and had to share the title with the Mariners.

The charismatic keeper soon earned a reputation for being an expert penalty stopper. In the 8 years he served as a keeper at Mohun Bagan, his latter career at East Bengal and the time he spent keeping for the national team is riddled with instances where he took his team out of a tough spot by saving a spot kick or pulling them through a tiebreaker. In latter life, he wrote a book about the art of saving penalties, with special emphasis on tracking the penalty taker's eye movements to gauge the direction of the shot.

After retiring as a footballer he became a prominent administrator in the sport, a role which culminated in him becoming a member of the Mohun Bagan Technical Committee. He executed his duties at the club with expertise till the last day of his life. 

Today his body was brought to the Mohun Bagan club premises for the last time where a large crowd of fans, former players and friends paid their last respects to him, before he was taken away for last rites.