Wari Club that went up in flames was born after Partition

Wari Club that went up in flames recently has a rich history attached to it. Born out of Partition, this club happens to be one of the oldest and most recognized clubs of Kolkata’s Maidan. Even now Wari Athletic Club was seen competing in the top tiers of the city’s football, cricket and hockey leagues. The club moved into the existing tent in 1949. Founders Bhupendra Mohan Sen, who played for East Bengal in 1939, Tejes Shome and Dinesh Dutta, were all members of Dhaka Wari Club and had shifted to Kolkata after the post-independence Partition. Incidentally the Dhaka Wari Club still exists.

Following the initiative of late Pankaj Gupta, The AIFF chief, the club was inducted to CFL, third division in 1949 by IFA. By 1952, Wari became a 1st Division Club. In 1953, the club even reached the semi-final of the IFA Shield and the very next year it ended as the Runners Up in the Calcutta Football League. It had beat East Bengal 1-0 in 1978, that prevented East Bengal from retaining the title it had won seven times between 1970 and 1977. The club has produced some of the best players like Samaresh Chaudhury, Parimal Dey, Tushar Rakshit, goalkeeper P.Burman, Ashim Shome, Tapas Shome, Nimai Goswami and Santo Mitra