The origins of football are unknown and speculative. Some say that the Chinese invented the game and even the game’s governing body, FIFA is inclined to note that ‘Tsu’ Chu’ may be the first version of the sport ever played.
Along with Tsu’ Chu, the Japanese ‘Kemari’, the Greek ‘Episkyros’ and the Roman ‘Harpastum’ are considered to be precursors to the modern game. In India, it is widely accepted that the British introduced the games of cricket and football to the local populace.
Or is it? There may not be a Lagaan to showcase the whites and the locals facing off in a winner-takes-all footballing contest but there are some who may tend to disagree with the origins of the sport in the country.
Beginnings and formation of clubs
“Long before the modern version of football was played, our people used to play a game called Dat-Laitkor as part of a festive ritual in Meghalaya,” says the president of the Meghalaya Football Association, Bah Bor Diengdoh.
Modern football in Shillong has its roots in the heart of the sport in the city, Polo Grounds. As the name suggests, Polo was the first game to be played on the hallowed grounds after the British migrated en masse to the city after it was made the headquarters of the newly separated Assam province (separated from Bengal) in the 1870’s.
Widely acknowledged as the first club to set up operations in the city, golf, polo and hockey were also played at the Shillong Club. The Bengali community (you just cannot keep them away from the sport!) set up what can be described as the city’s first moderately successful club, Shillong Town Club in 1891.
Now defunct, the club would boast of impressive players who would later go on to practise their trade in Calcutta but not before defeating the mighty East Bengal and taking their colours – red and yellow. One of them in particular, Prasanta Bardhan was a forward who Diengdoh describes as “tall, strong and athletically built” and the attacker would later go on to captain East Bengal and represent the national team.
In the early part of the 20th century, a spate of clubs including the first Khasi football club, the Christian Athletic Club (CAC) and the oldest Shillong clubs that exist today, Laban Sports Club (formed in 1906) and Laitumkhrah Club (formed 1921) cropped up as they contested the region’s first organised football trophy, the Earl Cup in memory of Assam’s first Chief Commissioner, Archdale Earl. Today Laban and Laitumkhrah play in the lower divisions of the Shillong Football League.
England face Scotland in friendly
It was in 1916 that the Shillong Sports Association was formed with Hara Kumar Roy the first General Secretary of the SSA, which till today is responsible for the conduct of the sport in the city, in tandem with the MFA.
Diengdoh mentions that the dominant clubs at this time were mostly military clubs (Gurkha Rifles, RAF) and that a spate of clubs were opened by the local tribals including the Khasi Jaintia Athletic Association (KJAA) and the Jaintia XI in order to counter this dominance. Unofficially, some even referred to the KJAA as the ‘Khasi National team’.
One of the most popular stories from the war period is that of England and Scotland playing a friendly in Shillong in 1944. Legend has that ex-English cricketer and footballer, Denis Compton scored the only goal for the English via a vicious free-kick. Among other footballing greats who took part in this match were Sir Stanley Matthews and Frank Joynar.
One of the earliest visitors to Shillong post independence were the Indian Olympic football team who played against a combined Assam XI in 1948. Shlur Nongbri, a forward who started his career with the Wahingdoh Sports Club was selected for the Indian Olympic team and is widely recognised as the first footballer from the city to get international recognition, according to Wahingdoh club president Maykostar Marbaniang.
Nongbri, who also excelled at hockey and badminton would unfortunately miss the cut for the 1960 Rome Olympics by falling ill. By this time, Shillong Clubs had started going outside the city and started competing in tournaments such as the Bordoloi Trophy and the Manick Barua Shield.
Emergence of big four
Modern day football in Shillong is dominated by four clubs: Shillong Lajong, Royal Wahingdoh, Rangjadied United and Langsning, all of which have played in the I-League first or second division.
Wahingdoh was the first among these to be set up in 1946 as a community-based club and were later taken over by Dominic Suntga in 2007 who added a “Royal” re-christening it as a professional club.
Lajong may dominate the Shillong scene now but in the 70’s till the early 2000’s it was Langsning which was the top club according to L Darlong, coach at Royal Wahingdoh. They won several Shillong First Division titles as Blue Max FC with Langsning merging into the former due to both the clubs coming under the same ownership.
Blue Max’s hegemony also owes a part to the fact that the core of the team in the 80’s came from the St. Anthony’s batch of 1975, which became the first Meghalaya team to win the Subroto Cup, coached by none other than the legendary PK Banerjee.
In 1983, disillusioned by the poor performance of Shillong-based clubs in the Meghalaya invitational, PD Sawyan and Kitdor Syiem formed Lajong which turned professional in 1997 under the stewardship of Sawyan’s son Larsing Ming. Rangjadied, which was founded as Ar-Hima in 1987, changed their name in 2013 as they qualified for the first division of the I-League.
The Shillong Football League, till 2009, consisted of three divisions of mostly amateur clubs based in and around the city, with some clubs even fielding teams from nearby villages. Till Lajong attempted to do so under the leadership of Stanley Rozario and Pradyum Reddy, no club from the state had tried to qualify for the national league.
In 2010, with the rapid onset of professionalism in the sport, the SSA decided that the gulf between the top clubs and the rest had become too wide and introduced the Shillong Premier League, which would be the topmost division of the league and would consist of eight teams.
Wahingdoh became the first champions of the SPL in 2010 with Lajong as runners-up. With seven editions of the SPL completed, Wahingdoh and Lajong are the most successful teams in the competition’s history with three wins each, Lajong’s three titles coming in the last three editions.
Today, Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim may each have their own well-established football setups but in the past, Shillong was the place earmarked for a footballer from the Northeast to make his mark.
The city may not serve the same function in the present day scenario but slowly but surely, Shillong football and Shillong clubs are forcing themselves into the discussion again. With all the talent at their disposal, it is a merely a question of time before they start making their way towards the summit once again.
