1960s: The Regrouping

Throughout the last 1960s, Jyotish Guha’s influence was on the wane. He was the man who orchestrated East Bengal’s turnarounds of fortune; yet, those same successes made him almost autocratic. He ended up instilling a totalitarian regime within the club. This was in stark contrast to the free flowing brand of football culture that the club was known for and was taking its toll in the form of performance. The club though had a moderate success by its own standards and won the Calcutta league only twice, in 1961 and 1966 and the IFA shield on three other occasions, apart from winning the other all India tournaments (Durand, Rovers etc.) on few occasions. The inevitable change of guard came through Dr. Nripen Das, who defeated Guha in the 1970 elections.

Compiled by: Ranadurjay Talukdar