After a gap of one season, Bashundhara Kings have once again ascended to the throne of domestic football. Countless admirers and supporters scattered across the country are celebrating the achievement with great joy.
This victory has brought immense relief to everyone associated with the club. The club management has succeeded in upholding its accountability, responsibility and commitments. They confronted adversity with confidence and never lost faith in their players.
They believed the Kings would bounce back as a team on the pitch and that the difficult period would soon pass. The players fought wholeheartedly for the honour of the jersey, giving their very best. In the second round of the league, apart from one foreign player, the team received little service from the overseas contingent, and the local players successfully filled that void.
They demonstrated the true meaning of team unity and how collective effort can guide a team towards its desired destination. During the second phase of the league, the Kings were also without their foreign coach. In his absence, Technical Director Bayazid Alam Zubair Nipu, together with assistant coaches Syed Golam Jilani and Mahbub Hossain Roxi, kept the squad motivated and finely prepared — an example for any well-run club.
Through the club it operates, Bashundhara Group seeks not only success on the field but also aims to make a meaningful contribution to the development of football in the country.
In reality, this commitment has already become evident, and the club’s effective role is widely praised within sporting circles. In South Asian football, Kings’ modern football infrastructure, professional management and player-friendly environment have now become exemplary for others.
With one match still remaining, Bashundhara Kings secured their sixth league title on 15 May after defeating Abahani Limited 2-0 at Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium in Cumilla. Having entered professional league football for the first time in the 2018–19 season, winning six titles within eight years — excluding the abandoned 2019–20 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic — is an extraordinary achievement. Among those triumphs were five consecutive league titles, creating a new chapter in the country’s football history. Previously, during the undivided India era, Mohammedan Sporting had won five successive league titles between 1934 and 1938 in their debut years.
Professional football league competition began in Bangladesh in 2007. Ten years later, Bashundhara Kings entered the league and immediately emerged as a new force in domestic football from their very first season. The club introduced a new football culture, transformed the narrative and style of football on the field, made the game more attractive and dynamic, and established itself as a trendsetter in the sport.
People want to win; defeat is something they fear. As Kings repeatedly delivered victories on the field, football enthusiasts of all ages gradually gathered under the club’s banner — many of whom had once supported other teams. It would not be wrong to describe this as a triumph of Kings’ creative brand of football.
With last Friday’s victory over Abahani, Kings confirmed their sixth professional league title, equalling Abahani’s record of six league championships. Football statistics clearly show that since the arrival of Kings in professional football, Abahani and Mohammedan have struggled to dominate domestic competitions in recent years. Kings have moved far ahead of them in on-field competition. Yet, despite this reality, a section of those involved in club football and parts of the media have continued to display a different attitude. There is nothing objectionable about a club backed by a major corporate group playing attractive football and contributing to the development and image of the country’s football.
Following Kings’ latest title triumph, some people remarked that history might have been written differently had the club not lost the championship last season. Football bears a strange resemblance to life itself. In life, calculations do not always add up — and football is no different. A talented player may fail to score, while an opportunistic one succeeds. It is another mysterious aspect of the game.
It seems to me that, amid the overall circumstances this season — continuous opposition, jealousy, hostility and planned negative campaigns — the club management, with full support from the players, succeeded in reclaiming the trophy. In their previous five league title victories, they had not needed to endure such difficult conditions.
From the outset, Bashundhara Group sought to bring change to the country’s football scene — not only through the club itself but also by working collectively with all stakeholders to ensure sustainable development in football. Their aim has been to reconnect ordinary people with football and revive vibrancy in the stadiums.
Before winning this season’s league title, Kings had already secured the season’s first trophy by defeating Mohammedan to win the Challenge Cup for the second time. That means two trophies have already entered their cabinet. Only the Federation Cup now remains. The Federation Cup final will be held on 19 May between Bashundhara Kings and Mohammedan.
Following their league triumph, Bashundhara Kings are highly motivated and inspired. The team management believes that if everyone performs at their best collectively, defeating Mohammedan and securing another treble, as in the past, is entirely possible. The team certainly possesses that capability.
Writer: Columnist and analyst; former Senior Vice-President of AIPS Asia; life member of the Bangladesh Sports Press Association; panel writer for Football Asia.
