Established in 1918, Kolkata Union Sporting Club boasts of an illustrious and rich
history. It was founded as a ‘Bowbazar Para Club’ by Shri Jugal Boral along with
three of his friends. Thereafter, Shri Sidhu Dutta, an eminent sports aficionado,
joined them and the forward journey of Union Sporting Club as it was called then,
gathered momentum. Shri Dutta was instrumental in obtaining affiliation from
Indian Football Association (IFA) in 1925, Bengal Hockey Association (BHA) in 1928
and Bengal Gymkhana which later came to be known as Cricket Association of
Bengal(CAB). In fact, Union Sporting Club was one the founding members of CAB.
It had a humble beginning. A tent was acquired in Maidan in the mid 1930s, which
was co-shared by Mohammedan Sporting Club. Later, Md Sporting acquired their
own ground and in their place Kalighat Club was allotted the ground.
Shri Sidhu Dutta was closely associated with eminent sporting personalities of the
ilk of Late Pankaj Gupta, Late Jyotish Guha, Late M. Dutta Roy, Late Nani Mitra
and also was instrumental in onboarding Kate Kiran Ghosh, son of Late Dwarka
Nath Ghosh, the proprietor of Dwarkin, the first harmonium maker. He, in turn
brought along his four sons Late JP Ghosh, Late IP Ghosh, Late Pandit Jnan
Prakash Ghosh and Late CP Ghosh, who were closely associated with the club for
decades.
Subsequently, Late Anath Dutta, Late Atalendu Roy( aka Parimal) , Late Kashinath
Laha, Late Rathin Das (aka Kumu), Late Sankar Chatterjee, Late Sachin Das ( aka
Manager), Late Provas Sur, late Prasanna Choudhury, Late Dr Ranen Basu, Late
Subha Dutta (aka Boudi, w/o late Anath Dutta) were concomitant with the club
which they considered to be a part of their extended family.
The club produced some exemplary sportsmen of yore as well as provided a
platform to gifted sportsmen to nurture their talents. Some of the outstanding
players who represented the club are Late IP Ghosh, Late Asim Sur, late Ashim
Mitra, Late Manoranjan das (aka Kyabla) et al.
The club has the distinction of winning the ‘triple crown’ i.e. the league, knock-out
and the T-20 tournaments in the second division tier of CAB in 2014-15 season.
Our club was relegated twice from the First Division league but stands firmly
rooted ever since 2015. The hockey team currently plays in the second division
having played in the first division for some years while our football team plays in
Group-A , Fifth Division in the IFA league. In every sphere we consciously support
talented sportsmen hailing from the impoverished section of the society, with the
support of our members and few patrons.
Union Sporting Club, later rechristened as Kolkata Union Sporting Club firmly
believes in basic tenets of dedication, honesty, integrity, commitment and
discipline. “Small is beautiful” is the ideal tagline for the club which is in effect a
family club and espouses the cause of talented sportsmen who hail from
economically weaker strata of the society and is firmly committed to adhere to
the basic philosophy of the club to play the game in the true spirit of sportsman
ship and instil a sense of espirit de corps,
‘For the battle is lost or the battle is won by the spirit of the team.’-Edgar Albert
Guest