Chinghla Mong Chowdhury Mari

Chinghla Mong Chowdhury Mari (Bengali: চিং হ্লা মং চৌধুরী মারী; 29 September 1938 – 10 May 2012), simply known as Mari Chowdhury, was a Bangladeshi football player who played as a left-winger. He is considered to be the best East Pakistani footballer of all time, and one of the few to play for the Pakistan national team.[2] Although most of his goals are unregistered, Mari is the unrecognised all-time top scorer in both Dhaka League and Bangladeshi top-tier football history with 234 goals.[3][4][5]

Mari Chowdhury
Mari after reitirement
Personal information
Full name Chinghla Mong Chowdhury Mari
Date of birth (1938-09-29)29 September 1938[1]
Place of birth Chandraghona, Rangamati, East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh)
Date of death 9 May 2012(2012-05-09) (aged 73)
Place of death Chandraghona, Rangamati, Bangladesh
Position(s) Left-Winger/Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1951 Firingi Bazar SC
1952 Chittagong Medical School
1952 East Pakistan Railway Club
1953 Fire Service SC
1954–1956 Dhaka Wanderers Club
1957–1958 Mohammedan SC
1959–1960 Dhaka Wanderers Club
1961 Mohammedan SC
1962–1965 Azad Sporting Club
1965–1967 EPIDC
International career
1956–1958 Pakistan
Managerial career
Team BJMC
Bangladesh Government Press SC
Bangladesh Trading Corporation SC
1982–1985 BRTC Football Club
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

Mari was born in Chandraghona, Rangamati on 29 September 1938. He lost his father at a young age, and was raised by his mother. Mari's father, Thysau Chowdhury, was from the Bomang Royal Family, but was expelled from the royal family for accepting Christianity. Mari was the youngest in a family of 3 brothers and 1 sister.[6]

Mari's school life began at the Baptist Mission Boys School in Barishal. In 1951, Mari played for Firingi Bazar in the Chittagong League while still in the tenth grade. Mari did his HSC from Jagannath University, in 1956 and finished his studies from the same University in 1959.[1]

Career

Player

Mari represented Barisal District at the Ronald Shield in 1951, while still playing in Chittagong. One of the turning points of his career was when he played for East Pakistan Railway in the same tournament held in Dhaka, in 1952 and within a year he made his Dhaka League debut with Fire Service SC. Mari won his first Dhaka League title in 1954, with Dhaka Wanderers and by 1956 he completed a hat-trick of league triumphs with the club. The same year, he was one of the two Bengali footballers who got a place in the Pakistan national team, the other being his club teammate, Nabi Chowdhury. He played two friendlies against Singapore and Ceylon. In 1957, the famous East Pakistani attacking trio of Kabir Ahmed, Ashraf Chowdhury and Mari won Mohammedan SC their first league title.[7]

You have not seen Mari brother (Chinghla Mong Chowdhury Mari) play. I saw, I played with him. He was an indescribable thing. If the body is bent even a little, two or three of the opponent's players would fall to the ground after being dodged! He was magical.

— Enayetur Rahman Khan, former Bangladesh national team striker, to Daily Janakantha in November 2021.[8]

In the 1957 Pakistan National Championship, the East Pakistan White team led by Mari finished runners-up, losing 2–1 in the final.[9] Mari was named the best player of the tournament. In 1959, Mari again wore the armband for Pakistan White team and finally in 1960 the team managed to win the National Championship. He played for Dhaka Jagannath College in 1957–58 and won the Sir AF Rahman Shield and Governors Cup for them. Mari suffered a leg injury at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan. As a result, he walked away from the national team, however, he continued to play in the domestic league for another decade. Played in Mohammedan SC, Dhaka Wanderers and EPIDC the latter being his final club in 1967.

Coach

After the Independence of Bangladesh, he served as the head coach for Team BJMC (formerly EPIDC), Bangladesh Government Press and Bangladesh Trading Corporation. In 1982, he guided BRTC FC to promotion to the Dhaka League by winning the Dhaka Second Division League. He remained as the head coach of the club until 1985, and had a fairly successful stint as coach in top-tier.[6]

Honours

Player

Dhaka Wanderers Club

Mohammedan SC

EPIDC

East Pakistan White

  • Pakistan National Championship : 1960

Manager

BRTC Football Club

Awards and accolades

Personal life and legacy

Mari, was also involved in other sports, in 1954, he won gold in high jump and silver in 100m sprint at the National Olympics for Pakistan. Mari was a regular member of the East Pakistan Volleyball team and also captained the side.[6]

Apart from football, during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, he served as the captain of Sector 1 in Agartala and later as Quartermaster under Major Ziaur Rahman, for nine months.[1]

Mari received the National Sports Awards, in 1981.[3]

In 2001, Mari was given a special award as the Best Footballer from the Rangamati Hill District Council.[7]

On 9 May 2012, Mari passed away, while being admitted at the Holy Family Hospital. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s since 2008, and also had skin cirrhoses, which forced him to be hospitalised. He left behind a wife and three sons[10]

In 2012, the National Sports Council changed the name of the Rangamati Stadium to Ching Lah Mong Chowdhury Murruy Rangamati Stadium, to commemorate the late footballer.[11]

In February 2020, a mural of the Mari was innagurated in Rangamati.[12]

Bibliography
  • পাকিস্তান জাতীয় দল বাঙালি খেলোয়াড় (Bengali players in the Pakistan national team)[13]

References
  1. "ফুটবল নক্ষত্র মারী | PaharBarta.com". August 15, 2016.
  2. "Football before the birth of Bangladesh". Dhaka Tribune. March 4, 2018.
  3. Reporter, Sports (May 10, 2012). "Legendary Mari breathes his last". The Daily Star.
  4. "কারও সংগ্রহে নেই দেশের খেলাধুলার রেকর্ড!". www.jugantor.com.
  5. "উজ্জ্বল মুখ". www.kalerkantho.com. August 5, 2015.
  6. "ফুটবল শিল্পী মারীকে মনে রাখেনি কেউ". www.jugantor.com.
  7. "চিহ্লা মং মারী: এক ফুটবল যোদ্ধা".
  8. জনকণ্ঠ, দৈনিক. "কমপ্লিট, গ্রেট এ্যান্ড লিজেন্ড ফুটবলার এনায়েতের না বলা অনেক কথা." দৈনিক জনকণ্ঠ || Daily Janakantha.
  9. "::Sport::15th Anniversary Special". archive.thedailystar.net.
  10. Reporter, Sports (May 26, 2012). "Mari remembered". The Daily Star.
  11. "নামেই 'মারী স্টেডিয়াম' কোথাও নেই মারী! | কালের কণ্ঠ". Kalerkantho. September 15, 2019.
  12. "রাঙ্গামাটিতে ফুটবলার চিং হ্লা মং মারীর মুর‌্যাল উদ্বোধন | PaharBarta.com". February 11, 2020.
  13. "পাকিস্তান জাতীয় দল বাঙালি খেলোয়াড় - দুলাল মাহমুদ". www.rokomari.com.
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