One of the finest of his generation

Bhowmick, who was undergoing dialysis, breathed his last on Saturday morning at the age of 72. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter as well as his legion of fans. “He (Subhas) was undergoing dialysis for about three-and-a-half months. Recently, he was admitted to a private hospital at Ekbalpur with a chest infection,” a family member said.

‘Bulldozer’ winger Bhowmick was one of the finest in the 1970s and was a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok, a tournament where he got on the scorecard. In total, he struck nine goals in 24 appearances for India, including a hat-trick at the Merdeka Cup. But, what made Bhowmick famous was his exploits at the club level – primarily for East Bengal and fellow Kolkata giant Mohun Bagan.

He scored 83 and 82 goals for East Bengal and Mohun Bagan respectively between 1969 and 1977, an era when Kolkata football’s popularity was at its peak. Bhowmick enjoyed his finest outing at the 1975 IFA Shield final as East Bengal walloped bitter rival Mohun Bagan by a scoreline of 5-0. He wasn’t a conventional striker, but would take down the biggest of opposition defenders with his brute force and sprints.

His performances against North Korean clubs Dok Ro Gang (DCM Cup) and Pyong Yang City (IFA Shield) in 1973 will be etched in the memory of the East Bengal fans. Bhowmick had some great matches in Mohun Bagan colours too, including one against Pele’s New York Cosmos in 1977.

In the same year, he single-handedly won the Durand Cup for Mohun Bagan after a bitter fall-out with coach PK Banerjee, whom he considered as his ‘Guru’. Bhowmick, who hailed from Malda, clinched the Santosh Trophy four times. After hanging up his boots in 1979 at 29, he began his professional coaching career, which spanned between 1991 and 2018.