Seventies footballer Surjit Sengupta lost the battle of life. He was 71 years old at the time of his death. He is survived by his wife and only son Snigdhadev. He appeared on the Calcutta Maidan in the early seventies. He played for the East Bengal Club in the 1974 season. Surjit was an essential footballer of the East Bengal team from 1974 to 1984. East Bengal supporters were fascinated by the magic of his feet. Not only East Bengal fans, but also our sports lover Surjit Sengupta has been fascinated by foot magic in the seventies. Under his captaincy in 1978, East Bengal jointly won the Federation Cup. Seba also won the East Bengal Championship at the Durand Cup and the Bardalui Trophy. Mohun Bagan lost to East Bengal by a clear five nil goal in the 1975 IFA Shield final. Surjit scored one goal in five matches. Surjit Sengupta’s match against foreign team Port Authority in Bardalui Trophy is on everyone’s lips today. Against the foreign team, Surjit scored his own goal to make East Bengal the champion as well as his teammates. Not only wearing a red and yellow jersey, he was instrumental in making Bengal champions several times in the Santosh Trophy. He even has the distinction of representing the Indian team in the Asian Games wearing a jersey. He had a reputation not only as a footballer but also as a tabla player. Famous Rabindra Sangeet artist Suchitra Mitra has accompanied the tabla several times. Artist footballer Surjit did not get Padma Shri or Arjuna award despite his qualifications. Even though he was not recognized in that way, his contribution to Bengali and Indian football will never be forgotten. Although he was not recognized as an artist footballer, the East Bengal Club honored him with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. His death marked the end of an era in Bengali and Indian football.

East Bengal tent mourns the death of Surjit Sengupta. Wreaths and tributes were paid to his portrait at the East Bengal Club. The flag of East Bengal Club was kept at half-mast on this day.

Following the news of Surjit Sengupta’s death, the hockey players of the practicing East Bengal Club observed silence. At the same time, he was a student of East Bengal Football School and paid homage to the coaches and legends and observed silence.