Historic Cosmos Match in 1977, Pele in Action
In 1970, club won the Rovers Cup defeating Mahindra and Mahindra by a solitary goal in the replay final. The goal was scored by Subhas Bhowmick.
In 1971, Mohun Bagan again won the Rovers cup defeating Vasco Sporting Club by 1-0. The winning goal was scored by P. Kannon. This year the pride of Mohun Bagan Club— “Player of the Millennium” Sailen Manna received the Padmashree Award.
In 1972, Club won Rover’s Cup jointly with East Bengal. This was club’s consecutively third Rovers Cup win. Club also reached the final of Durand Cup but missed the opportunity to become the champion after 1965.
1973 was the worst year regarding the performance of the club, as the club could not manage to get any trophy during this season.
In 1974, Club lifted Durand Cup defeating JCT Mills by 3-2 . Ulganathan scored a spectacular hattrick in the final. He also scored in the semifinal when Mohun Bagan defeated East Bengal by 1-0. Mohun Bagan also won Bordoloi Trophy defeating Vasco Sports Club by 5-0 on the second day after the first day eneded in 2-2 draw.
In 1975, Mohun Bagan won Bordoloi Trophy and Darjeeling Gorkha Brigade Gold Cup but lost to East Bengal in the IFA Shield final. This year, the construction of concrete gallery was finally completed.
In 1976 football team was restructured. P K Banerjee joined as the coach. Club again lifted a number of trophies, First Division Calcutta Football League, Rover’s Cup (jointly), IFA Shield (jointly), Bordoloi Trophy and Darjeeling Gorkha Brigade Gold Cup. On 24th April,1976 Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal 1-0 with a goal scored in 17 seconds by Mohammed Akbar. This year the legendary player of Mohun Bagan, “Chinese Wall”, Gostho Paul, passed away on 8th April.
1977 is a remarkable year in the history of Mohun Bagan Club, as first time ever in the history of Kolkata football a club arranged for the floodlight in their ground. Total credit for that goes to Dhiren Dey as he convinced Indian Chamber of Commerce to come forward for this purpose. The floodlight was inaugurated 10 th February when Mohun Bagan and Paktakore of Soviet Union took part in a friendly match. In 1977, Club grabbed IFA Shield, Durand Cup, Rover’s Cup and Bordoloi Trophy. Club created history by winning the triple crowns (IFA Shield, Durand Cup, Rover’s Cup) in the same year. This year club also reached the final of Federation Cup but lost to Indian Telephone Industries by a solitary goal. Subrata Bhattacharya was the captain of the team that time. This year is memorable for another reason.This year Mohun Bagan players got the great opportunity to play against the Football King Edson Arantos Jo Nasimanto — Pele. Kolkata football lovers got the chance to see some of the famous international footballers like Mike Dillon, Kith Edi, Toni Field and Terigarbet of England, Ramon Mifin of Peru, Giorgio Chinaglia of Italy, Carlos Alberto and NelsiMorez of Brazil, Erol Yasin of Turkey, Ditomir Dimitri and Toni Donlich of Yugoslavia including Pele. The historical match was played on 24th September of this year in Eden Gardens. About 80,000 spectators gathered on that in Eden gardens. Final Score was 2-2. Shyam Thapa and Habib scored for Mohun Bagan. This year Dhiren Dey was elected as the Honorary General Secretary of the club.
1978 was again a golden year for the club as the club grabbed First Division Calcutta Football League, IFA Shield consecutively for three times again after the year 1960–1962, Federation Cup for the first time jointly with East Bengal and Sait Nagji Trophy of Calicut. Club reached the final of Durand Cup but lost to East Bengal. In IFA shield shield final Mohun Bagan players fought bravely against a strong European side, Ararat of Soviet Union. The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Manas Bhatatcharya and Habib scored the goals for Mohun Bagan.
In 1979, club maintained the golden run by winning First Division Calcutta League, IFA Shield defeating East Bengal by 1-0 and Durand Cup defeating Punjab Police by 1-0 and Darjeeling Gorkha Brigade Gold Cup.