Trades Cup Champion Team -1908

Organizational and team-building ability of Major Sailendra Nath Bose finally brought in much desired success.  In the year 1904, Mohun Bagan won its first trophy — Cooch Behar Cup. But in the same year Mr. Durgacharan Laha, one of the patrons of Mohun Bagan club passed away. The club officials requested Maharaja of Cooch Behar, Raja Rajendra Bhup Bahadur to fill the void.

In 1905, Mohun Bagan won the Cooch Behar Cup consecutively for second time in 1905 defeating Mohamedan Sporting. In the same year Mohun Bagan reached the final of Gladstone Cup, held in Chinsurah. The opponent in the final was Dalhousie. That year Dalhousie won the IFA shield defeating Calcutta F.C. But Mohun Bagan played brilliantly throughout the match and knocked out Dalhousie by 5-0.

In 1906, Mohun Bagan got more success. This year club grabbed Trades Cup, Gladstone Cup and Coochbehar Cup. These achievements made Mohun Bagan the most prestigious Indian club. In the same year Mohun Bagan participated in the Minto Fete Tournament. This tournament was mainly for the British and Army football teams organized by Lady Minto, wife of then Viceroy of India. Among the Indian clubs only Mohun Bagan got the invitation to participate in this tournament.
In 1907 Mohun Bagan again won Trades Cup that was the third most prestigious tournament after IFA Shield and Coochbehar Cup during that time.

In 1908 Mohun Bagan created a new record by winning the Trades Cup for consecutive three times. The team also won Gladstone Cup this year.

In 1909, Mohun Bagan got the first chance to participate in IFA Shield. During that time, participation in IFA Shield was an honour because only few teams were permitted to participate in this prestigious tournament. The other four lucky teams were Chinsurah Sporting, Shovabazar, Town Club and Hare Sporting. In the first round, Mohun Bagan defeated YMCA by 1-0 but lost to Gordon Highlanders’ by 3-0 on a slushy outfield and got eliminated from the Shield. But Mohun Bagan took the sweet revenge by defeating Gordon Highlanders’ in the final of Lakshmibilas Cup by a solitary goal of Mr. Shibdas Bhaduri. The final match was consecutively played for 6 days to get the all-important result. Some of the disappointed and enraged Highlanders snatched the Cup away from the victors, though only for a while!!!

In 1910, Mohun Bagan again was unable to show its excellence in the IFA Shield. Although this year Mohun Bagan won Lakshmibilas Cup and Nawab Asanullah Challenge Shield and Bengal Jimkhana Shield, captain Mr. Shibdas Bhaduri was really upset on getting knocked out of first round of IFA Shield. During this time, Mr. Sailendra Nath Bose stood by Mr. Bhaduri and handed over all the responsibilities of football team to the latter. Mr. Bhaduri then arranged the team in a new format and Mohun Bagan footballers then started to prepare themselves for the next year IFA Shield.