Also read: Abahani seal record sixth title
When Abahani were formed a year after independence, he joined the club and spent the rest of his playing career in Dhanmondi. He couldn’t feature for the national team due to injury in 1973. Before the liberation war he played for different clubs, including Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited in 1970. Amalesh continued his playing career with the club till the early 1980s before he began a new career as coach from 1986. He stayed at Abahani till the late 1990s before joining Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra for only two years. He returned to Abahani in 1999 and remained as the club’s most experienced local coach till his death. His influence helped the Sky Blues to five professional league titles. Amalesh also served as the vice-president of the Bangladesh football coaches’ association.
Also read: Former Bangladesh footballer and Abahani coach Amalesh Sen no more
Following their victory over Sheikh Jamal, Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu said, “We badly miss the presence of Amalesh da. If he were alive he would have been the happiest man. The trophy is dedicated to him.” Earlier last year, Rupu had said, “I don’t recall anyone among the coaches of Bangladesh who is more experienced than Amalesh. He was even my coach when I was an Abahani player. Even before his passing away, we watched the team’s practice session together. After the session he said he was not feeling well and we took him to the nearest hospital. Sadly, he passed away then.” This is Abahani’s second straight top-flight title win as they registered their ninth consecutive victory in the league. After finishing the first phase at third place, the Dhanmondi giant conceded a narrow defeat against Saif Sporting Club and since then, they won every single match to ride to the top of the points table, that too without Serbia-born Croatian head coach Drago Mamic.