Uttar Baridhara will be feeling like they are flying in the sky when they take on defending champions Sheikh Russell in the inaugural match of the seventh edition of the Bangladesh Premier League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium at 5:00pm today.
The club’s rise to the top league can be termed a great success story of the local football arena. The club broke into the local football scene in 2005, winning the title of the third division league and they continued the success story by clinching the second division championship in 2006. They took time in the first division and duly emerged as the champions of the first division football league in 2010. The upward rise continued in 2011-12 season when they finished runners-up to qualify for the top flight football league of the country - the Bangladesh Premier League.
The team displayed an attacking brand of football at the curtain raising tournament of the season - the Federation Cup. However, their inexperience was evident and they lost both of their matches.
Coach Md. Alamgir has been involved with the club since 2005 and described his players as a total unit. “Most of the players have been playing together for the last five years and they know each other well. We also have three Nigerian and two Indian footballers, with them we look forward to finish in the middle of the table,” said the veteran coach, who played alongside Pratap Shankar Hazra, Amalesh Sen before liberation.
The coach said he has always professed attacking football to his players and they were always focused on winning. “Maybe we don’t have big players like other giants as our resources are low, but we have a good track record behind us and we have succeeded with what we have. The players may lack experience but they do possess fighting spirit,” said Alamgir.
Club general secretary Md. Jahangir said their budget is Tk10.5m and it was difficult to meet all the ends such thin resources. “We dreamt of reaching the highest level from the very beginning and at last we have made it. However it is hard to cope with the demands and we have been trying hard to create community support as we want to stay at the top for a long time,” he said.
