On the eve of Independence, the thriving Prosperity of ‘Babu Para’ in Siliguri (a small city of the North-Eastern part of West Bengal) was marked by the establishment of Young Men’s Association (YMA). The journey of the club had begun in the year of 1946. Kanu Sanyal, Jagadish Sinha were to be designated as the founder members. Primarily, the club was determined to aggrandize the local level sports. The practice sessions of football, cricket and even athletics used to take place in the club ground. Earlier, it was called ‘Siliguri Sports Association’. Now, this is coming to be recognized as ‘Siliguri Subdivision Sports Council’. YMA was the first authorized club, subordinated to this sports organization. The four clubs have played a very fruitful role for the advancement of Sporting activities in Siliguri. Exceptionally, the clubs have produced several renowned footballers, cricketers, athletics and Table Tennis Players.
It is to be noted that the Young Men’s Association has already shone its name in a distinct football playing genre. Especially, in the field the creativity in the legs of some players like: Lubu Sarkar, Vaiya Ghosh, Pabitra Dev Biswas, Swapan Dey significantly infatuated the crowd of the Siliguri. The people used to assimilate in the ‘Tilak Maidan’ (currently known as Kanchenjunga Stadium). During the last decade of the twentieth century, YMA used to make a knot with Sports Authority of India (SAI) to form the football teams. The footballers from the different districts of WB started congregating in the Club premises. Currently, YMA is trying to emerge as a football powerhouse within the state. Even in these ongoing years, the club secured its rank as the runners of the Super Division. The two time champions (YMA) in the last two subsequent years, failed to continue its hat trick stroke. The locals were the sources of Vivacity of YMA footballers. The foot-hillers are usually united in the stadium on the match days of YMA.
However, the club officials often put stress on trying to build up a consolidated football team. In order to form a big budget team, the club members usually take the responsibilities. Their personal initiatives are leading YMA to manifest itself as one of the most crucial powerhouse in North Bengal Football. During the COVID-19 days, the players fell into a severe financial crisis. an unimaginable back up by the Club officials helped the footballers to cope up with the critical situation. Chuni Goswami (one of the legendary faces of Indian football) also left his leg impression in the club house. The YMA footballers like: Prabik Ghising, Piyush Thakuri demonstrated dominating performances in the Calcutta Premier Division Football League and I-Leagues.
Now, the YMA officials have paid their attention to elevate a modern Infrastructure based football academy. In this regard, they wished to form this academy in a joint collaboration with the tea garden footballers. The Club president Rajiv Sen has said that “we are looking forward to promoting the sports in Siliguri, largely football”. On the other hand, Deshbandhu Sporting Union (which was materialized after India’s Independence, 1948) has strikingly contributed in the process of scouting the rising football talents. In the last three decades of the twentieth century, the then national level footballers (like: Basudev Mandal, Ashoklal Banerjee, Aniruddha Kole, Kalyan Chanda, Tanmay Basu and Shreekanta Dutta) devoted themselves in the Sporting Union jerseys. The club was renovated in the beginning of the twenty-first century. During the celebration of the platinum Jubilee years of YMA, the recently released Red and Gold Brigade’s Chief Coach Carles Kuadrat and his assistant Dimas Delgado were invited to the club and they also followed in their steps. Recently, the Deshbandhu Sporting Union became more attentive in search of young footballers and the Club officials have tied up with Tarai Morning FC. An ex-Indian player of the National Men’s Football team, Mr. Swarup Das and the Honourable Mayor of Siliguri, Mr. Gautam Dev initiated a training center for this.
