A police band (top) and a dance troupe perform during the inauguration of the All India Brigade of Gurkhas Gold Cup in Darjeeling on Friday. Pictures by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, Nov. 12: The All India Brigade of Gurkhas Gold Cup kicked off today after 25 years, bringing back a bygone generation’s memories, many of which are part of the folklore in this football crazy town.

“The craze for this tournament was mind-boggling. The stands would always be packed and even when I went to other parts of the country to play football, players used to enquire about this tournament,” said Mahendra Subba, a state level player who also played in the Darjeeling tournament.

Old timers recalled how people would come in droves, sometime even on horsebacks, from places like Bijanbari, 35km from town, with a hamper to watch the show. “It was a common site to see people carrying a foldable mini-table so that they could enjoy their meals properly during the match,” said Suraj Lama, an octogenarian from Darjeeling.

The blue ribbon tournament, which used to see the participation of the country’s best footballers of those times, had started in 1975 with the Brigade of Gurkhas (British Army) based in Hong Kong presenting the trophy to the Darjeeling District Sports Association.

“Such was the energy among the spectators that during the inaugural tournament, the then chief minister of Bengal chose to kick the ball towards the stands, and not the goal post, while declaring the tournament open,” recalled Lama.

Today, P.M.K. Gandhi, the Darjeeling district magistrate, declared the tournament open. The tournament was last played in 1985, when East Bengal emerged as the champions.

“At times we could not see the match on the other side of the field because of dense fog. But many of us always carried a radio and used to listen to the running commentary on All India Radio, Kurseong,” said Dawa Rai, an old timer.

The inaugural match between Darjeeling XI and the Indian Football Association (IFA) XI today, too, had its share of excitement stored for the spectators who braved a rather chilly evening and fading lights to watch the match. The Darjeeling team consolidated its position early in the game scoring a brace through Subesh Rai and Pranesh Dewan in the first half.

Although the Darjeeling team displayed a better show, they missed a couple of opportunities to seal the game, only to see Surajit Das of the IFA XI scoring two penalties in the second half to equal the score sheet in the normal time.

The lights were fading and K. Banerjee, the match referee, decided to play the extra-time to get a result. At the dying moment, Nikash Tamang of Darjeeling scored a stunner and after a few moments, the IFA players started complaining of the lights. The referee would have none of it and the game was awarded to Darjeeling team, two minutes before its scheduled end.

Zakhir Hussian Malla, manager of the IFA, said: “I had told the referee at the end of the normal time that there could be problems with lights . He, however, told me that everything was fine and he ensured that the game ended despite bad light. We have no plan to file a complaint against the organisers.”