Mohammedan SC Dhaka are a branch of a major nationwide sporting club, based in the
Bangladeshi capital of
Dhaka. They formed some time in the mid 1930s, although there is some dispute as to exactly when. But 1933 seems to be the safest bet. They are part of the much older
Calcutta Mohammedan, whose first foundations came in 1891, making them among the very oldest clubs in India (remember, at that time Bangladesh was at that time part of the wider Indian Empire).
They had a solid but quiet league career until 1947, when after the partition of India, Calcutta Mohammedan star player Mohammad Shahjahan took charge of the side, reorganising them into a side of some style and skill. By the early sixties they had become regular league winners, finally overcoming their arch rivals Dhaka Wanderers Club, and eventually going on to win the Dhaka League 15 times, and filling the runners up slot on a further dozen occasions before the new
B League became the top flight of the national game, where they still play to this day.
They play at the the country's former test cricket ground - hence its rather unusual roundness. They share the hefty 36,000 capacity
Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka with no less than eight other teams in the
B League - indeed, that's all of the top flight except the three clubs who play in either
Chittagong or
Feni, which must make drawing up a fixture list something of a bureaucratic
nightmare.
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