Arambagh KS

Arambagh Krira Sangha

Full name	Arambagh Krira Sangha Dhaka
Nickname(s)	The Rising Strength
Founded	1958;66 years ago (1958)
Ground	Shaheed Bir Sreshtho Matiur Rahman Stadium
Capacity	10,000
General Secretary	Md Yaqub Ali
Head coach	Subrata Bhattacharya Jr.
League	Dhaka Senior Division Football League
2021	BPL, 12th of 13 (Relegated)

Arambagh Krira Sangha is a Bangladeshi sports club based in Dhaka, that competes in the Dhaka Senior Division Football League, the third-tier of football in Bangladesh. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

History

Arambagh Krira Sangha were formed in Dhaka way back in 1958. Originally established as a football club, Arambagh later added handball, basketball and volleyball in their roster.

However, they became the first club from Bangladesh who played in final in an international club tournament during 1981 ANFA Cup, hosted by Nepal. They also finished runners-up twice in the Sikkim Gold Cup. ^[4] In 1997, the club took part in a football tournament at Agartala that marked the golden jubilee of the independence of India. They used to be a top-five finisher prior to 1990, but failed to continue their form later and during 2012–13 season, the club experienced one of its lowest points when it was relegated from the Bangladesh Premier League. Since their return to the top flight again in 2016, their performance graph only shows upward movement. ^[5]

Moreover, after being appointed as the club president in 2015, Mominul Haque Shaeed made a link-up with Dilkusha and Arambagh Football Academy to collect footballers from grassroots for his club, and those players are now delivering results.

As far as domestic football is concerned, Arambagh emerged as the runners-up three times in the prestigious season-opening Federation Cup, in 1997, 2001 and 2016. International or domestic football, Arambagh's crowning moment came in the 2017–18 Independence Cup where they defeated established powerhouses on their way to the title. ^[6]

Saiful Bari Titu era

Arambagh KS appointed Saiful Bari Titu as head coach on 19 March 2016. ^[7]

Arambagh finished at sixth position in 2016 Bangladesh Football Premier League which is their best performance after 2009–10 Bangladesh League. They also played the final of Bangladesh Federation Cup after 15 long years where they lost the game to Dhaka Abahani by Lee Tuck's solitary goal.

Maruful Haque era

On 8 April 2017, Arambagh KS appointed former Bangladesh national team head coach Maruful Haque as their new head coach. ^[8]
A few days later Arambagh also became the first club ever to introduce GPS system in Bangladesh football.

On 10 February 2018, Arambagh KS celebrated their first ever domestic silverware ^[9] in the club's history of about 60 years by defeating defending champion Chittagong Abahani in the final of 2017–18 Independence Cup by 2–0 margin at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
The champions received taka 500,000 and the runners-up received taka 300,000 as prize money. Besides, Arambagh club management also announced taka 10,00,000 for the entire team. Arambagh winger Mohammad Arifur Rahman was named the man of the final and also the man of the tournament. Arambagh striker Mohammad Jewel was adjudged the top scorer netting three goals. ^{[10] [11]}

Subrata Bhattacharya Jr.

On 23 December 2020, Arambagh boys gifted their new Indian head coach Subrata Bhattacharya a winning debut as they beat Brothers Union by 2–0. ^[12]

On 16 August 2021 defeat against Uttar Baridhara SC at Dhaka the club have confirmed relegation from Bangladesh Premier League to Bangladesh Championship League. Its the club 2nd relegation after 2015–16 season. ^[13]

Suspension and relegation

On 29 August 2021 Bangladesh Football Federation disciplinary committee had confirmed the clubs involvement with spot fixing, match manipulations and live and online betting. The clubs management committee along with local and foreign players, were all reported to be involved. BFF disciplinary committee decided to fine 5 lakhs BDT & ban the club for two years from entering the Bangladesh Championship League. The club would have to enter domestic football again through the third-tier, the Dhaka Senior Division Football League. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

Current squad

As of 15 December 2020

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF   BAN Nazmul Hossain Akondo 3 DF   BAN Kazi Rahad Mia 4 DF   BAN Mustafizur Rahman Saikat 5 DF   BAN Shamim Reza 7 MF   BAN Arafat Mia 8 DF   AUS Bradie Smith(captain) 13 DF   BAN Ariful Rahaman 14 DF   BAN Rasel Munshi 15 DF   BAN Jahidul Islam Babu 16 FW   BAN Robin Rony 17 MF   BAN Umor Faruk 18 MF   BAN Md Sayde 19 DF   BAN Jahid Hossain

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW   BAN Murad Hossain Chowdhury 21 MF   BAN Rakibul Islam 22 GK   BAN Abdul Kashem Milon 23 DF   BAN Md Alamin 24 DF   BAN Mohammad Rocky 27 DF   BAN Abu Taleb Parvez 29 MF   BAN Afjal Mia 30 FW   BAN Mahedi Fahad 33 GK   BAN Rayhan Ahmed Jaber 34 GK   BAN Appel Mahamud 35 GK   BAN Antor Ali 70 FW   BAN Miraz Molla 71 FW   BAN Nihat Jaman Ucchash

Team records

Head Coach's record

As of 27 August 2021

Head Coach	Nat.	From	To	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	%W
Saiful Bari Titu		19 March 2016	3 January 2017	33	8	17	8	30	32	024.24
Maruful Haque		8 April 2017	18 July 2019	59	22	11	26	82	83	037.29
Sheikh Zahidur Rahman Milon		29 October 2019	September 2020	7	1	2	4	8	17	014.29
Subrata Bhattacharya Jr.		23 December 2020	Present	26	2	2	22	24	67	007.69

P – Total of played matches W – Won matches D – Drawn matches L – Lost matches GS – Goal scored GA – Goals against
%W – Percentage of matches won

AFC club ranking

As of 11 June 2023 ^[17]

Ranking	Team	Points
555	Islanders FC	15.0
556	Navy Sea Hawks FC	15.0
557	Arambagh KS	15.0
558	Royal Thimphu College FC	15.0
559	Druk Stars FC	16.0

Honours

League

• Bangladesh Championship League
  • Runners-up (1): 2015–16

• Dhaka Second Division League
  • Champions (1): 1979

• Dhaka Third Division League
  • Champions (1): 1970

Cup

• Independence Cup
  • Champions (1): 2017–18

• Independence Cup
  • Runners-up (2): 1997, 2001

Invitational

• Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup
  • Runners-up (2): 2001, 2002 ^{[18] [19]}
• ANFA Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1981 ^[20]

References

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3. বড় ধরনের শাস্তি পেলো আরামবাগ ক্রীড়া সংঘ. The Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali). 29 August 2021. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
4. Arunava Chaudhuri. "2001/02 Season in Indian Football:". indianfootball.de. Indian Football Network. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
5. "Arambagh: Glory brick by brick". BFF. Archived from the original on 2019-09-04. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
6. "Arambagh, from underdog to giant-killer". Dhaka Tribune. 2018-03-31. Archived from the original on 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
7. আরামবাগের নতুন কোচ সাইফুল বারি টিটু. Somoy News (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
8. "Coach Maruf to start with a fresh Arambagh team". The Independent. Dhaka. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
9. "Youth policy brings success for Arambagh". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2018-12-10. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
10. "Arambagh celebrate first ever local title". The Daily Observer. Archived from the original on 2021-11-18. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
11. Reporter, Sports (February 11, 2018). "Arambagh break final jinx". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on August 11, 2023.
12. "Saif, Arambagh off to winning start". 23 December 2020. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
13. প্রিমিয়ার লিগ থেকে অবনমন আরামবাগের. Daily Sports BD (in Bengali). 16 August 2021. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
14. ফিক্সিং:পেশাদার লিগ থেকে বহিস্কার আরামবাগ. Daily Football Bangladesh (in Bengali). 29 August 2021. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
15. Desk, Prothom Alo English. "Arambagh KS relegated to first division over spot- fixing". Prothomalo. Archived from the original on 2022-04-05. Retrieved 2022-04-05.
16. "Arambagh Club: Independence Cup winners now gambling hosts". The Business Standard. September 28, 2019. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
17. "AFC club rankings". footballalphabet.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
18. "India – List of All India Governor's Gold Cup Winners (Sikkim)". Rsssf.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
19. Arunava Chaudhuri. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup". indianfootball.de. Indian Football Network. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
20. "ANFA Invitational Tournament (Nepal)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 16 November 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2014.