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Suman Chakravorty: I-League giant East Bengal is in the brink of a massive milestone, as the Red and Gold brigade is about to celebrate its 100 glorious years. Hence, xtratime.in will be exploring the memorable moments of the greats who made their name from this illustrious club. Today, we had an interaction with the legendary Surajit Sengupta, who was known for his scintillating runs and captivating skills. He was the Captain in the 1978-79 season.

Surajit Sengupta: East Bengal has been one of the best things happened to my life. It has some amazing memories throughout. But the most touching story during my career at the club happened back in 1975. I can recall a fan aged around 35 years, who used come to cheer for us on each and every day. He was also a huge fan mine. Our matches used to start around 4:10pm in the afternoon at our club ground. He used to follow us in every possible way - starting from our dressing up session to the warm up one. As I mentioned, the incident happened back in 1975. The hangover of the emergency period was going on. One day, I arrived around 3:30pm at the club to play the game and suddenly found that person entering the club just ahead of me, with a bit unusual attires, without shaving his beard. Jiban da (Former club official) asked him about what happened. The man firmly replied, "My son got expired in the morning. Coming straight from the burning ghat." Trust me, I got trembled! I can still remember that Jiban da got what was going through my mind at that point. He took me to the dressing room immediately. But several things were going through my head. I felt for the 25,000 people who came to support us. I felt for the man who came to cheer for us despite such a tragedy. Yes we won that match, but I couldn't find him after the game. The power of the incident will beat any fond memory of my footballing career.