Amal Dutta passes away
He was keeping ill in recent times and was suffering from age related illness.
He was 86 when death came.
Mourning his death,West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted: "Saddened at the passing away of Amal Dutta. Football world will miss him. It's a great loss. My condolences to his family and friends."
During his playing days, In 1950s he played in midfield for East Bengal.
Dutta also represented India in the 1954 Asian Games at Manila.
After retirement as a player he went to England for a one-year FA coaching course, where he was taught by the renowned Walter Winterbottom.
On returning to India his first major assignment was to coach Railways in 1960 for the Santosh trophy. His first assignment with a big club was in 1963 with East Bengal midway through the Calcutta league.
He remained as coach with East Bengal in 1964 but a year later, he took the first of several bold steps in his chequered career.
He quit the security of his job in the Indian Railways and opted to become a full time football coach, the first-ever in India and a feat for which he has received little recognition.
In the early 1960s he retired from the Indian Railways to become a full-time coach, a bold step in the amateur football scene of that time in India. Thus he is known as the first professional coach of India .
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