Women's football fever in Gopalpur: nearly 20,000 fans turn out for friendly match

Gopalpur in Tangail has been swept up in women's football fever. Nearly 20,000 spectators gathered at the Hemnagar Zamindar Bari ground to watch a friendly match, their excitement turning the venue into a festival.

The match pitted the Morhum Farhad Hossain Talukdar Smriti Football Academy against the Kalsindur women's football team from Mymensingh. Kalsindur is a well-known name in the country's women's football, and the home academy's clash with them had drawn huge interest in advance.

The match was held at 4pm on Tuesday (20 October), jointly organised by Hemnagar Sporting Club and the Haque Palli Foundation.

It was inaugurated by Advocate Abdus Salam Pintu, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Food and MP for Tangail-2.

The Farhad Hossain Talukdar Smriti Football Academy took the lead in the first half, with former national women's team striker Krishna Rani Sarkar scoring for the hosts.

But Kalsindur levelled early in the second half, their player Aklima finding the net to make it 1-1 and set up a lively contest.

That was the picture of the game as reported — a goal from a former national striker on one side and a fighting comeback from Kalsindur on the other, with the crowd delighted by the skill on display from both teams.

Present at the ground were Md Mahafuzul Alam Khan, acting secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports; Gopalpur UNO Manjurul Morshed; and Golam Rabbani Choton, former coach of the national women's football team.

Also present were Golam Raihan Bapon, physical education teacher at Suti VM Pilot Government High School; Kazi Liaquat, secretary of Gopalpur upazila BNP; and Golam Roj Talukdar, president of Hemnagar union BNP.

Around 20,000 spectators came from Gopalpur and surrounding areas to enjoy the women's match, and the applause and cheers of the crowd standing around the field created a festive atmosphere across the area.

Such an event and turnout for women's football at the local level show how much grassroots interest in girls' football has grown. The rise of teams like Kalsindur has itself come from exactly this kind of grassroots practice.

Sports figures believe the organisers' initiative will encourage young female footballers in the area, and hope that regular matches of this kind will bring new talent through from Gopalpur and its surroundings.