Inter-City Bangla Cup Debuts as London Take The Honours

Muhammad Talha

With the capital city chosen as the venue of the new Inter-City Bangla Cup a competitive round of debut fixtures saw the hosts crowned champions of the first London League.

The Inter-City Bangla Cup is an exciting new football tournament bringing together Bengali veteran footballers from the whole of the UK with the original roster consisting of teams from London, Oldham, Luton, and Birmingham.

London took home the first Inter City Bangla Cup Championship after the first leg of the seasonal tour kicked off at the Royal Docks in Newham.

Each of the participating teams played each other and London emerged victorious with three wins whilst not conceding a single goal en route to victory.

The first game saw a 1-0 win courtesy of Aktar Hussain with Mamun Uddin, Tuasir Ali, Tarek Miah and Shahb Uddin featuring prominently in preserving a slender lead.

Md Raqeeb Shamim in goal was man of the match as Helal Uddin, Alior Miah and the mercurial Akbal Ahmed put up a stubborn resistance to take home the points against Luton in the second fixture.

A nervy penultimate game against Anayeth Hussain’s Birmingham was settled again by a solitary goal with Saim Hussain, Helal Uddin and Abdul Munim leading from the front. A crucial 1-0 score line saw captain Aktar Hussain securing the championship for Emdad Rahman’s men.

The 16-player veteran squads from each city will continue to compete in a round-robin format as the show moves on to Luton next month.

London champions squad for the inaugural Inter City Bangla Cup 2024

Md Raqeeb Shamim – Mamun Uddin – Tuasir Ali – Tarek Miah – Helal Uddin – Alior Miah – Akbal Ahmed – Anamul Hoque – Saim Hussain – Kamruz Zaman – Aktar Hussain – Abdul Munim – Shahb Uddin – Sana Miah – Head Coach: Emdad Rahman