Dhaka Derby


The Dhaka Derby is a football rivalry between Abahani and Mohammedan, although the rivalry was bigger in the past.
Dhaka Mohammedan and Dhaka Abahani first met each other during 1973 Dhaka League. Late Amalesh Sen scored the first goal in that match and became the first-ever goal scorer in the history of Dhaka Derby.

History

After the independence of Bangladesh, the Dhaka League started in 1973 and came the likes of Wari FC, Azad Sporting Clubs, Brothers Union and title favorite Dhaka Mohammedan but the new club Dhaka Abahani debuted in that very year.

1970s–1990s

The two sides first met in that very year and the Blue Brigades won 2–0 and caused an upset over the Black and Whites.
It is fair to say that Mohammedan first won their first league title in 1957 but after independence, they won it in 1975 and Abahani in 1974. Throughout the decade they met several times in the league.
The next decade proved a tight affair between the two sides they produced the next superstars of football in the country and almost won all the trophies. Abahani won a hat-trick of titles between 1983–85 and Mohammedan made a record of winning an unbeaten hat-trick of titles between 1986–89. The rivalry reached its peak as fans always wanted their favorite team to win and they also contested in foreign tournaments and were the best sides.
Through the next decade football happened to be the center of attraction in Dhaka but it was steadily losing its popularity. Still they were traditional crowd pullers and they played some key matches but the clubs could not find that much attraction as cricket was taking center stage and was attraction of sports lovers in Bangladesh.

2000s–present

After the start of a new era the first professional league the B-League was established by Bangladesh Football Federation. Since then the clubs have faced each other 17 times Abahani winning six times and Mohammedan winning four times, rest 7 ended in draws.
Abahani is slightly ahead of their arch-rivals in the league winning the title with a hat-trick of five times. While Mohammedan have not won any professional league for more than a decade.

Notable clashes

The club first met in 1973, Abahani won the match 2–0.
Throughout their history they have mate and produced breathtaking, heartbreaking fixtures.
There are five notable clashes that define this rivalry off course from the past. It was back in 1980 when violence erupted the whole match and the match ended in massacre. Police and security had to ensure safety but they could not as the 40,000 hostile crowd went crazy in dispute, two innocent lives were lost that day. Another clash in 1982 was a bad one as four Abahani superstars were arrested due to the clash and violence in the Dhaka Derby earlier. In 1985, once again a bad decision given by the referee started a big brawl between the two adoring fans and started to fight against each other, one man was found dead after the security had handled the situation. In 1987 the playoff match for the title ended with big riots and the match was abandoned.

Statistical comparison

As of 5 March 2020.
Note: The statistical comparison for the Bangladesh Football Premier League that was started in 2007.
Before this league this two giants had faced 89 matches since 1973 to 2006 in Dhaka league along with several tournaments. Out of 89 encounters, Abahani won 35 matches ; Mohammedan won 31 matches. They finished with no result in 23 matches.

Trophy room

As of 14 February 2020
CompetitionDhaka Abahani wonDhaka Mohammedan won
Bangladesh Football Premier League60
Federation Cup1110
Independence Cup13
Bangladesh Super Cup12
Dhaka League1119
National Football Championship12
Aga Khan Gold Cup03
Bordoloi Trophy 10
Nagjee Trophy 10
Charms Cup 10
Ma-Moni Gold Cup01
BTC Club Cup10
DMFA Cup12
Independence Cup 10
Total3742

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