Arambagh Krira Sangha were relegated from the top tier of Bangladesh football for the first time in more than three decades after they were thrashed 3-2 by Team BJMC in their final game of the Bangladesh Premier League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Friday. In order to avoid relegation, a victory was the only way to keep Arambagh’s hope alive but they failed to acquire the much needed win over BJMC who leapfrogged Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited to finish in fourth position.
BJMC ended their league campaign on 26 points from their allotted 16 matches while Arambagh finished bottom of the league table with nine points from the same number of games.
Feni Soccer Club and Brothers Union can heave a sigh of relief as they are now safe from any relegation worries having accumulated 12 and 11 points respectively.
Nigerian defender Abu Paul gave Arambagh a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute with a headed effort but Guinean forward Ismail Bangoura leveled the margin after seven minutes with his eighth goal of the campaign.
BJMC again took the lead in the 32nd minute against the run of play through Abdullah Parvez before Mokles made it 3-1 just before the interval.
‘This has been the most miserable night of our lives in the history of Arambagh Club,’ said a teary-eyed Ezaz Hossain Jahangir, joint secretary of Arambagh Krira Sangha.
‘After 33 years, we are relegated from the top level so naturally it was a very shocking result for us. We failed to save ourselves from relegation due to some bad foreign recruits,’ said the captain of Arambagh, Khalilur Rahman Faisal.
Arambagh were promoted to the top tier from the second division in 1983 and since then they had established themselves as a mid-table side in domestic football, however, this time they were unable to avoid relegation.
RESULT
Team BJMC 3 (Bangoura 28, Parvez 32, Moklesur 42) v Arambagh KS 2 (Paul 21, Kester 61)
-With New Age input
