Brothers Union
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Brothers Union

Brothers Union (Bengali: ব্রাদার্স ইউনিয়ন) is a professional football club based in Gopibagh, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It currently competes in the Bangladesh Premier League, the top flight of Bangladeshi Football.

The club was founded in 1949, patroned by local Gopibagh businessmen. Nicknamed the Oranges, Brothers Union spent the late 70s and early 80s as one of the pioneers of Bangladeshi football, behind Abahani Limited Dhaka and Dhaka Mohammedan. Throughout their history, Brothers Union have built a reputation for spotting and developing young talent, especially during the club's legendary coach Abdul Gafur Baloch's regime from 1972 to 1986.

The club earned promotions from the Dhaka Third Division Football League and Dhaka Second Division Football League in 1973 and 1974, respectively. They entered the First Division in 1975, however, had to wait till the 2003–04 season to win their first league title. Their second league triumph came in the following season, in 2005. The club has also found success at continental level, jointly winning the 1981–82 edition of the Aga Khan Gold Cup, becoming the first and only local club to win the tournament since the Independence of Bangladesh.

Brothers Union were one of the founding members of the Bangladesh Premier League in 2007. They remained in the professional league, until facing relegation at the end of 2021–22 Premier League. The club withdrew from the second-tier, the Championship League in the following season and eventually gained promotion back to the top-flight as champions of the 2022–23 Championship League.

The club was founded in 1949 and the regal business tycoon Kazi Ghiyasuddin Ahmed, better known as K. G. Ahmed served as the founder chairman, while the former Minister of Education of East Pakistan, the late Zahiruddin and eminent journalist A. B. M. Musa were the first president and general secretary of the club respectively. At the beginning it was a well-known cultural organization. However, during the 1971 Liberation war, Brothers Union shut down all club activities. In 1972, a few months after the war had reached its conclusion and resulted in Bangladesh's independence, Saifuddin Ahmed Manik, one of the clubs founding members, had his younger brother Shahiduddin Ahmed Selim recruit veteran football coach Abdul Gafur Baloch, with the idea of re-entering divisional football Dhaka.

In 1972, Gafur Baloch started holding trails for Brothers Union Youth team, mainly consisting of high school students in Gopibag. Throughout the 70s Baloch's youth team would open a pathway for many future national team stars, including the club's midfield linchpin Hasanuzzaman Bablu and also their best ever player Mohammed Mohsin. In 1973, Mohsin got a chance to play for the main team, when Brothers resumed playing in the Dhaka Third Division League after the war. The teenage striker scored 39 goals, including a hat-trick and a double hat-trick leading Brothers to promotion as undefeated champions. The following year, he scored 22 goals in the Dhaka Second Division League, as Brothers secured consecutive promotions again as undefeated champions, booking their place in the 1975 First Division.

During the early years of its rebirth, the club suffered from a major financial crisis due to the war. Although Brothers resumed all football activities in 1973, the first residential camp of Brothers Union was held at the 48 Ramakrishna Mission Road, Gopibagh, while the club was still playing in the second division league, in 1974. The four-storey building belonged to Saifuddin Ahmed Manik, and Selim who was given the team's captaincy, persuaded his brother to let the players camp in the two flats on the ground floor without having to pay rent. A stable source of funding was eventually provided by Sadeque Hossain Khoka, a former mayor and minister of Dhaka, who served as the club's general secretary from 1972 to 1979.

In 1975, Brothers entered the Dhaka First Division League, and in their inaugural league game the club defeated reigning champions Abahani Krira Chakra 1–0, with a goal from Titu. The victory earned Brothers huge admiration from both media and local supporters. During the first phase of the league the club only lost a single game (to Mohammedan SC), and soon became one of the big names in the league. The late 70s saw the clubs attacking duo of Mohammed Mohsin and Hasanuzzaman Bablu establish themselves as one of best in the league, while few of their unsung heroes were left-back Noman Nannu, midfielder Abdus Salam and striker Fazlu, who were all products of their youth team. In 1978 the club finished the season as runner-up behind Abahani. In 1979, Gafur Baloch introduced teenage winger Khandoker Wasim Iqbal to the Dhaka football scene, who scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Mohammedan SC in the league.

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