Dilkusha Sporting Club: Never very good

Dilkusha Sporting Club is not prominent in Bangladesh's sporting arena, but they were amongst those that had a casino until very recently. 

The recent police and RAB raids found a casino in Dilkusha Club, as well as in Mohammedan Sporting Club, Victoria Sporting Club and Wanderers Club. 

The police found many gambling boards, roulette wheels, gambling cards and chips in these clubs. 

The biggest identity of Dilkusha Sporting Club is that it was the first team of Bangladesh legend and current Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin. He joined the club in 1968 and was there for a year before joining Wari Club in 1969. He later played for Mohammedan SC and Abahani Limited, the former one being one of the clubs to be raided over the casino issue. 

Dilkusha Sporting Club was founded by an organiser who left Mohammedan Sporting Club. Dilkusha is currently in the third division of the country's football league, but they were quite prominent in the 1970's. They were runners up to

Abahani Limited in the league in 1974, but there was controversy over the title. 

Prominent Bangladeshi sports journalist, Manzurul Haque, told the Business Standard the story of the league and how Abahani were declared Champions. 

"In the last match of the league, Abahani's arch-rivals Mohammedan faced Dilkusha. Mohammedan wanted to lose the match willingly to deny Abahani the championship. Mohammedan needed to lose by a four-goal margin to hand Dilkusha the trophy, and they were succeeding in their goal. But a foreign recruit of Mohammedan, not knowing Mohammedan's intentions, scored a long-ranger. Mohammedan were shocked by that goal but they still went on to lose the match 5-1." 

The result meant that Dilkusha were still champions, but the rules set from FIFA were not followed as Abahani were announced Champions. 

Manzurul remembers, "instead of using goal difference to differentiate among the top clubs, the league used goal average to dictate who won the league. This process was contradictory to the existing by-laws, but the decision stayed, and Dilkusha were denied the trophy and Abahani were named Champions." 

Being runners up that year still remains Dilkusha's biggest achievement. They have lagged behind since. 

Dilkusha were promoted to Premier Division Hockey earlier this year when they beat Dhaka United to become the champions of the First Division Hockey League. 

They also have a cricket team, but that too is still in tatters. 

Dilkusha were never a top tier club in the country's sporting arena, and now it looks more difficult, perhaps even impossible, for them to rise again.