ATK no more, Mohun Bagan Super Giants - a pragmatic settlement for 'The Mariners' fans

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ATK Mohun Bagan lifted their 4th ISL title on Saturday (March 18). And moments after that, the demands of the millions of Mohun Bagan fans were met by their owner Sanjeev Goenka.

Just after the thrilling victory over Bengaluru FC in the Final, Sanjeev Goenka announced that the name ATK will be erased from the prefix of Mohun Bagan come next season. Hence, the next time the Mariners take to the field, there won't be any ATK before their name, rather than the club will now be known as Mohun Bagan Super Giants.

The fight of the Mohun Bagan supporters to remove ATK from their name has been a long-time battle. The Kolkata giants have millions of supporters who just don't think of the club as a football club, but they call Mohun Bagan as their 'Maa' (Mother), such is the deep connection between the club and the supporters.

After the change in ownership and the merger with ATK, the fans were naturally exasperated and the renaming to ATK Mohun Bagan kind of was the final straw of their frustration. We witnessed the #RemoveATK campaign throughout the last year or so, intense protest of supporters in front of the club and an almost empty gallery in Mohun Bagan matches - the relationship was fragile.

But the rechristening to Mohun Bagan Super Giants is much more acceptable for the Mariners fans. The general feeling graph of the Mohun Bagan supporters have taken a record high since the past 15 hours or so, and more so after Goenka's announcement.

It won't be like the old Mohun Bagan Athletic Club, but Mohun Bagan Super Giants is something the fans have accepted. ATK was a complete different club before their merger with Mohun Bagan. But the RPSG group's Super Giants tag is kind of synonymous with all of their franchises - in IPL Lucknow Super Giants, in SA20 Durban Super Giants. With this ever-changing sports business where franchises are taking over, the showcasing of the brand of an owner can't be denied and supporters will have to live with that.

"We all wanted to remove the ATK tag for a long time, had it been a sponsor's name, no one would have protested. But as it was a name of a completely different club, the feeling was not good. Now the change to Super Giants is something we have to accept in this changed scenario. We are happy that our demand was fulfilled and I can certainly say all the fans who stopped visiting the stadium in protest will return to support the club from next season," Arkadeep Mitra, a Professor of an eminent college in Kolkata and an ardent Mohun Bagan supporter said to MyKhel.

The pragmatic settlement of the fans and the officials of the club is definitely a breeze of fresh air for this century-old club. Mohun Bagan have endured a lot of topsy-turvy moment in its history, but the tumultuous wave of the recent few years have probably been their biggest low, especially for off-field reasons. It was a laudable decision from their new owners to give back the fans their right, because to be very honest, the merging of ATK and Mohun Bagan resulting in ATK Mohun Bagan was a slap in the face of the supporters, and a gigantic sporting mishap.

Analysing the timeline of this long battle to remove ATK can yield only a single viewpoint - it was simply wrong. The baffling decision to keep ATK despite fan unrest was a strange one and some questionable series of decisions took this unpleasant matter this far.

But all well that ends well. Hopefully, the supporters will be back supporting their club from next season onwards. The harmony between the fans and the owners is a pivotal exponent - and to be fair, Goenka has done his part. It is up to the supporters to accept the fact and move on, because their club deserve that.