Subhasish, Soumya bag top honours

Bhubaneswar: Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal dominated AIFF's annual roll of honours on Friday with Bagan skipper Subhasish Bose and East Bengal midfield livewire Soumya Guguloth named as AIFF Men's and Women's Player of the Year respectively.

While left-back Bose guided Mohun Bagan to an ISL double with Shield and Cup wins en route a record-breaking 570 minutes without conceding, Guguloth was instrumental in her club's maiden IWL title scoring nine goals, including the winner in their title-clinching 1-0 win over Odisha FC.

It was also a personal triumph for Bose in their club's most successful season in recent times.

"It was a tough season for us. But together as a team, we have done so many good things this time. That's why we could do an ISL double. It was a great season personally for me and as a team, too, we did great things," Bose told TOI after the ceremony at the Odisha State Convention Centre here.

Guguloth, meanwhile, wanted to credit her exposure playing in Croatia for Dinamo Zagreb for her achievement. "I'm really proud of this award and it's a first for me," Guguloth told TOI. "I went to Croatia and came back with a lot of experience. That contributed to my performance this season."

There were more honours of the Kolkata clubs as Bagan's Vishal Keith and East Bengal's Elangbam Panthoi Chanu won the Goalkeeper of the Year awards in the men's and men's section, respectively.

"All of us at the club worked hard together and it's because of that I have got this honour today. I just want to thank everyone at East Bengal – my teammates, my coach Antony, my goalkeeping coach Gautam and all the staff — without whose help this would not be possible," Chanu told TOI.

In other significant categories, Brison Fernandes of FC Goa was named the Most Promising Men's Player of the Year while the women's award went to 18-year-old Toijam Thoibisana Chanu of Sribhumi FC.

The honours for coaching excellence went to Khalid Jamil for guiding Jamshedpur FC to ISL semifinal while Sujata Kar took the women's coaching award for helping Sreebhumi's third-place finish in IWL.