May be Brothers Union have won their maiden title but the League this year will go down in history for what a small club like Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra had done in their first season in top flight football.

Established in 1995, the Uttara-based outfit was hardly on anybody's lips when the season kicked off. But they seized the spotlight by making it into the last four of the Federation Cup.

If that was not enough the events that followed in one of the most exciting finishes to the League left nobody in no doubt that it was a story of some ordinary people who have done extraordinary things in extraordinary situations.

Imagine Brothers running away with an unassailable eight-point lead midway through the second leg and their real challengers Mohammedan, Abahani and Muktijoddha giving up the fight one after another when a 'B' team like Russell emerged in the scene.

They came tantalisingly close to taking all the glory before Brothers won the final game against Muktijoddha thanks to a second-half goal from Monwar.

Still, a second place finish behind Brothers Union, who broke the bank to form a virtual national team, was a great achievement for Sheikh Russell.

And anybody associated with the club will tell you that the driving force behind Russell's fairy-tale run was none other than its president Nurul Alam Chowdhury.

It was clearly evident moments after their final game of the season against Dhaka Wanderers when all the players sang in praise of the charismatic Chowdhury.

The Russell boss is not an unknown figure in the sports community. The bespectacled gentleman may not have succeeded as either a hockey or table tennis player, but certainly his passion for sports in general and football in particular has at last left its mark.

A down to earth person, Chowdhury has always believed in one thing.

"If one is to succeed in any venture there must be a good management behind him," said Chowdhury who took over the presidency in 2001.

A successful businessman Chowdhury also knew that experience has no substitute and that's why he approached two former star footballers Sheikh Aslam and Badal Roy in an effort to build a durable team.

"We certainly don't possess the kind of money like the big teams have. But I was keen on getting the best available people to help me build my team and that's why I've valued the advice of Aslam and Badal. Both were eager to help me despite their busy schedules and the club owes a lot to them," said Chowdhury to the Daily Star Sport while reflecting on a momentous first season.

While many smelt a rat in Brothers' win against Muktijoddha, the Russell president preferred to offer his congratulations to the Gopibagh team.

"Brothers deserve the title since they were undoubtedly the best among the ten teams. But what my club has achieved is equally impressive," he said adding that the challenge for his club now is to prove that the second-place finish was no fluke.

"The big challenge now for us is to prove that it was not a one-off situation. We are already thinking to establish the club as a powerhouse for the good of country's football."

He however admitted that the task ahead was a difficult one for a club, which has still no home of its own.

Since coming into being Sheikh Russell has been functioning at Chowdhury's business house in Mominbagh and trains in a rented place at Uttara.

Chowdhury is a man on a mission to make Sheikh Russell a modern home of sport.

"We have a plan to mould it like a European club. We don't want to be confined anywhere in Dhaka. Our goal is to set up a base either in Gazipur or Ashulia so that the boys can avail round the year training facilities," said Alam, whose ultimate target is to deliver a professional football club.