Those who have seen the best of Bangladesh football and are now painfully watching the worst of it are convinced that the flawed structure has little to do with the beautiful game's rise and fall in the country.

The game was purely Dhaka-centric when it was popular from the 1970s to early 1990s. Our football has never grown or followed the way it has in other established footballing nations in the world. In most countries football clubs are city-based and each team has its own unique followers. While in other countries there are FCs (Football Clubs), we have SC (Sporting Club), KC (Krira Chakra), KS (Krira Sangha) et al. More importantly our clubs are multi-faceted and their involvement at times ranges from football to kabaddi. Our football clubs do not have a system to generate their own income and mostly survive on donations.

Despite being at absolute odds with the established structure, Bangladesh football's popularity grew based on two Dhaka clubs -- Mohammedan and Abahani. These are the two clubs that have divided the country's fans into two camps over the course of a fierce rivalry of 40-odd years. The distance between the two clubs is merely 10 kilometers of an ever-growing capital, which has over the years earned the dubious reputation of the go-to city for anyone who wants to excel in his or her respective fields or to earn quick money.

Just how popular football was in the mid 70s to early 90s can be an absolute fairytale for the present generation that has grown up watching the English Premier League or the Spanish La Liga. But for those who are now in their mid-forties and above, Dhaka football back then was the purest expression of fandom.

Growing up in the old part of the city, I have not only fallen in love with our domestic football but have been very much part of that endless discussion revolving around the players after a defeat or a win of my fancied team or the opposition camp.

At that time passions ran so deep that we were engaged in competitions like outnumbering our rival camp when it came to hoisting the club flag on rooftops. Not only that, the bigger the flag, the bigger the satisfaction was the motto at that time. In those days the atmosphere was so vibrant before a football match that you did not need to turn to newspapers to know which teams were playing.

It was not just that mouthwatering Abahani-Mohammedan match, but every game those two teams played drew enormous ripple and crowd. One may laugh knowing that in those days we bought season tickets and turned up to the Bangabandhu National Stadium well in advance (sometimes five to six hours before kick-off) to watch our beloved team win or to see our rivals lose a point or three. 'Wari ailo' (here comes Wari) was a popular jibe after either of the two big teams suffered a defeat against the lightweights of that time.

During those heydays of football the biggest concern of every parent living in Dhaka and its surrounding districts was their disobeying offspring and even grown-up family members, who were hell bent on turning up to the ground to watch a football match despite being prone to being a subject of a pitched battle after almost every game involving fans of the two teams.

This is only a small reference to how passionately Dhaka football was followed at a time when almost every discussion over a cup of tea dominated the smallest details of that rivalry and the cast of characters of the two rival camps famously branded as 'the black and whites' and 'the sky blues'.

I was watching the Liverpool versus Manchester United game on October 17 and was wondering if the noise created from the famous Kop End at Anfield was more earth-shaking than what we had been associated with at our own 'Big Bowl' during our own Dhaka derby.

That Dhaka derby is still played and won, but unfortunately the missing element is that unbridled passion on that same hallowed turf. The reference of that rivalry, which is now completely missing, is perhaps the biggest reason for the free fall of Bangladesh's football standard that hit its nadir in Thimphu on October 10.

The 3-1 defeat against Bhutan sparked such an uproar in the football fraternity that a total overhaul of the country's football has now become the popular demand. Knives are already out against Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin for sponsoring that disaster with many demanding his resignation from the top post he has been occupying for nine years. The more serious allegation against Salahuddin, an icon of Bangladesh football's glorious days, is his unrealistic vision which has played a big role in that recipe for disaster. He is being criticised for being too focused on the national team and extremely oblivious of the youth development programme.

Although the former national striker, with the distinction of being the first Bangladeshi to have played in a professional league, tried everything in his power to run the top-tier Dhaka Leagues (Bangladesh Premier League and Bangladesh Championship League) without any interruptions, his critics came down on him hard for his failure to run the lower tiers of the Dhaka League and the district football leagues consistently. He has also failed to make the District Football Associations (DFA) truly functional and his effort to give the club structure a professional attire bit the dust in the backdrop of a ground reality guided by financial constraints.

These are all valid criticisms and, despite all his efforts and the spectacular ideas which he tried to implement, Salahuddin's nine-odd years at the helm can be best described as a philosophy that had a negative impact on an already 'moribund' football scene that has been living on saline even before he took over.

Some people might even say that Salahuddin's nine years have been a total waste. But is there anybody around who can come up with a formula which will bring back the glory days of football? To be honest we need every stakeholder of football to sit together and work day in and day out in earnest if we are to pull Bangladesh's football out of the grave. In that context, the Dhaka clubs must play the biggest role.

People often refer to the success of Bangladesh's cricket as a model for football to follow, but we tend to forget that football is more club-based than cricket. Cricket will still grow if the clubs cease to play the game, but for football to prosper we need a very strong club-based structure.

It was an opportunity lost when our club football was very popular. The federation officials at that time rested on their laurels and never thought of forming a sustainable structure. We are also criticising the BFF for not putting enough effort to build a strong youth structure. There are only a handful of instances of a national federation embarking on a strong youth system on the sidelines of a strong club youth system.

Besides, why are we not criticising the BKSP for failing to produce young players for a long time? Over the years BKSP developed a lot of quality players who not only excelled at the club level, but also served the national team with distinction.

There is a small instance of the impact a set of BKSP players had while playing for a non-descript Youngmen's Fakirerpool Club in the Dhaka League in the early 90s. If I am not mistaken, that set perhaps played the most modern football after Brothers Union. The biggest facet of that team was the use of the wingbacks in what was an entertaining brand of total football.

There are so many instances in Dhaka football where it was just not about the rivalry of the two big teams but also the exceptional efforts from the lightweights. The Dhaka League could have been even more meaningful had the federation been more proactive against the evils of arranged affairs -- an open secret and which has done untold damage to our football in the long run.

We have done enough to damage our football. Now the biggest question is are we really serious about stopping the rot? It needs a thorough soul-searching and it should start from the top brass to all the clubs -- from a Premier to a Pioneer outfit. We do not need a national team management committee; we need a disaster management committee involving every stakeholder of the game. We need to bring back the Abahani-Mohammedan rivalry, which is not just a piece of our history, but a culture deeply rooted in our footballing existence. It is about time the football authorities become accommodative rather than imposing. It is also time for the clubs to decide in which system they will fit in, considering all the constraints.

The destiny of our football is at the hand of the clubs.