While state-run orgnisations have turned their backs on the country's sports one after another, Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) has decided to restore their old pride in football after applying for a club licence for the upcoming Bangladesh Championship League.

BRTC Sports Club once played in the country's top-flight alongside giants like Mohammedan and Abahani and produced talented players like defender Ranjit, forward Prasenjit, midfielders Shamsuddin, Latu and Hare Krishna and forward Rizvi Karim Rumi in the 1980s and 1990s.

However, the club disappeared from the scene in 2014 after being relegated from the third division.

After a 10-year gap, the club is planning to come back to football through the second-tier, Bangladesh Championship League, and then plan to graduate to the top-tier football, a level where they last played in 2005.

Encouraged by BRTC chairman Md Tazul Islam, the club's president Dr. Anupam Saha is trying to give shape to their dream to restore the club's old pride.

"BRTC has reached a new high after overcoming financial issues. The financial condition of BRTC is now solid," Anupam told The Daily Star yesterday.

"We are going to revive BRTC for two reasons -- one is to install passion among our sports-loving employees. The second is that we want to restore our old pride because BRTC once played against Mohammedan, Abahani, Brothers Union," said Anupam, also a director of BRTC (finance and operations).

The BRTC director also added that they would try to form their team within their capacity in a bid to qualify for the Bangladesh Premier League and will try to find potential players from among their 5000 employees.

The club's president also informed that they have already prepared a practice ground and dormitory for the players in Gazipur.

However, the participation of the club in the BCL depends on the BFF professional league management committee, which will finalise the number of teams from among 14 clubs that have applied for club licencing.

Out of the 14 clubs, five clubs -- PWD, Wari Club, NoFeL SC, Farashganj SC, Uttara FC as well as BFF Elite Academy participated in the last edition. The eight other clubs are: City Club, Dhaka Rangers, Little Friends Club, Samaj Kalyan Sangstha, BRTC, Victoria SC, Arambagh KS and Uttar Baridhara Club. The last two clubs were once punished for online betting.

BFF's professional league manager Zaber Bin Taher Ansar informed that they are working on club licencing to declare the number of participants as soon as possible, adding that the BFF plans to start the league in February.