[17] He also led the side against a star-studded New York Cosmos spearheaded by Pelé on 24 September 1977;[18][19] both the teams shared honours as the match ended 2–2.
[20][21] Under his captaincy, Mohun Bagan's performance against the American club featuring Pelé, Carlos Alberto Torres and Giorgio Chinaglia, earned popularity worldwide.
[23] The duel between him and Chima Okorie of East Bengal was a high point of Calcutta Football League in 80s,[24][25] though he believes Majid Bishkar is the greatest foreigner to have played in Kolkata.
[26][27] He took charge of Mohun Bagan first in 2000 when the club was undergoing a period of transition, and signed few notable foreigners including Igor Shkvyrin from Uzbekistan, Sammy Omollo from Kenya, and Dusit Chalermsan from Thailand.
[28] He was sacked by the club in April 2003 after he was accused of having instigated some players of the team not to wear the Mohun Bagan jersey for the remaining two National Football League matches as they were yet to get full payment.
[35] In 2015, Bhattacharya fought against Satyajit Chatterjee for the post of football secretary in Mohun Bagan club election and was defeated by more than 2000 votes.
[38] His daughter Sonam is married to Sunil Chhetri,[39] who captained India, and is the country's all-time top goal scorer.