The First Generation Footballers of Bangladesh

This can be considered as a sequel to my earlier article ‘The First Generation Cricketers of Bangladesh'; in fact, the success of that previous article encouraged me to write this piece. Following similar patterns, I have first selected 11 players from the era, and then have let the article revolve around them. Here, I have selected 5 reserve footballers as well.

The selection process, however, wasn't so easy. First, I had to decide on the time period under consideration. Unlike our cricket history, our football history doesn't have any major turning points. In fact, throughout our football history, one step forward was almost inevitably followed by two steps back. Eventually, after some deep thought I decided to consider the players who featured prominently during the 1973-1985 period. In 1973, the Dacca League was completed successfully for the first time since our independence; BIDC (later changed into BJIC and BJMC), was the winner of the title in that season. In 1985, Bangladesh participated in WC qualifier for the first time; and although eliminated in the first group stages, with victories over Indonesia and Thailand, raised false hopes about the future of the game in the country.

My next problem was with my team formation; nowadays most of the teams play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3; but for couple of reasons I have selected my team in 4-2-4 system. Firstly, this was the most common formation in our football well in to the 80's. Right from the beginning of the 70's, the concept of total football, popularized by the Dutch, changed the game completely. But, it took time before this change came to our football. Secondly, the 4-2-4 system allowed me to pick the wingers Wasim and Chunnu together; (both of them were my great favorites), Wasim in the right flank, Chunnu in the left.

After I had finished my selection, I found out; (somewhat to my dismay) that out of the 11, 10 (except the goalkeeper Shantoo) spent sometime during their career in the Abahani camp. Even among the 5 reserves; Mohsin (Goalkeeper), Tutul and Emily played for Abahani in some stage of their highly successful career. Again, there were two reasons behind this; firstly, it was due my neutrality; I didn't show any favoritism towards the Mohammedan players. Secondly, this was due to different situations prevailing in the two camps during the 70's. Although, together they dominated the Dacca football scenario, the respective positions of the two clubs were quite different. Abahani, only emerged in the scenes after our independence, and in 1973, they formed a strong team under the guidance of their founder, Sheikh Kamal. Since then, there was continuity within the team, and even the tragic death (In August, 1975) of its founder didn't hamper the continuity. In direct contrast, the Mohammedans were the dominant force in Dacca football throughout the 60's. And there team in the early 70's was full of the stalwarts of Dacca football during the 60's; Hafiz, Zakaria Pintu, Zaheer, Kaikobad, Pratap Hazra, Tipu and others. Unfortunately, by the middle of the decade, most of these players had passed their peak and were approaching the end of their careers. So, there were continuous changes in the team in the later part of decade. This process continued in to the next decade. Hafiz took over as Manager in 1980, with Tipu as the trainer. Mohammedan at the time had 4 talented youngsters, full backs  Abul and Shwapan , striker Salam and winger Gaffar. Mohammedan won the title easily, and all four looked set for long and distinguished career. Salam Murshidi created a new record for the number of individual goals scored in a Dhaka League season in 1982; but successive injuries hampered his further progress. Gaffar, had the potential to be the replacement of Chunnu in the national outfit; but after couple of promising seasons, he failed to keep the consistency. Shawapan, regular left full back of the youth team, soon became a regular with the national team, only to lose his place to his rival, Johny from Abahani. Abul though, remained a star for both his club and country almost throughout the entire decade. In 1981, the black and whites signed central defender Tipu from East End; and he became an instant hero with the fans with brilliant performance in the Federation Cup Final, against the arch rivals Abahani, early in the season. He enjoyed couple of great seasons with the club; but then he was badly injured in Nov. 1982, playing for Bangladesh against India in the Delhi Asiad. He never really recovered from this injury.

Now to my team: Shantoo (Goalkeeper), Manju, Nannu, Yousuf, Johny, Babul, Ashish, Wasim, Salahuddin, Aslam & Chunnu.

The Reserves: Mohsin (Goalkeeper), Tutul, Mohsin, Emily & Enayet.

Shantoo (Goalkeeper): Throughout the 70's Shantoo was the undisputed number 1 keeper of the country, and he was a regular in the national team until 1981. In fact, he was the best keeper in Pakistan in the late 60's; and only the chauvinism of the West Pakistan bosses denied him more caps for Pakistan.

After joining Mohammedan, he won League titles in 1975,76 and 78; But, In 1979, in his captaincy year, with the club, he failed to lead his side to any success. Somewhat dejected, he left the club and ended his career with Brothers Union.

Tall and strong Shantoo never had any problems with balls in the air; a natural southpaw (he was also a left arm spinner in cricket), he generally preferred that side. His only occasional blemish was that he occasionally reacted a bit too late to powerful ground shots.

Apart from his soccer successes, he was a regular cricket player, and he played almost all his club cricket with Mohammedan. In 1977, he was a member of the Comilla team which lifted the national title beating Dacca in the final.

Among the other goalkeepers, Motalleb, the Rahmatgasnj captain and keeper, had a brilliant season 1in 1977; as he led his side to the League final. They drew 0-0 with Abahani in the first final, but then lost 1-3 in the replay, despite taking the lead first. Motalleb, remained a consistent performer and was rewarded with national team duty for the 1982 Asiad in Delhi. In fact, he was made the captain of the team. There, however was a story behind this. Back in 1978, the selectors originally selected Nannu of Abahani as the team captain for the Asiad in Bangkok. But, then for some reasons, they changed their decision instead giving the job to Shanotto of Mohammedan. 7 Abahani players, including Nannu withdrew from the national team, in protest, and eventually Bangladesh participated in the event with a below strength team. After this incident, the selectors normally tried to find the national team captains from outside the big two.

Sadly for Motalleb, he failed to justify the faith shown him. He looked extremely nervous in the opening fixture against India, and was at fault for both the goals as the hosts won 2-0. He immediately lost both his captaincy and place in the side.

Mohsin, of Mohammedan replaced him. And he did an admirable job. Bangladesh lost 1-0 to strong China, but defeated Malaysia 2-1. Mohsin's story, too is quite interesting. A product of Abahani, he impressed everybody playing for the sky blues in the 1981 Aga Kahn Gold Cup tournament, as Abahani's regular Lankan keeper was not available at the time. Despite his impressive debut, the Abahani officials considered him a bit too young, and they were looking for other goalkeepers at the beginning of next season. Somewhat, dejected, Mohsin joined the rival camp, where became an instant hero saving a penalty from Salahuddin in a narrow 1-0 victory for his new side.  Despite his short stature, Mohsin remained a highly reliable keeper for the national team for a number of years.

Back to the 70's, Suhash Barua, playing for BJIC emerged as a talented young keeper in 1977; but given his chance with the U-19 side in 1978, he looked extremely shaky and was mainly responsible for Singapore taking a surprise 2-0 lead. This was Bangladesh's first ever major football match at home (not considering the friendly fixtures), and a huge crowd gathered to watch Unfortunately, for some of our young players (including Suhash) the atmosphere created too much pressure; at the end two goals by skipper Mohsin saved our blushes. Suhash though lost his place to Moin, and his international career ended there. Finally, Pintu, impressed with some consistent performances with PWD; he was signed by Dacca Mohammedans in 1980, as a replacement for Shantoo, but injures badly hampered his progress.

Manju (Right Full Back): I considered three candidates for this position; Manju, Tutul and Abul. Eventually, I gave my vote to Manju, mainly for his versatility; he could play as a central back as well. In 1978, he led Mohammedan to an unbeaten League title; interestingly, his elder brother Nannu was leading the Abahani that season. Later, in the early 80's they played together for Rahamamtganj.

Barely out of his teens, Tutul became the regular right full back for Abahani in the mid 70's. He was the first attacking full back in our football history, his ability to overlap and combine with the right winger was most impressive. One, however noticed some weaknesses in his defensive techniques. Also, he became somewhat inconsistent in the later part of his career.

Quite interestingly, this former footballer is now a leading cricket official of the country.

Abul was a reliable defender and in the 1981 Federation cup final, he completely nullified the threat of Chunnu, the best left winger of country. Abul, however, lacked the charisma of Manju or Tutul, and thus mostly remained away from the spotlight.

Nannu (Central Defender):Nannu was an automatic selection; my only dilemma was whether to consider him for the defensive position or whether to put him in the mid field. He could play in either position; in fact he was regarded as the best playmaker of the country in the first half of the 70's. Then following an injury, he moved to center of the defense, proving himself to be a wall to the opposition. He was mainly responsible for Abahani remaining unbeaten throughout the 1977 League season.

Abu Yousuf (Central Defender): There were two main candidates for this position; Yousuf and Selim, the Brothers Union captain. Brothers,  at the time was full of young talented footballers; and Selim did an admirable job leading them. Sadly, though the Gopibagh outfit (coached by Gafur Baluch) failed to win the title during this period, despite coming close a number of times. In direct contrast, Yousuf, won two league titles with the Black and Whites (in 1980 and 92), and after joining the rival camp, following a pay dispute, won the hat-trick of titles with the sky blues between 1983-85.. Yousuf was solid and reliable in his defensive duties, and he had one of the most powerful long range shots in Dhaka football history. He scored a number of vital goals for both the giants.

Among the other defenders, Brothers produced two other reliable central defenders in Ajmat and Moni. They, however failed to perform consistently for the national team. Finally, a mention should be made of Pakir Ali, Abahani's ever reliable Lankan defender. He joined the sky blues in 1981, as a replacement for Nannu, and he remained a regular in the side for a number of years. Foreign recruits from our neighboring countries wasn't uncommon, but in most cases the foreign recruits either only played in the big fixtures; or some like Abahani's keeper Lionel Pirich played for a season or two. Pakir, continued to play for a number seasons with great distinctions. There were even talks of him gaining our nationality and  playing for Abahani as a local player. I don't think this happened, but he was a great favorite of the sky blue fans; and if he were a Bangladeshi there would have been very case for his inclusion in my XI.

Imtiaz Sultan Johny (Left Full Back): Johny first make his mark in the early 80's playing for Rahamatganj. Rahamatganj at the time, like Borthers Union , was a great place for nourishing young talents. Specially, the presence of experience defenders like Manju, Nannu and Rakib helped Johny greatly. He moved to Abahani in 1982, and although it was a disappointing season for the sky blues, Johny performed well and was rewarded with national team duty.

Over the next decade or so, Johny performed consistently for both Abahani and Mohammedan, as well as for the national squad. There was nothing flashy about him; but he was consistent and fully aware of his roles in the side.

Johny's main rival for the position was Swapan. He first made his marks, while playing for Wari in 1978. Wari at the time enjoyed the tag of the giant killers; especially they became the bogey team for Abahani on a number of occasions. In 1978, they did the double over their much more powerful opponents winning 2-0 and 3-2. Swapan impressed on both occasions and was rewarded with a place in the youth team in October. He got a bigger promotion in December, as he was included as a late replacement for the national team in Bangkok. He adjusted to this new role well, and after moving to Mohammedan also showed no effect of pressure while playing for a big team. He remained a regular for the national team for 3 or 4 years before the brilliance of Johny forced him in to the reserves.

Khurshid Alam Babul (Midfielder): A genuine box to box midfielder, Babul joined Abahani in 1977 from Victoria. Here, he formed a highly successful combination with the veteran midfielder Amolesh. With Babul and Amolesh controlling the midfield, Salahuddin and Shamsu scoring goals for fun, Nannu holding the defense together, Abahani were almost invincible in the year, and remained unbeaten throughout the League. They also did the double over their arch rivals winning 1-0 and 2-1. After this season, Babul became a great favorite of the Abahani fans, and he stayed in the club for 10 years, sharing both the good and the bad times of the club. In 1981, he led the club to a league title. Ashish, was now his midfield partner. Of course the two played together for the national team many times as well.

Babul was part of the Abahani team that won 3 successive league titles, 1983-1985; but after a disappointing season in 1986, he left the club to join the rival camp. He played a big part in the black and whites winning the League title in 1987; in fact it was his goal in the final minutes of the big clash that helped his team win 3-2 and force a replay for the title; which they duly won.

Ashis Bhadra (Midifelder): Originally from Chttiaogng, Ashish found his niche in Dhaka football while playing  for Rahamtganj. He played for national youth team in 1978 and again in 1980. Impressed by his performances Abahani offered him to join their club in 1981. However, Ashiish-Babul combination took a little bit of time to settle in. in fact, in the final of the Federation Cup, held at the beginning of the season, both looked completely out of sorts. Instead it was the Mohammedan midfield, led superbly by Badal Roy, that dominated and the black and whites won 2-0.

Abahni, however took sweet revenge, and defeated Mohammedan 2-0 in a League match on their way to the title. And this time, on a muddy pitch, it was the Ashish-Babul duo that held the control. They complimented each other wonderfully well. Babul had more speed and stamina, Ashish had more skills on the ball; he had the best through ball in Dhaka football at the time. Their wonderful combination helped Abahani dominate their arch rivals in first half of the eighties.

Among other midfielders; Hasannujaman Bablu of Brothers was somewhat similar to Babul, full of running and energy. Rama Lusai played the role of middleman for Mohammedan for a number of years; but he is best remembered for his roles as the left winger with the national hockey team. It is Mohsin, the former national team captain from Brothers, who deserves a more detailed introduction here.

A midfielder, who could play as a striker if necessary , Mohsin was given the captaincy of the youth team in 1978. His two goals against Singapore, in our opening fixture saved our blushes. The second goal was a powerful drive from the long range. In fact, he had one of the most powerful long range shot in Dacca football at the time. Later, he scored from the spot against the Bahrain youths. In 1980, he was promoted to the national team captaincy (as stated earlier the selectors normally looked for a man outside the big two for this job). He was still very young, but he showed no nerves, and a trademark long range effort by him earned us a creditable 1-1 draw against Qatar.

He ended a memorable year for him by finishing as the top scorer in the 1980 League. In fact, his brilliance enabled Brothers to win their first trophy in history (joint Champions with Mohammedan of the Federation Cup). They also defeated Mohammedan 3-2 in the league, this however, didn't stop the black and whites from lifting the title.

Then, Mohsin's football career ended abruptly. In early 1981, he was playing in a friendly match at Khulna for a local side. Following a goal, some insane fan threw a cracker inside the ground; it stuck Mohsin in his neck, and he immediately fell down unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital, and at one stage, his life seemed threatened. He recovered, but his playing career was over. Later, Brothers honored him with their coaching job.

If he had played long enough, he might well have joined the ranks of Salahuddin or Munna among the greatest footballers in our history.

Wasim Iqbal (Right winger): In March 1981, Dacca hosted the 1st President Cup. There were two local teams, Bangladesh Green (unofficially the main national team), and Bangladesh Red (The youth team). Both these team made it to the SF, and the young Red team had to take on a team from North Korea. As a huge crowd gathered at the stadium, they were disappointed to find out that the youth team captain and winger Anwar is unable to play. The Reds depended heavily on their two wingers Anwar and Gaffar to provide crosses for the marksmen Salam and Aslam. With Anwar unavailable we thought one of our wings was cut. We were wrong, Anwar's replacement, young Wasim, proved to be the greatest menace to the Korean defense. The strong crowd was impressed, and they cheered every movement of this new star. And Wasim's brilliance lifted his whole team; the youths went a goal behind, but Ashish equalized early in the 2nd half, and then they prevailed in the shoot-out. And although they lost the final to South Korea, Wasim again impressed, this time coming on as a sub.

Wasim was a product of the ‘Gafur Baluch School', playing for Brothers Union. It was customary in those days, for a young talented player to make his mark playing for a team like Brothers,Rahamatganj, Wari, Victoria or Azad and then move to one of the big two to achieve medals. (In fact such a story was depicted in a BTV drama in the early 80's, where a young footballer from outside Dhaka, gets his chance in Dhaka, and eventually makes it to the top before seeing his career ending abruptly due to injury. Tutul, the Abahani fullback played the leading role in the drama).  Wasim didn't take this route, he stayed with the Gopibagh team hoping to win the league title with them. He came close, but not close enough. He won the Aga Khan Gold Cup title with his club in 1981, sharing the honors with the Bangkok Banks Club, but the League title eluded the Brothers club at the time. In 1985, they led the table all the way through, but then they started to drop points in the final stages. Still, they had one hand on the trophy, as they led Abahani 2-0 in the big match; but the sky blues recovered brilliantly to win 3-2, and eventually edged past their rival Mohammedan for the title. Wasim and others were crestfallen.

Wasim was the undisputed choice for the right wing position in the national team in the first half of the 80's. In the later part of the decade, he joined Abahani. Around this time, Shabbir of Mohammedan, emerged as a competent replacement for him in the national squad.

Kazi Salahuddin (Striker): Many consider him to be the greatest goal scorer in our history; some even consider him to be the greatest footballer in our history; I would like to describe him as the first fully professional footballer from country. I am not saying this because he played in the HK professional League for couple of seasons in the mid 70's; but mainly because in his attitude toward the game he was a full professional. He was always 100% physically fit, and no matter what the game was; whether it was an international, or a big clash with the rivals or just a routine affair with the minnows, he always tried to produce his best.

I still remember the match with Wari in 1978. In the 1st half the Abahani defense went AWAL and Lovon and Liton took the opportunity to score for the old Dhaka team. In the 2nd half we saw the Abahani players in the field looking dejected, looking out of sorts. The one exception was Salahuddin, he tried everything; he failed to produce anything as his side went down 2-0 (this defeat followed by the 3-2 defeat against the same team in the Super League led to the famous slogan of the Mohammedan fans ‘Wari Ailo'); but he won my admiration.

Until his retirement in 1984; he was a regular scorer for both Abahani and the national team; and being a black and white faithful, I normally enjoyed his goals with the national team more. In fact, my most fond memory of him in the sky blue colors was his missed penalty against us in 1982. Fortunately, he scored regularly in national colors as well. In March, 1981, he scored couple of great goals against South Korea, playing for Bangladesh Greens in the SF of the President's Gold Cup. Unfortunately this wasn't enough, with goalkeeper Shantoo having an off-day, the Koreans won 5-2. Back in 1980, he scored a great goal against Qatar. But, it was his goal against Afghanistan, in the same tournament, just days earlier, that created history.

It was a three nation qualifying event, with 2 places up for grab in the Asia Cup. Qatar was the strongest team, and they duly qualified. After a draw in our first fixture against the Afghans, everything hinged on the next meeting between the two. The exciting affair seemed to be heading for a 2-2 draw until Salahuddin intervened in the final minute. He got the ball just outside the opposition box, he took half a second to control the ball, another half a second was spend looking at the position of the goalkeeper, then a thunderous right footer saw the ball go to the corner of the far post. The match ended 3-2; this was our first victory in an official football match at the senior level, and we qualified for the Asia cup.

After his retirement he did coaching duties for both his beloved Abahani, as well as for the national team., Now he is serving his 2nd term as the President of BFF. He has already set some lofty goals; one hopes he will reach his targets,  just the same way his goal bound shots used to reach their targets.

Shekh Aslam (Striker): Aslam started his career with Victoria in the late 70's playing as a central defender. It was Abdur Rahim, the shrewd coach of the club, who first saw the potential of a striker in him. Moved up front, he started to score freely. Obviously, the giant clubs had their eyes on him. In fact, I remember watching him playing under the Mohammedan jerseys and scoring a great goal in a charity match against the Calcutta Mohammedans in 1979. But, at the beginning of the new season, it was BJMC who got his services. He came as a replacement for Salam, who had moved to the Black and white camp. He scored freely for 3 seasons, and thanks to his goals, BJMC finished well in all three seasons.

At the beginning of the 1983 season, both the giants were after Samrat Hossain Emily; the teen sensation from Wari. Abahani won the tag of war, Mohammedan then bought Aslam. Their regular striker Salam was in terrific form in 1982 season, and the management hoped that the Salam-Aslam combination would work well. They already had played together for the national youth team. Unfortunately, things didn't go well in the Mohammedan camp, Salam struggled with injuries, Gaffar was not in the team anymore, Joshy, the new winger was selfish at times. So, Aslam failed to fire. The next season, he joined the enemy camp, and started a successful run with the sky blues.

In his goal scoring he was somewhat similar to Salahuddin. He, too had a great right footer, and although he didn't have the pace of Salahuddin, he was extremely strong in the air, and scored a good portion of his goals with headers.

Again, I remember his goals for the national side more. And again there were plenty to talk about. In 1983, he scored twice against the Korean team, in the President's Gold Cup. Then he had a superb understanding with the wingers Wasim and Chunnu.; later in his career he formed a superb understanding with the Mohammedan winger Shabbir.. In the 1989 President's cup final, he scored a superb goal heading a corner from Shabbir to give us a lead against the South Koreans. The visitors equalized, but we won the cup in the penalties. Later, in a WC qualifier against Iran, he again headed in a cross from diminutive Shabbir. Sadly, we lost 2-1, the missed penalty by Shabbir in the 1st half proved decisive. Still, the closeness of the score-line would give a good idea about our standing in Asian football at the time. Then everything would go astray in the 90's..

Back to Aslam, in May 1985, he scored at the Salt Lake Stadium, Calcutta, in a WC qualifier to give us a lead, but eventually the hosts won 2-1. Still, this goal gave him special pleasure, as the coach of the national team at time was his former mentor Abdur Rahim. But, his most memorable goal for the country came in December 1985, in the final of the SAFF games football against India. In the summer, India had defeated us twice, home and away, by the same margin 2-1, in WC qualifiers. With Salahuddin, as our new coach we hoped to take revenge. Sadly, our players seemed under enormous mental pressure right from the beginning of the match, and when the visitors scored from a corner, it came as a surprise to no one. There was pin drop silence in the ground; but just minutes later they were jumping in joy, as Aslam equalized. The goal came against the run of play. He got a loose ball just outside the box, there was a defender standing in front of him, so he first had to create an angle before releasing a fierce shot. Initially, it looked that the Indian keeper was online of the shot, but the ball took a late bend and beat the goalkeeper. Sadly, after 1-1 draw, the Indians took the gold medal in the penalties.

Like Salahuddin, Aslam is now heavily involved in the rebuilding of our football structures. I am happy to see him get involved with the school football. The young aspirants can think of no better role model than him.

Among the other strikers of the era, Enayet was the striking partner for Salahuddin in our national team in the 2nd half of the 70's. He played brilliantly for BJIC in 1977. Next season, he joined the Mohammedan and played a leading role in their successful bid to regain the title. But, following an incident in the match against Victoria, in the next season, when he lost his temper after being shown the red card, he quickly went in to oblivion.  Still, his contribution to our football should not be forgotten easily.

Samrat Hossain Emily made his mark after scoring freely for Wari towards the end of the 1982 season. He joined Abahani next season and won three successive league titles. Unfortunately a string of injuries affected his skills. Released by Abahani at the end of the 1985 season, he joined Mohammedan and played their as an attacking midfielder.

Finally, Liton emerged as the main striker for Brothers in the mid 80's. In some way he resembled Salahuddin; there was the same kind of mobility around the opposition box; and his finishing was excellent. Sadly, he failed to perform consistently.

Ashrafuddin Chunnu(Left Winger): Beginning from the mid 70's, for almost a decade, Chunnu was a great favorite of the Abahani fans. Then on a warm summer day of 1985, he became a national hero. Following our encouraging performance in the Delhi Asiad, Bangladesh decided to enter the WC qualifiers in 1985. There was great optimism among us; yet after 3 games we were pointless. Away defeats against Indonesia and Thailand were followed by a home defeat against India. Not that we were thrashed, but still we were not doing enough to get some points. Then came the home fixture against Indonesia. They were leading the group and a draw would almost certainly assure their place in the next stage. Before the match, the Indonesia coach talked about being positive and going all out for a victory. Yet, when the game started we saw the opposition being extremely negative; almost all the attacking play came from our boyz. But, then there was a breakaway move by the opponents, and the referee saw a foul inside our box and awarded a highly contentious penalty; which was duly converted. Then we launched an all-out attack as the islanders went in to complete defense. Yet, chances came and went until deep in the 2nd half young defender Kaiser Hamid headed home the equalizer. Then towards the end of the game we had a free-kick outside the box. Chunnu stepped in and curled the ball around the wall in to the net. We won 2-1 and followed this with a 1-0 win over Thailand, and although we lost 2-1 at Calcutta we were well pleased with the effort of our young team.

We were thankful to Chunnu for his effort; but Ali Imam, the ex coach of Abahani also deserved some credit. Abahani won the league title in 1983 and 84 under him. He helped Chunnu improve his game. For years, he was an old fashioned winger, happy to just dribble pass the defender. Encouraged by the concept of total football, Imam added more dimension to his game. He was encouraged to cut inside and occasionally shoot at the goal. His shooting techniques improved, both with set play and also with open play. In 1983, he scored a hat-trick against Nepal in the President's Gold Cup, but it is his goal against the Indonesians that has ensured a permanent place for him our soccer history.