Fomer Indian Football Legends
Arsenalkid700
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This thread is to be dedicated to news on the former legends of Indian Football. Players who have inspired Indian Football during there playing careers.
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Legendary Indian footballer Sailendra Nath Manna, commonly known as Sailen Manna, has passed away at the age of 87. The former Indian national team captain and one of the greatest Indian defenders passed away at 1.55 IST according to information coming out of Kolkata. Sailen Manna started his club football with Howrah Union, before he joined Mohun Bagan AC. Manna played for Mohun Bagan for a period of 19 years till his retirement in 1960. Manna led the Indian national team to the Gold Medal in the 1951 Asian Games, besides several other laurels including four consecutive titles at the Quandrangular Tournament between 1952 and 1956. The English FA rated Manna as one of the ten best skippers of the world in its yearbook in 1953, while the All India Football Federation (AIFF) awarded him the “Indian Footballer of the Millennium” Award in 2000.
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Rest in Peace.
The All India Football Federation condoles the demise of former India Captain Sailendra Nath Manna. Manna who Captained India to the inaugural Asian Games Football Gold in Delhi in 1951 passed away on Monday (February 27) morning. He was 87 and is survived by his wife and daughter.
Manna made his debut against France in the London Olympics in 1948. Four years later, he Captained India in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Besides being conferred the Padma Shri in 1971, he was also declared the AIFF Player of the Millennium in 2000. He stays the sole Asian to be named among the 10 best Captains in the World by the English FA in 1953. He represented India in 14 International Matches and was the first Indian footballer to Captain India in two back-to-back Asian Games.
He also Coached the Indian National Team in the 1961 and the 1968 Merdeka Cup.
Mr. Praful Patel, the President of the All India Football Federation in his message said: “It’s sad to hear that Sailen Manna, one of the Greatest Footballers is no more. His contribution to Indian Football will never be forgotten. I share the grief.”
Mr. Kushal Das, the General Secretary of the All India Football Federation said: “Sailen Manna will be alive in his achievements. He was a legendary footballer and someone who has been the inspiration of so many generations. May he rest in Peace.”
As a mark of respect, the AIFF Flag flies at half mast at the AIFF Headquarters -- the Football House in Dwarka, New Delhi. The Indian National Football Team will also be wearing black armbands in their International Friendly against Ajerbaijan.
At the domestic level, Manna won the Calcutta Football League, the Durand Cup, the IFA Shield and the Rovers Cup with Mohun Bagan. He stays the most successful Captain for Bengal in the Santosh Trophy.
CAREER:
SAILENDRA NATH MANNA (DOB : 01.09.1924).
International Debut: July 31 vs France (London Olympics).
International Caps: Represented India in 14 International Matches.
International Tournaments:
Olympics -- 1948, 1952 (Captain).
Asian Games -- 1951(Captain), 1954 (Captain).
Quadrangular (Colombo Cup): 1952 (Captain), 1953 (Captain), 1954 (Captain).
International Laurels:
Gold Medal (1951-Asian Games)
Champion in Quadrangular Cup -- 1952, 1953, 1954.
State-level:
Represented Bengal from 1944 to 1954 (There was no tournament in 1948).
Was Captain of Bengal from 1949 to 1954.
Won the Santosh Trophy in 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953.
Club-level:
Played for Mohun Bagan from 1942 to 1960.
Captained Mohun Bagan from 1950 to 1955.
Trophies Won:
Calcutta Football League: 1943, 1944, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960.
IFA Shield: 1947, 1954, 1956, 1960.
Durand Cup: 1953.
Rovers Cup: 1955.
AWARDS:
Padma Shri: 1971
AIFF Player-of-the-Milennium: 2000.
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Indian football legend Carlton Chapman relishing new challenge in his 'third home' Kerala
The former India captain is currently the head coach and technical director of Kozhikode-based Kerala Premier League club Quartz FC.
Fans of Indian football remember Carlton Chapman as the backbone of Indian football orchestrating the game effortlessly from the midfield in the late 1990s. These days, though, he is busy churning out a new generation of talented footballers from Kerala.
The former India captain is currently the head coach and technical director of Quartz FC, a Kozhikode-based football club who are off to a flying start in this season's Kerala Premier League (KPL) with their sights trained on winning promotion to I-League in the upcoming season.
"Kerala is like my third home -- after my hometown Bengaluru and my second home Kolkata," said Chapman who had spent the 1997-98 season alongside fellow greats like IM Vijayan, Jo Paul Ancheri and Raman Vijayan at FC Kochin -- considered the first professional club of India.
Chapman has guided Quartz to four wins out of four in the home-and-away league. "Gokulam Kerala FC had many I-League players and their new foreign coach Fernando Valera in the dugout. SBI Kerala, meanwhile, had a few players from the Santosh Trophy-winning Kerala side," said the 46-year-old.
After bidding farewell to his playing career, Chapman took baby steps in the coaching field with a six-year stint at the Jamshedpur-based Tata Football Academy, his alma mater, starting 2002. And he for one knows the importance of youth development.
"You can find plenty of talented youngsters in the country. But you need to trust them and give them a chance to prove their mettle. That is what I am doing with players like Paramesh, Mohammed Akbar and Favaz here. They will one day become the future of Indian football," he said.
"Compared to the 1990s, football has become more popular in Kerala and other states -- thanks to the Indian Super League and clubs like Kerala Blasters. Also, the state leagues and other competitions are being held regularly which wasn't the case before. We have more clubs meaning players get more opportunities to develop their skills," the former East Bengal player said.
"There are also a lot of very good school and college sides in Kerala now proving that the participation in the game has increased at the grassroots level," he said. At the same time, Chapman is concerned that ISL clubs like Blasters are not giving enough breaks for youngsters.
"FC Kochin had promising local players like K Anson and AS Firoz playing alongside the who's who of Indian football. But at Blasters, you only see already established stars like Rino Anto and CK Vineeth getting regular chances. I would say they are wasting away the talent of many young local footballers. This definitely has to change," said Chapman.
Simon Sundararaj: India’s Forgotten Football Star of 1960 Olympics
Goa's goal mine
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/goas-goal-mine/articleshow/71460395.cms
Mohammed Habib: A tribute
By Dhiman SarkarOn his second death anniversary, Dhiman remembers the India captain admired equally for attitude and ability
Once, Mohun Bagan claimed he had been kidnapped. Another time, they tried to get his older brother Azam to prevail upon him. On both occasions, East Bengal managed to retain the player. When Mohun Bagan did get him, he looked Pele in the eye and had put the green-and-maroon brigade in front against New York Cosmos.
A professional attitude
Former India captain Mohammed Habib, who died aged 74 on August 15, 2023 after a long illness, meant different things to different people. To his generation, “Bade Miya” – the nickname had as much to do with his personality as it was because younger brother Mohammed Akbar was often a teammate for club and country – was the professional they respected immensely. At a time when players sought the security of a bank or a government job, he earned only through football. Which is why he often trained more and could stretch his career to nearly 20 years in an era when information about recovery, diet, strength and endurance training was either sparse or non-existent in India.
Captain, leader, legend.(AIFF)
To Kalyan Chaubey, he was a “guru” who gave him a career. Chaubey also remembers how he was always nattily turned out. “He would shave twice every day,” Chaubey said when I asked him about his coach at Tata Football Academy (TFA) and Mohun Bagan.
“Defeat was not an option”
But what stood out for everyone –from East Bengal’s general secretary Jyotish Guha, who spotted Habib in the 1965 Santosh Trophy, Banerjee, peers and Chaubey –was his attitude. Defeat was not an option for him, Chaubey said, reminiscing about the man he shared lodgings with in central Kolkata at the start of his professional career.
“If we lost, there would be no meals that night and he would be surprised if we thought of sleeping,” said Chaubey, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) president.
It was this can-do spirit that revived India in the 1970 Asian Games. Trailing against hosts Thailand, India were pathetic, Jaydeep Basu wrote in “Stories From Indian Football.” The chef-de-mission “stormed into the dressing room and called the players a bunch of cowards.” Habib, who was not the captain, reacted, rousing his mates. India drew 1-1 and went on a run that saw them beat South Vietnam 2-0, Habib scoring from 20 yards, and Japan in a bronze medal play-off.
Japan, the 1968 Olympics bronze medallists, had Kunishige Kamamoto but India would not be bowed. Shifted to centre-back from his usual right-back position, Sudhir Karmakar, along with skipper Syed Nayeemuddin, reined in the man who had 75 goals in 76 internationals and was rated highly by Pele. Kamamoto died of pneumonia aged 81 on Sunday.
It was with Nayeemuddin and Afzal that Habib joined East Bengal in 1966 from Hyderabad Telephones; Guha being impressed by a 17-year-old never shying from a duel with the formidable Jarnail Singh in the Santosh Trophy. Andhra Pradesh won the national championship that year beating Bengal, fulfilling a dream Syed Rahim could not achieve in his lifetime. The matchwinner? Habib.
In his first season in Kolkata, Habib joined a team left depleted with Chandreshwar Prasad and Ashim Moulik joining Mohun Bagan, recalled Samajpati in his autobiography in Bangla, “Khela Shurer Golpokotha”. Habib scored nine goals in his first league season, as per Gautam Roy’s coffee table book “East Bengal 100”. He was a gutsy striker whose passing range and never-say-die attitude stood out, Roy has written.
East Bengal’s dramatic comeback against BSF in the 1974 Durand Cup happened because of Habib. They trailed BSF led 1-3 before Habib, Surajit Sengupta and Subhas Bhowmick ensured a 4-3 win. In the same edition, Novy Kapadia wrote in “Barefoot to Boots”, Habib flicked up a header, chested the ball and then scored with a left-footer against Port Authority, Thailand. In the Pesta Sukan tournament in Singapore three years earlier, India overturned a 0-1 deficit against Indonesia to win 2-1 both goals coming from Habib.
Habib played for East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting in a career that began when Chuni Goswami, Aroon Ghosh and Banerjee were active as players. At a time when club football, especially in Kolkata, got precedence over international matches, he played only 35 times for India scoring 11 goals.
Winning with teens
After retirement, Habib joined TFA as coach and with precocious youngsters such as Chaubey, Dipendu Biswas, Renedy Singh, Lolendra Singh, Anit Ghosh and Shankarlal Chakraborty beat top teams in India. East Bengal were tamed 4-0 in IFA Shield, Mohun Bagan in Durand Cup.
“Habib Sir was more than a coach, he was our “guru.” He helped inculcate a winning mentality in us and taught us how to look after ourselves. Yes, there were players who would break curfew and hit the disco nearby but most of us followed his lights-out orders in the flat provided by Mohun Bagan,” said Chaubey.
As coach on post-match media duties, Habib would start by evaluating whether his team put up a fight. Lo and behold if he thought they had not! It is worth remembering this when the attitude of India players has been questioned by the AIFF’s national team director and former head coach Manolo Marquez.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/sports/football/-ht-kick-off-mohammed-habib-a-tribute-101755166736956.html