Mohammed Rahmatullah

Mohammad Rahmatullah (Bengali: মোহাম্মদ রহমতুল্লাহ) was an Indian footballer who played as a forward for the India national team and spent most of his career with Calcutta Football League giant Mohammedan Sporting.[2] He also appeared with Bangladeshi outfit Dhaka Mohammedan and became the first Indian in post-independence period to take the international transfer, the other being legendary Mohammed Salim, who played for Celtic.[3]

Mohammed Rahmatullah
Personal information
Date of birth 1933
Place of birth Hyderabad, Hyderabad State, British India
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1952–1962 Kolkata Mohammedan
1962–1963 Dhaka Mohammedan
National team
1958–1961 India 19 (5[1])
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Kolkata Mohammedan

Rahmatullah moved to Calcutta Football League giant Mohammedan Sporting during the first half of the 1950s and won the league in 1957.[4] With Mohammedan, he won the IFA Shield in that year,[3] and won Rovers Cup thrice in 1955, 1957 and 1958.

Rahmatullah was instrumental in winning the Aga Khan Gold Cup in Bangladesh, in 1960, the first ever tournament win by an Indian club in foreign soil. They defeated Indonesia's Persatuan Sepakbola Makassar 4–1 in the final,[5][6] in which he scored a goal.[7]

Dhaka Mohammedan

In 1962, he moved to Dhaka Mohammedan and became the second Indian to play for an overseas club.[3] He appeared in Dhaka League during his days in Bangladesh.[8]

Bengal

Rahmatullah also represented Bengal football team at the Santosh Trophy and won the tournament twice in 1953–54 and 1955–56 seasons.[9]

International career

Rahmatullah made his senior international debut for India against Burma on 26 May 1958 in the 1958 Asian Games, that ended up a 3–2 win in favour of them.[10] He scored his first international goal against Indonesia on 28 May in the same tournament.[11] In the quarterfinal, India defeated Hong Kong 5–2, with two goals by Rahmatullah, and one each by the trio of Chuni Goswami, Tulsidas Balaram and D. Damodaran.[12] They finished on fourth position as they lost 1–4 to Indonesia in the bronze media match at Japan National Stadium.[13][14]

The next year he traveled to Malaysia where India took part in the Merdeka Cup and finished as runners-up.[15] He was in the squad, as India began the 1960s with the 1960 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Despite the qualifiers for the West Zone being held in Kochi, India finished last in their qualification group and thus missed out the tournament.[16]

In national team, Rahmatullah's teammates under coach Syed Abdul Rahim,[17][18][19][20] were like: Ahmed Hussain, Peter Thangaraj, Nikhil Nandy, Samar Banerjee, P. K. Banerjee, Kesto Pal, Neville Stephen D'Souza, Tulsidas Balaram, Sayed Khwaja Aziz-ud-Din,[21] Abdul Latif, Mariappa Kempiah, Chuni Goswami, Kannan.[22] Between 1958 and 1961, he appeared in nineteen international matches for India, scoring five goals.

Personal life

On 12 March 2014, Rahmatullah was admitted to a hospital in California for an open heart surgery.[23]

Honours

Mohammedan Sporting (Kolkata)

Bengal[27]

India

See also

References

  1. Subrata Dey. India - Record International Players Archived 21 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine RSSSF. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  2. "Glorytales of Indian Football: How Mohammedan Sporting, the face of Muslims in Bengal, became the face of India". sports-nova.com. 27 May 2020. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  3. "Mohammed Rahmatullah to undergo heart surgery in the USA". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Kolkata: The Times of India. 12 March 2014. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  4. Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football Archived 23 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine by Novy Kapadia. books.google.co.in. (Penguin Random House India Private Limited). Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  5. qz.com, Novy Kapadia. "Mohammedan Sporting's glorious past is linked to its uncertain future". Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  6. "ব্রিটিশকে হারিয়ে ডুরান্ড জয়ী, পাকিস্তানকেও গোল দিয়ে চিরকালীন নজির মহামেডানের". ekolkata24.com (in Bengali). 1 September 2021. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  7. "In 1960 Mohammedan SC became the first Indian club to win a trophy abroad when they lifted Aga Khan Gold Cup in Dhaka. They defeated Indonesian club PSM Makassar 4-1 in final thanks to goals from Pakistani international Omer (2) (below), Rahmatullah & Zafar". Indian Football History. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  8. Deepti Patwardhan (7 May 2015). "Indian footballers on the move". Live Mint. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  9. Indian football team at the Asian Games: 1958 Tokyo Archived 5 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine Sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 22 August 2021
  10. Ghoshal, Amoy. "Indian football team at the Asian Games: 1958 Tokyo". Sportskeeda.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  11. "Mohammed Rahmatullah - Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  12. "List of major football tournaments that India won". The Indian Wire. 5 July 2018. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  13. "INDONESIA GET BRONZE MEDAL BEATING INDIA". The Indian Express. 2 June 1958. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  14. Arunava Chaudhuri. "The Indian Senior Team at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games". Indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  15. Arunava Chaudhuri. "The Indian Senior Team at the 1959 Merdeka Cup". Indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  16. Arunava Chaudhuri. "The Indian Senior Team at the 1960 Seoul Asia Cup Qualifiers". Indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  17. "History in Timeline of Indian Football". All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  18. Old-timers recollect past glory of city football Archived 22 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine The Hans India. Retrieved 5 September 2021
  19. Kapadia, Novy (24 April 1983). "Puran Bahadur Thapa: India's first hat-trick man". Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  20. "Rahim, Amal Dutta, P.K. and Nayeem: The Coaches Who Shaped Indian Football" (PDF). la84foundation.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  21. Indian Football "HALL OF FAME" Sayed Khwaja Aziz-ud-Din Archived 25 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine indianfootball.de. Retrieved 5 September 2021
  22. INDIAN FOOTBALL NEWS (APRIL 2021): Ahmed Hussein, former Olympian footballer passed away Archived 8 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine Kolkata Football. Retrieved 23 August 2021
  23. "Mohammad Rahmatullah to undergo heart surgery in USA | Football News - Times of India". Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  24. Sengupta, Somnath (8 March 2011). "The Glorious History Of IFA Shield". Thehardtackle.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  25. "Aga Khan Gold Cup (Dhaka, Bangladesh)". www.rsssf.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  26. From recreation to competition: Early history of Indian football Archived 9 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine Pages 124-141. Published online: 06 Aug 2006. www.tandfonline.com. Retrieved 30 June 2021
  27. Kapadia, Novy (27 May 2012). "Memorable moments in the Santosh Trophy". www.sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  28. "Malaysia national football team 'A' international record: [1959-60 season]". 11v11. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  29. Neil Morrison (10 September 2015). "Merdeka Tournament (Malaysia)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  30. Arunava Chaudhuri. "The Indian Senior Team at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games". Indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
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