Shabbir Ali (born 26 January 1956) is an Indian football manager and former player. He was awarded the Dhyan Chand Award, the highest award in Indian sports for lifetime achievement, given by Government of India in 2011. He is the first footballer to be named for the Dhyan Chand Award.
Club career As a footballer, Ali was rated as the best player in India during the 1970s and 1980s. Arguably the finest striker of his time, Ali was a prolific goal scorer both at the national and international level. He rose to fame at a very early age when he captained India to win the Asian Youth championships in Bangkok jointly with Iran in 1974, a performance which even earned praise from the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.
After playing with Tata Sports Club in Bombay for a few years, Ali was lured away by the top Calcutta club, East Bengal in the late seventies. Later he joined Mohammedan Sporting and took the club to a great height before retiring from the same club in the mid-1980s.
During his captaincy, in 1983–84, the club won nine trophies including back to back wins in Indian Federation Cup. Later in his playing days, he went to Bangladesh to play for Dhaka First Division League side Dhaka Victoria Sporting, where he stayed for a season only.
Ali scored 16 goals in international matches and remains one of India's all-time top scorers, ahead of Chuni Goswami, Pradip Kumar Banerjee, Inder Singh and among others. In the 1976 Merdeka international football tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Ali scored a hat-trick against Indonesia in the first 35 minutes. Only twelve footballers in India have scored an international hat-trick; of those, Ali's is the fastest.
On his 65th birthday, Ali said, "Whatever I have become today because of football. Before retiring I was thinking I got everything from football. Now I have to give something back to the game. So, that is why I became a coach. Before retiring in 1987, I was player-cum-coach of Mohammedan Sporting. In 1988–89, I have pursued a diploma from NIS."
International career For 12 years between 1972 and 1984, Ali was an automatic choice with the national team of India, be it Asian Youth, Asian Games, pre-Olympics, Asian Cup, Merdeka Cup tournament, Nehru Gold Cup, King's Cup or any other goodwill tour. He also captained India in Asian Youth, pre-Olympics, Nehru Cup, Merdeka and King's Cup tournaments. He gained fame when Arun Ghosh managed India U-20 team under his captaincy, went on to share the 1974 AFC Youth Championship title with Iran-20, in which he scored five goals.
One of his best moments came in the 1976 Merdeka international football tournament in Kuala Lumpur,Pestabola Merdeka Football Tournament 1976 #statistics international-football.net. Retrieved 4 October 2021 where he scored a hat-trick against Indonesia within the first 35 minutes. Among Indians who have scored a hat-trick, Ali's was the fastest.
He also appeared in the 1976 Jasson Cup held in Afghanistan, with Indian team managed by Jarnail Singh. He played over 100 international matches for India and scored 30 goals from 1974 to per match.Football Is My Language - Shabbir Ali Indianfootball.de. Retrieved 10 September 2021 International goals "A" international statistics Date Venue Opponent Result Competition Goals 11 August 1976 Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur 1976 Merdeka Cup 1 16 August 1976 Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur 1976 Merdeka Cup 3 3 March 1980 National Stadium, Kallang 1980 Olympic Qualifiers 23 September 1981 National Stadium, Kallang 1981 Merdeka 1 26 November 1982 Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi 1982 Asian Games1 19 October 1983 National Stadium, Kallang 1984 Olympic Qualifiers 2 22 October 1983 National Stadium, Kallang 1984 Olympic Qualifiers 1 29 October 1983 Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur 1984 Olympic Qualifiers 1 31 October 1983 Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur 1984 Olympic Qualifiers 1 12 October 1984 Salt Lake Stadium, Calcutta 1984 Asian Cup Qualifier1 14 October 1984 Salt Lake Stadium, Calcutta 1984 Asian Cup Qualifier2
Managerial career After retiring as a footballer in 1985, Ali became a coach. He earned a first class diploma from the Sports Authority of India. He successfully passed the German football association B License coach and also their four-week coaching course, which is equivalent to A License.
As a coach, Ali proved to be a great success within a short period of time. Appointed the technical director of the India, he steered the team to the gold medal in the 1995 South Asian Games in Chennai. It was a superb achievement considering the fact that India failed to win in the three previous South Asian Games at Colombo, Islamabad and Dhaka. He remained the Technical Director till the pre-World Cup tournament in Qatar next year.
In the 1991–92 seasons, he made Mohammedan Sporting the Champion Club of India, having won four tournaments and finished runners-up in two others. Next season, he took up the challenge of coaching a relatively smaller club when he accepted the assignment with Peerless SC. It took him only one season to promote the club to the Calcutta Super Division.
Between 1997 and 1999, Ali managed top Goan outfit Salgaocar and established himself as India's best coach. Barring a few like PK Banerjee and Syed Nayeemuddin, no other coach in India could win so many titles in such a short span as Ali did.
It started in 1998 when Salgaocar won the Goa Professional League under his guidance and went on to win the Indian Super Cup defeating the National League champions, Mohun Bagan AC. Next Salgaocar won the National League title, the only time a Goan team could win it till date.Salgaocar Sports Club: regaining the lost glory. . The Hard Tackle. Retrieved 5 October 2021. Ali then took the team to Bombay and won the Rovers Cup. Thereafter, the team flew into Delhi to bag the Durand Cup beating both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal and then tamed Mohun Bagan again in the Super Cup contest. No other teams in India have been given such a great run in Indian football in recent years.
He also managed Churchill Brothers in 2004. In 2006, he succeeded Mridul Banerjee as manager of another NFL side Vasco. In 2008, he was again appointment head coach of Mohammedan.
On 2 September 2022, he was unanimously appointed as the chairman of the All India Football Federation Advisory Committee. He is also included in the board of eminent players of the AIFF.
Football academy In February 2021, Ali launched a football academy in Hyderabad, named Shabbir Ali Football Academy, that became operational from 1 March.Former India football captain Shabbir Ali launches academy . sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 6 September 2021. The academy is also affiliated with Telangana Football Association.
Honours Player India ANFA Cup runner-up: 1983 Afghanistan Republic Day Cup third place: 1976 King's Cup third place: 1977The Indian Senior Team at the 1977 Bangkok Kings Cup: indianfootball.de. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
India U20 AFC Asian U-19 Championship: 1974
Mohammedan Sporting Calcutta Football League: 1981 Federation Cup: 1983–84 Rovers Cup: 1980, 1984 Sait Nagjee Trophy: 1984 DCM Trophy: 1980 Sikkim Gold Cup: 1980 Durand Cup runner-up: 1980 IFA Shield runner-up: 1982
Individual AFC Youth Championship top scorer: 1974 Calcutta Football League top scorer: 1983
Manager
Mohammedan Sporting Federation Cup: 1984–85; runners-up: 1989–90 Stafford Cup: 1991 Rovers Cup: 1987; runner-up: 1991 Sait Nagjee Trophy: 1991, 1992 Bordoloi Trophy: 1985, 1986, 1991 All Airlines Gold Cup: 1986; runner-up: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 Independence Day Cup: 1988 Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup runner-up: 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991 Kalinga Cup: 1991 Vizag Trophy: 1986
Salgaocar National Football League: 1998–99
Awards Dhyan Chand Award in 2011, towards his service to coach Goan outfit Salgaocar Club between 1997 and 1999. Banga Bhushan in 2014 by the Government of West Bengal Krida Guru Award by the Government of West Bengal: 2018
Notes
See also List of India national football team hat-tricks List of Indian football players in foreign leagues List of India national football team captains
References
Further reading Bibliography
Others
External links