Inder Singh (footballer)

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For other people named Inder Singh, see Inder Singh (disambiguation).

Inder Singh
Personal information
Date of birth (1943-12-23) 23 December 1943 (age 80)
Place of birth Phagwara, Punjab Province, British India
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 JCT Mills
Number 9
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1962–1974 Leaders Jalandhar
1974–1985 JCT Mills
International career
1962–1975 India
Managerial career
1985–2001 JCT Mills
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  India
AFC Asian Cup
Runner-up 1964 Israel Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Inder Singh (born 23 December 1943) is an India former football player and captain, manager and administrator.[1] He played for Leaders Club of Jalandhar, JCT Mills, and the India national team, predominantly as a forward. He began his senior professional career with Leaders Club in 1962 and moved to JCT Mills in 1974. Playing for Punjab in the Santosh Trophy, he finished the 1974–75 tournament with 23 goals, a record that still stands.[2] He was included in the AFC Asian All Stars team in 1968.[3] He retired as a player in 1985.

He had a successful managerial career with Mills from 1985 to 2001, following which he was associated with Mills as an administrator from 2001 to 2011. In 1969, he received the Arjuna Award,[4][5] in recognition of his contribution to Indian football.[6] Nicknamed "bullet train" by the Japanese for his speed on football field, Singh stuck to his roots and played for the country, declining the offer of representing Malaysia in 1973.[7]

Early life[edit]

Singh was born on 23 December 1943, in Phagwara, in the erstwhile Punjab Province of British India. As a student of Government High School, Phagwara, he played for the school at various tournaments, including the All-India School Games in 1960 and 1961. He finished as the top goal scorer and was awarded the 'Best Player' award.[2]

Club career[edit]

Leaders Club

Impressed with his talent, Singh was selected by Leaders Club, Jalandhar, as its guest player.[7] He would play exhibition matches for the club and other tournaments as a guest player, until he was signed by the club when he passed out of school. In his first season with the club in 1962 as a senior player, he played in the DCM Trophy in Delhi. The tournament had established and stronger team like Salgaocar, Mysore XI, Mohammedan and Mafatlal Mills playing. Leaders finished the tournament in third place losing only to Mafatlal Mills in the semifinal. For the third place, they beat Mysore XI 4–1. Singh finished as the top scorer for his club. Leaders managed to reach the finals of the Trophy a further four times; 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1971, but lost in the final each time.[2]

JCT Mills

In 1974, Singh left Leaders to join another Punjab-based club, JCT Mills. He had a successful spells with Mills, winning two Durand Cup tournaments, in 1975 and 1983, and reaching the finals five times. Playing last for Mills, he retired from professional football in 1985.[7]

Santosh Trophy[edit]

Singh played for his home state of Punjab in the Santosh Trophy. He had a hugely successful 1974–75 Santosh Trophy season captaining Punjab to the title. The team managed by Jarnail Singh,[8] finished the tournament having scored 46 goals, with Singh scoring 23 of them,[9] a record that still stands. The team beat Bengal in the final 6–0, with Singh scoring a hat-trick.[2]

International career[edit]

Singh made his debut in the India national team in 1963. He was selected to play in the 1964 AFC Asian Cup in Tel Aviv. In the first game against South Korea, India won 2–0, with Singh scoring for the second goal in the 57th minute.[10] Scoring his second goal against Hong Kong in India's 3–1 victory, he finished as the tournament's joint top scorer with two goals and India finished second.[11][12] He was awarded the 'Best Right-out' at the tournament. He was part of the team at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok, finishing the tournament with one goal as India failed to defend its gold medal from the 1962 Games.

Singh found considerable success at the Malaysian tournament, Merdeka Cup.[13] Making his first appearance in 1964, he finished with two goals, against Cambodia and South Korea. India finished as runner-up in the tournament. In 1967, he was included in the Asian All Stars XI team that played Arsenal in Kuala Lumpur. After missing out for two editions, he came back in 1968 and finished with three goals. He was made the captain for the first time in its 1969 tournament, where India were knocked out after the group stage games, and Singh finished the tournament with a lone goal that came against Singapore. Following an injury he sustained during its 1970 tournament, he sat out of the team for a year. He returned at its 1973 tournament as India's captain and scored a brace over Thailand, with India finishing sixth. Impressed by his performances at the tournament, he was asked to play for the Malaysian national team, by the then Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.[14] Singh politely refused the offer saying he would play only for Punjab and India. He made his last appearance for India in 1975.

Career statistics[edit]

Selected international goals[edit]

Date Venue Opponent Result Competition Goals
27 May 1964 Municipal Stadium, Haifa  South Korea 2–0 1964 AFC Asian Cup 1
2 June 1964 Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv  Hong Kong 3–1 1964 AFC Asian Cup 1
27 August 1964 Kuala Lumpur, Malaya  Cambodia 4–0 1964 Merdeka Tournament 1 [15]
4 September 1964 Kuala Lumpur, Malaya  South Korea 2–1 1964 Merdeka Tournament 1 [16]
12 December 1966 Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok  Malaysia 2–1 1966 Asian Games 1 [17]
22 August 1967 Kuala Lumpur, Malaya  Chinese Taipei 1–1 1967 Merdeka Tournament 1 [18]
17 August 1968 Kuala Lumpur, Malaya  Burma 3–1 1968 Merdeka Tournament 1 [19]
29 July 1973 Kuala Lumpur, Malaya  Thailand 2–0 1973 Merdeka Tournament 2 [20]

Post-playing career[edit]

Following his retirement of professional football as a player in 1985 with JCT Mills, he went on to manage the club for 16 years, until 2001.[7] During his tenure, the club went on to win the Federation Cup twice in 1995 and 1996.[21][22] The club also clinched National Football League title in the inaugural season of 1996–97.[23][24][25][26] JCT also won IFA Shield in 1996, first club outside Kolkata to do so.[27] They later participated in Asian Club Championship in 1996–97 and moved to second round before losing 1–2 aggregate to New Radiant of Maldives.[28] Following his spell as a manager of his former club, he was made the Honorary Secretary of the Punjab Football Association, a post that he held from 2001 to 2011.[2]

Honours[edit]

India

Punjab

Individual

Awards

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "28th Punjab State Super Football League — Legend Inder Singh to kick-off". kolkatafootball.com. Kolkata Football. 23 August 2014. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e Lundup, Tashi (27 June 2011). "Milled into submission". archive.indianexpress.com. The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b 서울선 6월26일亞洲올·스타蹴球팀 巡訪경기. Naver.com (in Korean). Kyunghyang. 22 February 1968. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  4. ^ "LIST OF ARJUNA AWARD WINNERS — Football | Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports". yas.nic.in. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 25 December 2007.
  5. ^ "List of Arjuna Awardees (1961–2018)" (PDF). Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (India). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  6. ^ Sengupta, Somnath (3 July 2013). "Legends Of Indian Football : Inder Singh". thehardtackle.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Raghunandanan, K. G. (22 September 2021). "Was Inder Singh India's greatest forward?". theawayend.co. Kalpanthu's Vuvuzela. The Away End. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  8. ^ Sengupta, Somnath (4 April 2011). "Legends Of Indian Football: Jarnail Singh". thehardtackle.com. Mumbai: The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  9. ^ Inder steers Punjab to their second triumph Archived 19 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Sportsweek, 8 December 1974, p.18 (p.759)
  10. ^ Media Team, AIFF (15 August 2022). "Indian Football Down the Years: Looking back at the glorious moments". www.the-aiff.com. New Delhi: All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Asian Nations Cup 1964". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  12. ^ Alper, Tim. "Asian Eye – Indian football still finding its feet :: Total Football Magazine – Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two, Non-League News". totalfootballmag.com. Total Football Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  13. ^ "The Senior National Team at 1969 Merdeka Cup". indiafootball.de. IndiaFootball. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Inder Singh profile". jctfootball.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  15. ^ "India Rout Cambodia in Merdeka Soccer". The Indian Express. 28 August 1964. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  16. ^ "20,000 watch India beat South Korea". The Indian Express. 5 September 1964. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  17. ^ Ghoshal, Amoy (19 August 2014). "Indian football team at the Asian Games: 1966 Bangkok". Sportskeeda.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  18. ^ "Chinese are so lucky to get decision". The Straits Times. 23 August 1967. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  19. ^ "India stun Burma in second half". The Straits Times. 18 August 1968. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  20. ^ "Indians are too fast for the Thais". The Straits Times. 30 July 1973. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  21. ^ "India – List of Federation Cup Winners". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 17 February 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  22. ^ "From the history book, roll of honour". the-aiff.com. All India Football Federation. 10 January 2015. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  23. ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava; Jönsson, Mikael; Bobrowsky, Josef (13 February 2014). "India 1996/97 – List of Champions: National Football League". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022.
  24. ^ Sharma, Sukalp (31 May 2010). "Indias biggest league". financialexpress.com. The Financial Express. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  25. ^ "JCT Mills – JCT Mills Indian Football Club – JCT Mills Club Football India". iloveindia.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  26. ^ "Fairplay bonus for JCT". The Indian Express. 20 March 1997. Archived from the original on 21 April 1997. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  27. ^ Sengupta, Somnath (8 March 2011). "The Glorious History Of IFA Shield". thehardtackle.com. The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  28. ^ Mukherjee, Soham; Easwar, Nisanth V (1 April 2020). "How have Indian clubs fared in AFC Champions League and AFC Cup?". goal.com. Goal. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava. "The Indian Senior Team at the 1964 Tel Aviv Asia Cup". Indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  30. ^ "The Indian Senior Team at the 1964 Merdeka Cup". indiafootball.de. IndiaFootball. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  31. ^ "The Indian Senior Team at the 1970 Merdeka Cup". indiafootball.de. IndiaFootball. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  32. ^ "Asian Cup: Know Your History — Part One (1956–1988)". goal.com. GOAL. 7 January 2011. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  33. ^ 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.
  34. ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava (2000). "National Award winning Footballers". indianfootball.de. IndianFootball. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2019.

Further reading[edit]

Bibliography

Cited sources

External links[edit]

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