Bangladesh Army Football Team ( bn, বাংলাদেশ সেনাবাহিনী ফুটবল দল), is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

based in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

that competes in the National Football Championship, which is the main national district tournament in the country. They also participate in the Independence Cup and previously played in the

Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: * Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...

. The Army team consists of players who play professionally in the

Bangladesh Premier League The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ প্রিমিয়ার লীগ) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league consisting of seven franchises. The BPL is one of the three professional cricket leagues in ...

Championship League Championship League is a professional snooker tournament, devised by Matchroom Sport. A ranking event version of the tournament began from September 2020, played similarly to its invitational, non-ranking counterpart but with some minor changes ...

Dhaka League Dhaka Senior Division Football League, also referred as First Division Football League, is the third tier of football league in Bangladesh. Until 2006, it was the top-tier league of the country. It was established in 1948 as Dhaka League, while ...

and the lower tiers of Dhaka football, while still being a member of the

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army is the land warfare branch and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to provide necessary forces and capabilities to deliver the Bangladeshi government's security and def ...

History

Officially founded on 26 March 1971, coinciding with Bangladesh's Independence Day, Bangladesh Army was home to many professional footballers shortly after.

Hafizuddin Ahmed Bir Bikrom Hafizuddin Ahmed is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician, a retired Bangladesh Army major, and a 6-term Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Bhola-3 constituency. He fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War and was awarded the ...

who was the first

East Pakistani East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wit ...

footballer to captain the

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, was one of the first commissioned officers of the Bangladesh Army. According to

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

, the earliest records of the Army taking part in a football competition was at the 1977/78 edition of the

Aga Khan Gold Cup The Aga Khan Gold Cup was a tournament played in Dhaka, Bangladesh which invited the top club sides from leading football playing nations of Asia to compete. Many renowned football pundits regard this competition as a predecessor of AFC Champio ...

. During the tournament they suffered heavy defeats to Thai club

Bangkok Bank Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited ( th, ธนาคารกรุงเทพ, Royal Thai General System of Transcription, RTGS: Thanakhan Krung Thep) is one of the largest commercial banks in Thailand. Its branch network includes over 1,165 ...

(2–8) and Malaysia's

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

(1–4). They also regularly took part in the Sher-e-Bangla Cup, where they were joint winner alongside

Dhaka University The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

in both 1980 and 1981, while in 1989 they beat their rivals in the final to gain sole ownership of the title.

2000s

Army started the new century by partaking in the 2000

, finishing bottom of their group. In the same year, they reached the Sher-e Bangla Cup final, losing to Noakhali in the final. In 2001, Army qualified for the 2001–02 National Football Championship after defeating Bangladesh Navy in the Service Zone final. In the main tournament, Army produced one of the upsets of the year by defeating

Abahani Limited Dhaka Abahani Limited Dhaka ( bn, ঢাকা আবাহনী লিমিটেড), also referred as Dhaka Abahani or Abahani Limited, is a Bangladeshi professional Association football, football club based in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, Ban ...

by 2–1. Nonetheless, they failed to progress past the group-stage due to goal difference. In 2002, Army took part in the

for the only the second time and finished third in their group. In 2004, Army enjoyed a relatively successful season, as they took part in the Federation Cup and also reachd the final of the Sher-e Bangla Cup (losing to Narayanganj) with striker

Nasiruddin Chowdhury Nasiruddin Chowdhury ( bn, নাসিরউদ্দিন চৌধুরী; born 9 October 1985) is a Bangladeshi professional association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Bangladesh Premier ...

leading their way to the final with 5 goals. The 2005–06 National Football Championship, was the last time Army took part in the tournament, while top-tier clubs still competed in it. Their only win in during the championship came against Nobanabin Somabesh. They also partook in the 2005 edition of the Federation Cup, losing in the quarter-final to

Sheikh Russel KC Sheikh Russel KC is a professional football club based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, currently playing in the Bangladesh Premier League. The club has won the Federation Cup in 2012, which was their first major title. They also won their maiden Banglad ...

2–5. The following decade, Army played both the 2008 and 2009 Federation Cup, without much success.

2010s

For the majority of the 2010s, the Army's football team remained inactive. The only notable tournament they took part in was Inter-Service football tournament, in 2018. In the final, Army defeated Bangladesh Navy 4–3, and midfielder Sohel Rana's performances during the tournament earned him a

contract with

Rahmatganj MFS Rahmatganj Muslim Friends Society is a sports club of Bangladesh based in Old Dhaka. It was founded in 1933. It is currently playing in the Bangladesh Premier League. It was also a team of Bangladesh Championship League until it got promotion i ...

2020s

The start of the new decade saw the return of the National Football Championship (

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

), as Army won the title for the first time. On 2 December 2021, Army stunned Mohammedan SC 2–1 in the 2021 Independence Cup, with goals from Ranju Sikdar and Sharier Emon. On 8 April 2022, Army won the 9th Bangabundhu Bangladesh Games beating

Sylhet District Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...

2–0. On 4 July 2022, Army retained the National Championship ( 2021–22) title, defeating

Chittagong District Chittagong District, renamed the Chattogram District, is a district located in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chattogram Division. The port city of Chattogram, which is the second largest city in Bangladesh, is ...

4–2 in the final, with striker Imtiaz Raihan scoring twice in the final and remained the highest scorer of the tournament with six goals.

Honours

Cups

* Sher-e-Bangla Cup **Winners (3): 1980*, 1981*, 1989 **Runner-up (2): 1982, 1990, 2000, 2004 *Inter-Service Football Tournament **Winners (1): 2018 * National Football Championship **Winners (2):

, 2021–22 *

Bangladesh Games Bangladesh Games is the largest domestic multi-sport tournament in Bangladesh where athletes and sports teams from all the districts of Bangladesh participate. Initiated in 1978, the event went into a hiatus after being held for the 7th time in ...

**Winners (1): 2022

Notable players

''The players below have senior international cap(s) for the

Bangladesh national football team The Bangladesh national football team ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় ফুটবল দল) is the national recognised football team of Bangladesh and is controlled by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). It is a membe ...

.'' *

(2000–2008) * Ashraful Islam Rana (2003—2014) * Mehedi Hasan Mithu (2015—present) * Mohamed Sohel Rana (2015–2018)

References

{{reflist

External links

Bangladesh Army FT
at globalsportsarchive.com Bangladesh Army Football clubs in Bangladesh Military association football clubs in Bangladesh Association football clubs established in 1972