Bijendra Rai (born 8 June 1992) is an Indian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who currently plays for IMG RELIANCE.

Early career

He was born in

Jorethang Jorethang is a major town in Namchi district in the Indian state of Sikkim. Jorethang lies on the bank of Rangeet River, which is a tributary of the Teesta River, on the way to Pelling from Darjeeling, Siliguri and Kalimpong. Demographics As ...

South Sikkim district Namchi District is a district of the Indian state of Sikkim. Its headquarters is at Namchi. Geography South Sikkim lies at an altitude of 400 to 2000 metres and has a temperate climate for most of the year. Major urban centres include Namch ...

. His father and elder brother were footballers. His father used to play football locally but his brother played for a club in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

. He joined

Gangtok Gangtok is a city, municipality, the capital and the largest populated place of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is also the headquarters of the East Sikkim district, Gangtok District. Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayas, Himalayan range, at an e ...

State Sports Academy in 2006 and stayed there till 2009. The tag line of the Academy was "Search for more Baichung." he took the name of few coaches who had helped me a lot while in the Academy. They are Hongunorden Lepcha, Suresh Mukhia, and Suren Chhetri. While in the Academy, he got the chance to play for the

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

U-16 team.

Career

In 2010, he went to

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in ...

and joined Nang-Kiew-Rat where he played as a striker in the local league. In the next season, he joined

Royal Wahingdoh F.C. Royal Wahingdoh FC (also known as Wahingdoh Sports Club) was an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya. Nicknamed "Royals", the club participated in I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. Royal Wahi ...

where he played for 4 months. He played in the

2011 I-League 2nd Division The 2011 I-League 2nd Division is the fourth season of the second division of the I-League, the Indian professional football league. A total of 21 teams were divided into three groups and top two teams from each group played in final round, the ...

. They reached the 2nd phase but could not qualify for the

I-league The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

. He scored 5 goals in that tournament. His best match was against Ar-Hima FC. In that match, though he scored 2 goals, they lost the 3–2. They trounced

Southern Samity Southern Samity is an Indian professional football club from Kolkata which was founded in 1945, and is also based in Siliguri in North Bengal. During that time, apart from sports they are also involved in various cultural activities. The club c ...

6–1, where he scored 1 goal.

Pailan Arrows

The 2011–12 season got off to a good start for Rai as he made his debut for

Pailan Arrows Indian Arrows (formerly known as Pailan Arrows) was an Indian developmental football club that competed in the I-League. The club was formed by the All India Football Federation in 2010, with a main goal of nurturing young Indian football talen ...

in the

2011 Indian Federation Cup The 2011 Indian Federation Cup was the 33rd season of the knock-out competition. On 13 August 2011 the AIFF announced that 21 clubs had been accepted to the tournament. The tournament Qualifiers commence from 8 September to 13 September and Fi ...

against

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. He then made his

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

debut against HAL SC on 2 November 2011.

Eagles

On 5 December 2013 it was announced that Bijendra has signed up with Eagles F.C. of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

on loan for 2013–14 season along with

Nadong Bhutia Nadong Bhutia (born 25 November 1993) is an Indian former footballer who played as a striker or winger. Career United Sikkim Bhutia made his debut for United Sikkim F.C. on 19 January 2013 during an I-League match against Dempo S.C. at the ...

Avinabo Bag Avinabo Bag (born 8 September 1989 in West Bengal) is an Indian footballer who plays as a defender for Mohammedan SC in the I-League. Career Pailan Arrows During the summer of 2011 Bag joined Pailan Arrows of the I-League from Kalighat MS. B ...

Jagroop Singh Jagroop Singh (born 16 May 1991 in Gurdaspur, Punjab) is an Indian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Delhi Dynamos FC of the Indian Super League. Career Indian Arrows For the 2010-11 I-League season Singh played for Indian Arrows afte ...

, Bisheshwor Singh,

Biswajit Saha Biswajit Saha (born 15 December 1987) is an Indian footballer who plays as a left back. Career After becoming Champions, he joined Milan Samity in 2006 and played in Calcutta Football League 1st Division B group. Then he joined George Telegraph ...

, Ramandeep Singh and

Govin Singh Moirangthem Govin Singh (born 3 January 1988 in Tentha, Manipur) is an Indian footballer who plays as a defender for Southern Samity. He has been capped twice for India at senior level. He was part of the Churchill Brothers S.C. squad tha ...

. Moreover, IMG-Reliance, the organisers of the proposed IPL-style football tournament Indian Super League, and Eagles F.C. will facilitate a two to six week training stint for the eight players with UK based

Reading F.C. Reading Football Club ( ) is a professional football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is managed by Paul Ince. Reading are nicknamed ...

Academy.

International

In 2007, Coach Collin Toal gave him a chance for the 1st time in the U-16 Indian team, when we went to play in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

for the AFC qualifying Round. Later on, they went for exposure trips to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In the

Academy, he used to play as a striker, but in the Indian team, he played for the first time as a

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He scored his first goal for U-16 Indian team against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He scored the goal within 20 seconds. He placed the ball inside goal from Lalrindika's cross. Later, he also got a chance in the U-19 Indian team for an exposure trip to

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and for a tournament in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, but he missed the tour due to injury at the last moment.

Career statistics

Club

''Statistics accurate as of 29 December 2011''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Bijendra Indian men's footballers 1992 births Living people People from Namchi district Footballers from Sikkim I-League players Indian Arrows players Mohun Bagan Super Giant players Indian Gorkhas India men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders