Gilbertson Sangma (born 12 April 1955) is a former

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

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 ...

. He played as a striker. Sangma was regarded as "Man with golden boot" by the leading daily ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

'' because of his skill, agility and stamina.

Playing career

Sangma received early lessons of football at the Assam Police Reserve in

Dergaon Dergaon (IPA: ˈdɜːˌgɑ̃ʊ) is a town and a municipality in the Golaghat district of Assam, India.It is 282 km from the state capital Guwahati. Hemchandra Barua, the compiler of ''Hemkosh'' (the earliest Assamese-English dictionary) ...

Assam

In 1973, he began his senior career in the Inter District Football Championships by representing Golaghat. He was selected immediately in the Assam state team for the

Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...

. In 1974–75, he scored the goal that knocked out the defending champions

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 ...

and took Assam to the quarter-final. He represented the state team in seven seasons from 1973 to 1980 in Santosh Trophy.

Assam Police

After joining the

Assam Police The Assam Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Assam in India. A regular police force was initiated in Assam by the British after the Treaty of Yandaboo to maintain the law and order. It functions under the Department of Home A ...

he became a regular player of the Assam Police AC since 1972. In 1981, Sangma guided Assam Police AC to win the

Bordoloi Trophy The Bordoloi Trophy, also known as the Bharat Ratna Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Trophy, is a premier annual Indian football tournament held in Guwahati and organized by Guwahati Sports Association (GSA). The tournament was first started in 1952 ...

, where he scored the winning goal in final against the mighty

Dempo SC Dempo Sports Club, or simply known as Dempo, is an Indian professional football club based in Panjim, Goa, that competes in the Goa Professional League. The club is owned and sponsored by the Dempo Mining Corporation Limited. Popularly known a ...

of Goa. He helped the team to lift several trophies including coveted Bordoloi Trophy,

Independence Day Cup The Independence Day Cup is an Indian football tournament held in Nagaon, Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The ...

and

ATPA Shield The Assam Tea Planters' Association Shield, commonly known as the A.T.P.A. Shield, is an annual Indian association football tournament held in Jorhat, Assam and organised by Jorhat District Sports Association (JDSA). It is one of the esteemed an ...

International career

In 1975, Sangma was picked in the Indian team for three International friendly matches in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Personal life

Sangma retired from Assam Police as a top official. After retirement, he is regularly associated with different local football activities in Guwahati.

References

{{reflist Indian men's footballers 1955 births Living people People from Dibrugarh district Footballers from Assam India men's international footballers Garo people Men's association football forwards