Masood Fakhri ( pa, ; 1932 – 6 September 2016) was a Pakistani professional

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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. A former Pakistani international, Fakhri was well known for his time with Indian

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

clubs

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

and Mohammedan. He also played in England with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

before retiring.

Early life

Fakhri was born in 1932 in

Toba Tek Singh Toba Tek Singh ( pnb, , ur, ) is a city and capital of Toba Tek Singh District in the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is surrounded by cities of Gojra, Kamalia, Rajana, Pir Mahal and Shorkot. History The city and district is named af ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, In 1955

Saadat Hasan Manto Saadat Hasan Manto (; Punjabi, ur, , ; 11 May 1912 – 18 January 1955) was a Pakistani writer, playwright and author born in Ludhiana, who was active in British India and later, after the 1947 partition of India, in Pakistan. Writing ma ...

’s highly-acclaimed short story ''Toba Tek Singh'' immortalised this town.

Club career

Early career

He began his career in his home country with Pakistan Raiders Club.

East Bengal

In 1952, when he moved to

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 ...

, was a 20-year-old youngster and signed with

Calcutta Football League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by Indian Football Association (WB), under state football leagues in India. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is offi ...

side

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

. During his first season with the club Fakhri helped his side win the Calcutta Football League alongside the prestigious

Durand Cup The Durand Football Tournament, commonly known as Durand Cup, is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Shimla. Hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) and All India Football Federation ...

. Fakhri usually played as a left-winger and had scored 14 goals in the Calcutta Football League alongside scoring the winning goals in his first two matches against East Bengal's biggest rivals,

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

, and thus became a fan favorite among East Bengal supporters. Fakhri helped the team winning the DCM Trophy and was also part of the East Bengal side to play tournament and friendly matches in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Fakhri went on to play for two more seasons at the club. In 1953, he was part of the senior team's tour to the Romanian Youth Festival in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, where they faced teams like

FC Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pr ...

. He scored a goal against Lebanon XI in their 6–1 win in that tournament. He was also a part of the team that played against German side

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs in ...

in that year.

Mohammedan Sporting

In 1955, Fakhri signed with another Kolkata club, Mohammedan. In 1956, he helped Mohammedan winning the prestigious

Rovers Cup The Rovers Cup was an annual football tournament held in India, organized by the Western India Football Association. It was the second oldest tournament in India after Durand Cup. History Rovers Cup was incorporated by some British football ent ...

title.

Bradford City

Bert Flatley, a coach with the

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

(FA) in England, communicated to Fakhri the possibility of a move to

. The club then competed in the third tier of

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

. After negotiations with the then manager Peter Jackson, Fakhri finally signed for the club on 8 August 1956 In 1956. After playing one season with the club, he prematurely quit football due to personal reasons in 1957.

International

Fakhri had represented

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 ...

at international level in the preceding years. Fakhri had most notably scored a hat-trick and became the first player from

to do so as his national team thumped

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

6–2 in a group match at the 1954 Asian Games in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, Philippines. He had also scored goals against

and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

during the period.

Personal life

Fakhri married Rhoda Eileen and lived in Llanrwst, North Wales. His brother's family settled in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

as well.

Post-retirement

After retiring from football, Fakhri lived out the rest of his life living in

Bangor Teifi Bangor Teifi is a hamlet in the community of Llandyfriog, Ceredigion, Wales, which is 63.7 miles (102.5 km) from Cardiff and 184.7 miles (297.2 km) from London. Bangor Teifi is represented in the Senedd by Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru) and ...

, Wales. He died in September 2016 in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Honours

East Bengal *

: 1952 *

: 1952 Mohammedan Sporting *

: 1956 Pakistan * Colombo Quadrangular Cup: 1952; runner-up: 1953, 1955; third-place: 1954

References

External links

Profile: Masood Fakhri
at Football Pakistan {{DEFAULTSORT:Fakhri, Masood 1932 births 2016 deaths People from Toba Tek Singh District Punjabi people Pakistani footballers East Bengal Club players Footballers from Punjab, Pakistan Mohammedan SC (Kolkata) players Bradford City A.F.C. players Association football forwards Calcutta Football League players Pakistan international footballers Pakistani expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in India Expatriate footballers in England Pakistani emigrants to Wales