Qayyum Changezi (born 1932) was a Pakistani

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 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 ...

. Considered as one of the earliest legends in Pakistan football history, he was known for his leadership, free kicks, and goal-scoring abilities.

Early life

Belonging to the ethnic Hazara community, Changezi was born in

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

in the Baluchistan Agency of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

in 1932.

Club career

Nicknamed "''Papa''", Changezi played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

or winger. He developed an interest in football while attending high school, playing for Hazara Club Quetta in his youth until making his senior debut in 1950. In the 1950s, he toured in club tournaments in Iran and India with Karachi Kickers and Karachi Mohammedan, and in 1956 again with Karachi Kickers and Hazara Club. Changezi started playing in the National Football Championship from 1953 and was a member of the Balochistan team that won the title in 1956 by defeating

Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways ( ur, ) is the national, state-owned railway company of Pakistan. Founded in 1861 and headquartered in Lahore, it owns of track across Pakistan, stretching from Torkham to Karachi, offering both freight and passenger servi ...

in Karachi on 11 November 1956, where he scored one goal in the final 2–1 victory, and was declared player of the year. Later on in 1959 under his captainship, Balochistan defeated East Pakistan in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

on 7 November 1959, achieving their second league title. In the same tournament, he scored 6 goals in the 9–0 victory against Sindh Green. When the football league structure in Pakistan transitioned from provincial to district based clubs, he subsequently represented Quetta,

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

and Faisalabad. Under his captainship, Railways ended up in the second position in 15th and 16th National Championship in 1963 and 1965, after falling twice to Karachi, in the finals held in the cities of Karachi and

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

respectively. In 1963, Changezi represented Dhaka Mohammedan winning the Dhaka League and finishing top scorer of the tournament with 24 goals.

International career

Changezi made his international debut with the Pakistan national team during the

1955 Colombo Cup The 1955 Colombo Cup was the last edition of the Colombo Cup to take place. It was held in Dacca, East Pakistan and won by India for a record 4th time. Points Table (C) refers to champions Matches All the results are based on data from --- ...

. In his debut match, Changezi scored a hat-trick including two penalty goals against

Burma 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 Wells explai ...

, becoming the second Pakistani player to do so after

Masood Fakhri Masood Fakhri ( pa, ; 1932 – 6 September 2016) was a Pakistani professional footballer who played as a forward. A former Pakistani international, Fakhri was well known for his time with Indian Kolkata clubs East Bengal and Mohammedan. He a ...

. In 1959, Pakistan first participated in the 1960 Asian Cup qualifiers hosted by India in

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 ...

. Under the captainship of Changezi, Pakistan faced

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

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 ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

twice each in the qualifiers. Although Israel managed to qualify by topping the group, Pakistan achieved a memorable victory over Iran by 4–1 and secure a draw against Israel, finishing in third place in the group, ahead of hosts India but behind Iran. Pakistan national football team group picture

Pakistan national football team group picture

Changezi also participated in various friendly tournaments, including the Merdeka Cup hosted in Malaysia after the country first participation in 1960. Under his captaincy, Pakistan recorded some famous victories including a 7–0 walloping of

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 ...

, and a 3–1 win over then Asian powerhouses

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He was also present in the

1962 Merdeka Tournament The 1962 Merdeka Tournament was the fifth edition of the annual football tournament hosted by Malaya. It took place from September 8 to September 19 with nine participating nations. Teams Thailand withdrew on August 31. Israel were originally ...

, where Pakistan ended runner up after falling to Singapore by 1–2 in the final. Pakistan National Football Team finalists in the 1962 Merdeka Cup

During a 1963 global tour, Germany's

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club Fortuna Düsseldorf faced aircraft issues, leading to an unexpected stay in Pakistan. The Pakistan Football Federation invited the club to play friendly matches against select XI teams from East and

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was d ...

. Fortuna enthusiastically accepted, competing against teams like ''East Pakistan Sports Board XI'' in

Dacca 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 i ...

, which included the veteran Changezi, drawing crowds of thousands.

Managerial career

In 1977, Qayyum was appointed as manager of the ''Shaheen FC'' club which toured in the Afghanistan Republic Day Festival Cup in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Personal life

His younger cousin Younus Changezi also played for the Pakistan national team from the 1960s till early 1970s, and was later appointed as manager of the national team in the 1980s. In 2003, Qayyum Changezi replaced M.N. Jahan as chairman of the selection committee of the Pakistan Football Federation by Arshad Khan Lodhi, following the newly elected president

Faisal Saleh Hayat Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat ( ur, مخدوم سيد فیصل صالح حیات; born 1952 in Lahore) is a Pakistani politician from Jhang, Punjab and sports administrator. He is currently serving as the President of South Asian Football Fe ...

Legacy

Highly still praised by the local Hazara community, the Qayyum Papa Stadium in

Mari Abad Mariabad ( haz, ) is an inner eastern suburb of Quetta, capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province. It is the most populous area of Quetta with five lakh population. The majority of the population are Hazara people. This place is the birthplac ...

in Quetta is named after him.

Honours

Balochistan * National Football Championship: 1956, 1959 Pakistan Railways * National Football Championship runner-up: 1963, 1965 Dhaka Mohammedan * Dhaka League: 1963 Individual *1963 − Dhaka League top scorer (24 goals)

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

70 Years of Pakistani Football - Qayyum Changezi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Changezi, Qayyum Pakistani men's footballers Men's association football forwards Pakistan men's international footballers Pakistani football managers 1932 births Pakistani people of Hazara descent Mohammedan SC (Dhaka) players Pakistan Railways F.C. players Date of death missing Footballers from Quetta