Shyam Thapa is a retired Indian footballer who played for the
India national football team
The India national football team represents India in international football and is governed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The team is affiliated to FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Indian team, which was once cons ...
and was the bronze-medallist at the
1970 Asian Games
The 6th Asian Games () were held from 9 to 20 December 1970 in Bangkok, Thailand.- - Seoul, South Korea, had been selected to host the 6th Games but it declined due to both financial reasons and security threats from neighboring North Korea. (T ...
. He also managed the
Nepal national football team
The Nepal national football team ( ne, नेपाल राष्ट्रिय फुटबल टोली) represents Nepal in FIFA, International men's association football, football, and is governed by the All Nepal Football Association ...
.
Coached by
P. K. Banerjee, Thapa became one of the finest and aggressive strikers of the country during the 1970s.
Playing career
Shyam Thapa was first discovered when he scored the match winner for Gorkha Military Higher Secondary School (HSS) against Anjuman Islam Higher secondary school, Mumbai in the 1964
Subroto Mukherjee Cup final. The
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 ...
supremo Jyotish Chandra Guha, who had a good eye for talent, signed him for the 1966 season.
Shyam made a memorable debut as a precocious 18-year-old in the 1966
Calcutta Football League, scoring a hat-trick against
Rajasthan Football Club
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...
. Afterwards, he returned to Gorkha Brigade and played for them from 1967–1969.
His finest hour came in the 1969 Durand final when he scored an opportunistic match winner in the reply against redoubtable Border Security Force (BSF). General Maneckshaw witnessed that match and invited the entire Gorkha Brigade team for a party the next day. At that party, Shyam requested Maneckshaw, who became a Field Marshal later, to release him from the army so that he could pursue his career as a professional. The General agreed and Shyam Thapa joined
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 ...
again in 1970.
In 1970, Thapa helped
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 ...
win bronze medal in Merdeka tournament. In that year, he won bronze at the
Bangkok Asian Games, with
P. K. Banerjee managed and
Syed Nayeemuddin captained team. He scored in India's 3–0 win over Indonesia in the
1970 Asian Games
The 6th Asian Games () were held from 9 to 20 December 1970 in Bangkok, Thailand.- - Seoul, South Korea, had been selected to host the 6th Games but it declined due to both financial reasons and security threats from neighboring North Korea. (T ...
and also in the 3–1 win over Malaysia in the
Merdeka tournament
Merdeka Tournament or Pestabola Merdeka is a friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. The competition bears the Malay word for independence. As of 2022, it has been held 40 times, and decreasingly in r ...
. That year, East Bengal played in the 4–2–4 system and their quintet of forwards Swapan Sengupta, Ashok Chatterjee, Mohammed Habib and Shyam Thapa were all short-statured but explosive, skilful and a delight to watch with their flair and incessant attacking play. They were brilliant in the Durand tournament which East Bengal won by easily overcoming RAC Bikaner, Sikh Regimental Centre (SRC) Meerut, Mafatlal Mills and Mohun Bagan 2–0 in the final.
Shyam Thapa's career, however, suffered a setback. His family was worried about the increasing Naxalite violence in Kolkata and asked him to leave. He took a transfer to Mafatlal Mills, Bombay and linked up with former Gorkha Brigade players like Ranjit Thapa, Bhupender Singh Rawat and Amar Bahadur. He stayed with Mafatlal Mills from 1971–74.
However, he soon rejoined East Bengal in 1975. He was by then an established superstar and had a memorable 1975–76 season. Coached by P. K. Banerjee, East Bengal won the Kolkata league for a record sixth year in a row and in the IFA Shield final routed eternal rivals Mohun Bagan 5–0, a record score in a final. Shyam scored some memorable goals for East Bengal in those two years.
He became India's most sought after player and in the 1977–78 season, Mohun Bagan paid a record fee of Rs. 50,000 for his services. He was the highest paid player in India that year and helped Bagan win a historic treble – IFA Shield, Rovers Cup and Durand tournament, in a single season and his brilliant goal against rivals East Bengal in an IFA league match with a back volley is still remembered. It was the first time Bagan achieved this feat. In the
Durand Cup final, he scored the equalizer against JCT, darting onto a rebound from goalkeeper Surjeet Singh and bulging the net. In the replay, he set up the match winner for Mohammed Akbar.
From 1977–1980, he figured in four consecutive Durand finals for Mohun Bagan winning in 1977, 1979 and 1980 and losing 0–3 to East Bengal in the 1978 final. During the same period, Mohun Bagan also won the IFA Shield thrice in a row, 1977–79 and the
Rovers Cup in 1977. From 1970–77, he was a regular in the Indian team. He played as striker in Mohun Bagan's historic match against a star-studded
New York Cosmos spearheaded by
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...
on 24 September 1977, in which both the teams shared honours as the match ended 2–2. Under
P. K. Banerjee's guidance, their performance against the American club featuring Pelé,
Carlos Alberto Torres and
Giorgio Chinaglia, earned popularity worldwide.
However, after the 1978 Srinagar National championships, he was surprisingly omitted from the list of probables for the 1978 Asian Games. The national selectors claimed that he was slowing down and would not be able to cope with the rigours of international football. There was a major hue and cry in the national media at Shyam's unfair omission.
Retirement and post football life
Reacting to the media criticism, Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw, boss of the All India Council of Sports (AICS) intervened and invited Shyam to join the training camp being held in
Patiala
Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...
. However he announced his retirement from international football. Being denied the captaincy of the Indian team in the
1978 Asian Games
The 8th Asian Games () were held from 9 to 20 December 1978, in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally, the host city was Singapore but Singapore dropped its plan to host the Games due to financial problems. Then Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, was de ...
has been Shyam's biggest disappointment in his otherwise glittering career.
After his playing career was over, he was technical director at the Williamson Magor Academy in Assam which later closed down and later at the
Tata Football Academy
Tata Football Academy (Tata FA or TFA) is an association football academy situated in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India, sponsored by Tata Steel, which owns ISL outfit Jamshedpur FC. It is one of the renowned football academies in India.
History
...
. Such is Shyam Thapa's fame that Nepal called him to revamp their football system in the 21st century and he was there in the first decade of the 21st century.
He also managed
East Bengal Club
East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional Sports club, multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's association football, football team that competes in t ...
in the late 1980s. He later served as the chairman of
All India Football Federation
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation.
It is affiliated to Ministry o ...
technical committee, before AIFF faced suspension from the
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
.
Honours & achievements
India
*
Asian Games
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...
Bronze Medal:
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
*
Merdeka Tournament
Merdeka Tournament or Pestabola Merdeka is a friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. The competition bears the Malay word for independence. As of 2022, it has been held 40 times, and decreasingly in r ...
third place: 1970
*Pesta Sukan Cup (Singapore): 1971
Bengal
*
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 ...
runner-up:
1968–69
East Bengal
*
IFA Shield: 1970, 1975
Mohun Bagan
*
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 ...
: 1978–79, 1980–81
Individual
*
Banga Bhushan
Banga Bhushan ( bn, বঙ্গভূষণ) is a title instituted by the West Bengal Government to honour the services of personalities in various fields.
List of awardees 2022
2014
2013
2012
{{Cite web , url=http://www.bengalinformation. ...
: 2014 (by the
Government of West Bengal
The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...
)
*
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 ...
Ratna: 2022
*
East Bengal "Lifetime Achievement Award": 2016
See also
*
Indian Gorkha
Indian Gorkhas also known as Nepali Indians, are Nepali language-speaking Indians. The modern term "Indian Gorkha" is used to differentiate the ethnic Gorkhas from Nepalis.
Indian Gorkhas are citizens of India as per the gazette notificatio ...
*
List of India international footballers born outside India
This is a list of football players who represented the India national football team or India national youth football teams (such as India U-23, U-20 and U-17) in international football, and were ''born outside India''.
The following players:
...
External links
Pele's team Cosmos 2–2 Mohun Bagan 24 Sept 1977
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Chattopadhyay, Hariprasad (2017). ''Mohun Bagan–East Bengal'' .
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 ...
: Parul Prakashan.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thapa, Shyam
1948 births
Living people
People from Gulmi District
Sportspeople from Dehradun
Footballers from Uttarakhand
Indian Gorkhas
Asian Games bronze medalists for India
Asian Games medalists in football
Indian footballers
Association football forwards
Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games
Footballers at the 1970 Asian Games
Footballers at the 1974 Asian Games
Mohun Bagan AC players
East Bengal Club players
Indian football managers
East Bengal Club managers
Nepal national football team managers
Indian expatriate football managers
Indian expatriate sportspeople in Nepal
Expatriate football managers in Nepal
Calcutta Football League players
Mumbai Football League players