Sonam Bhutia (born 26 January 1994) is an Indian 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 plays as a

midfielder 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 ...

for Machhindra FC in the

Martyr's Memorial A-Division League Martyr's Memorial A-Division League ( Nepali: शहीद स्मारक ए- डिभिजन लिग; formerly known as the Kathmandu League Championship) is the top divisions of football in Nepal. Contested by 12 to 16 clubs, it opera ...

Career

Early career

Born and brought up in Shotak,

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 Silig ...

, Sonam Bhutia is a product of the

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex national sports body of India, established in 1982 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of Government of India for the development of sports in India. SAI has 2 Sports Academic institution ...

Namchi Namchi is a city and the administrative headquarter of the Namchi district in the Indian state of Sikkim. The appellation Namchi means ''Sky (Nam) High (Chi)'' in Sikkimese. Geography Namchi is located at . It has an average elevation of . ...

. He was part of the SAI squad that participated in the Subroto Cup in 2008. Though his team lost in the semi-final stage, Sonam who played in central defense got a scholarship for good performance. Bhutia had a brief stint at the Mohun Bagan SAIL Football Academy. When Mohun Bagan SAIL Football Academy went to participate in a tournament at

, Shyam Thapa spotted Sonam and selected him for the

Durgapur Durgapur () is a planned tier-II urban agglomeration and a major industrial city in Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the fourth largest urban agglomeration after Kolkata, Asansol and Siliguri in West Benga ...

based Mohun Bagan Academy. However, after 4 months, Sonam went back to Namchi because of his schooling. Though Sonam got offer from

United Sikkim United Sikkim Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Gangtok, Sikkim. Founded in 2011, the club usually competed in the Sikkim Premier Division League. United Sikkim is the only club from Sikkim to have played in the I- ...

around 4–5 years back, he joined the club in 2012 after completing his studies and played there for a couple of seasons. He represented

in the Santosh Trophy for 3 consecutive seasons from 2009 onwards. He also appeared in the 2018–19 National Football Championship (73rd edition of Santosh Trophy), in which

qualified for the final round for the first time since 2004. He was selected in the U-23 Indian Camp held at

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

last year, but due to passport issues, he was not kept in the final squad. He also appeared with Ulkha Football Club of

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian state of West Bengal. Known as the ' ...

, at the Siliguri Super Division League.

United Sikkim

Bhutia made his debut for United Sikkim FC on 24 January 2013 during an

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 ...

match against

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 ...

at the

Salt Lake Stadium The Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK; ), commonly known as the Salt Lake Stadium, is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium located in Bidhannagar, with current capacity of 85,000 spectators. Named after Swami Vivekananda, the stadium f ...

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 ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

in which he came on as a 69th-minute substitute for

Sandesh Jhingan Sandesh Jhingan (born 21 July 1993) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender for the Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the Indian national team. He won the AIFF emerging player of the year award in 2014 and made ...

; United Sikkim drew the match 0–0. In March 2013, Nathan Hall managed United Sikkim went to

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

for training. With the team, Bhutia played three friendly matches against local sides Drukpol FC, Yeedzin and Zimdra, at the

Changlimithang Stadium Changlimithang Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan, which serves as the national stadium. It is predominantly used for association football, football matches and is the home of the Bhutan national football team, other national se ...

in Thimpu. From July to August 2013, he went to Bhutan again and participated in

2013 King's Cup The 2013 King's Cup was an international football competition, the 42nd edition of the tournament. It was a two-round knockout tournament, with all matches held at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai, Thailand between 23 January and 26 ...

, in which they moved to the knockout stages. In the first semi-final, United Sikkim lost 2–4 to

Manang Marshyangdi Manang Marshyangdi Club ( ne, मनाङ मर्स्याङ्दी क्लब) is a Nepali professional football club based in Kathmandu, that competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League. The club is record champion of Nepale ...

of Nepal.

Mohun Bagan

In August 2014, Sonam joined

, and appeared in the

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 ...

Mohammedan

On 2 August 2016, it was announced that Bhutia had signed with Mohammedan. He was part of the team, that clinched 36th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup, defeating

Jhapa XI Jhapa XI is a football club that represents Jhapa district in the Nepal National Football League. Jhapa XI is participating in Nepal National League for the first time in the season 2015. All of the players of Jhapa XI are home based, none of t ...

of Nepal 1–0 at the

Paljor Stadium Paljor Stadium (also spelled Palzor Stadium) is a football stadium located in Gangtok, Sikkim, India. The stadium is currently home to Sikkim Premier Division League clubs. It holds 30,000 people. The stadium also hosts matches of the Sikkim G ...

Langsning

On 1 July 2017, Bhutia moved to Shillong Premier League side Langsning SC.

Southern Samity

In July 2021, he moved to another

side

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 ...

Machhindra

In December 2021, Bhutia moved to Nepal and signed with

side

Machhindra F.C. Machhindra FC (formally known as Machhindra Bahal Club) is a Nepali professional association football, football club from the central Kathmandu, neighborhood of List of neighborhoods of Kathmandu, Keltole, playing in the Martyr's Memorial A-Divis ...

on a season-long deal. He debuted on 2 January 2022, in their 1–0 win against

Nepal Police Club Nepal Police Club (formerly known as Mahendra Police Club) is a sports club owned and managed by Nepal Police. The club competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, the top flight of Nepali club football. History Established in 1952 and ...

. Later Machhindra lifted the league trophy and earned a spot in the

2022 AFC Cup The 2022 AFC Cup was the 19th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). This season was the last in an all-year-round (spring-to-autumn) schedule; from 2023 the competit ...

qualifying play-offs Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

. On 5 April, Machhindra appeared in the match against Blue Star of Sri Lanka at the Dasharath Rangasala Stadium but bowed out of the tournament losing 2–1.

Career statistics

Club

''Statistics accurate as of 12 May 2013''

Honours

United Sikkim *

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

Sikkim Premier Division League The Sikkim Premier League is a highest state-level football league in Sikkim, India, organised by Sikkim Football Association. It started with 8 teams in 2011. United Sikkim FC is the only team to have won two consecutive and three league titl ...

: 2013; runner-up 2014 Mohun Bagan * Federation Cup: 2015–16 Mohamedan Sporting * Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup: 2016 Macchindra *

: 2021–22

References

External links

*
Sonam Bhutia
at Hamrokhelkud *
News on Sonam Bhutia
at ''Facebook'' (Goalie365) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhutia, Sonam Indian footballers 1994 births Living people People from Gangtok district Footballers from Sikkim I-League players United Sikkim F.C. players Mohun Bagan AC players Mohammedan SC (Kolkata) players Machhindra F.C. players Association football defenders Indian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Nepal