Suhair Vadakkepeedika (born 27 July 1992), commonly known as VP Suhair, 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 le ...

who plays 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 ...

for

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club

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 the India national team.

Early life

Suhair was born on 27 July 1992 in Edathanattukara,

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

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 ...

. He is a product of

United SC United Sports Club (formerly known as both Prayag United, and Chirag United) is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded as Eveready Association in 1927, the club competes in the Calcutta Premier Division A, ...

. He started his career playing for Calicut University and local clubs in

. He also represented the Kerala football team in the National Games and 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 ...

. Later he joined

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 ...

outfit

and played in the Calcutta Football League.

Club career

I-League 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 ...

signed him in December 2016. He scored a hat-trick in his first match against

Rainbow AC ASOS Rainbow Athletic Club (commonly known as ASOS Rainbow AC or Rainbow, formerly NBP Rainbow) is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal, that competes in the Calcutta Premier Division A. In 2018, they competed in ...

. He suffered an ankle injury on the eve of

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 ...

's season opener against

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in ...

. He ended the season without playing a single match and finally the club released him. Later, he joined

Gokulam Kerala Gokulam Kerala Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Calicut, Kerala. Founded in 2017, the club competes in the I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. They won the 2020–21 I-League to become the ...

in March 2018. On 3 June 2019, Suhair joined

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 ...

NorthEast United

On 30 September 2020, Suhair penned down a two–year deal with

NorthEast United NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...

. Suhair scored 3 goals in 19 appearances for the Highlanders in

2020–21 Indian Super League season The 2020–21 Indian Super League season was the seventh season of the Indian Super League (ISL) since its formation and the 25th season of the top division of the Indian football league system. The season started on 20 November 2020 and ended ...

. On 20 November 2021, Suhair scored his first goal in 2021–22 Season in a 1–2 lost against

Chennaiyin Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded in Au ...

. He scored his second goal of the season against SC East Bengal. On 21 December 2021, he opened the scoring just 1 min 42 seconds into the match, the fastest goal in NorthEast United history. In the end of the 2021–22 season Suhair scored four goals and provides two assists for the Highlanders.

International career

In March 2022, Suhair was called up for the national squad by coach Igor Štimac ahead of

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 ...

's two friendly matches against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vadakkepeedika, Suhair Living people 1992 births Indian footballers India international footballers Footballers from Kerala Association football forwards Gokulam Kerala FC players Mohun Bagan AC players I-League players United SC players East Bengal Club players Indian Super League players NorthEast United FC players