3/28/2021 A history of football in Pakistan — Part I - Sport - DAWN.

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TODAY'S PAPER | MARCH 28, 2021

A history of football in Pakistan — Part I

Ali Ahsan | Published December 23, 2010

Football was introduced in the Indian Subcontinent during the British Raj.

Football – the beautiful game – has remained a truly global sport for decades. While it
often depicts regional competitiveness, it has the capacity of uniting the whole world –
even it is only for 90 minutes. From the broken down alleys of the African and South American
slums, to the state-of-the-art gigantic arenas of Western Europe – it is a multi-billion-dollar-a-year
industry and the heartbeat of sports fans across the world.

Pakistan is no different. This country also shares a colourful, albeit underachieving, football history.
Often regarded as the ‘poor man’s sport’, it is strange how despite football’s simplicity and

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widespread appeal among the masses across the country, the game has failed to reach the same
heights as hockey and cricket.

It is not strange to ask a common Pakistani about the national football team and receive a blank stare
and a shrug in return. They cannot be blamed given how football has been an obscure sport that not
many seem to care about.

To Pakistanis, the global game was like a silent unknown, even unwanted, step-child waiting for
attention inside a house already over-populated with other noisy, attention-seeking kids. But without
a shadow of a doubt, football should never be considered a ‘foreign’ sport in this country. Its history
in these parts is even older than the country itself.

Humble origins For a game that was introduced to South Asia in the mid-19th Century as a
morale-raising exercise for British troops during the British Raj, its simplicity and grace started
capturing the imagination of the inhabitants of the Subcontinent. So profound were its effects on
British India that 3rd the oldest running football competition, after the English FA Cup and Scottish
FA Cup, is the Durand Cup that is still contested annually in India ever since its inauguration in 1888.
Initially an annual competition involving the various British regiments based across India, it slowly
started allowing local teams, especially from the Bengal region, to take part. Soon in early 20th
Century, there were local football leagues centred on Calcutta (Kolkata) and Dacca (Dhaka) that gave
the rise of teams like Mohammedan Sporting Club (its branches based across various Bangladeshi
cities), Mohun Bagan, and East Bengal. South India, specifically Goa because of its Portuguese
influence, also took up the game and established own local competitions.

The African-origin Sheedi community of the Makran coast and areas that now make up Karachi also
took up this sport with a love and passion burns across Lyari. —File photo by White Star

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In the north-western parts of what is now Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the nomadic and
fierce Baloch and Hazara tribes based around Quetta immediately took a liking to the game upon
watching it being played. The game’s popularity also spread among the Pakhtuns as well as the
Punjabis who took it in their stride. The African-origin Sheedi community of the Makran coast and
areas that now make up Karachi also took up this sport with a love and passion burns across Lyari.
Local school and college level competitions were introduced as the game evolved in South Asia.

Pakistan emerges Upon independence in 1947, both East and West wings of Pakistan inherited the
football infrastructure, like other sports, based in their respective territories. The need for
establishing a nationwide football association was urgent, given that India inherited the erstwhile
Calcutta-based Indian Football Association and the All-India Football Federation (AIFF), in order to
govern the game properly across Pakistan.

The Pakistan Football Federation hence came into existence on December 5, 1947 and became a full
member of FIFA in early 1948 with the Quaid-i-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah its Patron-in-Chief.

One can only speculate if the Quaid actually had a liking for football, given how he spent many years
of his life studying and practising law in England when the Football League system was evolving
during the late 1880s. In fact, the Quaid’s 1930s extended stay in London coincided with the
dominating Arsenal FC side of the legendary Herbert Chapman who masterminded a team that won a
remarkable total of 5 Football League First Division titles and 2 FA Cup wins between 1930 and 1938.

In 1948, the PFF organised the first ever National Football Championship held in Karachi between
28th May and 5th June. The first ever national champions were Sindh Red who defeated Sindh Blue
in the final. However, any sort of professionalism in the game was non-existent. Pakistan was no
different, as the first participants of the National Football Championship used players from local
schools, colleges, government departments that coincidentally employed sportsmen, and open trials.
Football in these parts was still years behind Europe.

Playing the game barefoot was a norm in South Asia and this practice cost India dearly. India were
invited to the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, after their remarkable fourth-place finish at the 1948 London
Olympics. The Indian team, however, insisted on playing barefoot and were eventually disqualified
by the game’s governing body.

The PFF had a turbulent first two years due to a lack of funds and mismanagement. As a result, the
National Championship was not held in 1949. However in early 1950, the PFF was completely
restructured and reorganised after a general meeting of the council. Alhaj Khawaja Shahabuddin was
made the PFF President and Wing Commander H.A. Soofi elected as the Honorary Secretary. This

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new look PFF helped bring back the National Championship, this time held in early September 1950
at Quetta where a Balochistan Red team beat Sindh in the final.

Due to infrequent nationwide competitions, it was the norm for Pakistani clubs teams to pursue
friendly tours in neighbouring countries each year. Teams from Afghanistan, Iran, India, and Burma
would often host Pakistani sides and play friendly matches against them in front of capacity crowds
throughout the 1950s and later in the 1960s.

The well-organised Dacca Football League in East Pakistan often attracted the best players from West
Pakistan to play professionally in a competition run as a parallel to the National Championships each
year.

Fledging national team The results of the 1950 National Championship helped in the selection of
the first ever Pakistan national football team that was to be sent on its first official tour to Iran and
Iraq in October 1950 for some much needed international experience.

Under the captaincy of goalkeeper Osman Jan, Pakistan’s first ever official international game
resulted in a 5-1 loss at the hands of Iran in Tehran on 27th October 1950 on the occasion of the
birthday celebrations of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Very little is known about the
scorers of the game because of lost records but what is known is that Pakistani team played the game
barefoot which bemused the home crowd which also included the Iranian royal family as guests.
Pakistan also played unofficial friendly games with Tehran’s Taj FC (now known as Esteghlal FC),
beating them 6-1, as well as a team from Isfahan with whom Pakistan drew 2-2.

Pakistan then travelled to Iraq to play against the Iraqi national team in another official friendly in
Baghdad, but the Iraqi FA was not able to gather the full Iraqi side. However, thanks to the
intervention of Iraqi FA President Obaid Abdullah, Pakistan ended up playing his Iraqi club Haris al-
Maliki (Royal Guards) in an unofficial friendly on 6th November 1950 at Baghdad’s Kashafa Stadium.
In front of a 10,000 crowd, Pakistan once again played barefoot but managed to draw the game 1-1
with some good attacking displays, and missed chances, from both sides. The heroics of goalkeeper
Osman Jan kept Pakistan from losing in the dying minutes of the game.

The Pakistan team that toured Iran and Iraq included goalkeeper and captain Osman Jan (Sindh),
Muhammad Ramzan (Sindh), Muhammad Zaman Shah (Balochistan), Muhammad Hussain (Sindh),
Ahmed Ali (Balochistan), Abdul Wahid Durrani (NWFP),Muhammad Yaqoob (NWFP), Muhammad
Sharif (Punjab), Saadullah Khan Kaku (Army), Muhammad Qasim (Sindh), Taj Muhammad Jr
(Balochistan), Muhammad Shafi (Sindh), Abid (East Pakistan), Haroon (Punjab) and Aziz Saeed
Mirza. Khawaja Riaz Ahmed was team manager and Abdul Sattar Kohati as assistant manager.

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The apparent success of the national team was expected to have encouraged frequent participation in
international friendlies with teams from rest of Asia. However, it wasn’t until early 1952 that the
national team were to play again; this time in the newly formed Asian Quadrangular League held at
Colombo, Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) which became more commonly known as the Colombo
Cup. One won’t be far off thinking that the Colombo Cup was precursor of the now established SAFF
Championships.

It was at this tournament that the first ever Pakistan vs India football match took place; an affair that
finished surprisingly as a 0-0 draw. In the next game Pakistan recorded its first ever international
win, beating hosts Ceylon 2-0, and Pakistan then beat Burma 1-0 and Pakistan and India were
declared joint winners of the inaugural Colombo Cup after both sides finished level on points.

The 1950s were a sporadic period in Pakistan’s international football. Because of very limited options
available for PFF, international games were very infrequent. Perhaps most importantly, Pakistan
could not participate in any World Cup qualification for many years because of such financial
limitations as well as political instability inside the PFF that would hinder Pakistani football’s
progress for many decades! Pakistan could only compete in the subsequent Colombo Cup editions
(Burma 1953, India 1954, East Pakistan 1955) and the Asian Games football tournaments
(Philippines 1954, Japan 1958).

The 1955 Pakistan football team.

The national team recorded mixed results by finishing 2nd place behind winners India in each of the
three Colombo Cup editions, and narrowly missing out on progressing past the first round in the
Asian Games tournaments. Pakistan did record some breathtaking victories that included a 6-0 win
over Ceylon in 1953 Colombo Cup, a 6-2 win over Singapore on our Asian Games debut in 1954
thanks to hat trick by Masood Fakhari in a side captained by Pak Army’s Seargent Mohiuddin Kutti,

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as well as a 4-2 win over Burma in 1955 Colombo Cup thanks to a debut hat trick by Quetta’s very
own star Qayyum Ali Changezi in a side that contained Jamil Akhtar as captain.

Already a hero for the Balochistan teams that would win the National Championships in 1956 (and
once again later in 1959), the powerfully built yet graceful Qayyum Changezi would become one of
the finest footballers of his generation alongside Masood Fakhri, Sergeant Mohiuddin Kutti, Taj
Muhammad Sr. & Jr., Jamil Akhtar, Ghulam Rabbani, Turab Ali, Moosa Ghazi, Hussain Killer,
Ahmed Ali Phullo, Master Riasat, Ismail Durrani, Abdul Wahid Durrani, Mohammad Yaqoob, Abdul
Ghafoor Majna, Abid Ghazi, Mohammad Siddiq, Sunbal Khan, Muhammad Omar, Naimatullah
Durrani.

During that time, the PFF became one of the 12 founding members of the Asian Football
Confederation (AFC) on 8th May 1954. Pakistan was scheduled to play Afghanistan for the inaugural
1956 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, but both sides withdrew at the 11th hour for unknown reasons.
However in late 1959, after an unofficial tour to Burma with a former Scottish goalkeeper turned
guest coach/selector named John McBride, Pakistan finally decided to send a team for the 1960
Asian Cup qualifiers hosted by India at Enakulam, Kerala State in which a Qayyum Ali Changezi-led
Pakistan played the hosts, Iran, as well then-AFC members Israel twice each.

While only Israel managed to qualify by topping that group, it was a very memorable moment for
Pakistan as it managed to record its first victories over Iran (4-1) as well as India (1-0) whilst drawing
2-2 with Israel and finished 3rd place (ahead of hosts India, but behind Iran) in the group.

Could an Israel-Pakistan match be possible today? Given how the Palestinian/Arab-Israeli conflict
has eventually gotten a strongly (often irrational) religious tone on both sides as well as around the
world in recent decades, one will not be wrong doubting such a match will ever take place.

[To be continued…]

The writer is the chief editor, Pakistan correspondent and forum administrator of
FootballPakistan.Com and would like to thank the co-founder, webmaster, and chief
editor of FPDC Malik Riaz Hai Naveed, veteran football journalist Riaz Ahmed, and
the Pakistan Football Federation for providing information that helped create this
article chronicling the history for Pakistani football.

Pakistan football team’s international matches from 1950 to 1959

1950 – Pakistan Tour to Iran (Birthday of Shah of Iran) Manager: Khawaja Riaz Ahmed,
Asstt. Manager: Abdul Sattar Kohati Iran beat Pakistan 5-1 in presence of Shah of Iran Pakistan beat

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Taj FC 6-1 and drew 2-2 against a club from Isfahan

1952 – Ist Asian Quadrangular Tournament – Colombo Manager: Khawaja Riaz Ahmed,
Asst. Manager: Shajahan, Captain: Abdul Waheed Pakistan 2 – 0 Ceylon Pakistan 1-0 Burma India 0
– 0 Pakistan (Final)

1952 – Iran in Pakistan Captain Abdul Wahid Durrani (Pak) Iran 3 – 1 Pakistan – Lahore Iran 4 –
2 Pakistan – Peshawar Iran 3 – 1 Pakistan – Quetta Iran 1 – 1 Pakistan – Karachi (this is the only
match of tour considered an official friendly by FIFA)

1953 – 2nd Asian Quadrangular Tournament – Rangoon Manager - Syed Rahman, Captain
– Mohammad Sharif India 1 – 0 Pakistan Burma 1 - 1 Pakistan Pakistan 6 – 0 Ceylon Pakistan 1 – 0
India (Unofficial Charity Match)

1954 – Asian Games Manila Manager – Khawaja Riaz Ahmed, Asst. Manager - Khadakar, Captain
- Sergeant Mohiuddin Kutti Pakistan 6-2 Singapore Burma 2-1 Pakistan

1955 – 2nd Asian Quadrangular Tournament – Dhaka Manager – Abdul Wahid, Asst. F.
Karim Chaudhry, Captain Jamil Akhtar Pakistan 4 – 2 Burma Pakistan 2 – 1 Ceylon Pakistan 1 – 2
India

1956 – Pakistan tour to China Pakistan 1 – 1 Canton XI (Friendly) Pakistan 2 – 2 China (Test –
not counted as official friendly by FIFA/AFC) Pakistan 0 – 1 Chinese Army (Friendly) Pakistan 0 – 5
Chinese Youth Team (Friendly)

1958 – Asian Games Tokyo – Japan Manager – Sharif Khan, Asstt. Manager - Rehman , Captain
- Nabi Chaudhry (East Pakistan) Pakistan 1-3 Taiwan Pakistan 1-1 South Vietnam

1959 – Pakistan tour to Burma Manager – Malik M. Hussain, Asstt. Manager K.P Jafar, Captain
Masoodul Hassan Pakistan 3 – 2 Burma XI Pakistan 0 – 1 Burma (not counted as official by
FIFA/AFC) Pakistan 2 – 4 Burma (not counted as official by FIFA/AFC)

1959 – 1960 Asian Cup Qualifiers– hosted in India Manager – Flight Lt. Ramizuddin, Asstt.
Manager – Pir Bakhsh Baloch, Coach – Saeed Mirza - Captain - Qayyum Ali Changezi, ‘Home’
Matches: Pakistan 0 – 1 India, Pakistan 4 – 1 Iran, Pakistan 2 – 1 Israel ‘Return’ Matches: Pakistan 1
– 0 India, Pakistan 1 – 4 Iran, Pakistan 2 – 2 Israel

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TODAY'S PAPER | MARCH 28, 2021

A history of football in Pakistan — Part II

Ali Ahsan | Published December 23, 2010

One of the stars of the 1960s, Abdul Ghafoor, shakes hands with the chief guest before a match. —File

The first part of this series highlighted the humble beginnings and background of
football in Pakistan, and how it emerged in the fledging Asian football circuit with
limited finances but a steady supply of talented players. It was an era that held a lot of
promise for the future of the game but the circumstances did not allow for Pakistani
footballers to realise their true potential. Lack of professionalism, dedicated football
clubs, league competitions, sponsors and media coverage meant the game needed a lot
of improvement. Cricket and hockey dominated the sporting headlines, while football
attempted to make an impact.

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Asian football was also quite inconsistent and while healthy competitions (Asian Games and Asian
Cup) were held, it was mainly the financially sound teams, who managed to make foreign tours. The
action was often restricted to East Asia and sometimes Iran. The rest of the Middle East was still
considered a backwater for football, while South Asia, despite its much deep-rooted football history,
was slowly coming to terms with the steady progress being made in Asian football.

Failure to qualify for the 1960 AFC Asian Cup was the first of many ups and downs Pakistani football
would face as it entered arguably its ‘golden era’ of the 1960s.

1960s: The golden age Sport in Pakistan made a spectacular start to the sixties as the hockey team
won its first Olympic gold when it broke the Indian juggernaut with a 1–0 win at the Rome Olympics.
Cricket was slowly capturing the imaginations of the public through radio commentary about the
exploits of Hanif Mohammad, Fazal Mahmood, Javed Burki and others. Squash saw the rise of the
Khan dynasty as Roshan Khan and Hashim Khan put their opponents to the sword in the British
Open.

Heroes of the 1960s, Murad Bakhsh, Turab Ali and Yousuf Jr. —File

Football made its way through the streets of Quetta, Karachi, and Dacca as it tried to show
consistency at domestic and international levels. The dominance of Karachi and Dacca began to show
when the two cities won five consecutive national championships between 1960 and 1966 (Dacca:
1960, 1962 and Karachi: 1963, 1964–65 and 1966). Dacca continued its pre-partition football
tradtions through the well-organised and well-attended Dacca League that gave a level of competitive
professionalism in East Pakistan, which West Pakistan had been missing. East Pakistan would also
give Pakistan its best players from that era until Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, including
Ghulam Rabbani, Mohammad Umar, Abdul Ghafoor Majna, Moosa Ghazi, Abdullah Rahi, Abid
Ghazi, Hussain Killer, Turab Ali, Murad Bakhsh Makwa, Yousuf Senior. Ayub Dar, Lala Hashim,

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M.N. Jahan, Mola Bakhsh Gotai, Qadir Bakhsh Putla, Yousuf Jr. Ghulam Hussain Patoo and
Khamisa Boss.

Members of the Mohammaden Sporting Club of Dacca —File

Mohammedan Sporting of Dacca was perhaps the most popular team of the region while Chittagong
also showed a lot of promise. Former national captain, and ‘the Pakistani Pele’, Abdul Ghafoor played
some of his best football in the Dacca League for Mohammedan Sporting in the 1960s.

Meanwhile, Karachi had a unique flavour in its football, which grew in the slum areas of Orangi,
Landhi, Korangi, Malir, and Lyari. These areas were often filled with the Sheedi and Makrani
communities, who had long been involved in football. This was a time when football matches would
witness jam packed crowds and footballers enjoyed celebrity status. Many players from Quetta, and
rest of Pakistan, would travel all the way to Karachi, hoping to make it big on the football scene. Not
only that, but the game gained such popularity that parents would encourage their kids to take up the
game, with the hope that they would get noticed and secure jobs with the government and also get a
chance to represent Pakistan at the international level.

This was the decade that saw many foreign teams often tour Pakistan for unofficial friendly matches
during their off-seasons. Among them included a Chinese XI (1963), Indonesia (1964), FC Neftyanik
from Soviet Union (Nov 1964) alongside some youth teams from USSR coming on goodwill visits.
Pakistan reciprocated by touring these countries in the late 60’s.

Some of the most memorable tours in Pakistan during the 1960s involved teams from Germany, USA,
and the Saudi Arabia. In 1963, whilst on a world tour, German Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf
had to make an emergency stop in Pakistan due to aircraft problems, leaving them stranded for a few
days. When the word of their stay spread, the PFF invited Fortuna to tour East and West Pakistan
playing friendly matches against select XI sides. Having plenty of time to kill, Fortuna happily
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accepted the offer and played against sides like East Pakistan Sports Board XI in Dacca (which
including the veteran Qayyum Ali Changezi) to crowds of thousands.

North American Soccer League side Dallas Tornado stopped in Pakistan for two matches during their
worldwide tour in 1967. —File

Similarly, the Dallas Tornado side of the North American Soccer League (NASL) went on an
ambitious world tour that took them from Europe to Middle East to Vietnam and other places from
September 1967 to March 1968.

The two matches against Dallas Tornado drew huge crowds in Karachi. —File

During the trip, the team made a week’s stop in Pakistan in October–November 1967, where they
played the Pakistan national team in Karachi, Lahore and Dacca.

Saudi Arabia’s national team also toured Pakistan in 1967, when they played a four-match series
against Pakistan, resulting in three 2–2 draws and one 1–1 draw.

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Members of the Pakistan team for the 1967 Asian Cup qualifiers held in Burma. —File

Pakistan participated in various friendly tournaments, with the Merdeka Cup hosted in Malaysia
being the most prominent. The Merdeka Cup was the football equivalent of the popular hockey
tournament hosted in Malaysia, Sultan Azlan Shah Tournament. The 1960 and 1962 editions saw
Pakistan play Asian giants Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Burma. Pakistan recorded
some famous victories including a 7–0 walloping of Thailand and a 3–1 win over current Asian
powerhouses Japan in the 1960 Merdeka Cup. That 7–0 victory over Thailand remained Pakistan’s
biggest win for almost half a century until they beat Guam 9–2 in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup
qualifiers.

The political climate of that era was marked by Pakistan’s relative closeness to Turkey and Iran in the
form of pacts and treaties that became part of RCD (later ECO) accords. A series of friendly
tournaments involving the three teams became known as the RCD Cup where Pakistan fell short
against the two bigger teams. This tournament also marked Pakistan’s first instance of competing
against a Uefa member country.
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Despite the growth of the game during the 1960s, Pakistan did not take active part in the Asian
Games football tournaments of 1962, 1966 and 1970 due to financial constraints. The World Cup
qualifiers were once again no different as Pakistan began missing out on important matches due to
lack of interest from the federation and poor government support.

However, Pakistan participate t in the qualifiers for the 1964 Olympic Games which included a home-
and-away tie with Iran in November–December 1963, which resulted in a 4–1 loss in Iran and a 1–0
win in Pakistan. Qualifiers for the 1968 AFC Asian Cup were no different as Pakistan failed to make it
to the finals after losing to hosts Burma 2–0, Cambodia (then Khmer) 1–0, and drawing 1–1 against
India in August 1967. The close of the decade highlighted the talent pool and also the need for
development of the game. However, much bleaker times were to come.

1970s: The dark era Pakistani football had a fairly low-key start as to the 1970s. Pakistan
competed against Turkey and Iran in the third RCD Cup but the results did not do much to boost the
team as Pakistan suffered a 7–0 loss against Iran in Tehran and 3–1 against Turkey. On the domestic
front, the 1969–70 National Championship was won by Chittagong in East Pakistan as they beat
Peshawar in the final at Comilla. A year later, in February–March 1971, PIA won its first ever national
championship in Multan after overcoming Karachi in the final. No records of any teams from East
Pakistan taking part that year exist.

The dark ages of Pakistani football soon followed. East Pakistan revolted and eventually became
Bangladesh in December 1971. Political fall-out of the event aside, Pakistani football was dealt a lethal
blow. Not only did Bangladesh inherit all of the better football infrastructure of East Pakistan, but
also the players, and the Dacca (now Dhaka) Football League.

East Pakistani football was better organised and maintained as compared to West Pakistan and the
fall of Dhaka dealt a severe blow to the game’s future in Pakistan. The national team did not compete
again until 1973 when it sent its youth teams for a friendly tour of Iran and then China. Pakistan did,
however, take part in the 1974 Asian Games football tournament and apart from heavy losses against
hosts Iran (7–0 again) and Burma (5–1) Pakistan registered a did register a 5–1win over Middle East
up starts Bahrain.

The 1974 Asian Games turned out to be the only international tournament for Pakistan during the
1970s. Football was in the wilderness and only survived on the basis of sports budgets of departments
like WAPDA, Army, KESC, SSGC, PIA and Railways, which hired footballers as employees and
provided them with a basic wage to play for their sides and work full time in the off-season.

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During this dark period, however, several local leagues were launched across the Middle East in
countries like the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. These oil-rich nations
funded teams that helped boost their national sides at a frantic pace. Several Pakistani players
including Mola Bakhsh Momin, Ali Nawaz Baloch, Ghulam Sarwar Sr., Ali Asghar ‘Tony’, M. Idrees
(PIA), represented club sides in these leagues and some of these players even coached the clubs’ new
youth setups.

In November, 1976, Karachi hosted the Quaid-i-Azam Birth Centenary Triangular Football League.
Kwangtung (China) won the inaugural league (four points), while Pakistan Green (two points)
finished second and Afghanistan (0) third. In May 1978, Pakistan faced South Korea in their last
international match of the decade in Saudi Arabia, which they lost 5–0.

1980–1984: Revival of international football The 1980s saw a modest rekindling of the
beautiful game in Pakistan. Karachi-based PIA won its sixth national championship in 10 years when
they beat PAF in the final at Peshawar May 04, 1981. A few months later, Pakistan competed in the
King’s Gold Cup in Thailand in November 1981, and despite not having played competitive
international football for three years, Pakistan impressed with a goal-less draw against Indonesia, 1–
0 loss at the hands of Thailand and China, and beat Malaysia 3–2 and Singapore 1–0 – and ended up
finishing third in their pool behind Thailand and China.

Before participating in the King’s Gold Cup, the Pakistan team made a six-day goodwill tour of Burma
for two friendly matches, which ended in a 0–1 loss against Aung Sen Selected XI and a 0–0 draw
against Burma.

Pakistan invited a few Asian countries to participate in the Quaid-i-Azam Gold Cup in February 1982,
against whom they showed satisfactory performances. It included wins by the senior team, Pakistan
Blues, over Bangladesh (2–0) and Nepal (2–1), a 0–0 draw with Oman, and a 1–4 loss to Iran.
Pakistan also competed in the Asian Youth Championship qualifiers in Nepal after a gap of 20 years
in November 1982.

During this period, Pakistan’s international self-exile had more or less ended completely but regular
action still seemed difficult to accomplish.

Pakistan participated in the 1984 Merdeka Cup (Malaysia), and finished the tournament ranked fifth.
Of their five matches, Pakistan won 2–0 against Algeria XI with both goals scored by Sharafat Ali
(Wapda) but lost the remaining four matches: 1–6 against South Korea, 1–6 against China, 0–2
against Malaysia Tiger and 1–2 against Argentina XI.

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In October 1984, Pakistan travelled to India for the Asian Cup qualifiers but were met with
disappointment as they lost against Malaysia (0–5), South Korea (0–6), and India (0–2). Pakistan
did however beat North Yemen 4–1 and finished fourth in their group, while South Korea and India
qualified for the final round.

Some of the best players from the era who won domestic honours and played for Pakistan in the early
half of the 1980s were Sharafat Ali, Naeem Gul, Naushad Baloch, Shamim Khan (current PIA coach),
Matin Akhtar, Ghulam Sarwar Sr. Khalid Butt (current WAPDA coach), Mohammad Rashid (ex-
Pakistan coach), Mohammad Akbar, Pervez Ramzan and Shoukat Mufti.

[To be continued…]

The writer is the chief editor, Pakistan correspondent and forum administrator of
FootballPakistan.Com and would like to thank the co-founder, webmaster, and chief
editor of FPDC Malik Riaz Hai Naveed, veteran football journalist Riaz Ahmed, and
the Pakistan Football Federation for providing information that helped create this
article chronicling the history for Pakistani football.

Selected Pakistan internationals between 1960 and 1984 1960 – Merdeka Cup – Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia Manager: A.B.S. Safdar, Referee: Bahadur Khan, Coach: Sahab Ali, Captain:
Qayyum Changezi Pakistan 7–0 Thailand Malaysia 1–0 Pakistan Pakistan 3–1 Japan Pakistan 0–4
Indonesia

1961 – Burma in Pakistan First Test: Burma 3–1 Pakistan Second Test: 4–0 Third Test: Pakistan
1–1 Burma Burma 9–0 East Pakistan XI

1962 – Fourth Asian Youth Tournament, Bangkok Manager: Sq. Ldr. A.R. Siddiqui, Coach &
Referee Bahadur Khan, Captain: Salim Hong Kong 4–2 Pakistan Pakistan 4–0 Singapore Pakistan 3–
0 Malaysia South Korea 4–0 Pakistan Pakistan did not qualify for final round.

1962 – Merdeka Cup – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Manager: W/C Qureshi, Coach: George
Ausley, Captain M. Umar Pakistan 1–0 Burma Pakistan 1–1 Japan Pakistan 0–0 Malaysia Final:
Indonesia 2–0 Pakistan

1963 – China in Pakistan Manager: A. Afzal, Coach: Saheb Ali, Captain: Mohammad Umar First
Test, Dhaka: Pakistan 0–0 China Second Test, Peshawar: Pakistan 3–2 China Third Test, Lahore:
Pakistan 1–1 China Fourth Test, Karachi: China 2–0 Pakistan

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1963 – Pre-Olympic Qualifiers, Tehran and Karachi Manager: Lt. Col. M. Saleem Khan,
Captain: Mohammad Amin First leg: Iran 4–1 Pakistan Second leg: Pakistan 1–0 Iran

1964 – Pakistan in China Manager: Wing Cmdr Asghar Hussain, Coach: Fl. Lt. Atiq Ahmad,
Captain: Abid Hussain Ghazi Pakistan 2–0 China (unofficial Test)

1967 – Saudi Arabia in Pakistan Captain: Turab Ali First Test (unofficial): Pakistan 3–1 Saudi
Arabia Second Test (unofficial)Saudi Arabia 4–2 Pakistan (unofficial) Third Test (unofficial)Pakistan
2–2 Saudi Arabia

1967 – Asian Cup Qualifiers – Rangoon (Burma) Manager: M.A. Hannan, Coach: Mohammad
Amin, Captain: Turab Ali Burma 2–0 Pakistan Cambodia 1–0 Pakistan Pakistan 1–1 India

1967 – RCD Tournament, Dhaka Turkey 7–4 Pakistan Iran 2–0 Pakistan

1973 – Pakistan in China Manager: Maj. M. Husain Malik, Coach M. Amin, Captain: Moula
Bakhsh China 7–4 Pakistan China 1–1 Pakistan

1974 – Fourth RCD Championship, Karachi Turkey 1–0 Iran Turkey 2–2 Pakistan Iran 2–
Pakistan

1974 – Asian Games, Tehran Iran 7–0 Pakistan Pakistan 5–1 Bahrain Burma 5–1 Pakistan

1982 – Quaid-e-Azam National Football Tournament, Karachi Pakistan Green: Manager:

Ibne Ali, Coach: Younus Rana, Captain M. Akbar Pakistan Blues: Manager: Sq. Ld. Sardar Khan,
Coach: Murad Bakhsh Pakistan Blues 1–1 Nepal Pakistan Blues 2–1 Bangladesh Iran 1–0 Pakistan
White Pakistan Blues 2–1 China Iran 4–1 Pakistan Blues China 4–1 Pakistan White Pakistan Blues
0–0 Pakistan White Pakistan White 0–0 Oman Pakistan Green 2–1 Nepal Pakistan Blues 2–1 Oman
Standings: First – Iran, Second –Pakistan Blues (Jr.), Third – Pakistan White

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TODAY'S PAPER | MARCH 28, 2021

A history of football in Pakistan — Final part

Ali Ahsan | Published February 2, 2011

Members of the Pakistan team pose with their 2004 SAFF gold medals. -Photo courtesy Ali Ahsan

In the previous parts, I discussed the humble beginnings of football in Pakistan from
independence (1947), early growth, the ‘Golden Age’ of the 1960s followed by a sudden,
‘Dark Age’ throughout the 1970s that stunted the potential growth of beautiful game in
the country. The gloom was somewhat lifted in the early half of the 1980s as Pakistan
scratched and scrapped itself back from the international wilderness with a new, bold,
but grossly inexperienced generation of players who strived to bring back the joy on
the face of football lovers in the country. But Politics and bad administration impeded
progress in the 90s before the current President and his media and marketing savvy
administration tried to turn a corner.

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Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

2003 till date: The Faisal Saleh Hayat era

The new PFF regime did not waste time as a more proactive media approach towards football was
adopted under Faisal Saleh Hayat. Though, admittedly, the efforts of PFF Media Cell led by Syed
Akber Ali Wahidi soon made it look as if Faisal Saleh Hayat was the long awaited Messiah of
Pakistani football! With Punjab Assembly veteran Arshad Khan Lodhi as General Secretary, PFF
attempted to set the wrongs of the past right. The introduction of the Pakistan Premier League (PPL)
in 2004 was the first major step as the National Football Championship was phased out. Wapda
became inaugural PPL champions with Army finishing second and KRL third, thanks to the goals of
Multan-born striker Arif Mehmood. While its given the game a boost the structure of the league
needs revamp as it barely lasts 3-4 months each year for ‘budget constraints’ (sponsor-less bear in
mind) at the expense of physically draining players of each team.

Pakistan Premier League

Since its inception the PPL has been a 3-horse race between these three sides with Wapda winning
four titles, Army two and one for KRL so far. Wapda, in fact played the entire 2007-08 Premier
League season unbeaten and were crowned champions in February 2008! The emergence of clubs
like PMC Athletico Faisalabad, PPL founding member Afghan FC Chaman, and Baloch FC Nushki has
been comforting since the stronger, well-established department sides poach talented players without
any transfer fees or compensation involved! This coupled with the lack of corporate sponsorships and
media coverage have hampered growth significantly even with the availability of better training
facilities, international awareness, and growing popularity of football among the public.

The revamping of the National Football Challenge Cup provided surprising winners like Navy (2008),
although KRL won the recent two to complete their ‘Double’ of league and cup wins in 2009. The Geo
Super Football League of 2007, running as a parallel city-based league to PPL, held in Karachi was
the first televised domestic championship that saw record crowds at Peoples Stadium Karachi.
Islamabad United won that edition beating Karachi Bazigar on penalties in the final. However, that
project failed to take off because of reasons PFF has yet to reveal. It wasn’t until 2010 that the Geo
League came back with a KESC-owned Karachi Energy featuring Muhammad Essa, Muhammad
Rasool, and Shakir Lashari beating the Chaman-dominated Quetta Zorawar 1-0 in final.

The winners of the PPL qualified to participate in the third tier of the Asian club championship, the
AFC President’s Cup minor from 2005 onwards as AFC revamped its Asian club structure in mid-
2000s into three separate categories. The AFC Champions League for the bigger leagues in Asia, AFC

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Cup for mid-ranked leagues, and AFC President’s Cup for lower ranked leagues of SAFF & Central
Asian regions like Pakistan. Despite Pakistan hosting the 2007 edition at Punjab Stadium featuring
Army (who even lost 3-2 to Bhutan’s Transport United!), only Khalid Butt’s WAPDA managed to
make a credible impact in the 2009 edition as it lost in extra time of semi-finals 4-3 against home
side and eventual winners Regar-TadAZ of Tajikistan.

Women’s football also made its debut in 2005, albeit under AFC-FIFA prerequisites for continued
development grants, with a steady increase in local teams like Diya FC Karachi, Young Rising Star FC
Rawalpindi etc allowing young girls a first taste of the beautiful game in Pakistan and the chance to
play for national team as shown in the recently concluded 2010 SAFF Women Championship held in
Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Karachi’s boom

Karachi too has seen resurgence in football activity with Karachi United FC emerging in the mid
2000s to revolutionise grass-roots level football with its annual School Championships as well as the
popular Karachi Football League competitions held over the last seven years consistently. Karachi
United also formed six free academies in Lyari, Korangi, Malir, North Karachi, North Nazimabad and
Defence, where all necessary facilities and free kits are provided to all the kids for training under
KUFC-hired professional coaches on monthly salary basis. The academy is likely to create a big pool
of player to pick from for the national squad in the future.

Captain of Pakistan Football Team Qadir Bakhsh (Putla) Late receiving cheque of Rs. One Lac from
Ex-City Nazim Karachi Mr. Mustafa Kamal at Peoples Stadium Karachi in 2004. -Photo courtesy Ali
Ahsan

The amount of football activity in Karachi is staggering with various minor tournaments being held
on a daily basis in places like Lyari, Orangi, Malir, Landhi, Korangi, Banaras etc that often become

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feeder teams to Karachi based department sides like KESC, NBP, HBL, PIA, SSGC and KPT.

The national team results have shown considerable improvement, with China’s Wang Xiao He and
former PIA stalwart Tariq Lutfi combining to bring back the South Asian Games gold in the 2004
edition hosted in Islamabad. The match was telecast live on PTV and saw midfielder Abdul Aziz -then
of a local Karachi club Tanzeem Sports Gizri, now NBP captain - score the winner against what was
India’s U19 team in the final. Muhammad Essa and Jaffar Khan put in outstanding performances in
the tournament.

The 2005 saw the first, and as of yet the only, Indo-Pak Friendship series held in June-July. It saw
Pakistan face tradition rivals India in televised games held at Quetta (1-1 thanks to a late Muhammad
Essa free kick), Peshawar (0-1) and Lahore (3-0). The hosts won the series on goal difference with
then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz as chief guest at the final game.

The year also saw Bahrain’s Salman Ahmed Sharida take charge of the side for 14 months from SAFF
Cup 2005 in Karachi until 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Pakistan played a total of 30 (official
and unofficial) matches during his term and performance of the team improved a great deal. 2005
saw the first ever Pakistani-origin players from abroad play for Pakistan with Usman Gondal (former
Leicester City youth, now retired) and the most high profile player Zesh Rehman of Premiership side
Fulham FC play for Pakistan. Such inclusions helped boost the game at both domestic level as well as
among the Pakistani expatriate communities across the world.

Among local discoveries of Sharida was Wapda’s right-back Naveed Akram as he combined
impressive defensive displays with great goal-scoring ability as witnessed against UAE in Asian Cup
qualifiers of 2006 and the Asian Games against Japan in Doha. Because Sharida’s tenure was paid by
Bahrain FA, he faced a pay dispute with PFF and BFA as 2006 ended with him leaving the post. Some
of his tactics were still retained in the side as a Farooq Shah (NBP) inspired Pakistan sensationally
beat Singapore in Olympic preliminaries of 2007 under Sharida’s local assistant coach Muhammad
Rasheed (Railways), only to face heavy defeats against Arab sides in main qualification rounds a few
months later.

The inclusion of quality foreign stars Adnan Ahmed, Amjad Iqbal, Adam Karim, Azeem Razwan, and
Iltaf Ahmed for the World Cup qualifiers against Asian champions Iraq in Oct 2007 failed to stop the
rot. Akhtar Mohiuddin’s questionable tactics and team selections in those qualifiers as well as AFC
Challenge Cup qualifiers and SAFF Championship of 2008 were to blame for the team falling short
despite the better talent at national team’s disposal. This showed how desperate Pakistan needed to
combine the growing foreign contingent with best domestic talent under a level-headed and fair
foreign coach on a long term appointment with a proactive and dedicated administration in charge of
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the game. That wish was fulfilled, if only for a year, with the appointment of veteran Austrian coach
George Kottan in 2009 but his efforts were hampered by in-fighting and showed that time was
needed to make results count in the long run.

2010 saw Pakistan’s lone international action in the Asian Games under Akhtar Mohiuddin once
again; this time in charge of a new-look, young team. Despite initial refusal of Pakistan Olympic
Association in sending a football team in the 2010 Asiad, PFF managed to get a late approval to send
the squad, on PFF’s own expenses this time. The appointment of former Tottenham Hotspur legend
Graham Roberts as a ‘coaching consultant’ for 8 weeks was not enough as he played second fiddle on
the bench to Akhtar Mohiuddin’s tactics and decision making. This again led to a heavy defeat against
Thailand 6-0, a goal-less draw with Maldives with KRL defender Samar Ishaq fumbling a precious
penalty, and a 2-0 defeat at the hands of an Oman U21 side. Gradual improvement in the side was
obvious but it needed persistent practice without unnecessary inclusions of washed up department
favourites to really gel as a unit.

Aman Bait Nasib (C) of Oman tries to dodge Pakistan's defenders Muhammad Touseef (L) and
Mohammad Ahmad during their men's group F pool football match at the 16th Asian Games in
Guangzhou on November 11, 2010. -Photo by AFP

2011 promises some interesting times although failure cannot be avoided given how PFF could not
get financial backing for Graham Roberts’ winning a permanent coaching role. With AFC Vision Asia
programs getting to Pakistan, and the 2011 PFF General Elections that could potentially cause Faisal
Saleh Hayat’s unchallenged 8 year reign to face stiff competition, one hopes that the interests of
football are not damaged.

Pakistani football has come through a turbulent, exciting, and promising cross road after years of ups
and downs. The standard of the game has improved, local coaches have increased in number,

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popularity of the game has found the homes of common Pakistanis. All this is a still untapped gold
mine that could make Pakistan a potentially competitive side in Asia.

All it requires is genuine dedication, focus, commitment, sponsorships, awareness, and competitive
action at home and abroad to really set the stage for a football revolution in this country.

The onus, as always, is with the Pakistan Football Federation. Game on, Gentlemen!

*Special thanks to the Co-Founder, Webmaster, and Chief Editor of FPDC Malik Riaz Hai Naveed,
veteran football journalist Riaz Ahmed, and the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) for providing the
information that helped create this article chronicling the history for Pakistani football.*

The writer is the chief editor, Pakistan correspondent and forum administrator of
FootballPakistan.Com and would like to thank the co-founder, webmaster, and chief editor of FPDC
Malik Riaz Hai Naveed, veteran football journalist Riaz Ahmed, and the Pakistan Football
Federation for providing information that helped create this article chronicling the history for
Pakistani football.

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What if PTI fails?

Today, PTI may be a failure in terms of its own targets, but the final judgement
should await the end of the term.

Updated 27 Mar 2021

Burning sofas in Islamabad

Setting sofas on fire brings back memories of the time when Islamabad was set ablaze
in 2007.

Updated 26 Mar 2021

Intrusive and misplaced

The primary purpose is to make the central bank completely independent of any
oversight and accountability.

Editorial
27 Mar 2021

Restoring LGs
Editorial

Updated 27 Mar 2021

Surging cases
It is disappointing that the prime minister himself flouted internationally advised SOPs while being infected with
the virus.

27 Mar 2021

‘Urban Sindh’ province

ONCE again, on the occasion of its 37th foundation day in Karachi, the MQM-P has called for the creation of an...

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3/28/2021 A history of football in Pakistan — Final part - Sport - DAWN.COM

Updated 26 Mar 2021

IMF: tough ‘adjustments’

There is little doubt that these adjustments would bring a semblance of
“macroeconomic and debt sustainability” in the near term.

26 Mar 2021

PPP’s politics
IT comes as no surprise that the Islamabad High Court has dismissed the petition filed by PPP’s Yousuf Raza
Gilani...

26 Mar 2021

Hospitals’ management
THE wrangling over three major Karachi hospitals between the Sindh and federal governments continues, with
both ...

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