Former India football captain Subimal Goswami, commonly known by his nickname Chuni Goswami, passed away at the age of 82 in Kolkata, West Bengal. He was born on January 15, 1938 in Kishoreganj, now Bangladesh.
Key Points:
i.About Goswami: He started his international career in 1957, who was one of the biggest stars of the national team. In his college days, he captained Calcutta University in both football and cricket in the same year.
ii.Goswami played 50 matches for India as a footballer from 1956 to 1964. However, he quit international football in 1964, at the age of 27.
iii.Cricket career: Goswami was successful in cricket as well, he represented Bengal in 46 first-class games between 1962 and 1973. Goswami was part of the Bengal’s triumphant Santosh Trophy squad thrice in 1955, 1958, and 1959.
iv.In 1966, he and Subroto Guha plotted the historic innings defeat of Gary Sobers’ West Indies by the combined Central and East Zone team under Hanumant Singh in Indore. Goswami took 8 wickets in that fixture.
v.He was appointed the Bengal Ranji Trophy captain in 1971-72 season and under his captaincy, the team reached the final, before losing against Bombay at the Brabourne Stadium.
vi.Achievements of Goswami: Under the captaincy of Goswami, the Indian Football team won gold at the 1962 Asian Games, finished runner-up at the Asian Cup in 1964 & narrowly lost to Burma in Markeda football six months later.
vii.In club football, Goswami always played for Mohun Bagan (professional football club in West Bengal) throughout his career before his retirement and captained the club in five seasons from 1960 to 1964.
viii.Goswami also served Indian football as a selector in the 1970s and was part of an advisory committee when the National Football League began in 1996.
ix.Awards: Goswami won the Arjuna Award in 1963 and was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri Award in 1983. The Indian postal department had also honoured Goswami with a commemorative stamp on his birthday in January 2020.
x.He also served as the Tata Football Academy as its Director and was appointed the Sheriff of Kolkata in 2005. He was awarded the Mohun Bagan Ratna in 2005 and was bestowed the Banga Bibhusan in 2013.
About West Bengal:
Capital– Kolkata.
Chief Minister– Mamata Banerjee.
Governor– Jagdeep Dhankhar.
