Syed Abdus Samad (
Bengali: সৈয়দ আবদুস সামাদ; 6 December 1895 – 2 February 1964) was an Indian football player from
Bengal.[1][2] Dubbed "Football Jadukor" (
lit.'Football Magician'),[3][4] he played for
India national football team in 1924 and captained it in 1926.[5] He played as a forward.
Samad also played for
Aryans Club, joining the team in 1915.[6] His football career primarily lasted from 1915–1938.[5]
Early life
Samad was born in 1895 in Bhuri village of
Burdwan,
Bengal Presidency (now in
West Bengal) in
British India. His family later settled in Moulvitola in
Purnia.[7] He left school during his studies in the eighth grade.[5] Samad displayed his talents in football from his early boyhood,[5] and was influenced by headmaster of his school – Piyare Mohan Mookherji.[7] Beside football, he began playing both cricket and tennis.[7] Samad's father Syed Fazlul Bari was a government employee while his grandfather had been posted as "Sadre Alaa" (a higher judicial post at that time).[7]
Club career
Youth career
Samad played football for Purnia Zilla School in interschool tournament, and he scored all ten goals for his team in their 10–0 win against
Umapati Kumar's Kishanganj Higher English School in a match.[8][9] He also helped his school team winning the prestigious Fawcus Cup.[7] He first drew attention of the football club managers of
Calcutta when he played for the Purnia Junior Football Club.
Senior career
He joined the Calcutta Main Town Club in 1912.[9] During 1915–1920, he played for Tajhat Football Club of
Rangpur.[9]Dukhiram Majumder was one of founding members of
Aryan Club in 1888, was responsible for bringing up players like Samad.[10][11][12][13] Samad also took first football training from him.[14][15][16][17] In 1927, he joined
Victoria Sporting Club of
Dhaka.[18] In 1916, Samad played in a match against Somerset Football Team of
England. And beat them by 4–1. He played for Calcutta Orients Club in 1918. He joined
East Bengal Railway Club in 1921 and played until 1930. With the team, he won All-India Railway Championship thrice.[7] At that time in 1927, the club achieved runner-up position in
Durand Cup.[19][20] Samad scored the most memorable trophy-winning goal of his career in 1927 against the Sherwood Forestry Team patronised by the Chief of the
British Indian Army Lieutenant General Sherwood Mall.[5]
Off Samad the less said the better. Suffice it to say that on his day he would have walked into a world eleven. Yes, on his day!
—
Pankaj Gupta, legendary Indian sports administrator, on Samad.[7]
At the age of 38, he joined the
Mohammedan Sporting Club and played in during 1933–1938, club's "golden age".[28][5] In 1933, Mohammedan qualified for the first division of
Calcutta Football League for the first time in its history. Mohammedan became the first native club to capture the
Calcutta Football League title in 1934,[29][30][31][32] in their very first year in top division which was a rare feat.[33][34] The club became
Senior Division champion five years in a row from 1934 to 1938.[35][36] In 1936, Sporting became the second Indian club to win
IFA Shield.[37] In the same year, due to a serious injury, Samad's playing career came to an end.[38] He retired from Mohammedan.[6]
International career
Samad made his international debut for India in 1925.[9] As a member of the
India national team, he toured Burma, Ceylon, Hong Kong, China, Java, Sumatra, Malay, Borneo, Singapore and the United Kingdom.[9] In a match played against
China in
Peking, he played as a substitute player in the second half and scored four goals in a row to give his side a 4–3 victory after trailing 0–3 in the first half.[39]
Samad married Syeda Qamrunnisa on 12 October 1917.[7] He had a son named Golam Hossain; together they played for Eastern Bengal Railway team in 1944.[5][41] He died on 2 February 1964 in
Parbatipur Upazila. In 1969, Parbatipur Railway Institute was renamed to Samad Institute in his memory.[7]East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) Government released a postal stamp commemorating him in 1969.[42]Bangladesh Football Federation organizes the annual "Jadukar Samad Smriti Football Tournament".[5] Later, the
Government of Bangladesh also launched a postage stamp series in his memory.[43] Later, Samad Milanayatan was built in his memory in Parbatipur, by the
Bangladesh Railway.[38] Samad Institute was also built in his memory in East Parbatipur.[9]
Dutta, P. L., Memoir of 'Father of Indian Football' Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1944) (hereafter Memoir)
Sen, Dwaipayan (2013). "Wiping the Stain Off the Field of Plassey: Mohun Bagan in 1911". In Bandyopadhyay, Kausik; Mallick, Sabyasachi (eds.). Fringe Nations in World Soccer. Routledge.
ISBN978-1-317-99810-5.
Sen, Ronojoy (2015). "The Empire Strikes Back: The 1911 IFA Shield and Football in Calcutta". Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India. Columbia University Press.
ISBN978-0-231-16490-0.
Dulal, Mahmud (2020). খেলার মাঠে মুক্তিযুদ্ধ (
transl. Liberation war in the playground) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon.
ISBN978-984-8218-31-0.
Alam, Masud (2017). ফুটবলের গল্প ফুটবলারদের গল্প (
transl. The story of football the story of footballers) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon.
ISBN9789849134688.
^Guha, Chandak (5 September 2019).
"ইংরেজরাও ভয় পেত বাংলার প্রথম কিংবদন্তি ফুটবল কোচকে" [The Englishmen too feared Bengal's legendary first football coach]. bongodorshon.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Bongodorshon Information Desk. Archived from
the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
^Hoque, Elis (19 July 2019).
"হারিয়ে যাওয়া মোহামেডানীদের সালতামামি…" [Diary of the lost stars of Mohammedan]. onnodristy.com (in Bengali). Dhaka: Onno Dristi Bangla. Archived from
the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
^
abIslam, Jahirul (13 June 2020).
"তোমাদের গোলপোস্ট নিচু আছে" [Your goal posts are low]. shomoyeralo.com (in Bengali). Dhaka: Daily Shomoyer Alo Bangla. Archived from
the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
^
abcdefghAhmed, Rasel (1 February 2019).
"জাদুকর সামাদ: বাংলার একজন অতিমানব" [Magician Samad: The Wizard from Bengal]. roar.media (in Bengali). Dhaka: Roar Media News. Archived from
the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
^Dasgupta, Biplab (11 October 2020).
"প্রসঙ্গঃ স্যার দুখীরাম মজুমদার" [Context: Sir Dukhiram Majumdar]. justnews24x7official.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Just News 24×7. Archived from
the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
^Bhattacharya, Ayan (10 September 2023).
"বাংলা ভাগের ক্ষত কিভাবে বিষিয়ে দিল মোহনবাগান আর ইস্টবেঙ্গলকে?" [How did the wound of the partition of Bengal poisoned both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal?]. inscript.me (in Bengali). Kolkata: ইনস্ক্রিপ্ট বাংলা নিউজ. Archived from
the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
^Sardar, Rayhan (11 September 2021).
"লন্ডনের মাঠে সামাদের এক হালি গোল" [Samad scored a goal in London]. anannya.com (in Bengali). Dhaka:
Anannya.
Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
^Flint, Andrew (11 November 2015).
"A Tale of One City: Kolkata". These Football Times.
Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
^
abHassan, Mirza (18 August 2019).
"আবদুস সামাদ : ফুটবলের বাঙালি জাদুকর" [Abdus Samad: The Bengali Magician of Football]. barta24.com (in Bengali). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Barta24 News. Archived from
the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.