Subrata Paul (also Pal; born 24 December 1986) is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Considered one of India's best goalkeepers, he was awarded the Arjuna Award by the government of India in 2016.[2][3]
Club career
Mohun Bagan
A graduate of the Tata Football Academy, Subrata Pal started his senior career with Mohun Bagan in 2004. During the 2004 Federation Cup final against Dempo on 5 December 2004, Dempo forward Cristiano Júnior lost his life after he and Pal collided. Following the incident, lack of facilities and medical professionals during the game was highlighted, leading to significant changes in the I-League.[4]
East Bengal
Subrata was signed by local rivals East Bengal in 2007. He was an important figure for his team during the time he spend for the Kolkata-based club and was adjudged the I-League's best goalkeeper in 2007 for his outstanding shot-stopping abilities, an example of which was in East Bengal's Federation Cup winning campaign of 2007, resulting in his team qualifying for the AFC Cup 2008. Subrata appeared 31 times in the league for East Bengal and was the first choice 'keeper for the Kolkata-based team.[5]
Pune
On 2 June 2009, Subrata joined Pune FC.[6] In the middle of the I-League 2009-10 season, Subrata had a trial stint with Canadian side Vancouver Whitecaps in the summer of 2010. Subrata expressed his desire to play abroad in the professional leagues of North America, Europe and Asia. He later said that "There was no offer coming from any club agent of any country during the Asian Cup. But I am looking for any offer to play abroad. Europe is the best place to play. But I am game to go to countries like South Korea, Japan, Australia and even the West Asian countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia."[7][citation needed]
Pal started off well in the 2011-12 I-League, impressing the new coach, however his form would soon wear thin. On 29 December 2012, Prayag United lost to I-League struggles Sporting Goa. The next seven matches from the aforementioned defeat, his team lost 5 and drew once and this was enough for his coach to replace Subrata with Sangram Mukherjee in the remaining league matches of the season.
On 9 January 2014, it was confirmed that Pal had signed for FC Vestsjælland of the Danish Superliga,[14][15] thus becoming the fourth Indian footballer to play professionally abroad, the second to join a top-tier European side, and the first Indian goalkeeper to play abroad.[16] Despite signing on as member of the squad, he did not make any appearance for the first team and only appeared with the reserve squad.[17]
Mumbai City FC
Subrata was drafted in by ISL club Mumbai City FC during the 2014 edition of the league and was the first choice 'keeper for his team until 2015, appearing 26 times in the league format. Subrata's performance was notable but not enough to help his team into the semi-finals.[1]
After the season concluded, Pal was awarded the Indian Super League Golden Glove Award.[22] A month later it was announced that Pal had been retained by the club for the 2018–19 season.[23]
Later career and retirement
After leaving Jamshedpur in 2019, Pal joined Hyderabad FC in 2020. He played six matches for Hyderabad with two clean sheets before being loaned out to East Bengal.[24] He was then signed by Mohun Bagan in January 2022 on a loan deal for the remainder of their season.[25] After not playing for more than a year, Pal announced retirement from professional football on 8 December 2023 at the age of 36.[26]
International career
Subrata has played for India at all age groups. He rose to prominence with the Under-23 team in the Pre-Olympic qualifiers where he pulled off 3 saves in a crucial penalty shootout against Myanmar hence enabling India to qualify for the Group stage. In the group stages his goalkeeping abilities helped India pull off an unexpected draw at home against the formidable Iraq.
In 2007, he replaced Sandip Nandy as the Indian Senior Team's number 1 for the Nehru Cup in 2007 where he was adjudged the best goalkeeper in a competitive field which included the likes of Mosab Balhous.
Nehru Cup 2007
Paul was noted for his sharp goalkeeping as part of Baichung Bhutia's successful Indian team of the Nehru Cup 2007. His saves were noted in the semi-finals against Kyrgyzstan,[27] which enabled India to reach the finals of this tournament for the first time.
In the final, India faced Syria, against whom they had lost an earlier group stage match.[28]
In this match, he together with Mahesh Gawli of Goa and other defenders, staved off wave after wave of attack by the pre-match favourites, Syria.[29]
India defeated Syria by a 1–0 margin to win the tournament for the first time.
Indian team coach Bob Houghton said that "Subrata Pal was splendid in the goal",[29] while The Hindu wrote:
India owed the triumph immensely to an impeccable performance under the bar by Subrata Paul. His anticipation in cutting off Syria’s aerial forays was the most striking feature of the contest.[30]
He was also part of the victorious India national football team in the Nehru Cup International Football Tournament 2009
He was involved in three spectacular saves, and put the Cup back in India's hands. Due to his keeping, India won the final match 5–3 on penalties. He stopped the deciding shot on goal to help India clinch the Nehru cup.
AFC Asian Cup 2011
He was the goalkeeper for the Indian football Team in the AFC Asian Cup 2011. He made more than 35 saves in the whole tournament and has become one of the stars of the team since. After the game against South Korea, he made the headlines by some leading newspapers who were calling him 'Spiderman', 'real MVP (Most Valuable Player)' and with headlines like 'Indian team GK, 16 times super-save! Who is this guy?'.[31] To these references, he humbly said, "I am not a spiderman, just a novice learning my goalkeeping. I am happy that I have made those saves and done something for the team and country."
The Times of India said that Pal was the best performer among the Indians in the Asian Cup in Doha where they lost all their group matches. Had it not for Pal's heroics, India would have lost by bigger margins in all the three matches.
World Cup 2014 Qualifiers
He was also the first choice goalkeeper for India in their World Cup Qualifier match against UAE. Subrata even captained the side in a warm-up practice match for this tie, which India won against Qatar 2–1. He could not repeat his heroics against the UAE side as he was sent off in the first 30 minutes, and India were reduced to 9 men. India lost that game 3–0 as a result of two penalties and ultimately the tie 4–2.
World Cup 2018 Qualifiers
He was named the captain of the India national football team by coach Stephen Constantine[32] on 11 March 2015. Under his captaincy the team reached the second round after defeating Nepal on aggregate of 2–0 on the first round of qualification.
Subrata lives with his family in Sodepur (Kolkata). Subrata is married to Debasmita Mukherjee Pal, the daughter of ex-Indian goalkeeper Debashish Mukherjee, since 2012.
Awards and nominations
In 2016 Subrata got the Arjuna Award, the most prestigious award of Sports in India. In 2015, Subrata Pal was nominated for the Times of India Sports Awards along with the likes of Sunil Chhetri, Syed Rahim Nabi, Bala Devi and more.[39]
^Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Subrata Pal". www.national-football-teams.com. Archived from the original on 10 October 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
^Subhajyoti Banerjee (2 June 2009). "Pune FC signs Subrata Pal". IndianFootball.Com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
Ghoshal, Amoy (23 November 2016). "All time Indian XI". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
