Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Nurunnabi Chowdhury | ||
Date of birth | 1934 | ||
Place of birth | Feni, Noakhali District, Bengal (present-day Bangladesh) | ||
Date of death | (aged 68–69) | ||
Place of death | Dhaka, Bangladesh | ||
Position(s) | Center-back, Right-back | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1952–1953 | Pakistan Air Force | ||
1954–1956 | Dhaka Wanderers | ||
1957 | PWD SC | ||
1958 | Mohammedan SC | ||
1959–1968 | Police AC | ||
International career | |||
1954–1958 | Pakistan | ||
1957–1960 | East Pakistan | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Nurunnabi Chowdhury (Bengali: নুরুন্নবী চৌধুরী; 1934 – 30 January 2003), better known as Nabi Chowdhury, was a former Bangladeshi football player and the first East Pakistani or Bengali to captain the Pakistan national team.[1][2][3]
Nabi Chowdhury was born in Aziz Fazilpur village in the Feni sub-division of Noakhali District, Bengal.[4]
Nabi served in the Pakistan Air Force and represented the Pakistan Air Force FC from 1952 to 1953 while simultaneously playing in the Cumilla Football League with Pak United.[4] In the National Football Championship, he played for East Pakistan from 1957 to 1960, winning the title in his final year, after which he began representing Chittagong Division.[5]
He earned recognition while playing for Dhaka Wanderers Club from 1954 to 1956, winning a hat-trick of league titles throughout his tenure.[6] In 1958, he represented Mohammedan SC in the IFA Shield in Calcutta, India.[7] In 1959, he left his duties at the Air Force and joined the East Pakistan Police, representing its football team until his retirement in 1968.[8]
Nabi made his debut for Pakistan national team during the 1954 Manila Asian Games. He later participated in both the 1954 Colombo Cup and 1955 Colombo Cup, with the latter held on home soil, in Dacca, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). In 1956, he represented Pakistan during a series of friendlies against Singapore, China and Ceylon.[4] Nabi captained Pakistan at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games, the first Bengali to do so.[1][9] The team, including six Bengali players, tied the first game 1–1 with South Vietnam and lost its final game 1–3 to the Republic of China.[2][10]
Nabi served as the chairman of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) national team selection committee from 1973 to 1974 and as the general secretary in 1979. He was a member for four terms, specifically in 1975, 1977, 1982, and 1992–1993. Nabi played an integral role in selecting the first Bangladesh national football team alongside Sheikh Shaheb Ali, Manzur Hasan Mintu, and Ranjit Das for the 1973 Merdeka Cup.[11] He served as the team manager of the Bangladesh U20 team under Werner Bickelhaupt at the 1978 AFC Youth Championship in Dhaka.[12]
Nabi died of complications from diabetes in the latter stages of January 2004.[4]
Dhaka Wanderers
Mohammedan SC
East Pakistan White
East Pakistan
Individual