Ashish Bhadra

Ashish Bhadra (; born 14 March 1960) is a retired Bangladeshi footballer. An attacking midfielder, he achieved most of his laurels while playing for Abahani Krira Chakra in the Dhaka First Division League. He was a big factor in Abahani dominating the Dhaka football scene in the early 1980s.

He also represented the Bangladesh national team with great distinction and was captain during all six games of the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He has scored 5 official international goals for his country.

Early years Ashish's journey started from school football. In 1976, he played Chittagong First Division League for Kazi Deuri Khawaja Recreation Club. He was the captain of the club in 1977 while still being a college student. Former footballer Iqbal Khan, the father of cricketer Tamim Iqbal, helped him during his time playing in the Chittagong Division. In 1977, he played for Chittagong in a zonal match with Sylhet in the Sher-e-Bangla Cup. His team won 3–1, with Ashish scoring a brace, this performance earned him an invitation to the Dhaka First Division League the following year.

In 1978, Ashish joined Rahmatganj MFS at the age of 18. He performed well during his first league game, which came against Brothers Union, and went on to become an integral part of the team for the following three years. In 1981, he joined Abahani Krira Chakra as the long-term replacement for the clubs legendary midfielder and former captain Amalesh Sen.

In the 1985–86 Asian Club Championship, Ashish was prolific, he scored a brace against Club Valencia of Maldives, as Abahani won the game 8–1. His third and final goal in the tournament came against Sri Lankan club Saunders SC, in a 4–1 victory.

In 1983, he captained Abahani to the First Division title as unbeaten champions. Other than his lone year with Mohammedan SC in 1984, Ashish spent the rest of his career at Abahani. He hung up his boots after lifting the domestic league title one last time in 1990. He has 59 goals and 170 assists in his playing career of 20 years. During the qualifiers for the 1980 AFC Youth Championship, Ashish scored in a 5–1 drubbing of Nepal U19, as Bangladesh qualified for the main tournament, in Bangkok, Thailand. In March 1981, Ashish represented the Bangladesh (Red) team in the first President's Gold Cup in the Dhaka. The red team managed by Bangladesh U19 coach Gafur Baloch, mainly consisted of players that took part in the Asian Youth Championships a month prior. The team reached the finals after beating a North Korean club in the tiebreaker as the match ended 1–1 in regulation time. Ashish had scored the equalizer for the Red team. Eventually his side lost 2–0 in the final to the South Korean University team. Ashish remained an integral part of the national team throughout the 80s alongside his midfield partner for club and country, Khurshid Alam Babul. In the summer of 1985, he was elected as the national team captain for the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and scored the opening goal at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, against India during their last qualifying match. Nonetheless, the Indians, eventually won 2–1.

International goals Bangladesh U19 Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 7 October 1978 Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh 1–2 2–2 1978 AFC Youth Championship 2. 14 December 1980 5–1 1980 AFC Youth Championship qualifiers

Bangladesh national team Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 16 February 1982 National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan 1–1 1–1 1982 Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament 2. 24 November 1982 Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi, India 1–0 2–1 1982 Asian Games 3. 22 September 1983 Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia 1–0 1–0 1983 Merdeka Tournament 4. 12 April 1985 Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, India 1–0 1–2 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers 5. 2 May 1985 Qayyum Stadium, Peshawar, Pakistan 2–1 3–1 1985 Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament

Awards In 2012, Ashish was awarded the national sports award for his outstanding contribution to Bangladesh football.

Honours

Abahani Krira Chakra