Members of the Pakistan team pose with their 2004 SAFF gold medals. -Photo courtesy Ali Ahsan

In the previous parts, I discussed the humble beginnings of football in Pakistan from independence (1947), early growth, the ‘Golden Age’ of the 1960s followed by a sudden, ‘Dark Age’ throughout the 1970s that stunted the potential growth of beautiful game in the country. The gloom was somewhat lifted in the early half of the 1980s as Pakistan scratched and scrapped itself back from the international wilderness with a new, bold, but grossly inexperienced generation of players who strived to bring back the joy on the face of football lovers in the country. But Politics and bad administration impeded progress in the 90s before the current President and his media and marketing savvy administration tried to turn a corner.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

2003 till date: The Faisal Saleh Hayat era

The new PFF regime did not waste time as a more proactive media approach towards football was adopted under Faisal Saleh Hayat. Though, admittedly, the efforts of PFF Media Cell led by Syed Akber Ali Wahidi soon made it look as if Faisal Saleh Hayat was the long awaited Messiah of Pakistani football!
With Punjab Assembly veteran Arshad Khan Lodhi as General Secretary, PFF attempted to set the wrongs of the past right. The introduction of the Pakistan Premier League (PPL) in 2004 was the first major step as the National Football Championship was phased out. Wapda became inaugural PPL champions with Army finishing second and KRL third, thanks to the goals of Multan-born striker Arif Mehmood. While its given the game a boost the structure of the league needs revamp as it barely lasts 3-4 months each year for ‘budget constraints’ (sponsor-less bear in mind) at the expense of physically draining players of each team.

Pakistan Premier League

Since its inception the PPL has been a 3-horse race between these three sides with Wapda winning four titles, Army two and one for KRL so far. Wapda, in fact played the entire 2007-08 Premier League season unbeaten and were crowned champions in February 2008! The emergence of clubs like PMC Athletico Faisalabad, PPL founding member Afghan FC Chaman, and Baloch FC Nushki has been comforting since the stronger, well-established department sides poach talented players without any transfer fees or compensation involved! This coupled with the lack of corporate sponsorships and media coverage have hampered growth significantly even with the availability of better training facilities, international awareness, and growing popularity of football among the public.

The revamping of the National Football Challenge Cup provided surprising winners like Navy (2008), although KRL won the recent two to complete their ‘Double’ of league and cup wins in 2009. The Geo Super Football League of 2007, running as a parallel city-based league to PPL, held in Karachi was the first televised domestic championship that saw record crowds at Peoples Stadium Karachi. Islamabad United won that edition beating Karachi Bazigar on penalties in the final. However, that project failed to take off because of reasons PFF has yet to reveal. It wasn’t until 2010 that the Geo League came back with a KESC-owned Karachi Energy featuring Muhammad Essa, Muhammad Rasool, and Shakir Lashari beating the Chaman-dominated Quetta Zorawar 1-0 in final.

The winners of the PPL qualified to participate in the third tier of the Asian club championship, the AFC President’s Cup minor from 2005 onwards as AFC revamped its Asian club structure in mid-2000s into three separate categories. The AFC Champions League for the bigger leagues in Asia, AFC Cup for mid-ranked leagues, and AFC President’s Cup for lower ranked leagues of SAFF & Central Asian regions like Pakistan. Despite Pakistan hosting the 2007 edition at Punjab Stadium featuring Army (who even lost 3-2 to Bhutan’s Transport United!), only Khalid Butt’s WAPDA managed to make a credible impact in the 2009 edition as it lost in extra time of semi-finals 4-3 against home side and eventual winners Regar-TadAZ of Tajikistan.

Women’s football also made its debut in 2005, albeit under AFC-FIFA prerequisites for continued development grants, with a steady increase in local teams like Diya FC Karachi, Young Rising Star FC Rawalpindi etc allowing young girls a first taste of the beautiful game in Pakistan and the chance to play for national team as shown in the recently concluded 2010 SAFF Women Championship held in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Karachi’s boom

Karachi too has seen resurgence in football activity with Karachi United FC emerging in the mid 2000s to revolutionise grass-roots level football with its annual School Championships as well as the popular Karachi Football League competitions held over the last seven years consistently. Karachi United also formed six free academies in Lyari, Korangi, Malir, North Karachi, North Nazimabad and Defence, where all necessary facilities and free kits are provided to all the kids for training under KUFC-hired professional coaches on monthly salary basis. The academy is likely to create a big pool of player to pick from for the national squad in the future.

Captain of Pakistan Football Team Qadir Bakhsh (Putla) Late receiving cheque of Rs. One Lac from Ex-City Nazim Karachi Mr. Mustafa Kamal at Peoples Stadium Karachi in 2004. -Photo courtesy Ali Ahsan

The amount of football activity in Karachi is staggering with various minor tournaments being held on a daily basis in places like Lyari, Orangi, Malir, Landhi, Korangi, Banaras etc that often become feeder teams to Karachi based department sides like KESC, NBP, HBL, PIA, SSGC and KPT.

The national team results have shown considerable improvement, with China’s Wang Xiao He and former PIA stalwart Tariq Lutfi combining to bring back the South Asian Games gold in the 2004 edition hosted in Islamabad. The match was telecast live on PTV and saw midfielder Abdul Aziz -then of a local Karachi club Tanzeem Sports Gizri, now NBP captain – score the winner against what was India’s U19 team in the final. Muhammad Essa and Jaffar Khan put in outstanding performances in the tournament.

The 2005 saw the first, and as of yet the only, Indo-Pak Friendship series held in June-July. It saw Pakistan face tradition rivals India in televised games held at Quetta (1-1 thanks to a late Muhammad Essa free kick), Peshawar (0-1) and Lahore (3-0). The hosts won the series on goal difference with then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz as chief guest at the final game.

The year also saw Bahrain’s Salman Ahmed Sharida take charge of the side for 14 months from SAFF Cup 2005 in Karachi until 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Pakistan played a total of 30 (official and unofficial) matches during his term and performance of the team improved a great deal. 2005 saw the first ever Pakistani-origin players from abroad play for Pakistan with Usman Gondal (former Leicester City youth, now retired) and the most high profile player Zesh Rehman of Premiership side Fulham FC play for Pakistan. Such inclusions helped boost the game at both domestic level as well as among the Pakistani expatriate communities across the world.

Among local discoveries of Sharida was Wapda’s right-back Naveed Akram as he combined impressive defensive displays with great goal-scoring ability as witnessed against UAE in Asian Cup qualifiers of 2006 and the Asian Games against Japan in Doha. Because Sharida’s tenure was paid by Bahrain FA, he faced a pay dispute with PFF and BFA as 2006 ended with him leaving the post. Some of his tactics were still retained in the side as a Farooq Shah (NBP) inspired Pakistan sensationally beat Singapore in Olympic preliminaries of 2007 under Sharida’s local assistant coach Muhammad Rasheed (Railways), only to face heavy defeats against Arab sides in main qualification rounds a few months later.

The inclusion of quality foreign stars Adnan Ahmed, Amjad Iqbal, Adam Karim, Azeem Razwan, and Iltaf Ahmed for the World Cup qualifiers against Asian champions Iraq in Oct 2007 failed to stop the rot. Akhtar Mohiuddin’s questionable tactics and team selections in those qualifiers as well as AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers and SAFF Championship of 2008 were to blame for the team falling short despite the better talent at national team’s disposal. This showed how desperate Pakistan needed to combine the growing foreign contingent with best domestic talent under a level-headed and fair foreign coach on a long term appointment with a proactive and dedicated administration in charge of the game. That wish was fulfilled, if only for a year, with the appointment of veteran Austrian coach George Kottan in 2009 but his efforts were hampered by in-fighting and showed that time was needed to make results count in the long run.

2010 saw Pakistan’s lone international action in the Asian Games under Akhtar Mohiuddin once again; this time in charge of a new-look, young team. Despite initial refusal of Pakistan Olympic Association in sending a football team in the 2010 Asiad, PFF managed to get a late approval to send the squad, on PFF’s own expenses this time. The appointment of former Tottenham Hotspur legend Graham Roberts as a ‘coaching consultant’ for 8 weeks was not enough as he played second fiddle on the bench to Akhtar Mohiuddin’s tactics and decision making. This again led to a heavy defeat against Thailand 6-0, a goal-less draw with Maldives with KRL defender Samar Ishaq fumbling a precious penalty, and a 2-0 defeat at the hands of an Oman U21 side. Gradual improvement in the side was obvious but it needed persistent practice without unnecessary inclusions of washed up department favourites to really gel as a unit.

Aman Bait Nasib (C) of Oman tries to dodge Pakistan's defenders Muhammad Touseef (L) and Mohammad Ahmad during their men's group F pool football match at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou on November 11, 2010. -Photo by AFP

2011 promises some interesting times although failure cannot be avoided given how PFF could not get financial backing for Graham Roberts’ winning a permanent coaching role. With AFC Vision Asia programs getting to Pakistan, and the 2011 PFF General Elections that could potentially cause Faisal Saleh Hayat’s unchallenged 8 year reign to face stiff competition, one hopes that the interests of football are not damaged.

Pakistani football has come through a turbulent, exciting, and promising cross road after years of ups and downs. The standard of the game has improved, local coaches have increased in number, popularity of the game has found the homes of common Pakistanis. All this is a still untapped gold mine that could make Pakistan a potentially competitive side in Asia.

All it requires is genuine dedication, focus, commitment, sponsorships, awareness, and competitive action at home and abroad to really set the stage for a football revolution in this country.

The onus, as always, is with the Pakistan Football Federation. Game on, Gentlemen!

*Special  thanks to the Co-Founder, Webmaster, and Chief Editor of FPDC Malik Riaz Hai Naveed, veteran football journalist Riaz Ahmed, and the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) for providing the information that helped create this article chronicling the history for Pakistani football.*

The writer is the chief editor, Pakistan correspondent and forum administrator of FootballPakistan.Com and would like to thank the co-founder, webmaster, and chief editor of FPDC Malik Riaz Hai Naveed, veteran football journalist Riaz Ahmed, and the Pakistan Football Federation for providing information that helped create this article chronicling the history for Pakistani football.

PIA vs Wohaib FC at the 1992 Lifebu0y Trophy. -File

In the previous parts, I discussed the humble beginnings of football in Pakistan from independence (1947), early growth, the ‘Golden Age’ of the 1960s followed by a sudden, ‘Dark Age’ throughout the 1970s that stunted the potential growth of beautiful game in the country. The gloom was somewhat lifted in the early half of the 1980s as Pakistan scratched and scrapped itself back from the international wilderness with a new, bold, but grossly inexperienced generation of players who strived to bring back the joy on the face of football lovers in the country.

Part 1

Part 2

The increased participation of the national team at various youth and senior levels across Asia in the coming years was to prove vital for Pakistan’s reemergence on the international scene. However, politics would have a decisive say in what path the game followed. The increased televised coverage of world football, in particular the FIFA World Cup, on national television meant a bigger fan base was created but much more was needed to give the game a boost in the country.

Despite falling short for qualifying to the 1984 AFC Asian Cup finals, the mid 1980s began a sudden burst of regular international action that caught our footballers hard and fast.

Emergence of South Asian football competitions

The latter half of the 1980s saw Pakistan host the 3rd and 4th Quaid-i-Azam International Championships in the Aprils of 1985 and 1986. Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, North Korea were among the others invited to take part.

Most importantly, however, was football becoming a regular event in the nascent South Asian Games. After declining to send a football team for the first edition held at Kathmandu in 1984, Pakistan decided to take part in the 1985 event that hosted by Dhaka, Bangladesh. Pakistan won their group featuring Nepal (won 3-2), Maldives (won 3-1), and the hosts Bangladesh (lost 1-2) but failed to qualify for the final. Up until the mid-1990s, football at the South Asian Games was recognised as a senior level competition. Now, it is limited as a U-23 event.

That same year, the Asian Football Confederation brought back the Asian Champions’ Cup (also known as Asian Club Championship) for the club champions of Asia after a 14 year absence. The last event in 1971 was won by Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv who now play in UEFA region. PIA, having won the 1984 Inter Provincial Championship, was elected to become Pakistan’s first representative in Asian club football. They were placed in a tricky qualifying group for the 1985-86 Asian Club Championship hosted in Colombo, Sri Lanka and involving the winners from India, Bangladesh, the hosts, Maldives, and Nepal. Only Indian giants East Bengal qualified for the next round from the group as PIA finished 6 points behind in 4th place out of a group of 6 teams. The eventual winner of the competition was South Korea’s Daewoo Royals (Pusan) who beat Saudi side, and final hosts, Al-Ahly Jeddah 3-1 in late January 1986.

The subsequent Asian club participations, including the Asian Cup Winners’ Cup, didn’t bring much glory either as Habib Bank (1986-87), PAF (1987-88), Crescent Textile Mills Faisalabad (1988-89), and even a Punjab FC side (1989-90) could only get the odd points against weaker sides from Maldives or Nepal whilst being put to the sword by clubs from Bangladesh, Iraq, India, Oman in their qualifying groups.

This was an era where South Asia had become the permanent whipping boys for rest of Asia in both club and national team competitions. The increasing professionalism, fitness levels, coaching, and player awareness that had become ingrained in the rest of the Asian region meant that South Asia had miles to go.

After losing 2-0 in a friendly against Iran in Tehran in Feb 1986, Pakistan’s national team took part in 1986 Asian Games where they lost to UAE (0-1), Iraq (1-5, a penalty by Ghulam Sarwar ‘Teddy’), Oman (1-3), and Thailand (0-6). The tough draws against the well-established Asian sides certainly did not help but nevertheless it was some much needed practice for the boys. After Pakistan was knocked out by Nepal during qualification for 1988 Olympics in April 1987, the country hosted the 5th Quaid-i-Azam International Tournament in Lahore. A month later in October, Pakistan won bronze under the captaincy of Zafar Iqbal in the 1987 South Asian Games football tournament hosted by India. The team was coached by late German manager Burkhard Ziese who remained in charge from 1987 till 1989-90.

This was followed by more defeats in qualification for 1988 Asian Cup at the hands of Jordan (0-1), Japan (1-4), Kuwait (0-3) and qualifying group hosts Malaysia (0-4).

SAFF Games 1989 – Islamabad

The year 1989 began with Pakistan’s first ever participation for the FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds for Italia 1990 in January-February. One wonders why Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) had been missing so many World Cup qualifiers for almost 40 years!

That being said, Pakistan had always been playing a vital role in the World Cups for many years before our actual participation. The sports goods industry of Sialkot had been providing millions of footballs around the world, peaking during World Cup seasons, since 1980. The Adidas ‘Tango’ balls used in the 1982 World Cup hosted by Spain was Pakistan’s major contribution to the beautiful game thanks to the hard work of Sialkot manufacturers. That tradition is still alive today and Sialkot is still a major contributor on the international market.

The qualifiers saw Pakistan teamed up against much stronger sides in Kuwait and UAE. They were easily knocked out one at a time by the Middle East giants. UAE eventually qualified for Italia 1990 as one of the two Asian sides alongside World Cup regulars South Korea. These defeats would be regarded as good practice as Pakistan hosted the 1989 South Asian Games later that year. The football team went on a brilliant run that eventually led to a gold medal win in the final over Bangladesh (1-0) thanks to a solitary goal by WAPDA’s Haji Abdul Sattar. In terms of international competitions, this was arguably Pakistan’s first ever football final victory at all levels. Football circles across the country celebrated this victory with great aplomb. Everyone called this the beginning of a brand new era for Pakistani football.

The gold-medal-winning Pakistan team at the 1989 South Asian Games in Islambad, Pakistan. -File

By this time, hockey was experiencing a decline and cricket had more or less taken full attention of the Pakistani public thanks no less to the exploits of Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, and a young Wasim Akram in Sharjah as well as around the world. Football was still fighting for attention.

1990s: Politics impedes Progress

The demise of Zia-ul-Haq in 1988 reopened Pakistan for civilian rule but what promised for a great democratic era for the country eventually turned into a mockery of political instability. Political rivalries between the two main parties caught in the musical chairs of power, PPP and PML would take their battles outside the parliament into other supposedly non-political arenas.

Football became a hot bed for such activity as well. The year 1990 was marked by the general elections of the PFF. PML stalwart from Lahore, Mian Muhammad Azhar, went on to narrowly win the elections for PFF Presidency by just one vote. The losing candidate unfortunate for not getting the decisive vote in 1990 was PPP heavyweight Faisal Saleh Hayat.

Mian Azhar held onto power until 2003. While many people would cite the importance of stability in sports federations in the long run, Mian Azhar’s 13-year tenure would have its plenty of thrills, chills, and spills! A year after those elections, the PFF General Secretary post went to Jamaat-e-Islami MNA and football enthusiast from Lahore, Hafiz Salman Butt. Hafiz Salman would hold the post for a mere three years until Mian Azhar forced him out because of growing political rifts as well as invoking a ten-year ban from FIFA on Hafiz Salman over alleged ‘abuse of power’ as a PFF Official in 1995.

The 1991-94 era is, however, often regarded as the best administrative era of Pakistani football. Hafiz Salman was instrumental in organising the National Championships of 1992-93 and 1993-94 (won by PIA and Army respectively) structured on a proper league-style basis and spread over a number of months. Hafiz Salman also managed to get a lucrative three-year sponsorship deal with Lifebuoy Soap. The amount of Rs 35 million was used to organize the said championships.

The media campaign for football in that era was aggressive with football-centric ads on PTV for the renowned soap brand as well as a hit television drama series called ‘Red Card’ produced by PTV Lahore Centre.

The satellite TV boom and live matches from English Premiership and other top leagues in Europe would soon follow in Pakistan.

With Hafiz Salman’s dismissal in 1994 and ban by FIFA and PFF in 1995, Pakistani football fell once again into an era of political incompetence, mismanagement and lethargy that put paid to the progress made. Even today, no long term sponsors for Pakistani football exist.

In the international arena, Pakistan regained gold at the 1991 South Asian Games football under the captainship of Ghulam Sarwar ‘Teddy’ when the side coached by the late Muhammad Aslam Japani won the final against Maldives 2-0. The goals were scored by the late Qazi Ashfaq and Army’s Nauman Khan. However, Asian Cup qualification for 1992 and World Cup qualifications for USA’94 would be a bitter experience. Iran and India quickly disposed of our boys 0-7 and 0-2 for Asian Cup qualifying in July 1992, while Iraq, China, Yemen, and Jordan eased past us for World Cup qualification in May-June 1993. Subsequent qualification campaigns for France ’98 and Korea-Japan 2002 would also end prematurely as the stronger Middle Eastern and East Asian teams would have their way.

The year1993 was the first time the SAFF Championship was held in Pakistan, although the team disappointed the home crowds with an unsatisfactory performance finishing in 4th place. The SAFF Championship was then called the SAARC Football Gold Cup. The subsequent SAFF Championships of 1995, 1997, and 1999 would present a similar story; although Pakistan did finish 3rd in 1997 while India dominated the competition with 3 wins out of 4 with a Sri Lanka triumph in 1995.

Qazi Ashfaq was one the best players of this generation as he possessed skill, speed, leadership and passion for the game throughout his playing career however his untimely death in November 13, 2001 robbed this country of a great player and aspiring coach.

Nauman Khan, now a serving Lt. Colonel, retired from the game a few years ago and is current manager of the Pakistan Army football team.

The 1990s also saw the emergence of the indomitable defender Haroon Yousaf. The Mandi Bahauddin native would become a multiple national champion for WAPDA and ABL as well as captain of Pakistan national team in late 1990s until his retirement. Haroon played 51 full internationals for Pakistan and scored 3 goals between 1992 and 2003. Yousaf still plays today as the captain of PMC Athletico Faisalabad in Pakistan Premier League where he recently inspired the team from the brink of relegation by beating intimidating hosts Afghan FC Chaman 1-0 in final game of the 2010 season.

Haroon Yousaf. -File

Other great players from late 1980s to late 1990s were Sharafat Ali, Qazi Ashfaq, Zafar Iqbal, Mukhtar Ahmed, Tariq Hussain, Haroon Yousaf, Ghulam Sarwar, Matin Akhtar, Imtiaz Butt, Noshad Baloch, Saleem Patni, Abdul Wahid Jr., Captain Noman, Syed Nasir Ali, Abdul Rasheed, Ejaz Ahmed, Naeem Gul, Zulfiqar Dogar, Bashir Ahmed and Khalid Butt

The Story of Wohaib FC and domestic football in Pakistan

Hafiz Salman Butt was also the founder and chairman of Wohaib FC (Hafiz Wohaib Butt Memorial Football Club). It was established in 1982 in memory of Butt’s slain brother and football lover Hafiz Wohaib Butt. By the early 1990s, Wohaib FC had developed itself in to the premier club in Lahore. It would provide aspiring footballers the chance to represent at national level and attract full-time jobs at various departments later on like Wapda, Railways, Army, PIA, ABL and HBL.

Wohaib FC put on stellar performances at the 1992-93 Asian Club Championship where they beat clubs from Bahrain and Bangladesh to qualify for Group B. After being trounced 10-1 by Dubai club Al-Wasl in the opening fixture, they came back and drew 1-1 with Iranian side, and eventual Asian champions that year, PAS Tehran FC in their final group game. For their efforts, Wohaib FC was ranked 5th place in Asian Club Championship that year. A feat that has never been repeated by a Pakistani team since!

According to former Wohaib FC star and current Model Town Football Club & Academy head coach Khaled Khan,, one reason of Wohaib’s staggering show that year was the fact that it was essentially the Pakistan national team in disguise! Before AFC had begun putting more strict rules and regulations for player registrations, it was not uncommon to see many club sides across Asia ‘borrowing’ players from other teams for registration to compete at Asian club competitions like their own national teams. Wohaib FC had borrowed players like Zafar Iqbal ‘Mama’ (PIA), goalkeeper Mateen Akhtar (WAPDA), and Nauman Khan (Army) who combined with Wohaib’s best talent to take part in the 1992-93 Asian Club Championship.

Hafiz Salman’s sacking from PFF also affected Wohaib FC as departments took away their best talent and the ones that stayed behind were not given the chances they deserved for selection in national team for many years.

This was an era when departments would continue to dominate the domestic competitions but most of them failed to give any noteworthy performances in Asian competitions. Some refused to even show up because of extra costs.

PIA was fast losing ground as the 1990s drew to an end, winning their last of 9 national championships in 1997. Wapda, Army, and (before their disbanding in early 2000s) ABL took over as the dominant sides in Pakistan. The physically dominant game of Punjab teams, had over-taken the flair of Karachi football by then. But that did not do much for the national sides as they still had a lot to do internationally.

2000s: The New Millennium and Pakistani football

The turn of the century saw Pakistan remain stuck in South Asian mediocrity as politics in the PFF as well as provincial FAs, rivalries between various officials (current and former), limited government budgets, and poor administration held game back. Football survived in the country based purely on annual grants received from FIFA and AFC for development projects for developing nations.

Nearly a million US dollars annually would be pocketed by each national FA (including PFF) from there on to improve football infrastructure in each country. These grants helped built the PFF Football House as part of the FIFA GOAL Project on Ferozepur Road, Lahore in mid-2000s. Further GOAL Projects in other cities like Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta are in the pipeline but no further step has been taken by PFF in their implementation for years!

The national team got the appointment of Englishman Daved Burns and then John Layton as head coaches between 2000 till 2002 thanks to AFC support. Slovak coach Joseph Herel was also part of AFC support programs as he took charge from 2002 till 2003. These coaches helped bring a level of stability in the side as well as discovering new talent across Pakistan through various trials and training camps held nationwide at youth levels. The likes of future Pakistan captains Muhammad Essa and Jaffar Khan emerged onto the scenes because of these programs as a new look Pakistan tried to make a mark in international competitions. Muhammad Essa would eventually inspire the now defunct PTCL team to win the 2003 PFF President’s Cup.

In fact it was during the tenure of John Layton that the Pakistan team embarked on an ambitious tour of England in late March 2001 in preparation for the upcoming 2002 World Cup qualifiers with the help of UK-based Pakistani business communities. The tour saw Pakistan play a few friendly matches against English sides where they played friendly games against the then English Second Division side Bury FC (lost 3-0; Indian legend Baichung Bhutia scoring against us once again), and Premiership team Coventry City (2-0), as well as losing to an amateur level London ABSA team. The games were broadcast live in Pakistan on PTV and featured players like Haroon Yousaf, Sarfraz Rasool, Jaffar Khan and Tanveer Ahmed. One assumes that PTV still possesses footage from these games in their archives.

The World Cup qualifiers after these games also resulted in losses to Lebanon, Thailand and Sri Lanka. However, Pakistan did earn a thrilling 3-3 draw with Sri Lanka in the return leg of the World Cup qualifiers thanks to a stunning hat-trick by Gohar Zaman. But the disappointment of another qualification failure was obvious.

The domestic structure was in desperate need of revamping to bringing the best out of the player under capable coaches at all levels- something which Pakistan had been lacking for decades.

The SAFF Cup of January 2003 held in Bangladesh brought a lot of surprises to the game. Under the inspiration of attacking midfielder Sarfraz Rasool of KRL, Pakistan stunned giants India (1-0), Sri Lanka (2-1) and Afghanistan (1-0) as they reached the semi-finals only to fall short against Maldives 1-0 and losing the 3rd/4th place game against India 2-1 as hosts Bangladesh won the final on penalties against Maldives. Sarfraz Rasool top scored with 4 goals in the tournament and was declared Asian Player of the Month for his performance. World Cup and Asian Cup qualification afterwards were still disappointing though as Kyrgyzstan and Singapore cut us out in respective campaigns.

The year 2003 was also the year that finally ended the 13 year rule of Mian Azhar as PFF President. Thanks to the campaigning of the still-banned Hafiz Salman Butt, Faisal Saleh Hayat won the PFF general elections to become President of the PFF. Mian Azhar had gradually fallen out of favour from the pro-Musharraf PML-Q faction over the years while Faisal Saleh Hayat’s own pro-Musharraf PPP faction had been making headways in run-up to the 2003 General Elections where he became Interior Minister of Pakistan later that year as well. Pakistani politics, it seems, will always have a say in everything.

2003 was also the year FootballPakistan.Com (FPDC) was established as a genuine independent non-profit football website striving for the progress, promotion, prosperity, and professionalism of Pakistani football through volunteer efforts.

To be continued…

*Special  thanks to the Co-Founder, Webmaster, and Chief Editor of FPDC Malik Riaz Hai Naveed, veteran football journalist Riaz Ahmed, and the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) for providing the information that helped create this article chronicling the history for Pakistani football.*

The writer is the chief editor, Pakistan correspondent and forum administrator of FootballPakistan.Com and would like to thank the co-founder, webmaster, and chief editor of FPDC Malik Riaz Hai Naveed, veteran football journalist Riaz Ahmed, and the Pakistan Football Federation for providing information that helped create this article chronicling the history for Pakistani football.

One of the stars of the 1960s, Abdul Ghafoor, shakes hands with the chief guest before a match. —File

The first part of this series highlighted the humble beginnings and background of football in Pakistan, and how it emerged in the fledging Asian football circuit with limited finances but a steady supply of talented players. It was an era that held a lot of promise for the future of the game but the circumstances did not allow for Pakistani footballers to realise their true potential. Lack of professionalism, dedicated football clubs, league competitions, sponsors and media coverage meant the game needed a lot of improvement. Cricket and hockey dominated the sporting headlines, while football attempted to make an impact.

Asian football was also quite inconsistent and while healthy competitions (Asian Games and Asian Cup) were held, it was mainly the financially sound teams, who managed to make foreign tours. The action was often restricted to East Asia and sometimes Iran. The rest of the Middle East was still considered a backwater for football, while South Asia, despite its much deep-rooted football history, was slowly coming to terms with the steady progress being made in Asian football.

Failure to qualify for the 1960 AFC Asian Cup was the first of many ups and downs Pakistani football would face as it entered arguably its ‘golden era’ of the 1960s.

1960s: The golden age
Sport in Pakistan made a spectacular start to the sixties as the hockey team won its first Olympic gold when it broke the Indian juggernaut with a 1–0 win at the Rome Olympics. Cricket was slowly capturing the imaginations of the public through radio commentary about the exploits of Hanif Mohammad, Fazal Mahmood, Javed Burki and others. Squash saw the rise of the Khan dynasty as Roshan Khan and Hashim Khan put their opponents to the sword in the British Open.

Heroes of the 1960s, Murad Bakhsh, Turab Ali and Yousuf Jr. —File

Football made its way through the streets of Quetta, Karachi, and Dacca as it tried to show consistency at domestic and international levels. The dominance of Karachi and Dacca began to show when the two cities won five consecutive national championships between 1960 and 1966 (Dacca: 1960, 1962 and Karachi: 1963, 1964–65 and 1966). Dacca continued its pre-partition football tradtions through the well-organised and well-attended Dacca League that gave a level of competitive professionalism in East Pakistan, which West Pakistan had been missing. East Pakistan would also give Pakistan its best players from that era until Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, including Ghulam Rabbani, Mohammad Umar, Abdul Ghafoor Majna, Moosa Ghazi, Abdullah Rahi, Abid Ghazi, Hussain Killer, Turab Ali, Murad Bakhsh Makwa, Yousuf Senior. Ayub Dar, Lala Hashim, M.N. Jahan, Mola Bakhsh Gotai, Qadir Bakhsh Putla, Yousuf Jr. Ghulam Hussain Patoo and Khamisa Boss.

Members of the Mohammaden Sporting Club of Dacca —File

Mohammedan Sporting of Dacca was perhaps the most popular team of the region while Chittagong also showed a lot of promise. Former national captain, and ‘the Pakistani Pele’, Abdul Ghafoor played some of his best football in the Dacca League for Mohammedan Sporting in the 1960s.

Meanwhile, Karachi had a unique flavour in its football, which grew in the slum areas of Orangi, Landhi, Korangi, Malir, and Lyari. These areas were often filled with the Sheedi and Makrani communities, who had long been involved in football. This was a time when football matches would witness jam packed crowds and footballers enjoyed celebrity status. Many players from Quetta, and rest of Pakistan, would travel all the way to Karachi, hoping to make it big on the football scene. Not only that, but the game gained such popularity that parents would encourage their kids to take up the game, with the hope that they would get noticed and secure jobs with the government and also get a chance to represent Pakistan at the international level.

This was the decade that saw many foreign teams often tour Pakistan for unofficial friendly matches during their off-seasons. Among them included a Chinese XI (1963), Indonesia (1964), FC Neftyanik from Soviet Union (Nov 1964) alongside some youth teams from USSR coming on goodwill visits. Pakistan reciprocated by touring these countries in the late 60’s.

Some of the most memorable tours in Pakistan during the 1960s involved teams from Germany, USA, and the Saudi Arabia. In 1963, whilst on a world tour, German Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf had to make an emergency stop in Pakistan due to aircraft problems, leaving them stranded for a few days. When the word of their stay spread, the PFF invited Fortuna to tour East and West Pakistan playing friendly matches against select XI sides. Having plenty of time to kill, Fortuna happily accepted the offer and played against sides like East Pakistan Sports Board XI in Dacca (which including the veteran Qayyum Ali Changezi) to crowds of thousands.

North American Soccer League side Dallas Tornado stopped in Pakistan for two matches during their worldwide tour in 1967. —File

Similarly, the Dallas Tornado side of the North American Soccer League (NASL) went on an ambitious world tour that took them from Europe to Middle East to Vietnam and other places from September 1967 to March 1968.

The two matches against Dallas Tornado drew huge crowds in Karachi. —File

During the trip, the team made a week’s stop in Pakistan in October–November 1967, where they played the Pakistan national team in Karachi, Lahore and Dacca.

Saudi Arabia’s national team also toured Pakistan in 1967, when they played a four-match series against Pakistan, resulting in three 2–2 draws and one 1–1 draw.

Members of the Pakistan team for the 1967 Asian Cup qualifiers held in Burma. —File

Pakistan participated in various friendly tournaments, with the Merdeka Cup hosted in Malaysia being the most prominent. The Merdeka Cup was the football equivalent of the popular hockey tournament hosted in Malaysia, Sultan Azlan Shah Tournament. The 1960 and 1962 editions saw Pakistan play Asian giants Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Burma. Pakistan recorded some famous victories including a 7–0 walloping of Thailand and a 3–1 win over current Asian powerhouses Japan in the 1960 Merdeka Cup. That 7–0 victory over Thailand remained Pakistan’s biggest win for almost half a century until they beat Guam 9–2 in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers.

The political climate of that era was marked by Pakistan’s relative closeness to Turkey and Iran in the form of pacts and treaties that became part of RCD (later ECO) accords. A series of friendly tournaments involving the three teams became known as the RCD Cup where Pakistan fell short against the two bigger teams. This tournament also marked Pakistan’s first instance of competing against a Uefa member country.

Despite the growth of the game during the 1960s, Pakistan did not take active part in the Asian Games football tournaments of 1962, 1966 and 1970 due to financial constraints. The World Cup qualifiers were once again no different as Pakistan began missing out on important matches due to lack of interest from the federation and poor government support.

However, Pakistan participate t in the qualifiers for the 1964 Olympic Games which included a home-and-away tie with Iran in November–December 1963, which resulted in a 4–1 loss in Iran and a 1–0 win in Pakistan. Qualifiers for the 1968 AFC Asian Cup were no different as Pakistan failed to make it to the finals after losing to hosts Burma 2–0, Cambodia (then Khmer) 1–0, and drawing 1–1 against India in August 1967.
The close of the decade highlighted the talent pool and also the need for development of the game. However, much bleaker times were to come.

1970s: The dark era
Pakistani football had a fairly low-key start as to the 1970s. Pakistan competed against Turkey and Iran in the third RCD Cup but the results did not do much to boost the team as Pakistan suffered a 7–0 loss against Iran in Tehran and 3–1 against Turkey. On the domestic front, the 1969–70 National Championship was won by Chittagong in East Pakistan as they beat Peshawar in the final at Comilla. A year later, in February–March 1971, PIA won its first ever national championship in Multan after overcoming Karachi in the final. No records of any teams from East Pakistan taking part that year exist.

The dark ages of Pakistani football soon followed. East Pakistan revolted and eventually became Bangladesh in December 1971. Political fall-out of the event aside, Pakistani football was dealt a lethal blow. Not only did Bangladesh inherit all of the better football infrastructure of East Pakistan, but also the players, and the Dacca (now Dhaka) Football League.

East Pakistani football was better organised and maintained as compared to West Pakistan and the fall of Dhaka dealt a severe blow to the game’s future in Pakistan. The national team did not compete again until 1973 when it sent its youth teams for a friendly tour of Iran and then China. Pakistan did, however, take part in the 1974 Asian Games football tournament and apart from heavy losses against hosts Iran (7–0 again) and Burma (5–1) Pakistan registered a did register a 5–1win over Middle East up starts Bahrain.

The 1974 Asian Games turned out to be the only international tournament for Pakistan during the 1970s. Football was in the wilderness and only survived on the basis of sports budgets of departments like WAPDA, Army, KESC, SSGC, PIA and Railways, which hired footballers as employees and provided them with a basic wage to play for their sides and work full time in the off-season.

During this dark period, however, several local leagues were launched across the Middle East in countries like the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. These oil-rich nations funded teams that helped boost their national sides at a frantic pace. Several Pakistani players including Mola Bakhsh Momin, Ali Nawaz Baloch, Ghulam Sarwar Sr., Ali Asghar ‘Tony’, M. Idrees (PIA), represented club sides in these leagues and some of these players even coached the clubs’ new youth setups.

In November, 1976, Karachi hosted the Quaid-i-Azam Birth Centenary Triangular Football League. Kwangtung (China) won the inaugural league (four points), while Pakistan Green (two points) finished second and Afghanistan (0) third. In May 1978, Pakistan faced South Korea in their last international match of the decade in Saudi Arabia, which they lost 5–0.

1980–1984: Revival of international football
The 1980s saw a modest rekindling of the beautiful game in Pakistan. Karachi-based PIA won its sixth national championship in 10 years when they beat PAF in the final at Peshawar May 04, 1981. A few months later, Pakistan competed in the King’s Gold Cup in Thailand in November 1981, and despite not having played competitive international football for three years, Pakistan impressed with a goal-less draw against Indonesia, 1–0 loss at the hands of Thailand and China, and beat Malaysia 3–2 and Singapore 1–0 – and ended up finishing third in their pool behind Thailand and China.

Before participating in the King’s Gold Cup, the Pakistan team made a six-day goodwill tour of Burma for two friendly matches, which ended in a 0–1 loss against Aung Sen Selected XI and a 0–0 draw against Burma.

Pakistan invited a few Asian countries to participate in the Quaid-i-Azam Gold Cup in February 1982, against whom they showed satisfactory performances. It included wins by the senior team, Pakistan Blues, over Bangladesh (2–0) and Nepal (2–1), a 0–0 draw with Oman, and a 1–4 loss to Iran. Pakistan also competed in the Asian Youth Championship qualifiers in Nepal after a gap of 20 years in November 1982.

During this period, Pakistan’s international self-exile had more or less ended completely but regular action still seemed difficult to accomplish.

Pakistan participated in the 1984 Merdeka Cup (Malaysia), and finished the tournament ranked fifth. Of their five matches, Pakistan won 2–0 against Algeria XI with both goals scored by Sharafat Ali (Wapda) but lost the remaining four matches: 1–6 against South Korea, 1–6 against China, 0–2 against Malaysia Tiger and 1–2 against Argentina XI.

In October 1984, Pakistan travelled to India for the Asian Cup qualifiers but were met with disappointment as they lost against Malaysia (0–5), South Korea (0–6), and India (0–2). Pakistan did however beat North Yemen 4–1 and finished fourth in their group, while South Korea and India qualified for the final round.

Some of the best players from the era who won domestic honours and played for Pakistan in the early half of the 1980s were Sharafat Ali, Naeem Gul, Naushad Baloch, Shamim Khan (current PIA coach), Matin Akhtar, Ghulam Sarwar Sr. Khalid Butt (current WAPDA coach), Mohammad Rashid (ex-Pakistan coach), Mohammad Akbar, Pervez Ramzan and Shoukat Mufti.

[To be continued…]

The writer is the chief editor, Pakistan correspondent and forum administrator of FootballPakistan.Com and would like to thank the co-founder, webmaster, and chief editor of FPDC Malik Riaz Hai Naveed, veteran football journalist Riaz Ahmed, and the Pakistan Football Federation for providing information that helped create this article chronicling the history for Pakistani football.

Selected Pakistan internationals between 1960 and 1984
1960 – Merdeka Cup – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Manager: A.B.S. Safdar, Referee: Bahadur Khan, Coach: Sahab Ali, Captain: Qayyum Changezi
Pakistan 7–0 Thailand
Malaysia 1–0 Pakistan
Pakistan 3–1 Japan
Pakistan 0–4 Indonesia

1961 – Burma in Pakistan
First Test: Burma 3–1 Pakistan
Second Test: 4–0
Third Test: Pakistan 1–1 Burma
Burma 9–0 East Pakistan XI

1962 – Fourth Asian Youth Tournament, Bangkok
Manager: Sq. Ldr. A.R. Siddiqui, Coach & Referee Bahadur Khan, Captain: Salim
Hong Kong 4–2 Pakistan
Pakistan 4–0 Singapore
Pakistan 3–0 Malaysia
South Korea 4–0 Pakistan
Pakistan did not qualify for final round.

1962 – Merdeka Cup – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Manager: W/C Qureshi, Coach: George Ausley, Captain M. Umar
Pakistan 1–0 Burma
Pakistan 1–1 Japan
Pakistan 0–0 Malaysia
Final: Indonesia 2–0 Pakistan

1963 – China in Pakistan
Manager: A. Afzal, Coach: Saheb Ali, Captain: Mohammad Umar
First Test, Dhaka: Pakistan 0–0 China
Second Test, Peshawar: Pakistan 3–2 China
Third Test, Lahore: Pakistan 1–1 China
Fourth Test, Karachi: China 2–0 Pakistan

1963 – Pre-Olympic Qualifiers, Tehran and Karachi
Manager: Lt. Col. M. Saleem Khan, Captain: Mohammad Amin
First leg: Iran 4–1 Pakistan
Second leg: Pakistan 1–0 Iran

1964 – Pakistan in China
Manager: Wing Cmdr Asghar Hussain, Coach: Fl. Lt. Atiq Ahmad, Captain: Abid Hussain Ghazi
Pakistan 2–0 China (unofficial Test)

1967 – Saudi Arabia in Pakistan
Captain: Turab Ali
First Test (unofficial): Pakistan 3–1 Saudi Arabia
Second Test (unofficial)Saudi Arabia 4–2 Pakistan (unofficial)
Third Test (unofficial)Pakistan 2–2 Saudi Arabia

1967 – Asian Cup Qualifiers – Rangoon (Burma)
Manager: M.A. Hannan, Coach: Mohammad Amin, Captain: Turab Ali
Burma 2–0 Pakistan
Cambodia 1–0 Pakistan
Pakistan 1–1 India

1967 – RCD Tournament, Dhaka
Turkey 7–4 Pakistan
Iran 2–0 Pakistan

1973 – Pakistan in China
Manager: Maj. M. Husain Malik, Coach M. Amin, Captain: Moula Bakhsh
China 7–4 Pakistan
China 1–1 Pakistan

1974 – Fourth RCD Championship, Karachi
Turkey 1–0 Iran
Turkey 2–2 Pakistan
Iran 2–Pakistan

1974 – Asian Games, Tehran
Iran 7–0 Pakistan
Pakistan 5–1 Bahrain
Burma 5–1 Pakistan

1982 – Quaid-e-Azam National Football Tournament, Karachi
Pakistan Green: Manager: Ibne Ali, Coach: Younus Rana, Captain M. Akbar
Pakistan Blues: Manager: Sq. Ld. Sardar Khan, Coach: Murad Bakhsh
Pakistan Blues 1–1 Nepal
Pakistan Blues 2–1 Bangladesh
Iran 1–0 Pakistan White
Pakistan Blues 2–1 China
Iran 4–1 Pakistan Blues
China 4–1 Pakistan White
Pakistan Blues 0–0 Pakistan White
Pakistan White 0–0 Oman
Pakistan Green 2–1 Nepal
Pakistan Blues 2–1 Oman
Standings: First – Iran, Second –Pakistan Blues (Jr.), Third – Pakistan White

Football was introduced in the Indian Subcontinent during the British Raj.

Football – the beautiful game – has remained a truly global sport for decades. While it often depicts regional competitiveness, it has the capacity of uniting the whole world – even it is only for 90 minutes.

From the broken down alleys of the African and South American slums, to the state-of-the-art gigantic arenas of Western Europe – it is a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry and the heartbeat of sports fans across the world.

Pakistan is no different. This country also shares a colourful, albeit underachieving, football history. Often regarded as the ‘poor man’s sport’, it is strange how despite football’s simplicity and widespread appeal among the masses across the country, the game has failed to reach the same heights as hockey and cricket.

It is not strange to ask a common Pakistani about the national football team and receive a blank stare and a shrug in return. They cannot be blamed given how football has been an obscure sport that not many seem to care about.

To Pakistanis, the global game was like a silent unknown, even unwanted, step-child waiting for attention inside a house already over-populated with other noisy, attention-seeking kids. But without a shadow of a doubt, football should never be considered a ‘foreign’ sport in this country. Its history in these parts is even older than the country itself.

Humble origins
For a game that was introduced to South Asia in the mid-19th Century as a morale-raising exercise for British troops during the British Raj, its simplicity and grace started capturing the imagination of the inhabitants of the Subcontinent. So profound were its effects on British India that 3rd the oldest running football competition, after the English FA Cup and Scottish FA Cup, is the Durand Cup that is still contested annually in India ever since its inauguration in 1888. Initially an annual competition involving the various British regiments based across India, it slowly started allowing local teams, especially from the Bengal region, to take part. Soon in early 20th Century, there were local football leagues centred on Calcutta (Kolkata) and Dacca (Dhaka) that gave the rise of teams like Mohammedan Sporting Club (its branches based across various Bangladeshi cities), Mohun Bagan, and East Bengal. South India, specifically Goa because of its Portuguese influence, also took up the game and established own local competitions.

The African-origin Sheedi community of the Makran coast and areas that now make up Karachi also took up this sport with a love and passion burns across Lyari. —File photo by White Star

In the north-western parts of what is now Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the nomadic and fierce Baloch and Hazara tribes based around Quetta immediately took a liking to the game upon watching it being played. The game’s popularity also spread among the Pakhtuns as well as the Punjabis who took it in their stride. The African-origin Sheedi community of the Makran coast and areas that now make up Karachi also took up this sport with a love and passion burns across Lyari. Local school and college level competitions were introduced as the game evolved in South Asia.

Pakistan emerges
Upon independence in 1947, both East and West wings of Pakistan inherited the football infrastructure, like other sports, based in their respective territories. The need for establishing a nationwide football association was urgent, given that India inherited the erstwhile Calcutta-based Indian Football Association and the All-India Football Federation (AIFF), in order to govern the game properly across Pakistan.

The Pakistan Football Federation hence came into existence on December 5, 1947 and became a full member of FIFA in early 1948 with the Quaid-i-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah its Patron-in-Chief.

One can only speculate if the Quaid actually had a liking for football, given how he spent many years of his life studying and practising law in England when the Football League system was evolving during the late 1880s. In fact, the Quaid’s 1930s extended stay in London coincided with the dominating Arsenal FC side of the legendary Herbert Chapman who masterminded a team that won a remarkable total of 5 Football League First Division titles and 2 FA Cup wins between 1930 and 1938.

In 1948, the PFF organised the first ever National Football Championship held in Karachi between 28th May and 5th June. The first ever national champions were Sindh Red who defeated Sindh Blue in the final. However, any sort of professionalism in the game was non-existent. Pakistan was no different, as the first participants of the National Football Championship used players from local schools, colleges, government departments that coincidentally employed sportsmen, and open trials. Football in these parts was still years behind Europe.

Playing the game barefoot was a norm in South Asia and this practice cost India dearly. India were invited to the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, after their remarkable fourth-place finish at the 1948 London Olympics. The Indian team, however, insisted on playing barefoot and were eventually disqualified by the game’s governing body.

The PFF had a turbulent first two years due to a lack of funds and mismanagement. As a result, the National Championship was not held in 1949. However in early 1950, the PFF was completely restructured and reorganised after a general meeting of the council. Alhaj Khawaja Shahabuddin was made the PFF President and Wing Commander H.A. Soofi elected as the Honorary Secretary. This new look PFF helped bring back the National Championship, this time held in early September 1950 at Quetta where a Balochistan Red team beat Sindh in the final.

Due to infrequent nationwide competitions, it was the norm for Pakistani clubs teams to pursue friendly tours in neighbouring countries each year. Teams from Afghanistan, Iran, India, and Burma would often host Pakistani sides and play friendly matches against them in front of capacity crowds throughout the 1950s and later in the 1960s.

The well-organised Dacca Football League in East Pakistan often attracted the best players from West Pakistan to play professionally in a competition run as a parallel to the National Championships each year.

Fledging national team
The results of the 1950 National Championship helped in the selection of the first ever Pakistan national football team that was to be sent on its first official tour to Iran and Iraq in October 1950 for some much needed international experience.

Under the captaincy of goalkeeper Osman Jan, Pakistan’s first ever official international game resulted in a 5-1 loss at the hands of Iran in Tehran on 27th October 1950 on the occasion of the birthday celebrations of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Very little is known about the scorers of the game because of lost records but what is known is that Pakistani team played the game barefoot which bemused the home crowd which also included the Iranian royal family as guests. Pakistan also played unofficial friendly games with Tehran’s Taj FC (now known as Esteghlal FC), beating them 6-1, as well as a team from Isfahan with whom Pakistan drew 2-2.

Pakistan then travelled to Iraq to play against the Iraqi national team in another official friendly in Baghdad, but the Iraqi FA was not able to gather the full Iraqi side. However, thanks to the intervention of Iraqi FA President Obaid Abdullah, Pakistan ended up playing his Iraqi club Haris al-Maliki (Royal Guards) in an unofficial friendly on 6th November 1950 at Baghdad’s Kashafa Stadium. In front of a 10,000 crowd, Pakistan once again played barefoot but managed to draw the game 1-1 with some good attacking displays, and missed chances, from both sides. The heroics of goalkeeper Osman Jan kept Pakistan from losing in the dying minutes of the game.

The Pakistan team that toured Iran and Iraq included goalkeeper and captain Osman Jan (Sindh), Muhammad Ramzan (Sindh), Muhammad Zaman Shah (Balochistan), Muhammad Hussain (Sindh), Ahmed Ali (Balochistan), Abdul Wahid Durrani (NWFP),Muhammad Yaqoob (NWFP), Muhammad Sharif (Punjab), Saadullah Khan Kaku (Army), Muhammad Qasim (Sindh), Taj Muhammad Jr (Balochistan), Muhammad Shafi (Sindh), Abid (East Pakistan), Haroon (Punjab) and Aziz Saeed Mirza. Khawaja Riaz Ahmed was team manager and Abdul Sattar Kohati as assistant manager.

The apparent success of the national team was expected to have encouraged frequent participation in international friendlies with teams from rest of Asia. However, it wasn’t until early 1952 that the national team were to play again; this time in the newly formed Asian Quadrangular League held at Colombo, Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) which became more commonly known as the Colombo Cup. One won’t be far off thinking that the Colombo Cup was precursor of the now established SAFF Championships.

It was at this tournament that the first ever Pakistan vs India football match took place; an affair that finished surprisingly as a 0-0 draw. In the next game Pakistan recorded its first ever international win, beating hosts Ceylon 2-0, and Pakistan then beat Burma 1-0 and Pakistan and India were declared joint winners of the inaugural Colombo Cup after both sides finished level on points.

The 1950s were a sporadic period in Pakistan’s international football. Because of very limited options available for PFF, international games were very infrequent. Perhaps most importantly, Pakistan could not participate in any World Cup qualification for many years because of such financial limitations as well as political instability inside the PFF that would hinder Pakistani football’s progress for many decades! Pakistan could only compete in the subsequent Colombo Cup editions (Burma 1953, India 1954, East Pakistan 1955) and the Asian Games football tournaments (Philippines 1954, Japan 1958).

The 1955 Pakistan football team.

The national team recorded mixed results by finishing 2nd place behind winners India in each of the three Colombo Cup editions, and narrowly missing out on progressing past the first round in the Asian Games tournaments. Pakistan did record some breathtaking victories that included a 6-0 win over Ceylon in 1953 Colombo Cup, a 6-2 win over Singapore on our Asian Games debut in 1954 thanks to hat trick by Masood Fakhari in a side captained by Pak Army’s Seargent Mohiuddin Kutti, as well as a 4-2 win over Burma in 1955 Colombo Cup thanks to a debut hat trick by Quetta’s very own star Qayyum Ali Changezi in a side that contained Jamil Akhtar as captain.

Already a hero for the Balochistan teams that would win the National Championships in 1956 (and once again later in 1959), the powerfully built yet graceful Qayyum Changezi would become one of the finest footballers of his generation alongside Masood Fakhri, Sergeant Mohiuddin Kutti, Taj Muhammad Sr. & Jr., Jamil Akhtar, Ghulam Rabbani, Turab Ali, Moosa Ghazi, Hussain Killer, Ahmed Ali Phullo, Master Riasat, Ismail Durrani, Abdul Wahid Durrani, Mohammad Yaqoob, Abdul Ghafoor Majna, Abid Ghazi, Mohammad Siddiq, Sunbal Khan, Muhammad Omar, Naimatullah Durrani.

During that time, the PFF became one of the 12 founding members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on 8th May 1954. Pakistan was scheduled to play Afghanistan for the inaugural 1956 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, but both sides withdrew at the 11th hour for unknown reasons. However in late 1959, after an unofficial tour to Burma with a former Scottish goalkeeper turned guest coach/selector named John McBride, Pakistan finally decided to send a team for the 1960 Asian Cup qualifiers hosted by India at Enakulam, Kerala State in which a Qayyum Ali Changezi-led Pakistan played the hosts, Iran, as well then-AFC members Israel twice each.

While only Israel managed to qualify by topping that group, it was a very memorable moment for Pakistan as it managed to record its first victories over Iran (4-1) as well as India (1-0) whilst drawing 2-2 with Israel and finished 3rd place (ahead of hosts India, but behind Iran) in the group.

Could an Israel-Pakistan match be possible today? Given how the Palestinian/Arab-Israeli conflict has eventually gotten a strongly (often irrational) religious tone on both sides as well as around the world in recent decades, one will not be wrong doubting such a match will ever take place.

[To be continued…]

The writer is the chief editor, Pakistan correspondent and forum administrator of FootballPakistan.Com and would like to thank the co-founder, webmaster, and chief editor of FPDC Malik Riaz Hai Naveed, veteran football journalist Riaz Ahmed, and the Pakistan Football Federation for providing information that helped create this article chronicling the history for Pakistani football.

Pakistan football team’s international matches from 1950 to 1959

1950 – Pakistan Tour to Iran (Birthday of Shah of Iran)
Manager: Khawaja Riaz Ahmed, Asstt. Manager: Abdul Sattar Kohati
Iran beat Pakistan 5-1 in presence of Shah of Iran
Pakistan beat Taj FC 6-1 and drew 2-2 against a club from Isfahan

1952 – Ist Asian Quadrangular Tournament – Colombo
Manager: Khawaja Riaz Ahmed, Asst. Manager: Shajahan, Captain: Abdul Waheed
Pakistan 2 – 0 Ceylon
Pakistan 1-0 Burma
India 0 – 0 Pakistan (Final)

1952 – Iran in Pakistan
Captain Abdul Wahid Durrani (Pak)
Iran 3 – 1 Pakistan – Lahore
Iran 4 – 2 Pakistan – Peshawar
Iran 3 – 1 Pakistan – Quetta
Iran 1 – 1 Pakistan – Karachi (this is the only match of tour considered an official friendly by FIFA)

1953 – 2nd Asian Quadrangular Tournament – Rangoon
Manager – Syed Rahman, Captain – Mohammad Sharif
India 1 – 0 Pakistan
Burma 1 – 1 Pakistan
Pakistan 6 – 0 Ceylon
Pakistan 1 – 0 India (Unofficial Charity Match)

1954 – Asian Games
Manila Manager – Khawaja Riaz Ahmed, Asst. Manager – Khadakar, Captain – Sergeant Mohiuddin Kutti
Pakistan 6-2 Singapore
Burma 2-1 Pakistan

1955 – 2nd Asian Quadrangular Tournament – Dhaka
Manager – Abdul Wahid, Asst. F. Karim Chaudhry, Captain Jamil Akhtar
Pakistan 4 – 2 Burma
Pakistan 2 – 1 Ceylon
Pakistan 1 – 2 India

1956 – Pakistan tour to China
Pakistan 1 – 1 Canton XI (Friendly)
Pakistan 2 – 2 China (Test – not counted as official friendly by FIFA/AFC)
Pakistan 0 – 1 Chinese Army (Friendly)
Pakistan 0 – 5 Chinese Youth Team (Friendly)

1958 – Asian Games Tokyo – Japan
Manager – Sharif Khan, Asstt. Manager – Rehman , Captain – Nabi Chaudhry (East Pakistan)
Pakistan 1-3 Taiwan
Pakistan 1-1 South Vietnam

1959 – Pakistan tour to Burma
Manager – Malik M. Hussain, Asstt. Manager K.P Jafar, Captain Masoodul Hassan Pakistan 3 – 2 Burma XI
Pakistan 0 – 1 Burma (not counted as official by FIFA/AFC)
Pakistan 2 – 4 Burma (not counted as official by FIFA/AFC)

1959 – 1960 Asian Cup Qualifiers– hosted in India
Manager – Flight Lt. Ramizuddin, Asstt. Manager – Pir Bakhsh Baloch, Coach – Saeed Mirza – Captain – Qayyum Ali Changezi,
‘Home’ Matches: Pakistan 0 – 1 India, Pakistan 4 – 1 Iran, Pakistan 2 – 1 Israel
‘Return’ Matches: Pakistan 1 – 0 India, Pakistan 1 – 4 Iran, Pakistan 2 – 2 Israel