Kabir Ahmed (footballer)

Kabir began his career with Town Club in the Barishal First Division in 1951. When he was 17, Kabir moved to Bengal Government Press and won the Dhaka League. In 1953, Kabir he represented Governors XI in a friendly match against Kolkata Mohammedan, and in 1955, he moved to Dhaka Wanderers. Kabir became league champions with The Wanderers in his lone season there, and the following year, alongside many of his teammates, he moved to Mohammedan SC after a falling out with the club's authorities. At Mohammedan, Kabir became league champions six times and also won the prestigious Aga Khan Gold Cup twice. In 1958, the The Black and Whites led by their attacking trio of Mari Chowdhury, Ashraf Chowdhury and Kabir; reached the quarter-finals of India's IFA Shield. Kabir represented East Pakistan at the National Football Championship between 1955 and 1959. He captained the team in 1959 when they finished runners-up. He retired in 1967 following a serious knee injury.[3]

Kabir was among the six East Pakistani footballers in the Pakistan national team at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan and was also appointed as vice-captain.[4] Before the tournament he played practice matches in Singapore and Malaysia. In 1959, he toured Burma and later that year also participated in the 1960 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, in Kochi, India. His last international tour came the following year, under a fellow East Pakistani, head coach Sheikh Shaheb Ali, as Pakistan finished fourth place in the Merdeka Cup.[5]

In 1966, Kabir joined the East Pakistan Sports Federation. Kabir alongside coaches Sheikh Shaheb Ali and Chunna Rashid were in-charge of recruiting players for the East Pakistan football team from different districts. In 1972, he was appointed as the first ever head coach of Abahani Krira Chakra.[6]

In 1979, he joined the Bangladesh Football Federation and in the same year he was appointed general manager of the national team under head coach Anwar Hossain during the 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.

In 2001, he received the National Sports Awards, for his contribution to the country's football.

Kabir died on 3 January 2019, at the age of 83. Following a Stroke in 2001, he had been paralyzed for 17 years prior to his death.[7] He was buried in the Azimpur graveyard, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.[8][9]

BG Press

• Dhaka League: 1952

Dhaka Wanderers

• Dhaka League: 1955

Mohammedan SC

• Dhaka League: 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966
• Aga Khan Gold Cup: 1959, 1964
• Independence Day Cup: 1957, 1958, 1961, 1963

East Pakistan White

• National Football Championship runner-up: 1957

East Pakistan

• National Football Championship runner-up: 1959

• Dulal, Mahmud (2014). পাকিস্তান জাতীয় দল বাঙালি খেলোয়াড় (transl. Bengali players in the Pakistan national team) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon.[10]
• Alam, Masud (2017). ফুটবলের গল্প ফুটবলারদের গল্প (transl. The story of football the story of footballers) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon. ISBN 9789849134688.
• Dulal, Mahmud (2020). খেলার মাঠে মুক্তিযুদ্ধ (transl. Liberation war in the playground) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon. ISBN 978-984-8218-31-0.