Anirudh Thapa (born 15 January 1998) is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club Mohun Bagan.

Club career

Early life and youth career

Thapa was born in

Dehradun, Uttarakhand Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, ...

, where he started his schooling at St. Joseph's Academy. He began playing football at the age of 10 at the St. Stephen's Football Academy in

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

. After spending time with the India U14 side, he was selected to join the AIFF Regional Academy in Kalyani in 2012. As he moved up the national youth team ranks, Thapa moved into the AIFF Elite Academy where he became captain of the side in the

I-League U19 The Youth League is a system of youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the All India Football Federation. It consists of 3 age groups competitions: U17 (AIFF Youth League), U15 (Junior League) ...

. In April 2016 Thapa, along with four other players, was selected to join French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

side

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on a short training stint which was sponsored by

side Chennaiyin.

Indian Super League

Chennaiyin

On 1 July 2016, ISL club Chennaiyin signed Thapa along with four other players on a long term deal. Thapa was named in the squad as a developmental player for the 2016 Indian Super League season. In November 2016, due to an injury to Dhanachandra Singh, which ruled the midfielder out for the rest of the season, Thapa joined the Chennaiyin squad as a replacement. He made his professional debut for the team on 1 December 2016, in his side's final match of the season against

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

. He started the match and played 67 minutes which ended in a 5-4 loss. He almost scored his first goal but unfortunately it was given as an own goal.

I-League

Minerva Punjab (loan)

On 27 December 2016, after the conclusion of the 2016 Indian Super League season, Thapa signed for Minerva Punjab of the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

on loan for the 2016–17 I-League season. He made his debut for the club against Mohun Bagan on 17 January 2017 in a 4-0 loss. On 4 February 2017, he scored his first professional goal of his career against

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

in a 2-1 win, which also was the club's first ever win in the top flight. He made his last appearance for the club on 23 April 2017, against

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

. He finished the season with 1 goal while playing 14 matches, as the club finished second from bottom in the league, avoiding relegation to the

I-League 2nd Division The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

only by head-to-head points to

Return to Chennaiyin

2017–18 season

Thapa returned to Chennaiyin on 31 May 2017, after his loan spell with Minerva Punjab. He was named in the squad for the 2017–18 Indian Super League season which commenced from 17 November 2017. He made his first appearance of the season against Pune City on 3 December 2017, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Bikramjit Singh in a 1-0 win. He scored his first goal for Chennaiyin against

NorthEast United NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded on ...

in a 3-1 loss. On 25 January 2018, he produced a man of the match performance against defending champions ATK for which he received great plaudits. Former Chennaiyin head coach John Gregory even stated Thapa "as the next big thing in Indian football". On 10 March 2018, he scored his second goal of the season against

in the 1st leg of the semi-final playoffs. He played in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

on 17 March 2018, against Bengaluru, coming on as a substitute as Chennaiyin won by the margin of 3-2, thus winning him his first league title.

2018–19 season

After his breakthrough season, 2018–19 Indian Super League season was a learning curve for Thapa, who was a regular fixture in the starting line-up. Chennaiyin, with just nine points, finished a lowly 10th on the points table. His form, perhaps, took a hit because of the non-stop football he has played for the past 12 months. He played 18 matches for the club in that season, from which he started 12. He also made 8 appearances for the club in the 2019 AFC Cup, scoring a deflected goal against Abahani on 30 April 2019, but Chennaiyin failed to qualify from the group stage.

2019–20 season

After a disappointing last season, Chennaiyin qualified for the playoffs by finishing 4th on the points table. Thapa was the centre of their resurgence as he amassed 1 goal and 6 assists during the 2019–20 Indian Super League season. However Chennaiyin lost in the

to ATK by the margin of 3-1 on 14 March 2020. After the conclusion of the season, Thapa stated that "he felt an improvement in his individual game".

2020–21 season

On 24 November 2020, Thapa scored in the first league match of the 2020–21 Indian Super League season, in 52 seconds against

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

to become the first Indian goal-scorer of the season. On 4 December 2020, he was injured and substituted in the 16th minute against Bengaluru. He took a knock to his right ankle He was forced to sit out the 2-1 loss against Mumbai City on 9 December 2020. Fortunately for the club, Thapa returned to full training ahead of its Indian Super League match against NorthEast United on 13 December 2020.

2021-22 season

For the 2021–22 Indian Super League season, Thapa was assigned as the captain of the club. On 29 November 2021, Thapa scored the winning goal against Northeast United as his team won 2-1.

Mohun Bagan

Thapa Left his former club and joined Mohun Bagan

International career

Thapa first represented India at the U14 level. He was part of the U16 side that won the 2013 SAFF U16 Championship and participated in the qualifiers for the AFC U16 Championship. Thapa then went on to represent the U19 side in the SAFF U19 Championship. On 6 January 2019, Thapa scored his first ever international goal in a 4–1 win against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup (or commonly called the Asian Cup 2019) was the 17th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international association football, football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ...

. He scored the second goal against the same opponent in 2019 King's Cup which

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

won 1–0.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list India's goal tally first.''

Honours

Mohun Bagan *

Durand Cup The Durand Cup (also called the IndianOil Durand Cup Powered by Coal India Limited for sponsorship reasons) is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hosted by the ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Premiership: 2023–24 Chennaiyin *

: 2017–18; runner-up 2019–20 India *

SAFF Championship The SAFF Championship (erstwhile SAARC Gold Cup and SAFF Gold Cup), is the primary association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the South Asian Football Fede ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

; runner-up:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

* Tri-Nation Series:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

* King's Cup third place:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * AIFF Men's Emerging Footballer Of The Year: 2017–2018, 2019–20 * Indian Super League Hero of the Month: February 2023

References

External links

*
Anirudh Thapa
at the-AIFF.com
Anirudh Thapa
at India Super League {{DEFAULTSORT:Thapa, Anirudh 1998 births Living people Sportspeople from Dehradun Footballers from Uttarakhand Indian men's footballers 21st-century Indian sportsmen India men's international footballers Chennaiyin FC players Minerva Academy FC players Mohun Bagan Super Giant players Men's association football midfielders Indian Super League players India men's youth international footballers Indian Gorkhas 2019 AFC Asian Cup players 2023 AFC Asian Cup players I-League players