Ashraf Chowdhury ( bn, আশরাফ চৌধুরী; 1935 – 28 December 1998) was a former

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

football player and coach.

Early career

Ashraf was born in

Daudkandi Upazila Daudkandi ( bn, দাউদকান্দি) is an upazila of Comilla District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Geography Daudkandi is located at . It has 77,102 households and a total area of 376.23 km2. which is located at the ...

Comilla District Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, is a district of Bangladesh located about 100 kilometres south east of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. On 14 August 1947, he played for Lalmonirhat High School during an exhibition match against East Pakistan Railway. His performances led him to represent the eventual runners-up, Gaibandha Town Club, in the

Cooch Behar Cup The Cooch Behar Cup was an Indian football tournament held in Kolkata and organised by the Indian Football Association. Incorporated in 1893, it was one of the oldest football tournaments in Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most ...

in India in 1949. During the tournament, he played alongside Goda Rashid of

Wari Club Dhaka Wari Club Dhaka ( bn, ওয়ারী ক্লাব ঢাকা) is an association football club from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It currently competes in the Bangladesh Championship League (BCL). Wari Club is the oldest football club of Banglades ...

, who later brought Ashraf to the Dhaka-based club.

Club career

In 1950, Ashraf joined Wari Club; however, he departed after being benched for the first three games. Eventually, he was brought to

Dhaka Mohammedan Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited Dhaka, founded in 1936 at Dhaka, is one of the oldest and one of the most popular football clubs in Bangladesh, with a support base in all parts of the country. The club currently plays in the Bangladesh Premi ...

by coach Abdus Sattar in the same year. Ashraf repaid his coach's faith by scoring in his Dhaka League debut against Wari Club. He returned to Wari in 1951 and remained at the club for two seasons. In 1954, after spending a year at Fire Service, Ashraf joined

Dhaka Wanderers Club Dhaka Wanderers Club ( bn, ঢাকা ওয়ান্ডারার্স ক্লাব) is a football team from Dhaka, Bangladesh. They are one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Bangladesh. The Wanderers dominated the domestic ...

. He won the league title with the Wanderers in both 1954 and 1955. Ashraf also represented the club in the

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association. The IFA is the governing body of football in the state of West Bengal, came into existence in 1893. Named after the association, the IFA Shield t ...

during both years. However, after a fallout with the club's officials, Ashraf, along with nine other Wanderers players, joined Dhaka Mohammedan in 1956. In 1957, Ashraf was made Mohammedan's captain, and in the same year, he led the club to its first league title. The following year, the attacking trio of

Kabir Ahmed Kabir Ahmed is a Major General of Bangladesh Army and Commandant, School of Infantry and Tactics. He served as Military Secretary to Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina. Prior to join Prime Minister's office, he was posted at Directorat ...

, Mari Chowdhury, and Ashraf helped Mohammedan reach the quarter-finals of the IFA Shield. In the quarter-final against

Kolkata Mohammedan Mohammedan Sporting Club is an Indian multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Its football team competes in I-League, the second-tier of Indian football, as well as in Calcutta Football League (CFL), the oldest football league in As ...

, the Dhaka side lost 0–3, with Ashraf missing the majority of the game due to injury. In 1959, he was the league's top scorer with 16 goals, including three hat-tricks, and again helped Mohammedan win the league title. In the same year, the club won the

Aga Khan Gold Cup The Aga Khan Gold Cup was a tournament played in Dhaka, Bangladesh which invited the top club sides from leading football playing nations of Asia to compete. Many renowned football pundits regard this competition as a predecessor of AFC Champion ...

, with Ashraf scoring in a 2–0 victory over KMC in the final. Ashraf scored a total of 56 goals in all competitions that year. He remained club captain until 1960, during which the Black and Whites became one of the strongest teams on the continent.

International career

Ashraf made his debut for the East Pakistan football team at the National Football Championship held in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest ...

in 1954. He was a regular face in the team until 1959, with his only absence being in 1958 due to an injury. In 1957, he played an integral role alongside

and Mari Chowdhury as the East Pakistan White team finished runners-up in the National Championship held in

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

. During the tournament, he scored a hat-trick against

Pakistan Navy ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Qur'an, 3:173'') , type ...

in a 5–2 victory, with the other goals being scored by Kabir Ahmed and

Nabi Chowdhury Nurunnabi Chowdhury ( bn, নুরুন্নবী চৌধুরী; 1934 – January 2003), better known as Nabi Chowdhury, was a former Bangladeshi association football, football player and the first East Pakistani or Bengalis, Bengali to ...

. In the final against Punjab, Ashraf got injured in the first leg and was replaced by SA Jamman Mukta in the replay, which was won 2–1 by Punjab. In 1959, he was part of the team that again finished runners-up after being defeated by Balochistan 0–1 in the final held in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

on 7 November 1959. Ashraf was one of the six Bengali played present in the Pakistan national team at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games. The team, tied the first game 1–1 with South Vietnam and lost its final game 1–3 to the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northea ...

. Prior to the tournament, he participated in exhibition matches against the likes of

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Coaching career

Following his retirement from playing in 1963, Ashraf distanced himself from football until

general secretary Moinul Islam appointed him as the club's head coach in 1975. Ashraf guided the club to consecutive First Division titles in 1975 and 1976. In his second stint as head coach in 1978, Ashraf again helped the Black and Whites win the league title. In 1981, he coached

Arambagh KS Arambagh Krira Sangha is a Bangladeshi sports club based in Dhaka, that competes in the Dhaka Senior Division Football League, the third-tier of football in Bangladesh. History Arambagh Krira Sangha were formed in Dhaka way back in 1958. Origi ...

to a runners-up finish in Nepal's

ANFA Cup The ANFA Cup refers to a series of invitational association football knockout tournaments organised by the All Nepal Football Association. Both National football teams as well as football clubs participated in the past. History Although Nepal h ...

. In 1998, Ashraf guided Prantik KC to the Dhaka Second Division League title.

Death

On 28 December 1998, only two weeks after receiving the

National Sports Award National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, Ashraf died at the age of 63. A local football tournament is regularly held in his memory in

Honours

Player

Mohammedan SC * Dhaka First Division League: 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963 *Independence Day Cup: 1958, 1959, 1961, 1963 *

: 1959 Dhaka Wanderers * Dhaka First Division League: 1954, 1955 *Independence Day Cup: 1955 East Pakistan White *

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

runner-up: 1957 East Pakistan *

runner-up: 1959

Manager

Mohammedan SC * Dhaka First Division League: 1975, 1976, 1978 Prantik KC * Dhaka Second Division League: 1997–98

Early career

Club career

International career

Coaching career

Death

Honours

Player

Manager

Individual

References

Bibliography

Further reading