Gilbertson Sangma (born 12 April 1955) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

. He played as a striker. Sangma was regarded as "Man with golden boot" by the leading daily ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'' because of his skill, agility and stamina.

Playing career

Sangma received early lessons of football at the Assam Police Reserve in

Dergaon Dergaon (IPA: ˈdɜːˌgɑ̃ʊ) is a town and a municipality in the Golaghat district of Assam, India. It is 282 km from the state capital Guwahati. ''Bhaxar Oja'' Hemchandra Barua, the compiler of '' Hemkosh'' (the earliest Assamese-En ...

Assam

In 1973, he began his senior career in the Inter District Football Championships by representing Golaghat. He was selected immediately in the Assam state team for the

Santosh Trophy The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), th ...

. In 1974–75, he scored the goal that knocked out the defending champions

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

and took Assam to the quarter-final. He represented the state team in seven seasons from 1973 to 1980 in Santosh Trophy.

Assam Police

After joining the

Assam Police The Assam Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Assam in India. The regular police force was initiated in Assam by the British after the Treaty of Yandaboo to maintain the law and order. It functions under the Department of Hom ...

he became a regular player of the Assam Police AC since 1972. In 1981, Sangma guided Assam Police AC to win the

Bordoloi Trophy The Bharat Ratna Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Trophy, commonly known as Bordoloi Trophy, is a premier annual Indian football tournament held in Guwahati and organized by the Guwahati Sports Association (GSA). The tournament was founded in 1952 by ...

, where he scored the winning goal in final against the mighty

Dempo SC Dempo Sports Club is an Indian professional football club based in Panaji, Goa. The club currently competes in the I-League, the second tier of the Indian football league system, and the Goa Professional League. Dempo is owned and sponsored by ...

of Goa. He helped the team to lift several trophies including coveted Bordoloi Trophy, Independence Day Cup and

ATPA Shield The Assam Tea Planters' Association Shield, commonly known as the ATPA Shield Football Tournament or ATPA Shield, is an Indian annual football tournament held in Jorhat, Assam and organised by the Jorhat District Sports Association (JDSA). It i ...

International career

In 1975, Sangma was picked in the Indian team for three International friendly matches in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

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 ...

Personal life

Sangma retired from Assam Police as a top official. After retirement, he is regularly associated with different local football activities in Guwahati.

References

{{reflist 1955 births Living people Indian men's footballers People from Dibrugarh district Footballers from Assam India men's international footballers Garo people Men's association football forwards