Jahar Das (born 5 April 1947) is a former Indian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. During his playing days in the 1970s, Das played for teams including Howrah Union,

Aryan FC Aryan Football Club (also known as both Aryans and Aryan; formerly Techno Aryan FC for sponsorship reasons) is an Indian professional multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal, known predominantly for its association football section. The ...

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

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 ...

, and Tata SC.

Playing career

Born in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, Das had played for Port Commissioner and

as a striker. He also played for Howrah Union in 1967,

in 1970, Calcutta Port Trust in 1971, and Tata Sports Club in 1975–76. Das later went on to represent Maharashtra team in

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 ...

between 1972 and 1976. After being called up to the

India national football team The India national football team represents India in men's international Association football, football and is governed by the All India Football Federation, the governing body for Football in India, football in India. It is a member of FIFA, ...

, he was part of their goodwill tour to Russia in 1971. He also played for the Kolkata giants

and

Coaching career

Das began his coaching career managing the

West Bengal football team The West Bengal football team (), also known as IFA Bengal football team or earlier the Bengal football team, is an Indian football team representing West Bengal in Indian state football competitions including the Santosh Trophy. They were th ...

in the

. He then managed Bengal Mumbai from 2002 to 2003. He also briefly coached of the India under-17 side. In 2005, after the departure of

Sukhwinder Singh Sukhwinder Singh (born 18 July 1971) is an Indian playback singer who primarily sings Bollywood songs. He sang " Jai Ho" in the film '' Slumdog Millionaire'', for which he won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Televisi ...

, Das was reportedly one of the candidates put up for the vacant India senior head coach position. However, the position was eventually given to

Syed Nayeemuddin Syed Nayeemuddin (born 1944), known as Nayeem, is an Indian football coach and former player. He played for and captained the India national team.

Jahar Das Delevering His Speech - Inaugural Function - SPORTSMEDCON 2023 - Fortis Hospital - Kolkata 2023-07-16 1838

On 7 December 2005, Das was given the head coaching job at

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

side,

. His first match in charge came in the club's opening NFL game of the season against

Mahindra United Mahindra United Football Club (formerly known as Mahindra & Mahindra) was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 1962, the club competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system, bef ...

, a 0–0 draw. Das was eventually relieved of his duties on 6 March 2006 after Mohun Bagan found themselves in ninth place in the NFL table. Das would return to his previous post at Mohun Bagan as the technical director of their academy. On 20 August 2015 it was announced that Das would become the "Head of Youth Development" at newly promoted

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 ...

club,

Aizawl Aizawl (, American English, US: , British English, UK: ; Mizo language, Mizo: ), formerly known as Aijal, is the capital city and the most populous city of Mizoram, India. It is also the third largest city in northeast India. It is situated ato ...

. Then, on 7 February 2016, after Aizawl sacked head coach Manuel Retamero Fraile, Das was announced as the new head coach.

Peerless SC Peerless Sports Club (formerly known as Peerless FC), or simply Peerless, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1993, the club is owned by Peerless Group and currently competes in the Calcutta Premi ...

created history after winning the 2019–20 Calcutta Premier Division, defeating the three Kolkata giants; the club, managed by Das, emerged as the first ''small side'' since 1958 to win the

Calcutta Football League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by the Indian Football Association (WB) as part of the state leagues. It is the oldest football league in Asia. The CFL ...

top division. He later went on to became the vice-president and head of youth development for AFC 'A' Licence and 'Goalz Coaching Course' by the

All India Football Federation All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

Personal life

Das is a resident of

Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...

, lives at Kasundia. Married to Hasubanu, Das has a daughter named Dolanchapa.

Honours

Manager

Aizawl * Federation Cup runner-up: 2015–16 *

MFA Super Cup MFA may refer to: Organizations * Marine and Fisheries Agency, a former UK government executive agency * Ministry of Foreign Affairs (including a list of ministries with the name) * Movement of the Forces of the Future (), a political party in C� ...

: 2016 *Mizoram Independence Day Cup: 2016 Peerless *

: 2019–20

References

External links

All India Football Federation Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Jahar 1947 births Living people Footballers from West Bengal Mohun Bagan Super Giant players Men's association football forwards Indian men's footballers Indian football managers Mohun Bagan Super Giant managers Aizawl FC managers