Lalrozama Fanai (born 30 November 1991) is a former 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 most recently played as a defender for

East Bengal FC East Bengal Football Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of the Indian football league system. The cl ...

in 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 ...

. He is currently an AFC 'C' licensed, working with

Kerala United FC Kerala United Football Club (formerly Quartz Football Club) is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Malappuram district, Malappuram, Kerala. Founded in 1976 as ''Calicut Quartz'', the club was an amateur and aca ...

Career

Youth

Born in

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 ...

, Mizoram, Fanai started playing football as a school-team player before joining Mizo club, Bawngkawn, where he played in the local leagues till 2004. In 2005, Fanai joined 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, ...

-SAIL Academy where he stayed till 2007. While with the Mohun Bagan Academy, Fanai was a part of the side that won the Indian zone of the

Manchester United Premier Cup The Manchester United Premier Cup is a global youth football tournament that was established by Nike in 1993. History The tournament was established by Nike in 1993 as the Nike Premier Cup and featured 624 teams from 15 European countries. Th ...

before qualifying for the final rounds in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. In 2007, Fanai signed for

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

in which he was a youth player for them from 2007 to 2010.

Pailan Arrows

In 2010, Fanai signed with newly created

Pailan Arrows Indian Arrows (formerly known as Pailan Arrows) is an Indian developmental football team that competes in the Indian national football tiers. They competed in the I-League. The club was formed by the All India Football Federation in 2010, wi ...

(then ''AIFF XI'') of the

. On 3 December 2010 Fanai played in his first professional match in the league against Chirag United which was also the first league match Pailan Arrows history as the club lost 2–1. On 23 October 2011 Fanai scored a goal against

in a league match at the

Salt Lake Stadium The Salt Lake Stadium, officially known as Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), is a multi-purpose stadium, used mostly for football matches, located in Salt Lake City, Greater Kolkata, with a capacity of 68,000 spectators. Named after S ...

in which he found the net in the 8th minute to give his side the lead before losing 3–1.

Mohun Bagan

For the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season Fanai signed with

, the club he spent some of his youth days with. Fanai made his debut for Mohun Bagan in the league on 6 October 2012 against

Shillong Lajong Shillong Lajong Football Club (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya. The club is currently competing in the I-League, the second tier of the Indian football league system, following promotio ...

on the first match of the season in which he started and played the full 90 minutes as Lajong won the match 2–0.

Bengaluru FC

For the 2013–14 season it was announced that Fanai had signed with new direct-entry side

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () (Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು.ಎಫ್.ಸಿ) is an Indian professional football club based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club w ...

. He made his debut for the team on 1 December 2013 in the

against

at the

Bangalore Football Stadium The Bangalore Football Stadium is a association football, football stadium in Bangalore, Karnataka. It has served as a venue in three editions of the I-League, then top-tier football league in the country. The stadium was the home of Bengaluru ...

. He came on in the 24th minute for Keegan Pereira as Bengaluru FC won the match 2–1.

Aizawl

After leaving

, Fanai joined

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 ...

side

. After the side gained promotion to the

, it was announced that Fanai would not be re-signed by the club.

Fateh Hyderabad

Fanai played for

Fateh Hyderabad A.F.C. Fateh Hyderabad Associated Football Club, also known as Fateh Hyderabad FC, is an Indian professional football club based in Hyderabad, Telangana, that last competed in the I-League 2nd Division, then second tier of the Indian football league ...

2016–17 I-League 2nd Division The 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division was the tenth season of the I-League 2nd Division, the second-tier Indian league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2008. The season began on 21 January 2017 and featured 12 teams which ...

Aizawl

He was signed by Aizawl F.C. for

2017–18 I-League The 2017–18 I-League was the 11th season of the I-League. Aizawl were the defending champions. NEROCA entered as the promoted team from the 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division. The season began on 25 November 2017. Minerva Punjab won their first ...

International

During the 2007–08 season, Fanai was called up to the India U19 side but he did not have a passport at the time so he could not play for the side. Fanai's first U19 tournament was the 2010 AFC U-19 qualifiers in Iraq. He also played with the India U23 side during the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

in which he played in one match.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fanai, Lalrozama 1991 births Living people Footballers from Aizawl Indian men's footballers Indian Arrows players Mohun Bagan Super Giant players Bengaluru FC players Aizawl FC players Men's association football defenders I-League players I-League 2 players 21st-century Indian sportsmen India men's youth international footballers Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games Asian Games footballers for India