Majid Beshkar (; born ) is a retired

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian 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 ...

. He is best known for his contributions towards the Indian football clubs

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

Mohammedan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muhamm ...

, both based in the city of

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

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 ...

. He was popularly known as "Badshah" in Calcutta Maidan. An

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, Bishkar also played as a forward in a 4–2–4 formation, and guided SC East Bengal to win the Indian Federation Cup in 1980. He represented the Iranian national football team at the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Earlier career

At club level, Majid began his career in his hometown of

Khorramshahr Khorramshahr (; ) is a city in the Central District of Khorramshahr County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is also known in Arabic by the local ethnically Arab population as Al-Muhamma ...

with Rastakhiz FC and then moved to the Tehran province League with Shahin Tehran FC as a forward, where he played until 1979.

Career in India

During the 1970s he moved to

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

in India to study. On seeing his performance for the university in the North Zone Inter University championship, Bishkar was signed by

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 ...

along with other Iranian players Jamshid Nassiri and Mahmud Khabbasi. The 1980 Federation Cup was his debut tournament with the Red and Golds, where he won the tournament with them. In the same season, East Bengal also won the

Rovers Cup The Rovers Cup was an annual football tournament held in India, organized by the Western India Football Association. Incorporated in 1890, it was the third oldest tournament in India after Trades Cup. History Rovers Cup was incorporated by s ...

where he played a key role.

signed him shortly afterwards. He was known as ''Majid Baskar'' in India, a mispronunciation and misspelling which led to difficulties for both Iranian and Indian officials in unveiling the true identity of Majid. Bishkar played imaginative football throughout and was primarily instrumental in East Bengal's winning the

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, and was named after the association. The IFA Shield to ...

(joint winners) and Darjeeling Gold Cup. In the Shield final, he set up CB Thapa to score a magnificent goal after playing four wall-passes with others. At the Darjeeling Gold Cup too, he was unstoppable and was the main prop behind the Red and Golds 3–2 triumph over Mohun Bagan. Overall, Bishkar netted 33 goals for the Red and Gold brigade. He switched to Mohammedan Sporting Club in 1982, guiding them to a range of trophies including

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 ...

and

. Majid was instrumental for the first win against

Mohun Bagan AC Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest multi-sports clubs in Asia. The club has various sports departments like association football, footb ...

in 1983 Federation Cup also helping to lift the trophy in the final. This win came after late sixties in any form of tournament. After a brief hiatus at a time when he was surrounded by controversies, he was last seen playing for Mohammedan SC in 1987. He was relatively unknown in Iran, with both Iranian football journalists and officials being unaware that Majid had previously plied his trade in India. Due to troubles in his homeland, he eventually got addicted to narcotics and led a bohemian lifestyle. After a few other unsuccessful stints in other parts of India, he moved back to Iran. He is still considered one of the best foreigners in the history of Indian club football. He has a nickname ''"Badshah"'' which he got while playing in Kolkata Maidan. Bishkar cast a magical spell during two seasons at East Bengal and then at Mohammedan Sporting, but as he returned to

in 2019, after more than three decades, nobody had forgotten the Badshah.

International career

Bishkar was included in the

Iran national football team The Iran national football team (), recognised as IR Iran by FIFA since 2018, represents Iran in men's international senior Association football, football and is governed by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI). At the cont ...

for the

. Iran made its debut

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

appearance after defeating

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. Iran lost two of three group stage matches against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, and Iran's journey ended early for the group stages.

Personal life

After his brief stint with two

giants, Bishkar moved to Iran in the 1980s and currently live in

Khuzestan province Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's R ...

, with his family. On 1 October 2020, he was admitted to a hospital after a heart attack.

Honours

East Bengal * Federation Cup: 1980 *

: 1980 Mohammedan Sporting *Federation Cup: 1983–84, 1984–85 *

: runner-up: 1982 *

: 1984; runner-up: 1982, 1983 *Sait Nagjee Trophy: 1984 * Bordoloi Trophy: 1985; runner-up: 1983 *

DCM Trophy The Delhi Cloth Mills Trophy, known simply as D.C.M. Trophy, was an invitational football tournament in India. It was held annually in New Delhi and was organised by the Delhi Cloth Mills tournament committee. It was India's first football tourn ...

: runner-up: 1982, 1983 *

Darjeeling Gold Cup All India Darjeeling Gold Cup, also known as All India Brigade of Gorkha's Gold Cup Football Tournament, or simply GTA Chairman's Gold Cup, is an Indian football tournament held in Darjeeling and organized by the Indian Darjeeling Gorkha Hill S ...

: 1984 Individual * East Bengal "Best Foreign Player Award": 2019

References

External links

*
Planet World CupStats
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishkar, Majid 1956 births Living people Iranian men's footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players Iran men's international footballers Iranian expatriate men's footballers East Bengal Club players People from Khorramshahr Men's association football midfielders Expatriate men's footballers in India Iranian expatriate sportspeople in India Calcutta Football League players Footballers from Khuzestan province 20th-century Iranian sportsmen