Shamsul Alam Manju (; born 14 March 1955) is a Bangladeshi former professional

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 coach.

Early life

Born in Jamalpur on 14 March 1955, Manju spent majority of his childhood in Tejgaon,

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

Club career

Early career

Manju began his football career as a striker for Tejgaon Friends Union in the

Dhaka Third Division Football League Dhaka Third Division Football League (), officially known as Bashundhara Group Third Division (U-17) Football League due to sponsorship reasons and change of format, is the fifth-tier association football, football league in Bangladesh, as well a ...

. Following the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, Manju participated in the Independence Cup in 1972 as a guest player for the First Division club, Bangladesh Government Press SRC. However, he eventually joined Dhanmondi Club in the

Dhaka Second Division Football League The Dhaka Second Division Football League () is the fourth-tier association football, football league in Bangladesh and the second-highest league division in Dhaka. It was officially founded in 1948 as the league below the Dhaka First Division F ...

, playing as a right-winger.

Dhaka Abahani

In the same year, with league football canceled across all divisions, Manju joined

Abahani Krira Chakra Abahani Limited Dhaka (), also referred as Dhaka Abahani or Abahani Limited, is a Bangladeshi professional football club based in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club currently competes in the Bangladesh Premier League, the top ...

on the recommendation of

Jahangir Shah Jahangir Shah Badshah (born 19 July 1949) is a Bangladeshi former cricketer who played in five One Day Internationals from 1986 to 1990. He is sometimes known on scoresheets by his nickname Badshah. Shah made his debut in the national side in 19 ...

. He won the Shahid Smriti Football Tournament held in Faridpur, playing as a center-back. In 1973, he permanently converted into a right-back while playing for Abahani and the following year won both his and the club's innaugural First Division League title, while playing alongside his older brother

Monwar Hossain Nannu Monwar Hossain Nannu (; 27 August 1948 – 16 February 2008) was a Bangladeshi football player during the 1970s and early 1980s. Initially, he played as an attacking midfielder for Abahani Krira Chakra in the First Division. Following an injury ...

. Following a dispute with Abahani's team manager,

Sheikh Kamal Sheikh Kamal (5 August 1949 – 15 August 1975) was a Bangladeshi politician, athlete and military officer. He was the eldest son of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh, and the younger brother of Sheikh Hasina, who would ...

, over his salary, Manju departed the club. On 9 November 1973, Manju represented Comilla XI in an exhibition match against Dinamo Minsk at

Comilla Stadium Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium (), also known as Comilla Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Comilla, Bangladesh. It served as home venue of football clubs Dhaka Mohammedan and Abahani Limited Dhaka during the 2021–22 Banglades ...

during the Soviet club's tour of Bangladesh.

Mohammedan SC

In 1975, Manju joined Mohammedan Sporting Club and in the same year the Black and Whites won their first league title following the country's independence. Manju also made headlines during Mohammedan's 4–0 victory over his former club Abahani in the Dhaka Derby. He was reported to have passed the ball to Abahani's manager, Sheikh Kamal during the game, while shouting, "Khelo, khelo, akhon tomra khelo....amader char goal hoye geche ar koto khelbo?" (). In 1978, Manju was appointed captain of Mohammedan. During a league game against

Dilkusha SC Dilkusha Sporting Club (), also referred to as Dilkusha SC, is an association football club based in the Dilkusha area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club currently competes in the Dhaka Second Division League, the fourth-tier of Bangladeshi Football ...

, he walked out, climbing the fence into the stands in protest. This was because club officials, not coach

Ashraf Chowdhury Ashraf Chowdhury (; 1935 – 28 December 1998) was a former Bangladeshi football player and coach. Early career Ashraf was born in Daudkandi Upazila of Comilla District, British India. On 14 August 1947, he played for Lalmonirhat High School du ...

, selected the starting eleven. Despite this, Manju faced no punishment due to pressure from Mohammedan fans. Ultimately, Mohammedan became league champions under his captaincy.

Rahmatganj MFS, Mohammedan & Wari Club

Manju departed Mohammedan for Rahmatganj MFS in 1979, claiming to have left the club for a higher salary. He captained the

Old Dhaka Old Dhaka () is a term used to refer to the historic old city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was founded in 1608 as Jahangirabad or Jahangirnagar (), the capital of Bengal Subah, Mughal Province of Bengal and named after the Mughal em ...

club from 1980 to 1983. During his time there, he notably got into a physical altercation with

Shahidur Rahman Shantoo Shahidur Rahman Chowdhury (; born 17 November 1947), known by his nickname Shantoo, is a former Bangladeshi football player and manager. Club career In 1966, after giving his SSC examination in Rangpur, he moved to Dhaka. His football career st ...

during a league game against Mohammedan. In 1984, Manju returned to Mohammedan, however, left the club within a year due to another dispute with the officials. On 14 July 1985, he retired while playing for

Wari Club Wari Club () is an association football club from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It currently competes in the Bangladesh Championship League (BCL). Wari Club is the oldest football club in Bangladesh, established in 1898. The club's motto is ''One heart on ...

during a league game against Mohammedan at the

Dhaka Stadium National Stadium, Dhaka () is a multipurpose sports arena and the national stadium of Bangladesh. Located in the Motijheel area of Dhaka, it is predominantly used for football matches and serves as the home venue for the Bangladesh national foo ...

International career

Manju captained the Bangladesh U19 team during the

1975 AFC Youth Championship The 1975 AFC Youth Championship was held in Kuwait. Teams The following teams entered the tournament: * * * * * * * * * * * * * (host) * * * * * * Note: Sri Lanka withdrew before the draw. Group stage Group A Group B ...

held in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

. In the same year, he featured for the Bangladesh national team in the

1975 Merdeka Tournament The 1975 Merdeka Tournament was the nineteenth edition of the annual football tournament hosted by Malaysia. It took place from 29 July to 17 August 1975 with eight participating nations. Venues Group stage ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ...

. Manju initially retired after participating in the 1976 King's Cup in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

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 ...

. However, he was later convinced to return to the national team for the

1978 Asian Games The 8th Asian Games (), also known as Bangkok 1978 (), were held from 9 to 20 December 1978, in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally, the host city was Singapore but Singapore dropped its plan to host the Games due to financial problems. Then Islamabad, ...

by coach Werner Bickelhaupt. He remained in the squad even though his brother,

, and four other top names withdrew due to a captaincy conflict between Nannu and

. In 1982, Manju was appointed captain of the Bangladesh Red team, which was the senior national team during the

Bangladesh President's Gold Cup The Bangladesh President's Gold Cup () was an international football tournament held annually from 1981 to 1993 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It succeeded the Aga Khan Gold Cup which was held in a similar format. The tournament has seen both the national ...

. The team played with a strong defensive structure under coach Abdur Rahim, securing a goalless draw with

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 ...

and losing by a single-goal margin against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Coaching career

Manju served as the team manager of Rahmatganj MFS in 1986, and the following year, he acted as coach-cum-manager of the club. In 1990, he was the head coach of the Bangladesh U19 team at the 1990 AFC Youth Championship qualifiers held in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. The team failed to qualify for the main round, while notably claiming a 1–1 draw against South Korea U19 and recording a 4–1 victory over Pakistan U19.

Personal life

Manju was the brother younger brother of the

late Late or LATE may refer to: Everyday usage * Tardy, or late, not being on time * Late (or the late) may refer to a person who is dead Music * ''Late'' (The 77s album), 2000 * Late (Alvin Batiste album), 1993 * Late!, a pseudonym used by Dave Groh ...

, and played alongside him in defence for

in 1974. The two brothers notably captained two of the country's biggest teams in 1978, Manju marshalling Mohammedan SC while Nannu led Abahani. In April 2016, Manju accused former teammate and

Bangladesh Football Federation Bangladesh Football Federation (, ''Bānglādesh fūṭbôl fēḍārēshôn'') is the governing body that administers the sport of association football in Bangladesh. It is in charge of running the country's men's and women's national teams, ...

(BFF) president,

Kazi Salahuddin Kazi Salahuddin (; born 23 September 1953) is a Bangladeshi former football player currently serving as the president of South Asian Football Federation. He previously served as the president of Bangladesh Football Federation from 2008 to 2024. ...

, of being a serial gambler and also stated that he had submitted a complaint to

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

about BFF's irregularities.

Honours

Abahani Krira Chakra * Dhaka First Division League: 1974 Mohammedan SC * Dhaka First Division League: 1975, 1976, 1978 * DMFA Cup: 1984 Individual *1982 − Sports Writers Association's Best Footballer Award. *2009 − National Sports Award.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manju, Shamsul Alam Living people 1955 births Bangladeshi men's footballers Bangladesh men's international footballers Bangladesh men's youth international footballers Asian Games footballers for Bangladesh Footballers at the 1978 Asian Games Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club players Rahmatganj MFS players Abahani Limited Dhaka players Mohammedan SC (Dhaka) players Men's association football defenders Bangladeshi football coaches People from Jamalpur District Footballers from Mymensingh Division 20th-century Bangladeshi sportsmen 20th-century Pakistani sportsmen