Sonam Bhutia (born 26 January 1994) is an 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Machhindra FC in the

Martyr's Memorial A-Division League Martyr's Memorial A-Division League (Nepali: शहीद स्मारक ए- डिभिजन लिग; formerly known as the Kathmandu League Championship) is the top divisions of football in Nepal. Contested by 12 to 16 clubs, it operat ...

Career

Early career

Born and brought up in Shotak,

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligu ...

, Sonam Bhutia is a product of the

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex national sports body of India, established in 1982 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of Government of India for the development of sports in India. SAI has 2 Sports Academic institutio ...

Namchi Namchi is a city and the administrative headquarter of the Namchi district in the Indian state of Sikkim. The appellation Namchi means ''Sky (Nam) High (Chi)'' in Sikkimese. Geography Namchi is located at . It has an average elevation of . ...

. He was part of the SAI squad that participated in the

Subroto Cup Subroto Cup International Football Tournament is a prestigious international inter-school association football, football tournament that is held annually in New Delhi, India. The tournament held annually since 1960, is named after the Indian Air ...

in 2008. Though his team lost in the semi-final stage, Sonam who played in central defense got a scholarship for good performance. Bhutia had a brief stint at the Mohun Bagan SAIL Football Academy. When Mohun Bagan SAIL Football Academy went to participate in a tournament at

, Shyam Thapa spotted Sonam and selected him for the

Durgapur Durgapur () is a planned tier-II urban agglomeration and a major industrial city in Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the fourth largest urban agglomeration after Kolkata, Asansol and Siliguri in West Bengal a ...

based Mohun Bagan Academy. However, after 4 months, Sonam went back to Namchi because of his schooling. Though Sonam got offer from United Sikkim around 4–5 years back, he joined the club in 2012 after completing his studies and played there for a couple of seasons. He represented

in the

Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state football leagues in India, state-level association football, football competition contested by the L ...

for 3 consecutive seasons from 2009 onwards. He also appeared in the 2018–19 National Football Championship (73rd edition of Santosh Trophy), in which

qualified for the final round for the first time since 2004. He was selected in the U-23 Indian Camp held at

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

last year, but due to passport issues, he was not kept in the final squad. He also appeared with Ulkha Football Club of

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...

, at the Siliguri Super Division League.

United Sikkim

Bhutia made his debut for United Sikkim FC on 24 January 2013 during an

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the win ...

match against

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

at the

Salt Lake Stadium The Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK; ), commonly known as the Salt Lake Stadium, is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium located in Bidhannagar, with current capacity of 85,000 spectators. Named after Swami Vivekananda, the stadium f ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

in which he came on as a 69th-minute substitute for

Sandesh Jhingan Sandesh Jhingan (born 21 July 1993) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender for the Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the Indian national team. He won the AIFF emerging player of the year award in 2014 and made his ...

; United Sikkim drew the match 0–0. In March 2013, Nathan Hall managed United Sikkim went to

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...

for training. With the team, Bhutia played three friendly matches against local sides Drukpol FC, Yeedzin and Zimdra, at the

Changlimithang Stadium Changlimithang Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan, which serves as the national stadium. It is predominantly used for football matches and is the home of the Bhutan national football team, other national selections and numb ...

in Thimpu. From July to August 2013, he went to Bhutan again and participated in

2013 King's Cup The 2013 King's Cup was an international football competition, the 42nd edition of the tournament. It was a two-round knockout tournament, with all matches held at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai, Thailand between 23 January and 26 J ...

, in which they moved to the knockout stages. In the first semi-final, United Sikkim lost 2–4 to Manang Marshyangdi of Nepal.

Mohun Bagan

In August 2014, Sonam joined

, and appeared in the

Calcutta Football League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by Indian Football Association (WB), under state football leagues in India. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is off ...

Mohammedan

On 2 August 2016, it was announced that Bhutia had signed with

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 Muham ...

. He was part of the team, that clinched 36th Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup, defeating Jhapa XI of Nepal 1–0 at the

Paljor Stadium Paljor Stadium (also spelled Palzor Stadium) is a football stadium located in Gangtok, Sikkim, India. The stadium is currently home to Sikkim Premier Division League clubs. It holds 30,000 people. The stadium also hosts matches of the Sikkim ...

Langsning

On 1 July 2017, Bhutia moved to

Shillong Premier League The Shillong Premier League (currently known as Officer's Choice Blue Shillong Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is a top state-level football league in Indian state of Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from S ...

side

Langsning SC Langsning SC is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya. The club competes in Shillong Premier League and has previously competed in I-League 2nd Division, then second tier of football in India. History Langsning SC i ...

Southern Samity

In July 2021, he moved to another

side Southern Samity.

Machhindra

In December 2021, Bhutia moved to Nepal and signed with

side Machhindra F.C. on a season-long deal. He debuted on 2 January 2022, in their 1–0 win against

Nepal Police Club Nepal Police Club (formerly known as Mahendra Police Club) is a sports club owned and managed by Nepal Police. The club competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, the top flight of Nepali club football. History Established in 1952 a ...

. Later Machhindra lifted the league trophy and earned a spot in the

2022 AFC Cup The 2022 AFC Cup was the 19th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). This season was the last in an all-year-round (spring-to-autumn) schedule; from 2023 the competi ...

qualifying play-offs. On 5 April, Machhindra appeared in the match against

Blue Star Blue star or bluestar may refer to: * O-type star (a.k.a. blue star), a stellar classification Animals * ''Linckia laevigata'', a sea star from the Indian and West Pacific Oceans * ''Phataria unifascialis'', a sea star from the East Pacific Bus ...

of Sri Lanka at the Dasharath Rangasala Stadium but bowed out of the tournament losing 2–1.

Career statistics

Club

''Statistics accurate as of 12 May 2013''

Honours

United Sikkim *

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind India ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Sikkim Premier Division League The Sikkim Premier League is a highest state-level football league in Sikkim, India, organised by Sikkim Football Association. It started with 8 teams in 2011. United Sikkim FC is the only team to have won two consecutive and three league ti ...

: 2013; runner-up 2014 Mohun Bagan * Federation Cup: 2015–16 Mohamedan Sporting * Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup: 2016 Macchindra *

: 2021–22

References

External links

*
Sonam Bhutia
at Hamrokhelkud *
News on Sonam Bhutia
at ''Facebook'' (Goalie365) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhutia, Sonam Indian footballers 1994 births Living people People from Gangtok district Footballers from Sikkim I-League players United Sikkim F.C. players Mohun Bagan AC players Mohammedan SC (Kolkata) players Machhindra F.C. players Association football defenders Indian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Nepal