Uttam Rai (born 20 December 1996) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He previously appeared with both the Nepali

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 ...

clubs Friends Kopundole and Sankata Boys.

Early career

Rai was born on 20 December 1996 in Chumbung,

West Sikkim Gyalshing District or Geyzing District is a district of the Indian state of Sikkim. Its headquarter is Geyzing, also known as Gyalshing. The district is a favourite with trekkers due to the high elevations. Other important towns include Pellin ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. In 2007 Uttam joined the Namchi Football Academy, under the ''Search for More Bhaichungs'' program, in which he played 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 ...

for two years. His highlight of the tournament was when he scored four goals in only 35 minutes against Sri Vyas Vidya Mandir, a game Namchi won 13–0. After the 2007 Subroto Cup, Uttam gained a scholarship for Air Force School Football Academy who are based in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

where he stayed for two years. While with Air Force Uttam played in the Subroto Cup and in the DSA School Level League. Uttam played in the Subroto Cup for three seasons scoring 32 goals. He was then selected for the Subroto XI team which would tour Europe. While on tour Uttam received an offer from

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

club

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds t ...

who play in the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 seaso ...

after Rai played two games against them for Subroto XI and scored three goals. However, due to being unable to gain a work permit Uttam came back to India. After coming back to India, Uttam was selected for the India team to play in the Tata Tea Jago Re tournament and travelled with an U16 squad to play some matches and train in

Arsenal Academy The Arsenal Academy was a military academy in Columbia, South Carolina, originally established in 1842 as an independent school by the state of South Carolina. In 1845, the academy became a component of the South Carolina Military Academy (now T ...

. While at the tournament Uttam played against Canada, South Africa and England in first few rounds. India were knocked out after losing 7-5, after a semi-final against Spain. In 2010, Uttam gained a selection to join the

IMG Soccer Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a boar ...

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

with 14 other players from the India U16s. In 2011, Uttam played in the

Dallas Cup The ''Dallas Cup'', is an annual international football tournament for invited youth teams. The tournament was established i1980and is held in Dallas, Texas, with FC Dallas serving as its host club. Venues used for the tournament include the Cot ...

for the India U16s, but it ended early for him as he got injured. One year later after scoring six goals in only four games during the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship qualification Uttam was named as one of the ''Top 10 Players To Watch Out For'' during the

2012 Dallas Cup The 2012 Dallas Cup was the 33rd since its establishment. 12 teams participated in the tournament. The competition was sponsored by Dr Pepper. Participating teams From AFC: * Kashiwa Reysol From CONCACAF: * Tigres * * Dallas Texans * F ...

. However he did not score in any of the three matches for India during the Dallas Cup as India went 0–1–2. In 2013–14, Rai appeared with

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league sy ...

side

Colorado Rush Colorado Rush may refer to: * Colorado Rush, a youth and adult soccer club based in Littleton, Colorado and owned by Rush Soccer ** Flatirons Rush SC, a semi-professional soccer team formerly known as the Colorado Rush SC that competes in USL Leagu ...

Club career

Dempo

Rai made his professional début on 23 May 2015 as 73rd-minute substitute for

Alwyn George Alwyn George is an Indian footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for NorthEast United in the Indian Super League. Career Pailan Arrows Alwyn started his football career with the Tata Football Academy in 2008 and won the Junio ...

in a match against

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 20 July 2013, and began its first ...

. Just four minutes later he scored the equalizing goal in an eventual 1–1 draw after receiving a pass from fellow substitute Mandar Rao Desai.

Sankata Boys

On 12 November 2021, Rai moved to Nepal again and signed with Sankata Boys S.C. for the

2021 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length ...

season. He debuted on 20 November against

Himalayan Sherpa Club Himalayan Sherpa Club is a Nepali professional football club based in the city of Kathmandu (originally from Hattigauda), that competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, top flight of Nepali football. They play at the Dasarath Rangasa ...

, the match ended 1–1. He scored a brace on 27 December in their 3–0 victory against

Brigade Boys Club Brigade Boys Club is a Nepalese professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is t ...

. He scored a total of 5 goals in 12 league matches for the club.

International career

Uttam made his country debut at the under-14 level for India in 2010 during the AFC U14 Football Festival. He then made his debut for the India U16 side on 1 October 2011 in the first match of the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship qualification against Kyrgyzstan and marked it off as he scored 5 goals during that match. Rai then scored again for the India U16s against

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

on 7 October 2011 as India qualified for the

2012 AFC U-16 Championship The 2012 AFC U-16 Championship was the 15th edition of the tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation. The AFC approved Iran as hosts of the championship on 23 November 2011.

. Uttam was in the Indian U19 squad for the

2014 AFC U-19 Championship qualification The 2014 AFC U-19 Championship qualification was the qualification round for the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship, which took place in Myanmar. The draw for the qualifiers was held on 26 April 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Format A total of 40 teams ...

in 2013 where he made 3 appearances.

Personal life

Rai was born in

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 . ...

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 ...

very close to the birthplace of his footballing idol

Baichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often n ...

. He is also a fan of Spanish striker

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

Career statistics

Honours

Dempo *

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 ...

: 2015–16Results & Fixtures: 2nd Division I-League 2016
''i-league.org''. Retrieved 1 March 2021 India U16 *

SAFF U-16 Championship The SAFF U-15/U-16/U-17 Championship is an annual international football competition contested by the national teams of the members of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The first edition was held as ''SAFF U-16 Championship'', where most ...

runner-up: 2011

References

External links

* *
Uttam Rai
at Flashscore {{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Uttam Indian men's footballers 1996 births Living people I-League players I-League 2nd Division players Indian Super League players Dempo SC players Chennaiyin FC players Punjab FC players Indian Gorkhas People from Gyalshing district Footballers from Sikkim India men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Indian expatriate men's footballers Indian expatriate sportspeople in Nepal Expatriate men's footballers in Nepal