Mumbai: Masood Fakhri, former Pakistani International footballer passed away in Bangor, Wales on September 6, 2016 at the age of 83 years. Fakhri, also his country’s first player to play in English Football League, played in Calcutta (Now Kolkata) from 1952 to 56 for East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting clubs.
For a country like Pakistan, which is obsessed with cricket like its neighbours and stands at 194th position in the FIFA World Ranking as of December 14, 2016 (Pakistan’s lowest), this legend is often forgotten. His legacy proves him to be one of the finest footballer Pakistan might have ever produced.
Fakhri was born near Toba Tek Singh in 1932. And at the age of 17 years, he started playing football and was given the honor to represent Pakistan when he was just a 20 year old boy in a four-nation tournament in Colombo.
He represented Pakistan from 1952-56. In his career he played some very important matches. While playing in the quadrangular tournament he scored two goals against India one each in 1954 (Calcutta) and 1955 (Dhaka).
Fakhri went ahead and scored the first hat-trick in the Asian Games,1954 at Manila against Singapore. Pakistan won 6-2 and he had scored four goals to become the first player from the subcontinent to do so.
He also played for different clubs and won different trophies for the them at a lot of different tournaments.
He played for East Bengal in 1952, 1953, 1954. In his career he scored 24 goals. (13 in Culcutta Football League, 2 in Romanian Youth Festival, 3 in TFA Shield, 6 in DCM Trophy/Tounament)
His contribution made the club win a lot of Trophies, CFL – 1952, Durand Cup – 1952, DCM Trophy – 1952
In his first season, Fakhri played a key role as the ‘Red and Gold’ won the Calcutta Football League (CFL). In those days, the Durand Cup, Asia’s oldest football tournament, was on of the top attraction for clubs in the national football calendar.
Fakhri was a part of the East Bengal Team that toured Europe in 1953 in Romanian Youth festival, Bucharest and USSR.
In his first two Derby appearances he scored the winning goal vs Mohun Bagan. East Bengal won 1-0 on both occasions. First East Bengal player to score 4 goals in the DCM Trophy in 1952 vs Presidents Estate. He played for Mohammedan Sporting in 1955 and 1956. The total goals scored by him were 14 (All in CFL). He made the team win Rovers Cup in 1956.
During this time period, the young forward was at the peak of his career. He had been a star for the Pakistan national team and the clubs he played for in the preceding years.
Finally on August 8, 1965, Fakhri arrived in England and played for Bradford City in the Third Division until he prematurely quit football due to personal reasons in 1957.