Mohammed Salim

Mohammed Salim
Mohammed Salim (Indian soccer player) with bandaged feet at Celtic FC, 1936
Personnel
birthday	1904
place of birth	Calcutta ,  British India
date of death	5th November 1980
Place of death	Calcutta,  India
position	midfield player
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
	FC Chittaranjan
	East Bengal FC
	Mohammedan Sporting Club
	Celtic Glasgow
	Mohammedan Sporting Club
1 Only league games are given.

Mohammed Salim (* 1904 in Calcutta , British India , † November 5, 1980 in Calcutta, India ) was an Indian football player . Without having played a single competitive game for Celtic Glasgow , he is considered an "Indian juggler" as a cult player of the club.

Career

Mohammed Salim was born in Calcutta , British India , in 1904 . He grew up in a lower middle class family in the Metiaburuz district. After seeing the soccer game between the Calcutta club Mohun Bagans and a British team from the East Yorkshire Regiment in 1911 , he was enthusiastic about the sport. In the following years Salim played for the local clubs FC Chittaranjan and FC East Bengal . With the Mohammedan Sporting Club he won five regional championships by the end of his career. In early 1936 he played in a friendly against a Chinese Olympic team. His cousin Hasheem, who lived in Great Britain and was a guest, sat in the stands as a spectator. He convinced him to come to Europe with him and become a professional footballer. A few days later, the two cousins ​​were already on a ship that was supposed to bring them to London and Glasgow via Cairo . Mohammed Salim was already 32 years old when he arrived in Glasgow. At the Scottish club Celtic Glasgow completed a trial training under Willie Maley in which he had to audition in front of 1000 club members and three other coaches. As usual with Indian soccer players at this time, he played with bandaged feet. Maley offered him the same day to play two friendlies for Celtic. In the first game against Hamilton Academical , Salim made an impressive game in a 5-1 win and scored one goal. After the second game against Galston FC , a 7-1 win, he was hailed as the "Indian Juggler" (Indian juggler). Celtics coach Willie Maley then offered him a contract for the 1936/37 season . Plagued by homesickness, however, he turned down the contract offer. In September 1936 he traveled back to Calcutta.

Salim died in 1980 at the age of 76.

Web links

• Mohammed Salim in the thecelticwiki.com database
• How the first Indian footballer in Europe became a Celtic legend 11freunde.de