A Barefoot Indian in Glasgow

AFTER WINNING THE league title in 1936, the Mohammedan players had a break. The next tournament, the IFA Shield, was still some days away. Around this time, the Chinese Olympic side visited Calcutta to play a couple of exhibition matches. The first match was against an All-India XI and the second against a select civil and military side. These matches were the first international football matches played in Calcutta/ India. Salim was picked to represent the IFA team for both matches. He did so with distinction in the first match, evi­dent from the reports published in Amrita Bazar Patrika:

Dr. Chi Chao yung, the Official in charge of the Chinese Olympic team has issued the following statement:

…To begin with—allow me to congratulate most heartily the members of the India side for their wonderful display of good footwork.

In the course of the game they showed per­fect understanding and exceptional speed. It was most unlucky that they did not come out the winners. The forwards, Salim, Rahim, Bhattacharjee and Abbas were exceptional in their display. They certainly had given us one of the hardest, if not the hardest, struggles dur­ing our tour. Although I have not seen enough games played in India to make me a compe­tent judge, yet based on that exhibition game I feel quite safe to say that the standard of foot­ball in India is in no way inferior to that of anywhere in the Orient.

Before the second match, Salim was nowhere to be seen. The police were solicited to look for him. Advertisements were inserted in newspapers asking him to join the Civil and Military XI immediately. Nothing came of these efforts because Salim was on his way to Scotland:

All of a sudden, Salim had vanished. He was with his friend Hasheem in the ‘City of Cairo’, on his way to England. Having seen his exceptional display against the Chinese, Hasheem urged Salim to try his hand at European football. He was convinced Salim would make a mark in Europe, demonstrating in the pro­cess that Indians were in no way inferior to the Europeans.

Hasheem was so persuasive that Salim sailed with him for England. After a few days in London, Hasheem took him to Glasgow. Salim was surprised to note that all Celtic players were professionals. However, when asked whether he would be able to compete with them, he nodded in ap­proval. Salim’s confidence encouraged Hasheem to speak to Willie Maley, the Celtic manager: “A great player from India has come by ship. Will you please take a trial of his? But there is a slight problem. Salim plays in bare feet.”

Maley laughed. The idea of a barefooted amateur from India competing against Scottish professionals was difficult to entertain. But Hasheem was persistent and the Celtic manager finally agreed to give Salim a tri­al. However, he emphasised the need to seek special per­mission from the Football Federation for someone playing in bare feet. If the federation gave its nod, he would give Salim a trial. Permission was eventually granted and Salim was asked to demon­strate his skill before 1,000 club mem­bers and three registered coaches. He had never faced a trial like this before and was understandably nervous. The coaches took him to different corners of the ground and asked him to dem­onstrate his skill in six different ways. When Salim finished his demonstra­tion, they were astonished. Salim, the shy Indian, then asked Hasheem to seek permission to demonstrate three fur­ther styles of play. The coaches were stunned. Eventually, they were con­vinced that an exceptional talent had arrived in Scotland. They decided to include him in the playing XI against Hamilton. Thus began his short stint at Celtic FC.

In his first match against Hamilton, he was in great form and Celtic won the match 5:1. In his second match against Galston, Celtic won 7:1 and his performance led the Scottish Daily Express of August 29, 1936 to carry the headline: ‘Indian Juggler—New Style’. Salim was also of­fered a professional contract to play in Germany. However, he was determined to return to India in time for the 1937 Calcutta Football League.

Despite his exceptional achievements, Salim has been ignored or accorded limited recognition in the history of Indian sport.

(This is the last of a two-part column)

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