Shamsul Alam Manju

Shamsul Alam Manju

Manju's 1985 retirement game for Wari Club
Personal information
Full name	Shamsul Alam Manju
Date of birth	(1955-03-14) 14 March 1955
Place of birth	Jamalpur, East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh)
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Full back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1970	Tejgaon Friends Union
1972	BG Press SRC
1972	Dhanmondi Club
1972–1974	Abahani Krira Chakra
1975–1978	Mohammedan SC
1979–1983	Rahmatganj MFS
1984	Mohammedan SC
1985	Wari Club
International career
1975	Bangladesh U19
1975–1982	Bangladesh
Managerial career
1987	Rahmatganj MFS
1990	Bangladesh U19
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Shamsul Alam Manju (Bengali: শামসুল আলম মঞ্জু; born 14 March 1955) is a Bangladeshi former professional football player and coach.

Early life

Born in Jamalpur on 14 March 1955, Manju spent majority of his childhood in Tejgaon, Dhaka.

Club career

Manju began his football career as a striker for Tejgaon Friends Union in the Dhaka Third Division Football League.

Following the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, Manju participated in the Independence Cup in 1972 as a guest player for the First Division club, Bangladesh Government Press SRC. However, he eventually joined Dhanmondi Club in the Dhaka Second Division Football League, playing as a right-winger.

In the same year, with league football canceled across all divisions, Manju joined Abahani Krira Chakra on the recommendation of Jahangir Shah. He won the Shahid Smriti Football Tournament held in Faridpur, playing as a center back. In 1973, he permanently converted into a right-back while playing for Abahani and the following year won both his and the club's first Dhaka League title, while playing alongside his older brother Monwar Hossain Nannu. Following a dispute with Abahani's team manager, Sheikh Kamal, over his salary, Manju departed the club.

In 1975, Manju joined Mohammedan Sporting Club and in the same year the Black and Whites won their first league title following the country's independence. Manju also made headlines during Mohammedan's 4–0 victory over his former club Abahani in the Dhaka Derby. He was reported to have passed the ball to Abahani's manager, Sheikh Kamal during the game, while shouting, "Khelo, khelo, akhon tomra khelo....amader char goal hoye geche ar koto khelbo?" (lit. 'Play, play, now you play. We have four goals, how much more will we play?').

In 1978, Manju was appointed captain of Mohammedan. During a league game against Dilkusha SC, he walked out, climbing the fence into the stands in protest. This was because club officials, not coach Ashraf Chowdhury, selected the starting eleven. Despite this, Manju faced no punishment due to pressure from Mohammedan fans. Ultimately, Mohammedan became league champions under his captaincy.

Manju departed Mohammedan for Rahmatganj MFS in 1979, claiming to have left the club for a higher salary. He captained the Old Dhaka club from 1980 to 1983. During his time their, he notably got into a physical altercation with Shahidur Rahman Shantoo during a league game against Mohammedan. In 1984, Manju returned to Mohammedan, however, left the club within a year due to another dispute with the officials. On 14 July 1985, he retired while playing for Wari Club during a league game against Mohammedan at the Dhaka Stadium.

International career

In 1973, Manju represented both Dhaka XI and Abahani Krira Chakra during two frienly games against Dinamo Minsk during the Soviet club's Bangladesh tour.

Manju captained the Bangladesh U19 team during the 1975 AFC Youth Championship held in Kuwait. In the same year, he featured for the Bangladesh national team during the Merdeka Cup. Manju initially retired after participating in the 1976 King's Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. However, he was later convinced to return to the national team for the 1978 Asian Games by coach Werner Bickelhaupt. He remained in the squad even though his brother, Monwar Hossain Nannu, and four other top names withdrew due to a captaincy conflict between Nannu and Shahidur Rahman Shantoo.

In 1982, Manju was appointed captain of the Bangladesh Red team, which was the senior national team during the Bangladesh President's Gold Cup. The team played with a strong defensive structure under coach Abdur Rahim, securing a goalless draw with Iran and losing by a single-goal margin against South Korea.

Coaching career

Manju served as the team manager of Rahmatganj MFS in 1986, and the following year, he acted as coach-cum-manager of the club. In 1990, he was the head coach of the Bangladesh U19 team at the 1990 AFC Youth Championship qualifiers held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The team failed to qualify for the main round, while notably claiming a 1–1 draw against South Korea U19 and recording a 4–1 victory over Pakistan U19.

Personal life

Manju was the brother younger brother of the late Monwar Hossain Nannu, and played alongside him in defence for Abahani Krira Chakra in 1974. The two brothers notably captained two of the country's biggest teams in 1978, Manju marshalling Mohammedan SC while Nannu led Abahani.

In April 2016, Manju accused former teammate and Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president, Kazi Salahuddin, of being a serial gambler and also stated that he had submitted a complaint to FIFA about BFF's irregularities.

Honours

Abahani Krira Chakra

• Dhaka League: 1974

Mohammedan SC

• Dhaka League: 1975, 1976, 1978
• DMFA Cup: 1984

Individual

• 1982 − Sports Writers Association's Best Footballer Award.
• 2009 − National Sports Award.

Bibliography

• Dulal, Mahmud (2020). খেলার মাঠে মুক্তিযুদ্ধ (transl. Liberation war in the playground) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon. ISBN 978-984-8218-31-0.
• Alam, Masud (2017). ফুটবলের গল্প ফুটবলারদের গল্প (transl. The story of football the story of footballers) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon. ISBN 9789849134688.