Abahani Limited (Chittagong)

Chittagong Abahani Limited (Bengali: চট্টগ্রাম আবাহনী লিমিটেড), also known as Chattogram Abahani, is a sports club based on Chittagong, Bangladesh. An wing of Abahani Limited was established at Chittagong in 1980 known as Chittagong Abahani.[2] Though it is an wing of Abahani Limited, Chittagong Abahani has its own directorial board & club structure. It is considered as the most successful football club from Chittagong. It is currently a team of Bangladesh Premier League.

For the Dhaka football team, see Abahani Limited (Dhaka). For the cricket team, see Abahani Limited cricket team.

Full nameChittagong Abahani Limited[1]
Nickname(s)Blue Pirates
(Bengali: ব্লু পাইরেটস)
Short nameCAL
Founded10 October 1980 (1980-10-10)
GroundMA Aziz Stadium
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Capacity20,000
OwnerSaif Powertec Limited
President M. Abdul Latif
Head Coach Maruful Haque
LeagueBangladesh Premier League
2019–20BPL, 2nd of 13

The team was relegated from Bangladesh Premier League in 2010–11 season. It again gained the promotion to Premier League by becoming champion of the 2013 Bangladesh Championship League.[3] The club host Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup, a bi-annual tournament in memory of their founder, Sheikh Kamal.[4] They won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2015.[5] The club won their first major domestic trophy in 2016 by winning the 2016 Independence Cup under the guidance of Slovak coach Jozef Pavlik.[6] Chittagong Abahani had a fierce rivalry with Chittagong Mohammedan earlier in Chittagong Premier League and later in Bangladesh Premier League.

History

1980–2000: Beginnings

In late 1970s, Didarul Alam Chowdhury was inspired by the Dhaka-based club Abahani Limited Dhaka. He is a football organizer from Chittagong. Didarul wanted to establish an wing of Abahani in Chittagong for the betterment of Sports in Chittagong. He convened a meeting with other local organizers on 10 October 1980. With the meeting, Chittagong Abahani officially started its journey.

Iqbal Khan, popular footballer of Chittagong and father of Tamim Iqbal & Nafees Iqbal, played a vital role Chittagong Abahani's inception.[7] He also played for Chittagong Abahani. Chittagong Abahani won their first-ever Chittagong League title under his captaincy.[7]

2000–2014: Initiation at Top Level

Chittagong Abahani qualified for the 2000-01 National Football Championship by crowning 1999 Chittagong League title. The team finished 3rd in the NFC season. In 2001-02 National Football Championship, Ctg Abahani finished at Super Four. Chittagong Abahani also became runners-up twice of Chittagong League in 2000s decade.

In 2007, Bangladesh Football Federation started B. League (now Bangladesh Premier League), country's first professional football league. Chittagong Abahani was one of the founding teams of the league. After struggling in the first three seasons, Ctg Abahani relegated to Bangladesh Championship League in 2010–11 season.

The port city outfit finished at the bottom in their first BCL season. However, there was no relegation system for second tier in that time which saved the team from demotion. The Blue Pirates made a strong comeback in next season becoming Champion of 2013-14 BCL & came back to top tier. Chittagong Abahani finished at 9th in 2014-15 BPL, their returning season to top tier.

2015–present: Beginning of The Revolutionary Era

In November 2014, Tarafder Ruhul Amin of Saif Powertec Limited became chairman of Chittagong Abahani Directorial Board.[8][9] Saif Powertec Limited becomes new sponsor of Chittagong Abahani.

In 2015, Chittagong Abahani organised inaugural edition of Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup at M. A. Aziz Stadium, Chittagong before the 2015-16 domestic season.[10] It was the first international club tournament at Chittagong since 1982. Chittagong Abahani won the tournament beating Kolkata giant East Bengal in final.[11] The huge attendance of the final broke all the recent records. The port city outfit gave their arrival message as a rising giant with this tournament.

In May 2016, Chittagong Abahani won 2016 Independence Cup under their first ever foreign coach Jozef Pavlik.[12] It was the first domestic major trophy of the club history. Chittagong Abahani finished at 2nd in 2016 BPL, their best result ever.[13] They signed Bangladesh national team Captain Mamunul Islam, Bhutan international Chencho Gyeltshen, former Haiti international Fabrice Noel & Leonel Saint Preux for this season.

Chittagong Abahani also become runners-up of 2017 Independence Cup, 2017 Federation Cup & finished 3rd in 2017-18 BPL.[14] However, the Blue Pirates performed down in 2018–19 season as they knocked out from both tournaments in quarterfinal & obtained 8th position in the league.

Maruful Haque Era

Current squad

Chittagong Abahani Ltd. squad for 2019–20 season.

As of 25 November 2019

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 GK Mohammad Nehal
2 DF Mohammad Rockey
3 DF Shawkat Russel
4 MF Manik Hossain Molla
5 DF Monjurur Rahman Manik
6 DF Nasirul Islam Nasir
7 MF Rakib Hossain
8 MF Kpehi Didier Brossou (Captain)
9 FW Nixon Guylherme
10 MF Matthew Chinedu
11 MF Mohammad Shohel Rana
12 MF Koushik Barua (3rd captain)
14 MF Monaem Khan Raju (2nd captain)
15 MF Shafiqul Islam
16 MF Saker Ullah
17 MF Mannaf Rabby
No. Position Player
18 MF Zahed Parvez Chowdhury
19 MF Kawsar Ali Rabbi
20 FW Shakhawat Hossain Rony
21 DF Ashik Ahammed
22 GK Azad Hossain
23 DF Monir Alam
24 DF Ikbol Bobohonov
25 DF Shukurali Pulatov
26 DF Saddam Hossain
28 MF Mynul Islam
30 FW Shakib Chowdhury
32 DF Rashed Hossain
33 GK Mohammad Nayeem
35 DF Apu Ahammad
40 GK Nasarul Islam

Personnel

Current Technical Staff

As of November 2019

Position Name
Head Coach Maruful Haque
Assistant Coach Tajuddin Taju
Goalkeeping Coach Mohammad Poniruzzaman
Physio Fuad Hasan Hawlader
Team Manager Arman Aziz

Coaches

Board of Directors

As of January 2020.

Position Name
President M. Abdul Latif
Vice-president Tarafder MD Ruhul Amin
General Secretary Shamsul Haque Chowdhury
Director Mahbubul Alam
Secretary (Football Committee) Shakil Mahmud Chowdhury

Team records

Head coach's record
As of 15 March 2020
Zulfiker Mahmud Mintu was assistant coach & head coach of the club for more than 3 years
Coach From To P W D L GS GA %W
Shafiqul Islam Manik 10 August 2015 January 2016 5 4 0 1 12 6 080.00
Jozef Pavlík 30 March 2016 21 September 2016 16 8 5 3 26 17 050.00
Zulfiker Mahmud Mintu 21 September 2016 31 December 2016 15 11 2 2 23 8 073.33
Saiful Bari Titu 9 January 2017 4 January 2018 29 18 6 5 40 23 062.07
Zulfiker Mahmud Mintu 4 January 2018 3 August 2019 38 10 14 14 38 41 026.32
Maruful Haque October 2019 Present 14 9 1 4 29 16 064.29

Top Scorers by Season
As of 4 April 2020
Season Player BPL Federation Cup Independence Cup Total Goals
2017-18 Tawhidul Alam Sabuz 8 0 1 9
2018–19 Momodou Bah 6 2 3 11
2019-20 Nixon Guylherme 4 1 – 5

All-time Top Scorers of The Team

Since 2017–18 season.

Bah is the current top scorer of the club since 2017
Ranking Name Years Goals
1 Momodou Bah 2018-19 11
2 Tawhidul Alam Sabuj 2017-18 10
3 Nduka Alison 2017-18 6
4 Zahid Hossain 2017-18 5
Magalan Ugochukwu 2018-19
Afeez Olawale Oladipo 2017-18
Nixon Guylherme 2019–
5 Nkwocha Kingsley Chigozie 2019 4
Matthew Chinedu 2019–
Kpehi Didier Brossou 2019–
6 Sohel Mia 2018-19 3
Shakhawat Rony 2017-18, 2019-

Source: Soccerway

All-time Top scorers in BPL

Since 2017–18 season.

Ranking Name Years Goals
1 Tawhidul Alam Sabuj 2017-18 8
2 Momodou Bah 2018-19 6
3 Nduka Alison 2017-18 4
Nkwocha Kingsley Chigozie 2019
Zahid Hossain 2017-18
Nixon Guylherme 2020–
7 Afeez Olawale Oladipo 2017-18 3
Sohel Mia 2018-19
Magalan Ugochukwu 2018-19
Matthew Chinedu 2020–
Didier Brossou 2020–

Source: Soccerway

  • As of 4 April 2020.

Most appearances in BPL

Since 2017–18 season:

Ranking Name Years App.
1 Mufta Lawal 2017-19 39
2 Monir Alam 2018- 29
3 Koushik Barua 2017- 28
Monaem Khan 2018-
5 Mohammad Nehal 2017- 27
6 Momodou Bah 2018-19 24
7


Daniel Tagoe 2018-19 23
8 Arup Kumar Baidya 2018-19 21
Ashraful Islam 2017-18
Sahed Hossain 2018-19

Source: Soccerway

  • As of 4 April 2020.

Recent Seasons
Season League Level Position Movements
1998-99 Chittagong

League

 Regional

Top Tier

 1st qualified for

2000 NFC

2000-01 NFC 1st Tier 3rd of 8
2001-02 NFC 1st Tier Super Four

(3rd of 48)
2003-04 Chittagong

League

 Regional

Top Tier

2nd of 10
2005-06 Chittagong

League

 Regional

Top Tier

 2nd
2007–08 BPL 1st Tier 10th of 11
2008–09 BPL 1st Tier 8th of 11
2009–10 BPL 1st Tier 11th of 13
2010–11 BPL 1st Tier 12th of 12 Relegated
2011–12 BCL 2nd Tier 7th of 7
2012–13 BCL 2nd Tier 1st of 8 Promoted
2013–14 BPL 1st Tier 8th of 10
2014–15 BPL 1st Tier 9th of 11
2015–16 BPL 1st Tier 2nd of 12
2017–18 BPL 1st Tier 3rd of 12
2018–19 BPL 1st Tier 8th of 13
2019-20 BPL 1st Tier 2nd of 13 (league abandoned)

Source: RSSF

Stadium

The M. A. Aziz Stadium with 25000-plus capacity is the home venue of Chittagong Abahani. They play their home matches of BPL in this stadium. They also organise Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup, a biannual international football tournament, at this stadium.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors
Period Kit Manufacturer Shirt Sponsor
2015–2017 Unknown Saif Powertec Limited
2018–2019 Unknown Saif Power Battery
2019– Noor Enterprise

Honours

League

Cup

Invitational

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries whilst playing for Chittagong Abahani.

References
  1. "BFF".
  2. "Bangladesh – Abahani Limited Chittagong". Soccerway.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Sheikh Kamal Int'l Club Cup football tournament kicks off Oct 20". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  5. "Hasina says Chittagong Abahani created history in Bangladesh football". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  6. "Chittagong Abahani win Independence Cup". The Daily Sun. 8 May 2016. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017.
  7. "বাবার দেখানো পথে | বাংলাদেশ প্রতিদিন". Bangladesh Pratidin. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  8. প্রতিনিধি, ইসমত মর্জিদা ইতি, বিশেষ (2 December 2018). "ব্যবসা ও ক্রীড়াঙ্গনে সফল মানুষ তরফদার রুহুল আমিন". পাঠক নিউজ (in Bengali). Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  9. "সফল ব্যবসায়ী থেকে দুর্দান্ত ফুটবল সংগঠক". www.sahos24.com. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  10. "ইস্ট বেঙ্গলকে হারিয়ে চট্টগ্রাম আবাহনী চ্যাম্পিয়ন". NTV Online. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  11. "ইস্ট বেঙ্গলকে হারিয়ে শিরোপা জিতল চট্টগ্রাম আবাহনী". www.bhorerkagoj.com. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  12. "টিকে থাকবে তো চট্টগ্রাম আবাহনী?". প্রথম আলো (in Bengali). Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  13. "প্রিমিয়ার লিগের চ্যাম্পিয়ন ও রানার্সআপ দুই আবাহনী ট্রফি পাচ্ছে আজ". The Daily Sangram. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  14. https://www.jugantor.com/todays-paper/sports/4300/%E0%A6%9A%E0%A6%9F%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AE-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%AA-%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%96-%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B2
  16. "Chittagong Abahani introduce new foreign coach". www.observerbd.com.
  17. "চট্টগ্রাম আবাহনীতে টিটু". প্রথম আলো.
  18. "Maruful, the tactical mastermind | Dhaka Tribune".
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