Ludhiana village’s young footballer finds place in East Bengal Club

Ludhiana: From playing football in field of a government school ground at Dangon village in Ludhiana district to becoming part of the East Bengal Club (Kolkata) team in Indian Football League matches, the success story of a final year student of Gurusar Sadhar College, Manvir Singh (21), has became a source of inspiration for several youngsters in almost 20 villages located adjoining to his village.
After losing his father in early childhood, Manvir was brought up by his mother Nachhatar Kaur, who ran the house and managed the household expenses by giving agriculture land on rent. Hailing from a humble farming background, Manvir dabbled into sports when he was just seven. While studying in the government senior secondary school, Dangon, he was drawn towards football as he watched his seniors playing daily matches with each other on an uneven field.
Aspiring to be an international footballer, he started taking professional coaching from different district coaches across the state. He came into spotlight for the first time when he got selected for all India inter-university matches and secured a gold medal for Punjab in the national football championship after performing exceptionally well throughout the matches of the tournament in 2018.
Later, he also got an opportunity to take part in Santosh Trophy, which paved the way for the trials of the East Bengal team a few months ago. He got selected for the first time in the forthcoming season of the Indian Football League matches, which will kick off in the next few months as dates are yet to be finalised due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Speaking to TOI, Manvir, who is getting himself prepared for this season of the league, said, “After facing financial constraints in the last 10 years, it was a proud moment for me and my family to finally see me securing a position in one of the top teams of I-league matches. It’s a proud moment as I am the only one from my village who excels in football who could get his name registered in professional football league. I have faced several hardships for getting advance training for improving my football skills because there is no advance training at the village level for preparing for the national as well state championships.”
After completing his schooling, Manvir went to Sadhar College to get the best training skills for improving his game and started playing professional football tournaments.
“The college authorities, along with my coach Mohammad Akbar, have really helped me to become a professional footballer. They have always been a guiding force in providing me and guiding through the hard training sessions”. After getting selected, the club would pay me Rs 25,000 per month for fulfilling basic expenses of my life.”
Manvir has played three times in all-India inter-university tournaments and bagged three medals (two silver and one gold) with his continuous and hard working attitude.
His coach of Mohammad Akbar said, “We are happy over the performance of Manvir Singh in the past national and state football championships, which became a major reason for his selection in I-league club matches. His inspiring story is promoting football culture in different villages of Ludhiana district as he had to overcome severe financial hardships in life. His success story will inspire more buddying players of villages to fulfil their dreams as sports is the only way to make the country proud on foreign soil these days.”