Goal takes a look at the story of how Hyderabad City Police fought toe-to-toe against the Kolkata giants in 1950s and 60s…
The latest edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) saw the revival of football in Hyderabad as top tier football returned to the City of Nizams after nearly five decades with the emergence of Hyderabad FC.
The new ISL franchise saw a decent reception by the city with the stadiums moderately filled during their home games. But once upon a time, Hyderabad used to be a powerhouse for football.
Long before the Cricket, Badminton and Tennis stars, Hyderabad produced several footballers who left their mark in Indian football.
Football became popular in the city during the 1920s and the Hyderabad Football Association (HFA) was formed in 1939 at the initiative of S.M Hadi, who the first secretary of the organisation.
After India’s independence, Shiv Kumar Lal, a police officer with great enthusiasm for sports became the president of the HFA. Lal also contributed majorly in forming the legendary football club Hyderabad City Police in 1941 which went on to become one of the most decorated sides in Indian football.
In their early years, the club had no coaches and the responsibility of managing the club was on skipper and defender Norbert Andrew Fruvall. A sub-inspector in Hyderabad Police force, Fruvall, was instrumental in recruiting some of the finest talents from the city namely, S.K Azizuddin, S.A Latif, SK. Moinuddin and Noor Mohammed who went on to represent the country.
Hyderabad City Police caught everyone’s attention in 1943 during the Ashe Gold Cup final against Royal Airforce. The match was held in Bangalore (now Bengaluru). The Royal Air Force side feature legendary English player Denis Compton. Hyderabad Police came back from behind to register a famous 2-1 win and clinched the title.
Legendary Indian coach Syed Abdul Rahim took charge the team in 1950 a year before Fruvall’s retirement. While Fruvall had laid the foundation of the club, Rahim, with his expertise took the team to a different height altogether in the next few years.
Under Rahim’s tutelage, Hyderabad City Police became one of the finest clubs in the country. Until their decline in the sixties, the club had won nine Rovers Cup, five of them in a row (1950-1954), and four Durand Cup titles.
Rahim announced himself as a fine coach in Indian football in his very first season in charge of the club. Hyderabad City Police faced giants Mohun Bagan in the final of independent India’s first Durand Cup in 1950.
The Hyderabadi club was trailing by two goals but they came back dramatically in the final 10 minutes as G.Y.S Laiq scored a brace. Hyderabad Police then claimed the title by winning the replay 1-0.
Hyderabad Police gained massive popularity across the country thanks to some scintillating performances. They were the new force to reckon wi in Indian football who could challenge the might of the three Kolkata clubs.
While playing the Durand Cup in the national capital, Hyderabad Police made the famous Karim hotel their halting-place, primarily due to the food the hotel offered and also it was close to the Jama Masjid.
When Rahim died in 1963, one of the pioneers of the hotel, Alimuddin Ahmed had flown to Hyderabad to pay homage to the great Indian coach. Such was the impact of Hyderabad City Police on Karim Hotel that the authorities till date give a 50 per cent discount to the former players of the club and their family members.
By the end of the 50s decade, some of the old players decided to hang up their boots but Rahim continued to produce new generation stars like Zulfiqaruddin, Yousuf Khan, Syed Nayemuddin and DMK Afzal.
The team underwent a change in name in the 1960s after the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed and Hyderabad became its capital. The change in name of the police force to Andhra Pradesh Police resulted in the obvious change in the name of the club.
With a new identity, the club continued to dominate Indian football. They won the Rovers Cup in 1960 beating East Bengal in the final. After the first leg ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw, the Police Club won the replay 1-0. A year later they bagged the Durand Cup by getting the better of Mohun Bagan.
1965 was the last time the club won a major national trophy. They bagged the DCM Trophy beating their reserves side Central Police Lines 2-0. The swansong game of the club was in the 1970 DCM final where Andhra Police faced defending Asian Club Championship champions Iran’s Taj Tehran FC, now known as Esteghlal FC who plays in the Persian Pro League.
The Indian side had fought valiantly but failed to match the might of the Asian giants. They had even taken the lead but three late goals spoiled their party.
The club remained a powerhouse for 20 long years and gave the City of Pearls an identity in Indian football and produced several international players.
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