Jamil Akhtar

Jamil Akhtar (Urdu: جمیل اختر) was a Pakistani footballer who played as an inside left forward. Considered as one of the earliest pioneering footballers in Pakistan history,^[1] he was the fifth captain in the history of the Pakistan national football team after Osman Jan, Abdul Wahid Durrani, Muhammad Sharif and Moideen Kutty.^[2] Akhtar also played for East Bengal in India.^[3]

Jamil Akhtar

Akhtar in 1974
Personal information
Date of birth	Unknown
Place of birth	British India
Date of death	Unknown
Place of death	Pakistan
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1950–1954	Rangers FC
1950–1953	Punjab
1954–1955	East Bengal
	Pakistan Railways
International career
1952–1955	Pakistan
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Akhtar played for Lahore club Rangers FC throughout his career.^[4] He represented Punjab University football team from 1948 to 1951.^[4] In 1950, he played for Rangers FC at the Rovers Cup in 1951 in Bombay.^[4] He won the Lahore District Soccer Championship with the club in June 1951.^[5] He also represented Punjab in the National Football Championship from 1950 to 1953, captaining the team in the last year.^[4] He also played for Pakistan Railways at the National Football Championship.^[6][7][8][9]

In 1954, he played in India for the Calcutta Football League club East Bengal.^[3] In 1958, Akhtar played for Lahore club Zamindars FC.^[10]

International career

Akhtar with the Pakistan national team in 1953 (second sitting from right)

Akhtar first represented Pakistan in the 1952 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament in Ceylon.^[4] He also played for Pakistan at the 1953 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament.^[11]

He also represented Pakistan at the 1954 Asian Games in the Philippines. In a preparation match, he scored against a Singapore combined Colony XI in a 4–1 victory on 24 April 1954.^[12] He scored a brace in a 6–2 win against Singapore in a group match, where Masood Fakhri had notably scored a hat-trick, and Moideen Kutty also scored a goal.^[13][14]

Akhtar with the Pakistan national team in 1955 (second standing from left)

Akhtar subsequently became the fifth captain in the history of the Pakistan national football team at the 1954 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament,^[2] scoring a goal against Ceylon in a 2–1 victory.^[15]

He also scored in a 4–2 victory against Burma at the next 1955 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament.^[15] At the exhibition matches at the beginning of the tournament, he scored a hat trick against an East Pakistan XI on 14 December in a 3–1 victory.^[15]

Career statistics

International goals

Scores and results list Pakistan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Akhtar goal.

List of international goals scored by Jamil Akhtar

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	25 April 1954	Jalan Besar Stadium, Kallang, Singapore	Singapore		2–2	Friendly	[16]
2	2 May 1954	Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila, Philippines	Singapore	1–1	6–2	1954 Asian Games	[13][14]
3				2–1			[13][14]
4	21 December 1954	Calcutta FC Ground, Kolkata, India	Ceylon		2–1	1954 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament	[15]
5	17 December 1955	Dacca Stadium, Dhaka, East Pakistan	Burma		4–2	1955 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament	[15]

See also

• List of Pakistan national football team captains
• List of foreign players for SC East Bengal