Maula Bakhsh

Maula Bakhsh Gotai (Urdu: مولا بخش گوٹائی; 1947 – 30 August 2021), alternatively spelled Maula Bux,^[2] was a Pakistani professional footballer who played as a forward. Bakhsh represented the Pakistan national team from 1964 to 1974, and captained the national team in 1973. He was also one of the first and few Pakistani footballers to play professional football abroad, in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Maula Bakhsh

Bakhsh in 1967
Personal information
Full name	Maula Bakhsh Gotai
Date of birth	1947
Place of birth	Lyari, Karachi, Pakistan
Date of death	30 August 2021 (aged 73–74)
Place of death	Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
60s-70s[1]	Karachi Port Trust
1960s	Pakistan Airlines
1968	Mersin İdman Yurdu	2	(0)
1970	EPIDC
1974–?	Al-Shaab
International career
1965–1973	Pakistan
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

Bakhsh was born in Saifi Lane, in the Lyari locality of Karachi in 1947.^[2][3][4] He started playing football at an early age for the local Saifi Sports Club.^[5] A graduate of Karachi University, Bakhsh played for the NJV School and SM Government Arts & Commerce College school football teams until eventually getting selected for the Karachi Division youth team.^[3]

Club career

West and East Pakistan

Bakhsh played for Karachi Port Trust and Pakistan Airlines departmental teams in the domestic setup in the 1960s. Like several notable players of West Pakistan, Bakhsh represented several clubs in East Pakistan at the Dhaka First Division League, where he played for EPIDC.^[3][6]

Turkey

After making a good impression with the national team in a match against Turkey at the 1967 RCD Cup,^[7] on 6 April 1968, Bakhsh along with national teammate and fellow Lyari resident Abdul Jabbar signed for Turkish First Football League club Mersin İdman Yurdu.^{[2][8][9][10]} Bakhsh made two appearances with the team against Ankara Demirspor and Bursaspor during the 1967–68 Turkish First Football League.^[11] Both stayed at the club for six months.^[12]

Bakhsh had reportedly later claimed that both faced difficulties, and struggled to match the stamina and fitness required for the Turkish football team, due to lack of focus on the players' fitness level in Pakistan at the time.^[13]

United Arab Emirates

During the 1970s, several local leagues were launched across the Middle East, where several Pakistani players represented club sides in these leagues and some of these players even coached the clubs’ new youth setups. Subsequently, Bakhsh moved to the United Arab Emirates, where he featured for Al-Shaab CSC in Sharjah in the mid-1970s, later also coaching the team.^[6][3]

International career

Bakhsh sitting in middle as captain of Pakistan during a tour to China in 1973

Bakhsh represented the Pakistan national football team from 1965 to 1973. Bakhsh captained the national side in 1973, when the national team toured the far east, which included several test matches against local teams and a friendly against China ending in a 4–7 defeat.^[6]

Personal life and death

After retiring from football after his last spell in Sharjah, he settled in the United Arab Emirates,^[3] where he died on 30 August 2021 at the age of 73.^{[citation needed]}

Career statistics

International goals

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

List of international goals scored by Maula Bakhsh

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	15 November 1967	Bogyoke Aung San Stadium, Rangoon, Burma	India		1–1	1968 AFC Asian Cup qualification	[14]
2	10 September 1969	Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey	Turkey	1–0	2–4	1969 RCD Cup	[15]

See also

• List of Pakistan national football team captains