Mehtab Hossain

Mehtab Hossain (born 5 September 1985) is an Indian former professional footballer and coach who played as a defensive midfielder.

Mehtab Hossain

Mehtab (bottom right) in 2013 with East Bengal
Personal information
Full name	Mehtab Hossain
Date of birth	(1985-09-05) 5 September 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth	Kolkata, West Bengal
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Madan Maharaj
Youth career
	Food Corporation of India
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2003	Tollygunge Agragami	17	(1)
2003–2006	Mohun Bagan	39	(3)
2006–2007	ONGC
2007–2017	East Bengal	244	(10)
2014–2016	→ Kerala Blasters (loan)	38	(0)
2017–2018	Jamshedpur	12	(0)
2018–2019	Mohun Bagan	11	(0)
2021	Madan Maharaj	5	(0)
International career
2005–2015	India	33	(2)
2019	India (Football 7)
Managerial career
2019–2020	Southern Samity
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

During his career, Hossain has played for both of the Kolkata football giants, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.^[1] He played with East Bengal for ten seasons, winning the Federation Cup three times. He also managed to gain 31 caps for the India national football team between 2005 and 2014, scoring twice for the country. On 2019, Mehtab started his coaching career as manager at Southern Samity in 2019–20 Calcutta Premier Division. He joined Bharatiya Janata Party on 21 July 2020 by taking party flag from BJP president of West Bengal Dilip Ghosh, but within 24 hours he changed his decision and resigned.

Career

Mehtab is a product of IFA's Baby League, which was the brain child of Legendary Football Secretary Shri Prodyut Dutta, which promoted football amongst the children and youth of Bengal.

It was reported in June 2012, that he was on trial with Falkirk,^[2] Airdrie,^[2] and Exeter City FC^[3] on recommendation of his former teammate Alan Gow.

He scored his first goal in the 2012–13 I-League in their penultimate match in the 6–0 win against United Sikkim F.C. on 8 May at Kolkata.^[4] Then he scored in the 5–1 win in Round of 16 match in 2013 AFC Cup match against Yangon United F.C. on 15 May at Kolkata.^[5]

On 2015, Mehtab retired from international duty after being omitted from the 26-man squad for World Cup Qualifiers.^[6]

Mehtab had more than 400 appearances in his career at six Indian clubs.^[7]

East Bengal

Hossain joined East Bengal in 2007. He had 255 appearances for the club over a span of ten years.^[7][8]

Kerala Blasters

On 2014, he was picked by Kerala Blasters FC of Indian Super League on a three years contract.

Jamshedpur

On 23 July 2017, Hossain was selected in the third round of the 2017–18 ISL Players Draft by Jamshedpur for the 2017–18 Indian Super League season.^[9] He made his debut for the club during the first ever match on 18 November 2017 against NorthEast United. He started the match and played 69 minutes as Jamshedpur drew 0–0.^[10]

Mohun Bagan

After ending the season with Jamshedpur, Hossain reportedly decided not to renew his contract with the club since he wanted to return to Kolkata and be near his family.^[11] Despite stating previously that he would like to return to East Bengal, it was reported that he was in talks with Mohun Bagan.^[11] Then, on 22 May 2018, it was officially announced that Hossain had signed with Mohun Bagan, after last playing for them 12 years prior.^[12]

In 2021, he came out of retirement to play for Madan Maharaj FC in the I-League Qualifiers where he is also the mentor.

Honours

India

• SAFF Championship: 2005; runner-up: 2013^[13]
• Nehru Cup: 2012

East Bengal

• Federation Cup: 2007, 2009–10, 2010, 2012^[13]
• Super Cup: 2011^[13]
• IFA Shield: 2012^[13]
• Calcutta Football League: 2010, 2011, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16,^[13] 2016–17

Mohun Bagan

• Calcutta Football League: 2018–19^[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of 27 January 2019^[15]

Club	Season	League			Federation Cup		CFL Premier A		Domestic Cups		Others		AFC		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Tollygunge Agragami	2001–02	NFL	17	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	17	1
	2002–03		0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0
	Tollygunge Agragami Total		17	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	17	1
Mohun Bagan	2003–04	NFL	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0
	2004–05		20	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	20	0
	2005–06		19	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	19	3
	Mohun Bagan Total		39	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	39	3
ONGC	2006–07	I-League 2nd Division	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0
	ONGC Total		0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0
East Bengal	2007–08	I-League	17	1	0	0	7	1	2	0	1[a]	0	6	0	33	2
	2008–09		17	0	4	0	9	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	30	1
	2009–10		25	2	4	1	9	0	3[b]	0	1[c]	0	5	1	47	4
	2010–11		23	1	5	0	14	2	3[d]	0	1[a]	0	5	0	51	3
	2011–12		16	0	4	0	6	0	1[e]	0	—	—	4	0	31	0
	2012–13		23	1	4	0	2	0	2[e]	0	—	—	6	1	37	2
	2013–14		8	0	—	—	1	0	2[e]	0	—	—	4	0	15	0
	2014–15		16	0	4	0	5	0	—	—	—	—	4	0	29	0
	2015–16		14	0	2	0	8	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	24	1
	2016–17		16	0	3	0	8	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	27	0
	East Bengal Total		175	5	30	1	69	5	13	0	3	0	34	2	324	13
Kerala Blasters (loan)	2014	Indian Super League	9	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	9	0
	2015		13	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	13	0
	2016		16	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	16	0
	Kerala Blasters Total		38	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	38	0
Jamshedpur FC	2017–18	Indian Super League	12	0	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	13	0
	Jamshedpur Total		12	0	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	13	0
Mohun Bagan	2018–19	I-League	9	0	0	0	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	11	0
	Mohun Bagan Total		9	0	0	0	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	11	0
Career Total			290	9	31	1	71	5	13	0	3	0	34	2	442	17

1. Appearances in Super Cup.
2. 2 Appearances in IFA Shield and 1 Appearances in Durand Cup.
3. Appearances in E. K. Nayanar Cup.
4. 2 Appearances in Durand Cup and 1 Appearances in IFA Shield.
5. Appearances in IFA Shield.

International stats

India national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2005	3	2
2006	3	0
2011	5	0
2012	6	0
2013	12	0
2014	2	0
Total	31	2[16]