Nirmal Chettri

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Nirmal Chettri
East Bengal
in 2011
Personal information
Full name Nirmal Chettri
Date of birth (1990-10-21) 21 October 1990 (age 33)
Place of birth Melli, Sikkim, India
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Southern Samity
Number 3
Youth career
2000–2005 Namchi Sports Hostel
2005–2006 Sports Academy of Sikkim
2006 Sikkim
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Air India
2008–2012
East Bengal
125 (8)
2012–2013
Mohun Bagan
33 (3)
2013–2014
Mohammedan
(loan)
12 (2)
2014–2015 Kerala Blasters 12 (0)
2014–2015
Dempo
(loan)
16 (0)
2016-2018
NorthEast United
25 (0)
2017
DSK Shivajians
(loan)
13 (0)
2018–2019 FC Goa 1 (0)
2019–2020
RG Punjab
7 (0)
2022– Southern Samity
International career
2005
India U17
2009–2013 India U23 9 (0)
2011–2014 India 19 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nirmal Chettri (born 21 October 1990 in Melli, Sikkim) is an Indian footballer who plays mainly as a defender and last played for Southern Samity in the Calcutta Football League.

Club career

Early career

Chettri began his footballing career in 2000 with Namchi Sports Hostel after being discovered in the

Baichung Bhutia).[1] In 2002 Chettri played for Namchi in the Subroto Cup where he led the team to the final, only to lose to Mizoram 1–2.[1] He then represented Namchi in the Interreligious Peace Sports Festival in South Korea in 2004.[1] In that same year he represented Namchi in the Chief Minister Gold Cup.[1] Within those three years Chettri won 3 National Talent Scholarships from the AIFF.[1] In 2005 Chettri joined Sports Academy of Sikkim and competed in the Mini SAARC. Chettri also played for Sikkim in the 2006–07 Santosh Trophy.[1] After good performances with Sikkim Chettri was scouted and signed for Air India FC of the I-League in 2007.[1] He stayed at Air India till 2008.[1]

East Bengal

In 2008 Chettri signed for

friendly match against FC Bayern Munich under 23s at Barasat, their manager Gerd Müller praised Chettri saying that "East Bengal's number three (Nirmal Chettri) was brilliant".[3] Chettri replied to this by saying, "I am delighted with his (Gerd Muller) compliment as he was such a great player. It is always good to get such praise from great players but I will not get carried away and will work hard as I have a long way to go."[4] He has established himself as a regular in East Bengal's first team sense.[3]

Mohun Bagan

On 19 May 2012 Chettri signed with arch-rivals

Chettri made his professional debut for Mohun Bagan on 20 September 2012 against

Churchill Brothers during the club's opening match in the 2012 Indian Federation Cup where the club drew the match 0–0.[7]
On 12 May 2013 in the last match of the

Mohammedan

On 26 November 2013 it was announced that Nirmal has signed for Mohammedan on loan from IMG RELIANCE.[9]

Kerala Blasters

Kerala blasters have picked Nirmal for the upcoming ISL football league.[10]

Dempo (loan)

After the

Dempo in the I-League on loan for the whole season.[11]

FC Goa

Ahead of the

2018–19 season, Chettri was signed by FC Goa.[12]

International career

Chettri with SAFF Trophy

Youth

Chettri has earned caps for the

Under-14 team in Jharkhand in 2003 and 2004.[1] Chettri represented the U17 team during the team's exposure trip to Portugal in 2005.[1] Chettri was then selected for the India U23 team that was selected to take part in the 2009 SAFF Championship which the India senior team choose not to play in SAFF Cup due to practice arrangements for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. He came on in the 115th minute in the final against Maldives on 13 December 2009 in which India U23 won on penalties 3–1.[13] Nirmal missed his penalty and Maldives missed their penalties 3 times.[13]

Chettri played for India U23 as well during the

Myanmar U23 on 23 February 2011. India U23 won 2–1.[14]

Senior

Chettri made his senior international debut for

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.[16] The game ended 4–0 in India's favour, thus giving Chettri his first major honour with the senior national team.[17] Chettri was then selected in the India squad for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. During the tournament Chettri only played in one match and that was the last match against North Korea on 13 March 2012. India lost the match 0–4 but that did not matter as India was knock-out at the Group stage before the match.[18] Nirmal has been a regular under new India coach Wim Koevermans also and played an important role in India's Nehru Cup 2012
triumph.

International

Statistics accurate as of 9 April 2015
National team Apps Goals
India 2011 4 0
2012 4 0
2013 7 0
Total 15 0

Honours

East Bengal

  • Calcutta Premier Division
    : 2010, 2011
  • Indian Super Cup
    : 2011

Mohammedan Sporting

Kerala Blasters

FC Goa

India

India U23

Personal life

Nirmal Chettri was born to Late Shankar Bahadur Chettri and Late Krishnamaya Chettri at Melli (South Sikkim) on 21 October. He has four sisters and an elder brother, Late Rohit Kumar Chettri, Nirmal also lost one of his sisters last year. Recently he married Mrs. Pratima Chettri from Lingmoo (South Sikkim). Nirmal first turned out for his school Melli Government Sr. Sec. School. His footballing education started at Namchi Sports Hostel, where he moved after getting selected in the Sikkim Government's ‘Search for more Bhaichungs’ campaign. He adept at football

Chhetri is of

Nepali origin. He was married on 24 August 2019.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Sikkim footballer Nirmal Chettri makes international debut". iSikkim. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  2. ^ "AFC CUP 2010 MATCH SUMMARY". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  3. ^ a b Subhankar Mondal (5 March 2009). "Feature: The Rock That Is Nirmal Chettri". Goal.com. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
  4. ^ Amoy Ghoshal (19 January 2009). "Chettri Delighted With Muller Praise". Goal.com. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
  5. ^ Noronha, Anselm. "East Bengal defender Nirmal Chettri set to sign for Mohun Bagan next month". goal.com. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Nirmal Chettri - McDowell Mohun Bagan Athletic Club". Archived from the original on 14 June 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  7. ^ Vaz, John. "Mohun Bagan 0–0 Churchill Brothers: The Goans held to an entertaining draw by the Mariners". Goal.com. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  8. ^ "McDowell Mohun Bagan - Review - Mariners end I league with a convincing win". www.mohunbaganac.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Mohammedan Sporting loan Nirmal Chettri from IMG-Reliance". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  10. ^ "ISL Domestic Player Draft - LIVE! - Goal.com". Archived from the original on 23 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Nirmal joins Dempo". Times of India. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  12. ^ "FC Goa announce signing of Nirmal Chhetri". Sportstarlive. Indo-Asian News Service. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  13. ^ a b http://www.kolkatafootball.com/saff_cup_football_2009.html SAFF Cup 2009
  14. ^ Deb, Debapriya (23 February 2011). "Pre-Olympic Qualifier: India v Myanmar – LIVE Commentary Updates". The Hard Tackle. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  15. ^ Bali, Rahul. "Bhutan 0–5 India: Clifford Miranda And Sunil Chhetri Star As Bhutan Make An Early Exit". goal.com. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  16. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "NFT player — National team & Club appearances: Chettri, Nirmal". national-football-teams.com. National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  17. ^ Bali, Rahul. "India 4–0 Afghanistan: The Men In Blue Successfully Defend Their SAFF Championship Title". goal.com. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  18. ^ "the-afc.com". www.the-afc.com.
  19. ^ "The resurrection of East Bengal". sportstarlive.com. Sportstar. 21 January 2010. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  20. ^ "Nepal Origin Indian International Nirmal Chhetri expresses Deep Shick Over The Loss of Two Nepal u-14 Players". GoalNepal.com. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2013.

External links