Subimal Chuni Goswami is mostly known by his nickname Chuni Goswami is a multi-talented Indian Football as well as a Cricket player. He was born on 15th January 1938 in the Kishoreganj district of undivided Bengal (current Bangladesh).
Chuni Goswami played as a striker for the Indian National football team and as a first-class cricketer, he played Ranji trophy for the Bengal team. He played in the era of the 1950s and 1960s and was known for his very good ball control and dribbling skills.
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Early Life and Club Career of Subimal Chuni Goswami
Subimal Chuni Goswami received his formal education from Thrithopati institution and Kumar Ashutosh institution, Kolkata. He received basic training of football from his school coach Sib das Banerjee and joined the Mohun Bagan Club junior team in 1946 at a very young age of 8 years. He played for the junior team till 1953 and then graduated to the Mohun Bagan senior team in the year 1954. Chuni Goswami played for the Mohun Bagan team throughout his career until he retired in the year 1968.
Goswami was the captain of the Mohun Bagan team for five consecutive seasons from 1960-1964 and led his team to victory in three successive Durand cup triumphs and four successive wins in Kolkata League. The then Indian President Dr. Sarvapalli RadhaKrishnan had made a statement for him in 1965-1966 Durand Cup Final that “So, I see Chuni warming up again for the finals and it seems he has become a permanent part of the Durand Cup finals”. He holds a record of making 145 goals for the regional Kolkata League, which it seems is impossible to break forever.
Subimal Chuni Goswami International Career
He made his International debut in 1956. The Indian football team was facing the then Chinese Olympic team and won the friendly match by 1-0. He represented our country in more than 50 International matches and led the team to victory in the 1962 Asian Games Championship.
During the 1962 Asian Games semi-final match against South Vietnam, Chuni made two important goals to help the Indian team reach the finals and face the South Korean team. In the final match, he assisted P. K. Banerjee scored the first goal and gave the country a 1-0 lead. Jarnail Singh registered the second goal and as a result of that Chuni Goswami’s team, India defeated South Korea by 2-0 and won the 1962 Asian Games Championship.
After this match Chuni Goswami got an offer from Tottenham Hotspur, the biggest football club in England for trials, but he politely refused the offer and preferred to stay with his own country. He bought a Silver medal for the country in the 1964 Asia Cup Soccer tournament. He was named the best striker in Asia in the year 1962.
Chuni Goswami Records & Awards
During his International football career, he scored many goals. Here is the list of goals that he scored
| Date | Opponent | Championship | Number of goals |
| 26 May 1958 | Burma | 1958 Asian Games | 1 |
| 30 May 1958 | Tokyo | 1958 Asian Games | 1 |
| 11 Dec 1959 | Iran | 1960 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers | 1 |
| 28 Aug 1962 | Thailand | 1962 Asian Games | 1 |
| 1 Sep 1962 | South Vietnam | 1962 Asian Games | 2 |
| 2 June 1964 | Hong Kong | 1964 AFC Asian Cup | 1 |
| 27 August 1964 | Cambodia | 1964 Merdeka Tournament | 1 |
| 29 August 1964 | Thailand | 1964 Merdeka Tournament | 1 |
Subimal Chuni Goswami was awarded four-lifetime awards. These are the awards that he received for playing football:
1962 – Best striker of Asia award
1963 – Arjuna award
1983 – Arjuna award
2005 – Mohun Bagan Ratna award.
Chuni Goswami Stint in Cricket
Apart from playing International football, Chuni also loved to play Cricket and played first-class cricket for the Bengal team in 1962-1963 season and 1972-1973 season.
In his cricket career of 46 matches, he scored 1,592 runs at an economy rate of 28.92 runs. He was a right-handed batsman and Right-arm Medium pace bowler. He was the captain of the Bengal team in the 1972 Ranji trophy.
So, this is all we wanted to share with you about Subimal Chuni Goswami. If you know anything else about this multi-talented player, please write to us in the comment section.
