Bhaichung Bhutia

Some Lesser Known Facts About Bhaichung Bhutia

• Does Bhaichung Bhutia smoke?: No

• Does Bhaichung Bhutia drink alcohol?: Not Known

• At the age of 14, he joined the Boys Club in Gangtok where his uncle Karma Bhutia was the chief coach.

• Bhutia received football training at Sikkim’s Tashi Namgyal Academy before a stint at SAI Gangtok. He was given the best player in the 1992 Subroto Cup.  Former India goalkeeper Bhaskar Ganguly noticed his talent and helped him make the transition to Calcutta football.

  

• At the age of 16, he signed for East Bengal FC, his first professional club.

• Bhaichung has won almost every domestic trophy with East Bengal including the NFL title (National Football League) in 2003-04.

• In the summer of 1999, he became the second Indian player after Mohammed Salim to play in a European Club as he was signed by English third division outfit, Bury FC.

  

• On 15 April 2000, he became a first Asian Player to score a goal in English professional game.

• Bhutia is most capped Indian player to play in International games.

• Under his captaincy, India carried off the LG Cup in Vietnam in 2002, South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championships thrice, two Nehru Cup titles (in 2007 and 2009) and the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup which assured them a place in the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar.

• Inivalappil Mani Vijayan (or I.M. Vijayan) three-time Indian Player of the Year, described Bhutia as “God’s gift to Indian football”.

  

• Bhutia received Arjuna Award in 1999. Bhutia is one of five footballers to be awarded the prestigious ‘Padma Shree’ and the only player to win it during his playing career.

• On 30 December 2004, Bhutia settled down with his long-time girlfriend, Madhuri Tipnis in his native village of Tinkitam.

• Bhutia and Madhuri have one son and two daughters. Bhutia wants his son to be a Tennis Player.

• In 2008, Bhutia was solicited to run with the Olympic torch in India, but he refused to carry the torch to show support for the Tibetan independence movement. “I sympathize with the Tibetan cause. I’m against violence, but I thought I should stand by the Tibetan people in their fight,” Bhutia said. He was the first Indian player to refuse to carry the Olympic torch.

• Bhutia is versatile, he took part and won the dance reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’ in 2009.

• In 2009, Bhutia had a fall-out with Mohun Bagan. On 18 May 2009, Bhutia announced that he would quit Mohun Bagan, due to the questioning of his footballing commitment by the club’s officials. He was suspended for the next six month in 2009 by Mohun Bagan.  Bhutia was quoted saying “It is just a ploy to keep me at Mohun Bagan for another season. But I will not play for them anymore.”

• On 28 October 2010, he started Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools in Delhi in partnership with Carlos Queiroz and Nike.

• In 2011, Bhutia was trapped in the Sikkim earthquake. Although he was not injured, his United Sikkim offices were destroyed. Later he was accompanied by several Bollywood actors like Neha Dhupia and Rahul Bose to raise money for earthquake victims.

• On 24 August 2011, he announced retirement from international football. A farewell match was organised for him against Bayern Munich in 2012.

• On 13 November 2012, Bhutia was named as the interim manager of United Sikkim.

• On 12 February 2015, he returned to East Bengal for the final time on a half-season contract, after which he would retire from professional football.

• In January 2018, he was appointed as the manager of Sikkim.

• On 31 May 2018, he established a new party, “Hamro Sikkim Party,” after the break up with TMC.