As a young teenager, Mohammad Abdullah Dar, like most of Kashmir’s population was passionate about cricket. He was selected in his schools’
cricket team as a wicketkeeper.
But seeing Dar’s fielding prowess, his
teammates suggested he pursue football instead and play as a goalkeeper.
This was the beginning of Dar’s over seven-decade-long journey of devoutness to the most popular sport in the world.
Now at the age of 84, Dar is the oldest
football coach in the Kashmir region and easily one of the oldest in the world.
Dar trains children free of cost and has continued to do so since the year 2000, when he retired as the official football coach at the prestigious University of Kashmir.
Dar talks of the game with a great amount of affection. His whole childhood is enveloped with memories of football. From purchasing a radio set to listen to commentary on live football matches, or his parents supporting his career despite almost an absent sports culture, the game is part of who Dar is.
Dar would shut his eyes while hearing the radio set. “I could see him play while listening. He was glorious”, said Dar while talking about the
Brazilian great.As a young man Dar, secured a government job as a laboratory assistant and would only play football during his free time, mostly for college teams, local clubs, and official teams of various government departments. It was not a career for him. But his love for football was no secret to his colleagues.
One day in 1976, the principal of the college where Dar was called him to his office and offered him an opportunity. Dar, then 35, had already lessened playing football, but the University of Kashmir had decided to hire someone to take over the sports scene on campus.
For the next 24 years Dar trained thousands of youth across Jammu and Kashmir. From schools, to colleges, his coaching skills became legendary.
He played in
tournaments across the region and the country. Even as several of his trained players went on to play in pan-India level tournaments, Dar’s own dreams remained elusive.
Another factor for the average performance of Kashmiri football is the lack of proper infrastructure to develop the sport. It is only in the last few years that football club matches have been receiving sufficient attention from business sponsors and the government, which facilitates the tournaments.
In 2000, when Dar retired, the situation wasn’t as good. That is when he decided to train children, several of whom went on to become professional players.
From 2000 to 2019, Dar trained children informally. Four years ago, he finally managed to establish a small academy of his own associated with the historic Amar Singh College.