Chitra Gangadharan

Chitra Gangadharan (born 15 July 1969) is a former Indian women's football player from Karnataka. She also captained the Indian team[1][2] and was part of the All Stars Asian team in 1977–78.[3] She was part of the Senior India Women's Football team from 1975 to 1981.

Early life

She who hails from Gandhi Bazar in Bengaluru (then Bangalore) started as a cricket player, playing for Padma Socials as a wicketkeeper. She, however, shifted to football when the State started a women's football team. Mr Rajappa of the Football association called some of the cricket girls and they were coached by 1948 Olympian Raman. In 1990s, she used to play at the National College Ground in Basavanagudi. E Ramakrishna Rao, former India player and ITI coach, helped her to find a place to play football. Later, she coached the women's team of BUFC known as BUWFC.[4]

In 1976 she player her first international.[5] She joined the Indian camp on a trial basis but impressed the coah Sushil Battacharya and was selected as the first goalkeeper for the Thailand tour. In 1980-81 She did the SAI coaching course in 1981 and she got a Nivea scholarship of Rs.500, a big amount then. She became the first women's football coach in India. She played for Sahara India in the Women's league in the early eighties. She was also a class I referee with the KSFA after passing the AFC 'A' licence in 2007–08, along with Karen of Goa.[6]

She coached the BUFC men's team and became the first woman in India to coach a men's team. From 1998, she was the goalkeeper coach of the Indian team with some breaks in between.

Chitra married Kamal, who is also a football player.[6] Her daughter Amoolya Kamal was part of the Incheon Asian Games where Chitra was the goalkeeper coach.[7]

Career
  • She played for India as a goalkeeper from 1975 to 1981.
  • She represented Karnataka in the Senior National Women's Football Tournament in 1975 at Lucknow.[8]
  • In 1980, she was the captain of the Indian team that won the silver in the Asian Cup.[2]
  • in 2011, she was the goalkeeper coach of the team which played three friendlies against Bahrain.[9]

References
  1. Sagnik (2021-03-12). "Watch: First Indian woman to coach a men's team — Chitra Gangadharan". thebridge.in. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  2. "Mother, daughter team up to bring football glory". Hindustan Times. 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  3. "Chitra Gangadharan – SportsMeet – Bangalore". SportsMeet - Bangalore. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  4. Jaikrishnan Nair (Mar 7, 2009). "She gives men football lessons". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  5. "Woman Football Coach Says Skill is All That Matters". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  6. Nair, Jaikrishnan (2009-03-07). "She gives men football lessons". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  7. "Mother, daughter team up to bring football glory". Hindustan Times. 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  8. Chaudhuri, Arunava (2012-07-11). "SportsMeet-Bangalore, July Edition: Chitra Gangadharan (ex-Footballer)". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  9. "News". www.orisports.com. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
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