Jo Paul Ancheri (born 2 August 1976) is an Indian former professional football player who captained the Indian Football team.[2] He was named the AIFF Player of the Year by the All India Football Federation in 1994 and 2001.[3] He currently[when?] works as a Malayalam commentator and pundit on Star Sports Malayalam with the leading commentator Shaiju Damodaran.[4]

Jo Paul Ancheri
Personal information
Date of birth 2 August 1976
Place of birth Thrissur, Kerala, India
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–93 SBT
1993–94 Mohun Bagan
1994–97 JCT Football Club
1997–98 FC Cochin
1998–99 Mohun Bagan
1999–01 FC Cochin
2001–02 East Bengal (7)
2002–04 JCT Football Club
2004–05 Mohun Bagan
International career
2002 India U23
1993–2005 India 39 (7[1])
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career edit

Born in Thrissur, Kerala, Ancheri began his professional career in 1992 playing for State Bank of Travancore.[5] He went on to play for many leading football clubs including Mohun Bagan, JCT Mills,[6][7] FC Kochin,[8] and East Bengal. He was a versatile player who could play in any position including defender, defensive midfielder, midfielder, and striker.[9] With JCT Mills Phagwara, he won the 1996–97 National Football League.[10]

International career edit

Ancheri made his senior international debut for India against Bangladesh on 14 September 1994 in a 4–2 win, when he scored a goal.[11] Ancheri was also a member of the Indian team for the Nehru Gold Cup in Calcutta, and of the under-23 side, which took part in the pre-Olympic tournament. He later suffered a knee injury for the rest of the season and came back with the colours of FC Kochin in 1997.[12]

Ancheri played in a number of tournaments such as FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the SAFF Championship, and the South Asian Games, and helped the team win the South Asian Football Federation Cup in 1999.[13][14] He was part of the Syed Naeemuddin-managed Indian team that participated in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok and reached the second round.[15][16]

With India, he appeared in the 2002 World Cup Qualifiers, when India defeated teams like United Arab Emirates, Brunei and Yemen. India secured 11 points from 6 matches, the same as Yemen, but finished behind them due to an inferior goal difference.[17] In that year, Ancheri was part of the Bhaichung Bhutia-led Indian team that won the LG Cup, defeating the host nation Vietnam 3–2.[18] He later appeared in the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, when India finished as runners-up behind Uzbekistan.[19]

International goals edit

No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 4 May 2001 Althawra Sports City Stadium, Sanaa, Yemen   Yemen 1–1 3–3 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
2. 2–2
3. 11 May 2001 Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei   Brunei 1–0 1–0
4. 20 May 2001 Bangalore Football Stadium, Bangalore, India   Brunei 4–0 5–0

Honours edit

JCT Mills

FC Kochin

Mohun Bagan

East Bengal

  • IFA Shield: 2001
  • Durand Cup: 2001, 2002

India

India U-23

Maharashtra

Individual

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Dey, Subrata. "India – Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  2. ^ Krishnaswamy, Karthik (25 August 2010). "He's unstoppable". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Jo Paul Ancheri named Player of the Year". The Hindu. 31 December 2001. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
    - "AIFF award". Archived from the original on 17 February 2009.
  4. ^ "Star Sports to air AFC Asian Cup in six languages". Rapid TV News. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Jo Paul Ancheri". Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  6. ^ Basu, Jaydeep (21 May 2021). "Legendary Football Coach Sukhwinder Singh Shifts to Canada for Good". newsclick.in. News Click India. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  7. ^ Raj, Pratyush (17 July 2018). "Minerva Punjab FC rope in Sukhwinder as technical director". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Chandigarh: The Times of India. TNN. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Indian Bank Chennai FC players". Indian Football.de. Archived from the original on 16 June 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  9. ^ "HALL OF FAME". Indian Football. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  10. ^ Sengupta, Somnath (8 July 2011). "Indian Club Football: How Financially Sustainable Is Football In India?". The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
    - Ganguly, Abhishek (30 August 2013). "AIFF disbands Pailan Arrows outfit". The Times of India. Kolkata, West Bengal. Archived from the original on 20 September 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
    - Ajgoankar, Ashlesh (18 January 2013). "Indian Football: Can Kerala Produce Next I.M. Vijayan?". The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Jo Paul Ancheri". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Jo Paul Ancheri — A tough ride to the top". Indian Football. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  13. ^ "South Asian Gold Cup 1999 (Margoa, Goa)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  14. ^ "SAFF Gold Cup 1999". SAFF. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Indian football team at the Asian Games: 1998 Bangkok". Sportskeeda. 25 August 2014. Archived from the original on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  16. ^ "The Indian Senior Team at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games". Indian Football. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  17. ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava. "The Indian Senior Team at the 2002 World Cup Qualifiers". Indian Football. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  18. ^ "India win LG Cup football". Rediff. 10 August 2002. Archived from the original on 4 December 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  19. ^ "Afro-Asian Games 2003". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  20. ^ Menon, Ravi (17 March 1997). "JCT wins inaugural Philips NFL title". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 20 April 1997. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
    - "Fairplay bonus for JCT". The Indian Express. 20 March 1997. Archived from the original on 21 April 1997. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  21. ^ "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Durand Cup". Indian Football. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
    - "When two Durand champions got together". The Hindu. 31 August 2019. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
    - Kumar, P. K. Ajith (24 August 2019). "Durand Cup: Gokulam Kerala FC's win reinvigorates Kerala football". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
    - "Durand Cup win by FC Kochin signals football's shift from amateur to professional status". India Today. 27 October 1997. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  22. ^ "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the IFA-Shield". Indian Football. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
    - "India — List of IFA Shield Finals". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  23. ^ Zlotkowski, Andre (6 March 2008). "South Asian Gold Cup 2005 (Karachi, Pakistan)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  24. ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava; Stokkermans, Karel (2001). "Afro-Asian Games 2003". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  25. ^ "India beat Vietnam to win LG Cup football". The Times of India. 10 August 2002. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  26. ^ "Ho Chi Minh City Cups". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  27. ^ Vinod, A (24 April 2000). "Maharashtra snares Kerala in its den". thehindu.com. Thrissur: The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  28. ^ "AIFF PLAYER OF THE YEAR — FROM STARTING". Kolkata Football. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  29. ^ "Jeje Lalpekhlua is 2016 AIFF Player of the Year". AIFF. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  30. ^ "All India Football Federation Awards: Sunil Chhetri and Bala Devi win Player of the Year Trophy". India Today. 14 February 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.

Bibliography edit

Further reading edit

External links edit