Happy Birthday Subrata Pal: Lesser-Known Facts About India’s Spiderman As He Turns 33

India’s very own spider-man Subrata Pal will celebrate his 33rd birthday on Sunday (November, 24). Subrata is considered as one of the best keepers to ever wear an Indian Jersey and came into the limelight during India’s Under-23 pre-Olympic qualifiers where he pulled-off three saves in a crucial penalty shootout against Myanmar. This helped India to qualify for the group stages. In the group stages his goalkeeping abilities helped India pull-off an unexpected draw at home against formidable the Iraq side. As the Indian Keeper turns 33, we take a look at some of the lesser-known facts about him. Former Indian Football Team Skipper Bhaskar Ganguly on Subrata Paul, Says Age Shouldn’t Keep Him Out of National Team.

Subrata Pal started his senior career with Mohun Bagan in 2004. He spent three years at the Kolkata based side before moving to arch-rivals East Bengal in 2007. Subrata was an important figure in Bengal during his first season and was adjudged as the I-League’s best keeper in the same year. After two trophy-laden years in Bengal, Subrata joined Pune in the middle of the I-League 2009-10 season. A few years later the Kolakat-born keeper moved to FC Vestsjaelland in Denmark, after spells at Prayag united and Rangdajied United. Subrata Paul made his ISL debut in 2014 when he was drafted by Mumbai City FC and was the club’s first choice till 2015. In 2017 Jamshedpur picked up the 33-year old in the second round of 2017-18 ISL draft after spells at Salgaocar and DSK Shivajians.

• Subrata is the First Indian to join a first division club of Europe, he played for FC Vestejaelland of Denmark.
• Subrata Pal lives with his family in Sodepur (Kolkata).
• Subrata is married to Debasmita Mukherjee Pal, the daughter of ex-Indian goalkeeper Debashish Mukherjee.
• In 2016, Subrata was awarded the Arjuna Award, the most prestigious award of sports in India.
• He graduated from the Tata Footballing Academy.

Subrata Paul is currently in his third season with the ISL club Jamshedpur and is one of the most important players in their side. After a spectacular first season with the ‘Men of Steel,’ he was awarded with the Golden Glove Award. Subrata Pal was nominated for the Times of India Sports Award along with the likes of Suni Chhetri, Bala Devi, Syed Rahim and more in 2015.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 24, 2019 09:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).