Gift Raikhan
Indian football manager and former footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gift Raikhan (born 25 May 1981) is an Indian football coach and a former player who played as a left-back.[1] He also managed Manipur football team in Santosh Trophy.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 25 May 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Mapao Zingtun, Manipur, India | ||
| Position | Left back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2000 | Bengal Mumbai | ||
| 2000–2002 | Churchill Brothers | ||
| 2002–2004 | HAL | ||
| 2004–2006 | Indian Bank | ||
| 2005–2006 | → Vasco (loan) | ||
| 2006 | → BEML (loan) | ||
| 2007 | Pune | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2015–2018 | NEROCA | ||
| 2018–2019 | Aizawl | ||
| 2019 | Gokulam Kerala (technical director) | ||
| 2019–2021 | NEROCA | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
During a playing career which spanned six seasons, Raikhan played for BMFC, Churchill Brothers, HAL, Indian Bank, Vasco, BEML, and Pune.[2] He even played in the I-League.[3]
His favorite moment of his career was during the 2000 Rovers Cup when he scored for BMFC against Churchill Brothers which helped secure his move to the club.[2]
Coaching career
After retiring in 2007, Raikhan joined the Youth System at Pune. From 2008 to 2010 Raikhan was assistant to Norbert Gonsalvez in coaching the u17 and u15 teams.[2] In 2011, he was promoted to head coach of the Pune F.C. Academy U20 side and in 2012 led the team to a championship by finishing first in the 2012 I-League U20.[2]
In September 2013, it was confirmed that Raikhan had been promoted to the first-team at Pune F.C. as the assistant to new head coach Mike Snoei.[4]
In June 2018, Aizawl F.C. announced signing of Raikhan from NEROCA F.C. as head coach for 2018–19 I-League.[5][6]