A look into the career of Indian Football's “Spiderman” Subrata Paul

Subrata Paul began his career with Mohun Bagan in 2004.

Former Indian national team goalkeeper and India’s goalkeeper icon Subrata Paul has decided to bid goodbye to the beautiful sport, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced through its social media handles on Friday.

Subrata Paul is very well known as India’s “Spiderman” between the sticks for his goalkeeping heroics both for India and the clubs that he has played for. He was most recently a part of ISL side Hyderabad FC.

Subrata Paul’s National team career

Paul began his journey with the Indian national team a long time ago. He represented Indian at all age group levels and gained limelight with the U23 team during India’s Pre-Olympic qualifiers against Myanmar where he pulled off 3 fine saves in a crucial penalty shootout and helped India qualify for the group stages.

After that, Subrata Paul replaced India’s then number one goalkeeper Sandeep Nandy in the 2007 Nehru Cup and won the best goalkeeper award for his extraordinary displays. Paul represented India at multiple events including the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, 2011 AFC Asian Cup, the World Qualifiers and so much more.

He was also India’s captain and did a fantastic job by leading the team from the front. The 27-year-old represented Indian 67 times and is currently the seventh ranked in the list of the players with the most number of international caps for the country. 

He represented India from 2007-2017 and won numerous accolades for the country which includes 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, 2015 SAFF Championship, 2017 Tri Nation Series and three Nehru Cup titles. Moreover, he was also awarded with the Arjuna Award, the most prestigious award of Sports in India in 2016.

Subrata Paul’s Club career

Subrata Paul has represented multiple clubs during his long playing career. He began his career with Mohun Bagan in 2004 and then moved to East Bengal in 2007. After that he signed for Pune in 2009 before moving to Prayag United in 2012.

He also had a loan stint with I-league side Rangdajied United in 2013. In 2014, Subrata Paul became the fourth Indian player to sign for a foreign club after he joined Danish top flight club FC Vestsjælland. 

After that Subrata Paul made his debut in the ISL with Mumbai City FC before moving to NorthEast United. He also had loan stints with Salgaocar and DSK Shivajians. In 2017, he signed for Jamshedpur FC and played 43 matches for them.

He was then signed by Hyderabad FC in 2020 and was loaned out to East Bengal in 2021 and ATK Mohun Bagan in 2022.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.