A ‘son of the soil’ from Hyderabad has taken a mission of bringing back the glory of Hyderabad football at the age of 68! 

He is Shabbir Ali, the Dhyan Chand awardee former India international footballer. 

The mission began last season when Abbas Union, the club that produced Shabbir Ali for Indian football, took part in the I-League-3 with almost all the local promising boys but bowed out of the League from the group stage. 

Shabbir Ali's keywords were, "My effort was to scout and groom footballers from Hyderabad who will be playing in the mainstream of Indian football, and participating in the I-League-3 was the first step. I was extremely happy to have watched that after a span of almost two decades, some potential footballers from Hyderabad participated in the I-League-3." 

He also said, “I am a product of Abbas Union and I want to pay something back to the Hyderabad football which had once gifted Indian football several legendary footballers.” 

The club, despite going through a financial crunch did not bother to deposit a fine of big amount to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to play in the I-league-3 last season. The reason behind depositing money was that Hyderabad football does not have any systematic professional state league yet! 

Shabbir’s effort has not stopped and Abbas Union has again been able to participate in the I-League-3 this season and their performance so far is truly inspiring. The team that crashed out of the League from the group stage last season has earned qualification for the I-League-3 final round! 

The final round of the I-League-3 is scheduled to kick off on 25th September in West Bengal (Kalyani and Naihati). Three teams will be promoted. Two out of them will be qualifying for the I-League-2 this season while the third team will earn eligibility to participate in the I-League-2 next season.

The irony is that Abbas Union does not have still a full-size ground! Around 70 boys train there on a seven-a-side pitch under the observation of chief coach Shabbir Ali, his assistant Akbar Abidi, Yawar, the physiotherapist, Mir Alamdar Ali, the goalkeeper coach, Alamdar Raza, the manager and the assistant manager Mukharamm. 

Still, there has been some relief for the club as they received financial support from Kolkata's Shrachi Group, Olive Hospital, Button Eyes Resort, Helping Hands and Citadel Sports (Hyderabad) as sponsors. 

Shabbir said, “I am thankful to Shrachi Group, Olive Hospital, and other sponsors also for their financial assistance. If the team can finish in the I-League-3 finals within the top three we must take initiative to develop the club's infrastructure." 

Shabbir who scored 30 goals for India in his 10-year span expressed thankfulness also to the AIFF president, the secretary, and executive committee members for the permission it gave to play in the I-League-3. 

Along with Abbas Union, three more teams were permitted to take part in the I-league-3 this season and this permission was for the last time as mentioned by the AIFF secretariat. The other three teams are Downtown Heroes FC (Jammu & Kasmir), Corbett FC (Uttarakhand), and Cormandal FC (Andhra Pradesh).

Shabbir expressed gratitude also to his friend, the former India international Bhaskar Ganguly. The legendary goalkeeper was in Srinagar during the group-stage matches of Abbas Union and attended the team’s training. Shabbir added, “He came to the training and encouraged our boys.”