Subrata Pal

Subrata Paul (also Pal; born 24 December 1986) is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

A graduate of the Tata Football Academy, Subrata Pal started his senior career with Mohun Bagan in 2004.

During the 2004 Federation Cup final against Dempo on 5 December 2004, he was involved in an incident where Dempo forward Cristiano Júnior lost his life after the two collided.

However, the lack of facilities and doctors during the game was highlighted as a result of the incident and this led to significant changes in the I-League.

Subrata was signed by local rivals East Bengal in 2007.

He was an important figure for his team during the time he spend for the Kolkata-based club and was adjudged the I-League's best goalkeeper in 2007 for his outstanding shot-stopping abilities, an example of which was in East Bengal's Federation Cup winning campaign of 2007, resulting in his team qualifying for the AFC Cup 2008.

Subrata appeared 31 times in the league for East Bengal and was the first choice 'keeper for the Kolkata-based team.

In 2007, he replaced Sandip Nandy as the Indian Senior Team's number 1 for the Nehru Cup in 2007 where he was adjudged the best goalkeeper in a competitive field which included the likes of Mosab Balhous.

Paul was noted for his sharp goalkeeping as part of Baichung Bhutia's successful Indian team of the Nehru Cup 2007.

On 2 June 2009, Subrata joined Pune FC.

In the middle of the I-League 2009-10 season, Subrata had a trial stint with Canadian side Vancouver Whitecaps in the summer of 2010.

Subrata expressed his desire to play abroad in the professional leagues of North America, Europe and Asia.

He later said that "There was no offer coming from any club agent of any country during the Asian Cup. But I am looking for any offer to play abroad. Europe is the best place to play. But I am game to go to countries like South Korea, Japan, Australia and even the West Asian countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia."

Pal started off well in the 2011-12 I-League, impressing the new coach, however his form would soon wear thin.

Pal signed for Prayag United of the I-League on 9 May 2012.

He made his debut for the club on 7 October 2012 against Air India at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, a match Prayag won 5–1.

On 29 December 2012, Prayag United lost to I-League struggles Sporting Goa.

The next seven matches from the aforementioned defeat, his team lost 5 and drew once and this was enough for his coach to replace Subrata with Sangram Mukherjee in the remaining league matches of the season.

Subrata signed for IMG-Reliance to play in the new franchise league, the Indian Super League.

However, due to signing-up for the ISL, the I-League clubs refused to sign Subrata as they were all opposed to the Indian Super League, but, on 20 November 2013, despite rejecting ISL signed players earlier, Rangdajied United of the I-League agreed to sign Pal along with fellow IMG-Reliance contracted players Gouramangi Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Manandeep Singh, and Tomba Singh.

He made his debut in the I-League on 22 November 2013 against Shillong Lajong at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shillong in which he played the whole match as Rangdajied drew 1–1.

On 9 January 2014, it was confirmed that Pal had signed for FC Vestsjælland of the Danish Superliga, thus becoming the fourth Indian footballer to play professionally abroad, the second to join a top-tier European side, and the first Indian goalkeeper to play abroad.

Despite signing on as member of the squad, he did not make any appearance for the first team and only appeared with the reserve squad.

Subrata was drafted in by ISL club Mumbai City FC during the 2014 edition of the league and was the first choice 'keeper for his team until 2015, appearing 26 times in the league format.

Subrata's performance was notable but not enough to help his team into the semi-finals.

Subrata joined Salgaocar of the I-League on loan from Mumbai City FC for the season as fellow Indian international Karanjit Singh, the regular 'keeper of Salgaocar would miss most of the 2014-15 I-League season due to injury.

Considered one of India's best goalkeepers, he was awarded the Arjuna Award by the government of India in 2016.

After spending the 2016 ISL season with NorthEast United, Pal was loaned to I-League side DSK Shivajians on 15 December 2016.

On 23 July 2017, Pal was selected in the second round of the 2017–18 ISL Players Draft by Jamshedpur for the 2017–18 Indian Super League season.

He made his debut for the club in their first ever match on 18 November 2017 against Pal's former club, NorthEast United.

Pal started the match and kept the clean sheet as Jamshedpur drew the match 0–0.

After the season concluded, Pal was awarded the Indian Super League Golden Glove Award.

A month later it was announced that Pal had been retained by the club for the 2018–19 season.

After leaving Jamshedpur in 2019, Pal joined Hyderabad FC in 2020.

He played six matches for Hyderabad with two clean sheets before being loaned out to East Bengal.

He was then signed by ATK Mohun Bagan in January 2022 on a loan deal for the remainder of their season.

After not playing for more than a year, Pal announced retirement from professional football on 8 December 2023 at the age of 36.

Subrata has played for India at all age groups.

He rose to prominence with the Under-23 team in the Pre-Olympic qualifiers where he pulled off 3 saves in a crucial penalty shootout against Myanmar hence enabling India to qualify for the Group stage.

In the group stages his goalkeeping abilities helped India pull off an unexpected draw at home against the formidable Iraq.