Bangladesh Police FC

Bangladesh Police Football Club
বাংলাদেশ পুলিশ ফুটবল ক্লাব

Full name	Bangladesh Police Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Policemen
Short name	BPFC
Ground	Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium
Capacity	25,000
President	Abdullah-Al- Mamun
Head Coach	Aristică Cioabă
League	Bangladesh Premier League
2022–23	BPL, 3rd of 11
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Bangladesh Police Football Club (also known as Bangladesh Police Athletic Club) is an association football team based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. ^[1] The club was founded by Bangladesh Police and formerly East Pakistan Police. The services team had previously played in the First Division Football League in 1998 – then the second tier of football. In recent times, Police FC became champions of the Second Division Football League in 2014 ^[2] and were directly promoted to the Bangladesh Championship League in 2015. ^[3] The club gained promotion to Bangladesh Premier League for the very first time in the club's history by becoming champions of the 2018-19 Bangladesh Championship League.

History

Early years

During the East Pakistani period, Police Athletic Club first entered the top division, the Dhaka League, in 1952. The club comprised players who were employed as constables in the police force. Although it is not certain when the club was established, it is assumed that it entered the Dhaka Second Division Football League following the partition of India.

Police AC, along with Fire Service SC, were two services clubs actively participating in the Dhaka League throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Post the Independence of Bangladesh, Police found themselves among the fifteen clubs that recommenced participation when the league resumed in 1972. Nevertheless, due to the league remaining unfinished, the club concluded their inaugural season in the newly independent country by securing 12th position in 1973. The following decade saw the Policemen consistently battle against relegation before finally admitting defeat in 1982, which marked the end of the club's 30 years in the top-flight.

The club made a comeback to the Dhaka League after securing the runners-up position in the second division during the 1989–90 season. However, their stay in the top-flight was curtailed after experiencing another relegation in the 1992 season. In 1993, following the inception of the Premier Division, Police's triumph in the second division during the 1994–95 season meant that the club would now participate in the Dhaka First Division Football League, serving as a second-tier to the Premier Division. The club spent two years in the First Division before facing relegation once again in 1998. ^[4]

Return to the top-flight

Since 1999, Police spent 15 years in the Dhaka Second Division Football League before a new generation, inspired by Amirul Islam, was crowned league champions in the 2013–14 season. ^{[5] [6]} The club was directly promoted to the Bangladesh Championship League after meeting the criteria required to enter the professional football league, and the club officially registered to participate in the league on 14 October 2015. ^[7] During this time, Police also participated in the 2011–12 and 2013 editions of the Federation Cup without finding much success. The club started going by Bangladesh Police AC following their promotion to the professional league. ^[8]

The club entered the Championship League from the 2014–15 season and concluded their inaugural season in the second-tier professional league in 4th place. Police finished mid-table in the subsequent two seasons and barely contended for promotion. On May 12, 2019, following a 1–0 victory over Wari Club, Police secured promotion to the Bangladesh Premier League with three games still remaining in the 2018–19 Bangladesh Championship League. ^{[9] [10]} On May 26, 2019, Police were officially announced as champions after defeating Feni Soccer Club 5–1 in the season finale. ^{[11] [12]} The club's lethal striker, Amirul Islam, scored his second hat-trick of the season during the match and finished as the league's top scorer with 18 goals. ^{[13] [14]}

Bangladesh Premier League era

Police began its 2019–20 season with the 2019 Federation Cup, where they crashed out after being defeated 3–0 by Bashundhara Kings in the semi-finals. ^[15] Thus, the Federation Cup campaign of Police FC ended. ^[16] The club, which throughout its history has mainly consisted of employed police constables, signed four foreign players, including Puerto Rico national team striker Sidney Rivera. ^[17] On 16 February 2020, Police began their 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League campaign with a 0–2 defeat to Abahani Limited Dhaka. ^[18] In its following games four days later, Police salvaged a point with a 1–1 draw with Bashundhara Kings, thanks to an own goal from Kings defender Nurul Naium Faisal. On 24 February 2020, Police secured their first ever victory in the Premier League, defeating Uttar Baridhara 2–1. ^[19] The club's goals came from Sidney Rivera and Antonio Laskov. Nevertheless, their first season in the Premier League only lasted for five matches, as domestic football was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.

Before the 2020–21 Bangladesh Premier League began, Police replaced their first ever foreign head coach Nicolas Vitorović with Sri Lankan coach Pakir Ali. ^[20] Police finished 8th in their first full season in the Premier League. In October 2021, Police appointed Romanian coach Aristică Cioabă as their third foreign head coach. In their first season under Cioabă, Police finished 8th in the league. After the season, the club's legendary striker Amirul Islam retired. ^[21] Police began its 2022–23 season with the 2022 Independence Cup and finished fourth place after suffering a 4–1 defeat in the third place match against Abahani Limited Dhaka. The club finished the 2022–23 Bangladesh Premier League in third place, their highest ever in the top-flight. ^{[22] [23]} Police were also the only club to defeat eventual champions Bashundhara Kings during the league season. ^{[24] [25]}

Shirt sponsors

Period	Shirt sponsor
2015–16	Popular Life Insurance Limited [26] [27] [28]
2017–18	Runner Group [29]
2018–19	Nirman
2019–present	Nasir Group

Current squad

Bangladesh Police FC squad for 2023–24 season.

As of 30 March 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   BAN Russel Mahmud Liton 3 FW   BAN Arifur Rahman Raju 4 DF   BAN Mohammad Emon 5 DF   BAN Rabiul Islam 6 MF   BAN Monaem Khan Raju (vice-captain) 7 FW   BAN M S Bablu 8 MF   BAN Md Mithu 9 FW   BAN Zillur Rahman 10 FW   BAN Jabed Khan 11 FW   BAN Sahed Miah 12 MF   COL Mateo Palacios 14 FW   BAN Faisal Ahmed 15 FW   BAN Abu Sufian Sifat 17 DF   BAN Isa Faysal (captain) 19 FW   VEN Edward Morillo 20 FW   BAN Miraz Molla 23 MF   BAN Syed Shah Quazem Kirmane 24 GK   BAN Md Faysal Mia 25 DF   BAN Ismail Hossain

No. Pos. Nation Player 28 FW   BAN Md Al Amin 31 GK   BAN Dinaj Hosen Jubed 32 FW   BAN Saief Shamsud 33 DF   BAN Akibur Rahman 35 MF   BAN Razuan Kabir 36 GK   BAN Ahsan Habib Bipu 37 DF   BAN Esanur Rahman 38 DF   BAN Rasel Hossain 44 DF   UZB Abdullaev Azamat 71 MF   BAN Mahdi Yusuf Khan 75 FW   BAN Din Islam 77 DF   BAN Joyonto Kumer Roy 78 FW   BAN Morshedul Islam 79 MF   BAN Shaid Rakib Khan Evan 88 MF   BAN Fahim Morshed 90 FW   PAN Leonel Enrique Tejada 95 MF   UZB Javokhir Sokhibov 96 DF   UZB Uktamov Akhrorbek 99 FW   BAN Amir Ali

Current technical staff

Coaching staff

As of November 2023

Position	Name
Head coach	Aristică Cioabă
Assistant coach	Jahan E Alam Nury
Goalkeeping coach	Essam Saber Atris
Fitness coach	Ashraful Islam
Manager	Abu Taher
Event Manager	Mahbub Ahmad Chowdhury

Board of directors

As of November 2023

Position	Name
President	Abdullah-Al- Mamun
General secretary	Sheikh Md Rezaul Hyder
Director general	M Khurshid Hossain

Team records

Head coach's record

As of 19 April 2024

Head Coach	Nat.	From	To	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	%W
S. M. Asifuzzaman		February 2019	May 2019	20	11	6	3	31	13	055.00
Nicolas Vitorović		4 August 2019 [30]	31 August 2020	9	3	2	4	10	16	033.33
Pakir Ali		October 2020	August 2021	26	6	8	12	28	42	023.08
Aristică Cioabă		October 2021 [31]	Present	71	29	19	23	109	95	040.85

P – Total of played matches W – Won matches D – Drawn matches L – Lost matches GS – Goal scored GA – Goals against
%W – Percentage of matches won

Season by season record

Record as Professional Football League member
Season	Division	League								Federation Cup	Independence Cup	Asian club competition		Top league scorer(s)
		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Position					Player	Goals
2014/15	BCL	14	3	8	3	13	11	17	4th	—	—	—		Amirul Islam	4
2015/16	BCL	14	4	6	4	11	9	18	4th	—	—			Amirul Islam Komol Barua	4
2017	BCL	18	5	7	6	12	12	22	7th	—	—
2018/19	BCL	20	11	6	3	31	13	39	Champions	—	—			Amirul Islam	18
2019/20	BPL	Abandoned								Quarter-finals	—			MS Bablu Antonio Laskov Sidney Rivera	1
2020/21	BPL	24	6	7	11	26	39	25	9th	Group-stage	—			Christian Kouakou	7
2021/22	BPL	22	8	6	8	28	32	30	8th	Group-stage	Semi-finals			Amredin Sharifi	9
2022/23	BPL	20	10	5	5	39	21	35	3rd	Group-stage	3rd			Edward Morillo	9

AFC club ranking

As of 11 June 2023 ^[32]

Ranking	Team	Points
454	Al Urooba Club	30.24
455	Negeri Sembilan FC	30.18
456	Bangladesh Police FC	30.18
457	Machhindra FC	30.10
458	Chabab Ghazieh SC	29.75

World club ranking

As of 11 June 2023 ^[33]

Ranking	Team	Points
2547	Elite United FC	30.20
2548	Negeri Sembilan FC	30.18
2549	Bangladesh Police FC	30.18
2550	ASC Agouado FC	30.15
2551	Machhindra F.C.	30.10

Honours

League

• Bangladesh Championship League
  • Winners (1): 2018–19
• Dhaka Second Division League
  • Winners (2): 1994–95, 2013–14

Controversy

On May 24, 2019, Police constable Mohammad Shamim assaulted BFF's competition manager Zaber Bin Ansari after being denied entry into the ground during a match against Feni Soccer Club. The Police, having already secured the 2018–19 Bangladesh Championship League title before the game, would eventually be presented with the trophy after the match's conclusion. ^[34]

Subsequently, four more players—Amirul Islam, Tarek Aziz, Azmi Omar, and Sarwar Hossain—joined Shamim in the assault right after the completion of the prize-giving ceremony at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. In response to their involvement, all four police players were fined Tk 1 lakh each. Amirul and Aziz received two-match suspensions, while Omar and Sarwar were handed nine-match bans each. The team's physiotherapist, Santanu Mallik, also received a nine-match ban and a Tk 2 lakh fine. ^[35]

As for Constable Shamim, he was handed a lifetime stadium ban across the country as part of the disciplinary actions. ^[36]

Notable players

• The players below had senior international cap(s) for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed, represented their countries before or after playing for Bangladesh Police FC.

Asia

• Nabi Chowdhury (1959–1968) ^[37]
• Zahirul Haque (1959) ^[38]
• Amredin Sharifi (2021–22)
• Mustafa Yusupov (2023–24)
• Javokhir Sokhibov (2024–) ^[39]

North America Sidney Rivera (2019–20)

References

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34. Independent Television (24 May 2019), মাঠে ঢোকা নিয়ে পুলিশ-বাফুফে কর্মকর্তাদের মারপিট, আহত ৫ ।। BFF-Police (in Bengali), archived from the original on 24 September 2022, retrieved 1 June 2019
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37. Kabir, Shajahan (6 January 2024). "ফুটবলে তখন নাম ছিল, টাকা-পয়সার ব্যাপার ছিল না" [Football had name back then, Money was not a problem]. Kalerkantho (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
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External links

• Bangladesh Police FC official website
• Bangladesh Police FC at Mycujoo