Gift Raikhan

Gift Raikhan

Personal information
Date of birth	(1981-05-25) 25 May 1981 (age 44)
Place of birth	Mapao Zingtun, Manipur, India
Position(s)	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

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.

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]}

Managerial statistics

As of 8 December 2018.

Team	From	To	Record
G	W	D	L	Win %
NEROCA FC	2015	2018	34	20	8	6	058.82
Aizawl	2018	2019	11	2	3	6	018.18
NEROCA FC	2019	2021	16	5	3	8	031.25
Total			61	27	14	20	044.26

Honours

Managerial

NEROCA

• I-League 2nd Division: 2016–17 ^[7]
• I-League runner-up: 2017–18 ^[8]

Individual

1. I-League Best Coach (Syed Abdul Rahim Award): 2017–18 ^[8]

References

1. Banerjee, Ritabrata (17 August 2017). "NEROCA FC sign Gourmangi Singh and Fabien Vorbe". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
2. "U20 I-League: Champions Pune FC sign off on all-win note, down Prayag Utd 3–1". punefc.com. Pune, Maharashtra: Pune Football Club. 18 May 2012. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
3. "I-League". Indian Football. Archived from the original on 6 February 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
4. "Pune FC add Gift and goalkeeping coach Glen to team staff". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
5. "I-League: Aizawl FC snap up Gift Raikhan from NEROCA FC". goal.com. 6 June 2018. Archived from the original on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
6. "Gift Raikhan as Head Coach". Aizawl FC (official Facebook page). 6 June 2018. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
7. "Delightful Neroca Desperate To Break Second Division Jinx". i-league.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
8. "I-League 2017–18: Minerva Punjab presented with winners' trophy; NEROCA's Gift Raikhan named season's best coach". firstpost.com. Chandigarh: The FirstPost News. Press Trust of India. 22 March 2018. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.

Further reading

• Ingale, Shreyash (4 July 2019). "NEROCA set to appoint Gift Raikhan as head coach for upcoming I League season". iftwc.com. Indian Football Team for World Cup. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2022.