Ashish Bhadra

Originally from Chittagong, Ashish joined the Rahmatganj MFS in 1977 and became a regular for the team the next season. In 1981, he joined Abahani as the long term replacement for the midfielder Amalesh Sen.

At Abahani, Ashish formed a midfield duo with Khurshid Alam Babul. However, initially the partnership took a bit of time to gel. And in the Federation Cup final against arch rivals MSC, it was Badal Roy, the MSC captain who reigned supreme as his team won 2-0.

But Abahani took revenge in the League match wining 2-0 as the Ashish-Babul combination started to work together well. Abahani clinched the title and remained unbeaten till the very last match of the campaign. With the title already in their grasp, the [[Abahnaisky blues lost their final match against team BJMC 1-0 with Basudev scoring the only game of the match. Ashish remained a star with Abahani for most part of the 1980s. [2]

In 1978 and in 1980, Ashish represented the Bangladesh U-19 team in Asian youth Championships. In 1980, Bangladesh finished runners up behind Qatar and thus qualified for the main event in Thailand. In early 1981, Ashish represented the Bangladesh (Red) team in the first President's Gold Cup in the Dhaka. The red was mostly made up of players of the U-19 team. The team reached the finals after beating a North Korea team in the tie-breaker after the match ended 1-1 in regulation time. Ashish scored the equalizer for the local team. The Reds lost the final 2-0 to a South Korean team. [3]

He remained an integral part of the national team in the first half of the 80s. here also he had a successful partnership with Babul. Ashish's proudest moment came in the summer of 1985 at the famous Salt lake stadium Calcutta, when he scored in the first half to give Bangladesh the lead against India in a WC qualifying mathc. The Indians, however, eventually won 2-1. [2]

In 2012, Ashish was awarded the national sports award for his outstanding contribution to Bangladesh football. [4]