Ngangom Bala Devi

Ngangom Bala Devi (born 2 February 1990) is an Indian women's footballer who plays as a forward for Scottish Women's Premier League club Rangers and India women's national football team.

Ngangom Bala Devi
Personal information
Date of birth (1990-02-02) 2 February 1990
Place of birth Manipur, India
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Rangers
Number 10
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Manipur Police
2017 Eastern Sporting Union 3 (4)
2017–2018 KRYPHSA 7 (12)
2019–2020 Manipur Police 37 (26)
2020– Rangers 5 (1)
National team‡
2005 India U16 3 (5)
2006–2007 India U19 8 (5)
2010– India 38 (36)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 February 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 November 2019

Career

Born in Manipur, Devi grew up playing the game with mainly boys.[1] She was a part of the Manipur U19 team that took part in the Under-19 Women's Championship in Assam in 2002. After the tournament she was declared the best player of the tournament.[1] She was awarded the same title the next year in 2003.[1] She also earned top-scorer awards at the under-17 level for her state.[1] Eventually, Devi went on to represent the Manipur Senior Women's Football Team in the India women's football championship.[2] She was very influential in her state, winning the women's football championship in 2014, scoring a brace as Manipur defeated Odisha in the final 3–1.[3] This was Manipur's first championship since 2010 and their 17th overall out of 20. While playing with Manipur, Devi was teammates with India captain and AIFF Women's Player of Year, Oinam Bembem Devi.[3] She finished the tournament scoring 29 goals in seven matches.[1]

During the 2015 National Games of India, Devi represented her state as they won the gold medal. She scored the equalizer in the final against Odisha to make it 1–1 at the Corporation Stadium. The team went on to win the match 4–2 on penalties.[4]

She played inaugural season of Indian Women's League 2016-17 with Manipur Police Sports Club in qualifying round and in Final Round played with Eastern Sporting Union. In 2017-18 IWL 2nd season she joined KRYPHSA F.C. and in 2018-19 IWL 3rd season she re-joined Manipur Police Sports Club.

In January 2020, Devi signed a professional contract of 18 months with Scottish Women's Premier League club Rangers, making her one of the few Indian women to become a professional footballer.[5] On 6 December 2020, she became the first Indian woman to score in a professional football league in Europe by netting for the Gers, as they win against Motherwell L.F.C. by 9-0.[6]

She rose to more fame by beating various footballing stars, including Tottenham's Son-Heung Min to become the AFC International player of the week in December 2020 and become the first Indian footballer to do so.[7]

International career

Devi's first tournament with the national team was at the under-17 level in 2005.[1] She has represented India at the senior level since 2005. She also represented the India women's under-19 side in 2006 and 2007.[8][9] She was a part of the India team that took part in the first women's SAFF Championship in 2010.[10] On 13 December 2010 she scored five goals in India's opening match of the tournament against Bhutan as India won 18–0.[11] India went on to win the tournament, defeating Nepal 1–0.[12] She scored total 8 goals in 5 matches.

Despite being a part of the 2010 winning team, Devi was not included in the India squad that won the tournament again in 2012.[13] She did return to the team for the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifiers in May 2013 but India failed to qualify.[14]

On 27 October 2014, it was announced that Devi was selected into the India squad that was to participate in the 2014 SAFF Women's Championship, her first SAFF Championship since 2010.[15] She started the tournament in fantastic form as she scored four goals in the opening match against Maldives.[16] Her form continued into the next match against Bangladesh as she scored a brace in a 5–1 victory for India.[17][18] Devi then scored five more goals in the final group stage match against Afghanistan on 17 November.[19][20] She finished the group stage with eleven goals from three matches.[21]

During the semi-final against Sri Lanka Devi scored only once in a 5–0 thrashing.[22] However, in the final, Devi managed to find the net four times as India defeated Nepal 6–0 to claim their third straight SAFF Championship crown.[23][24]

Devi finished the 2014 SAFF Championship with sixteen goals in only five matches.[2] Due to her performance in the tournament, Devi was awarded the Women's Player of the Year award by the All India Football Federation.[2] Also awarded in the next year 2015 Indian Women's Player of the Year. In 2016 South Asian Games she scored 3 goals in 5 matches. She also captained India women's national football team in 2016 SAFF Women's Championship. She also clinched the title first time as a captain.

Personal life

While a semi-professional footballer in India, Devi also worked as a policewoman for the Manipur Police Department. She was promoted to Inspector rank following her impressive performance in football for Rangers WFC.[1] She completed her education at the Oinam Thambal Mark College of OINAM.[1]

Career Statistics
As of 13 November 2018
Appearances and Goals by year
YearAppsGoals
2010 5 11
2011 0 0
2012 0 0
2013 4 0
2014 8 18
2015 2 0
2016 7 3
2017 7 0
2018 3 4
2019 2 0
Total3836

Honours

India
Gold (3)
2010, 2016,2019

Individual

References
  1. Yen, Samarjit (3 January 2015). "AIFF's Footballer of the year: Ng Bala Devi". IFP.co.in. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  2. "International Women's Day Special: Interview with Indian women's football team striker Ngangom Bala Devi". SportsKeeda. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  3. "It's title No. 17 for Manipur women". The Hindu. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  4. "Manipur clinch 4 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals Manipur ranked at 7th position on the 10th day". E-Pao. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  5. "Rangers Sign Indian International Bala Devi". Rangers Football Club. 29 January 2020.
  6. "Bala Devi becomes first Indian woman footballer to score in Europe". Goal.com. 6 December 2020.
  7. "Bala Devi AFC International player of the week". footballexpress.in. 20 December 2020.
  8. "Bala Devi Ready for 2018 Asian Women's Championships qualifiers".
  9. "Indian soccer eves to face Kyrgyzstan". Tribune India. 4 March 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  10. "Team India announced for Women's SAFF Cup". Arunfoot. 9 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  11. "Women's SAFF Cup: India hammer Bhutan". Arunfoot. 14 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  12. "India edge Nepal to win SAFF Women's Championship". Dawn. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  13. Madaan, Sachin (8 September 2012). "Indian Football: Its The Ladies Time To Shine Now As SAFF Women's Championship 2012 Gets Underway". The Hard Tackle. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  14. "India squad announced for Women's Asian Cup qualifiers". Times of India. 12 May 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  15. "22-member Squad announced for SAFF Women's Championship". The All India Football Federation. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  16. Jabbar Faisal, Abdul (14 November 2014). "India crush Maldives 8-0, Bangladesh outplay Afghanistan 6-1". Daily Times. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  17. "Indian eves thrash Bangladesh 5-1 SAFF Football Championship". Times of India. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  18. Mohsin Ali (16 November 2014). "Ngangom India rout Bangladesh 5-1". The Nation (Pakistan). Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  19. "Ngangom sparkles in India's 12-0 rout over Afghans". Awaz.tv. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  20. Mohsin Ali (18 November 2014). "Ngangom sparkles in India's 12-0 rout over Afghans". The Nation (Pakistan). Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  21. Kashif Abbasi (18 November 2014). "We are enjoying in Pakistan, says Indian footballer". Dawn.com. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  22. Abbasi, Kashif (20 November 2014). "Indian women close in on hat-trick of SAFF crowns". Dawn. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  23. "India women thrash Nepal 6-0 to win SAFF football championship". Times of India. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  24. "Breaking News: India Clinch 3rd SAFF Championship Beating Nepal". GoalNepal.com. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
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