Nabi began his career in inter-school football, representing Comilla Victoria College while simultaneously playing in the Cumilla Football League with Pak United. In 1952, he joined the Pakistan Air Force and, under the recommendation of veteran striker Moideen Kutty, represented Pakistan Air Force FC in the Inter-Service Championship until 1954.[5]
In 1958, he left his duties at the Pakistan Air Force and, the following year, joined the East Pakistan Police, representing its football team until his retirement in 1968.[10]
International career
East Pakistan
In 1957, Nabi participated in the National Football Championship held in Dhaka as a member of the eventual runners-up, East Pakistan Whites. He played as a center-half, alongside fullbacks Amir Jang Ghaznavi and Eugene Gomes. He scored in the first round against Pakistan Navy FC in a 5–2 victory on 22 October, during which Ashraf Chowdhury scored a hat-trick.[11] In the final against Punjab, held in Dhaka Stadium on 10 November, Nabi was forced to leave the field for five minutes after sustaining a nose injury, during which time his team conceded a goal and would eventually go on to lost the game 1–2.[12][13]
In the 1958 edition of the National Championship helf in Multan, Nabi captained East Pakistan, as his team exited the tournament in the quarter-final, falling 1–3 to Punjab Reds, the junior string of the team they had faced in the previous year's final.[14] On 16 October 1959, Nabi represented East Pakistan during an exhibition match in Gujranwala against the local Al Hilal Club, scoring the winner in a 2–1 victory from a direct corner after Shah Alam scored the first for East Pakistan.[15]
Nabi remained part of the East Pakistan team during the 1959 National Championship held in Hyderabad, where his team again finished runners-up, losing to 0–1 to Baluchistan in the final held on 7 November 1959.[16] Eventually, in the following edition held in Karachi, he was part of the East Pakistan team that won its maiden National Championship,[17] defeating Karachi White 1–0 in the final held on 27 November 1960.[18]
Following 1960, when the EP Sports Federation began sending divisional teams to the National Championship, Nabi started representing the Chittagong Division. In January 1961, he represented East Pakistan in two exhibition matches against the touring Burma national team in Dhaka and Chittagong.[4]
^ ab"এশিয়ান গেমস অনেক দূরে চলে গেছে" [The Asian Games going far away]. kalerkantho.com (in Bengali). Kalerkantho. 19 September 2014. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
^ ab"এশিয়ান গেমস হোক সাফের প্রস্তুতি" [Asian Games should be preparation for SAFF]. www.kalerkantho.com (in Bengali). 2 August 2018. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
^ abcdeDulal, Mahmud (2014). পাকিস্তান জাতীয় দল বাঙালি খেলোয়াড় (transl. Bengali players in the Pakistan national team) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon.
^Alam, Masud (18 October 2020). "টানা ৬ লিগজয়ী ওয়ান্ডারার্সের বর্তমানটা লজ্জার" [The Wanderers, who recorded 6 league wins in a row, are now in shame]. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
^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.
^"সেদিন লাল-সবুজ পতাকা উড়িয়েছিল ফুটবল" [Football flew the red-green flag that day]. kalerkantho.com (in Bengali). Kalerkantho. 26 July 2020. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
^Mahmud, Dulal (20 April 2021). "ঢাকার মাঠে সবচেয়ে বড় ফুটবল উৎসব" [The biggest football festival in Dhaka]. Utp al Shuvro (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 22 November 2023.
Bibliography
Mahmud, Dulal (2014). পাকিস্তান জাতীয় দল বাঙালি খেলোয়াড় (transl. Bengali players in the Pakistan national team) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon.
Mahmud, Dulal (2020). খেলার মাঠে মুক্তিযুদ্ধ (transl. Liberation war in the playground) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon. ISBN978-984-8218-31-0.
Alam, Masud (2017). ফুটবলের গল্প ফুটবলারদের গল্প (transl. The story of football the story of footballers) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon. ISBN9789849134688.