Gift Raikhan

Gift Raikhan

Personal information
Date of birth	(1981-05-25) 25 May 1981 (age 43)
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.