City Club to club football's Citadel: Making of the legend Sunil Chhetri

In 2001-02, while representing a club in Delhi called the City Club, if someone had told Sunil Chhetri that he would one day be sitting at the citadel of Indian football as the highest goal-scorer, charismatic captain, leader of a pack that left hunting way before him and as a legend, comparable to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, two of world football's contemporary stars, he would have thought the person was joking.

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But 23 years down the line, everything stands true for the 'captain, leader, legend' Sunil Chhetri, who would bid goodbye to his international football career with his last match on Thursday, June 6, against Kuwait in Round 2 Fifa World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 joint qualification tournament.

 

How that journey began is a fascinating story altogether.

The Indian Army background

Sunil's father, KB Chhetri, was part of the Indian Army and it was while he was serving in Secunderabad that the future of Indian football was born in his family. It is usual for kids in Army cantts to play every sport because all the facilities are readily available without travelling much distance.

However, once addicted to football, Sunil never wanted to keep himself limited to playing early-stage tournaments and just like his father, who chose the Army by letting go of other things, he let go of the Army Public School and took admission to a private school to play more football.

“I am a very proud student from the Army Public School. But we could never make it to the biggest stages of the school tournament. We were either out at the group stages or the quarter-finals because some of the bigger schools were always dominant,” Sunil said in an interview with Indian Super League.

“Without consulting my parents or anyone, I applied for a transfer certificate from my school. It was a rebellious, stupid decision which I probably don't regret now. I joined Mamta Modern School just so that I could play in bigger tournaments,” he added.

City Club to Mohun Bagan

Playing for the City Club in Delhi at 18, Chhetri scored in one of the four games in the Durand Cup 2001-02 and made it to the top five promising players of the tournament. Guess who came calling after that? One of the two big clubs in Indian football then and even now, Mohun Bagan opened the doors for Chhetri.

Starting his journey with Mohun Bagan in the 2002-03 National Football League, Chhetri managed to impress a lot of observers with his hat-trick against Tollygunge Agragami after coming in as a substitute on the field.

From the mills of JCT in Phagwara to those of Scotland

Once people started noticing the spark in the dynamite that Chhetri was in the forward positions, he started going places. From Mohun Bagan, Chhetri moved to JCT Football Club owned by the people who operated JCT Mills in Phagwara, Punjab.

In 2005, Chhetri joined JCT and played for them till 2008. It was while with JCT that Chhetri made his India debut.

Talking about his debut, Chhetri said, "There is one day that I will never forget. I remember it quite often: the first time I played for my country. It was unbelievable. The day before, in the morning Sukhi sir (Sukhwinder Singh), my first national team coach, in the morning he came to me and he was like, you’re going to start. I can’t tell you how I was feeling, man."

Thanks to his brilliant showing at JCT where he scored 22 goals in 48 appearances, Chhetri was sought by big clubs like East Bengal and Dempo Sporting.

In between landing a job at East Bengal and Dempo, Chhetri also became the first Indian player to go for trials in overseas leagues, especially in Great Britain, after Bhaichung Bhutia.

After having trailed at Coventry City and Leeds United in his earlier attempt, Chhetri made one last attempt at Celtic in Scotland. Not getting success, he tried again and got a contract from Queens Park Rangers but could not furnish a work visa for England.

The reign at Bengaluru FC

Having played for nearly every big club in India, Chhetri finally landed at Bengaluru FC in 2013. By then, he was a star having played a game for Kansas City against Manchester United and donned the India Blues many times as well.

It was at this place that Chhetri truly became a mass phenomenon in India. With this team, he won the I League as skipper in their debut season itself. He then went on to win the next season's Federation Cup too.

Though he played for Mumbai City FC in ISL, once Bengaluru was back in ISL, he was back with his original side.

It was with Bengaluru in 2016 that an Indian club, led by an Indian captain in Chhetri, managed to reach the final of the AFC Cup competition, where they eventually lost.

With more than 200 appearances, more than 100 goals and winning every trophy from ISL to Super Cup, Chhetri has done everything in his right to be crowned as the undisputed king of Bengaluru FC and of club football in India.