Club Career
In 1993, at the age of sixteen, he left school to join the professional East Bengal Club in Calcutta. Two years later, he transferred to JCT Mills in Phagwara, which went on to win the India National Football League in the 1996–97 season. Bhutia was the top goalscorer in the league, and was chosen to make his international debut in the Nehru Cup. He was named "1996 Indian Player of the Year".
In 1997, he returned to East Bengal Club. Bhutia has the distinction of scoring the first hat-trick in the local derby between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, when he registered one in East Bengal's 4–1 victory in the 1997 Federation Cup semi-final. He became team captain in the 1998–99 season, during which East Bengal finished second behind Salgaocar in the league. Furthermore he became the 19th footballer to receive the Arjuna Award in 1999, which the Government of India gives out to athletes to recognise their "outstanding achievements" in national sports.
Read more about this topic: Baichung Bhutia
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