 Maruful withChittagong Abahani in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | A.K.M. Maruful Haque | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1969-09-19)19 September 1969 (age 56) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Mymensingh,East Pakistan (present-dayBangladesh) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defensive Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Dhaka Abahani (head coach) | ||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Mohammedan SC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Muktijoddha Sangsad | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2014 | Sheikh Russel KC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Sheikh Jamal DC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Sheikh Russel KC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Bangladesh | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Arambagh KS | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2022 | Chittagong Abahani | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Bangladesh U23 (interim) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Sheikh Jamal DC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Chittagong Abahani (technical advisor) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Bangladesh U20 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Dhaka Abahani | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
Maruful Haque (Bengali:মারুফুল হক) is aBangladeshi professionalfootballcoach and former player, who is currently serving as the head coach ofBangladesh Premier League clubAbahani Limited Dhaka.[1]
He is the first-ever South Asian to get aUEFA A license in 2015.[2] He is also one of the first Bangladeshi coaches to obtainAFC Pro-Diploma.[3]
Maruful's roots lie inGafargaonUpzila ofMymensingh. He had interests in all kinds of sports in his youth. He played 1st division kabaddi with Zurine Janata Club. He had an offer from 1st division basketball club Dhaka Panthers. Sonali Bank wanted him on its hockey team and BJMC pursued him for athletics and 400 meters javelin. However, he chose football for his professional career. Maruful played inDhaka Premier League forBangladesh Boys Club in 1992–1994. He was called up for the preliminary squad of the Bangladesh U19 team. He regularly featured for his Zilla football team. He completed his degree from Mymensingh Ananda Mohan College. He earned a BPED from Dhaka Physical Education College in 1993. A year later,Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) hired him as its physical instructor.[4]
Maruful Haque started his coaching career with Mymensingh Mohammedan in 1995 as a coach-cum-player. Eventually, he took part in a five-day coaching course organized by FIFA. Impressed with Maruful's ability, German coach Walter Fizy asked Bangladesh's legendary coachAbdur Rahim to motivate Maruful to gain higher coaching licenses.[4] He went on to become the assistant coach ofBadda Jagoroni Sangsad in 2001. Under his assistance, Badda Jagoroni became runners-up of theFirst Division in both 2001 and 2004–05. In the meantime, he also coached different sections of theBangladesh Army Football Team.[5] He began his professional career as a game and sports instructor in the Physical Education Department ofBUET in August 1994, where he has been coaching and organizing sports. He also served as the assistant director of the department.
Maruful got his big break in 2008 whenMohammedan SC team management appointed him as the head coach of the traditional giant. Maruful caught their attention during the Victory Day Football Tournament, organized by the club, where Maruful's Badda reached the semis and also defeatedDhaka Abahani in the group-stages. He led the club to theFederation Cup title in both 2008 and 2009.[6][7] His biggest achievement during his tenure at the club was the triumph in the2009 Super Cup.[8] Although, he resigned a month before the2009–10 season concluded, Mohammedan finished the season as unbeaten runners-up.[9]
In August 2010, he joined another giant of Bangladesh football,Muktijoddha Sangsad KS.[10] Under his guidance the Freedom Fighters finished runners-up in the2010–11 Bangladesh League, finishing the season only a point behind championsSheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, in what was his only season with the club.[11]
In 2011, he joinedSheikh Russel KC. The 2011–12 season was disappointing for his team as they finished in fifth place in the professional league and also ended their run in semi-final of Federation Cup. However, in the following season, in 2012–13, he achieved a rare feat in Bangladeshi football, as his team won the domestic treble. During their treble win, Russel came up on top against rivalsSheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in all three occasions.[12]
"I want to dedicate this title to my critics who never considered me as a coach."
— Maruful Haque following his domestic treble triumph.[13]
On 22 October 2012, Sheikh Russel won the first tournament of the 2012–13 season, theFederation Cup, defeating Sheikh Jamal DC 2–1.[14] In theIndependence Cup final held on 2 April 2013, Maruf's team defeated Sheikh Jamal DC 3–2.[15] The team confirmed their domestic treble and Premier League triumph simultaneously, on 1 May 2013, when they defeated eventual runners-up, Shiekh Jamal DC 2–1.[13]
On 4 August 2014, Maruf was handed a one-year suspension by theBangladesh Football Federation for criticizing the Professional Football League Committee (PFLC) and accusing the committee of favouring the big clubs while scheduling the fixtures of the top flight.[16] He was also fined Tk 30,000 for his comments.[17] His suspension was lifted on 25 December 2014, after he was appointed head coach ofSheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.[18]
In December 2014, Maruful who initially joined Sheikh Jamal as a technical director was the head coach. He led them to their third Federation Cup title in 2014–15 season. Before that he also led the club to win an invitational pre-season tournament inBhutan calledBhutan King's Cup as unbeaten champions.[19] Remaining on the top of the league table after the first leg of the2014–15 Bangladesh Premier League, unfortunately, the club parted company from his service.[20]
After being sacked bySheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club following the first-phase of the2014–15 Bangladesh Premier League, he was re-appointed by his previous club,Sheikh Russel KC. He guided the team to a runners-up finish in the league.
In October 2015, Maruful became the first South Asian to receive aUEFA A license, after completing the final phase of the course from theNational Football Centre of England inBurton upon Trent,Staffordshire. This also meant that he was eligible to coach internationally.[21][2]
On 24 November 2015,Bangladesh Football Federation announced the name of Maruful Haque as the new head coach ofBangladesh national football team. He was appointed till the2015 SAFF Suzuki Cup. Nonetheless, Bangladesh failed to advance from the group-stages following defeats againstMaldives andAfghanistan.[22]
In April 2017, Maruful Haque joins Bangladesh Premier League sideArambagh KS. Arambagh played their first game under him in the2017 Federation Cup againstDhaka Mohammedan where they lost the match by 2–1. During his first season with the club, Maruful was fined by BFF for breaching disciplinary issues as he locked into an altercation with the supporters and found guilty over the issue.[23]
Maruful led the team to their first-ever domestic silverware in the club's history of about 60 years by defeating defending championChittagong Abahani in the final of2017–18 Independence Cup by 2–0.[24][25] He developed many talented players at this club likeRobiul Hasan,Arifur Rahman, etc.[26] Arambagh finished at 5th in 2018-19 BPL, their best result in the league after 2010 & gained 33 points, the highest in their club history.
He departed in 2019 after spending two seasons as the club was amidst casino scandals.[27]
In October 2019, Maruful joinedChittagong Abahani as their head coach for the2019 Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup. He had a very short time for preparation before the tournament. However, he led the team to the final with a newly formed squad where they were defeated byTerengganu FC.[28]
In November 2019, Maruful signed a one-year contract with the port city side for the upcoming season.[29] He became the highest-paid local coach of that season with a record salary of 65 lakh taka.[30][31] On 15 March 2020, Maruful's Chittagong Abahani came back from three goals down to win 4–3 against defending champions,Bashundhara Kings, in the eventually abandoned2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League.[32]
Following the sacking ofJamie Day, Maruful was named the interim head coach ofBangladesh national u-23 team in late September 2021, one month before the2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification. Bangladesh had been drawn withKuwait,Saudi Arabia andUzbekistan.[33] Despite insufficient preparation time and superior opponents, Maruful showed high hopes of qualifying in the final round before the tournament.[34] However, the campaign didn't go well for his side as Bangladesh returned home after losing all the three matches without scoring a single goal, including a massive 6–0 defeat against hostUzbekistan.[35]
Maruful's interim duty ended after theAFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification and he returned to coachChittagong Abahani Limited.
In August 2022, after seven years awar, Maruful returned toSheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club for his second stint.[36] Nonetheless, it was a disappointing return to the club as the Dhanmondi-based club finished fifth in the2022–23 Bangladesh Premier League, with only five victories from twenty league games.
In August 2023, Maruful obtained hisAFC Pro-Diploma.[3] However, he decided to take a break from coaching during the 2023–24 season.[37] On 25 October 2023, he was appointed as the technical advisor ofChittagong Abahani.[38][39][40]
On 28 August 2024, Maruful guided theBangladesh U20 team to the2024 SAFF U-20 Championship title.[41]
Mohammedan SC
Muktijoddha Sangsad KC
Sheikh Russel KC
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club
Arambagh KS
Bangladesh U-20
| Team | From | To | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | %W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammedan SC | May 2008 | May 2010 | 61 | 48 | 11 | 2 | 150 | 33 | 078.69 |
| Muktijoddha Sangsad KC | August 2010 | 14 July 2011 | 33 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 80 | 23 | 066.67 |
| Sheikh Russel KC | September 2011 | 15 April 2014 | 73 | 45 | 12 | 16 | 130 | 61 | 061.64 |
| Sheikh Jamal DC | 14 June 2014 | 27 May 2015 | 30 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 81 | 31 | 076.67 |
| Sheikh Russel KC[42] | 3 June 2015 | 26 August 2016 | 28 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 46 | 40 | 042.86 |
| Bangladesh | 24 November 2015 | 18 January 2016 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 050.00 |
| Arambagh KS[43] | 8 April 2017 | 2 August 2019 | 59 | 22 | 11 | 26 | 82 | 83 | 037.29 |
| Chittagong Abahani[44] | October 2019 | 28 August 2022[45] | 70 | 33 | 15 | 22 | 115 | 100 | 047.14 |
| Bangladesh U23 (interim) | 25 September 2021 | 2 November 2021 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 000.00 |
| Sheikh Jamal DC | 25 October 2022[46] | 1 August 2023 | 28 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 39 | 46 | 025.00 |
| Bangladesh U20 | 1 August 2024 | 1 October 2024 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 15 | 037.50 |
| Dhaka Abahani | 17 September 2024[47] | Present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | !— |
P – Total of played matchesW – Won matchesD – Drawn matchesL – Lost matchesGS – Goal scoredGA – Goals against
%W – Percentage of matches won
