Syed Abdul Rahim

Rahim was born on 17 August 1909 in Hyderabad, Hyderabad State, British India. In his early years, he worked as a school teacher. After taking football seriously, Rahim represented the football team of Osmania University, from where he graduated. He also played for a team named "Eleven Hunters", consisting of then enrolled and former students of the college. After his journey as a teacher, Rahim returned to his college to complete his arts degree. Thereafter, he worked as the teacher successively in Kachiguda Middle School, Urdu Sharif School, Darul-ul-Uloom High School and Chaderghat High School. He then got a diploma in physical education and took charge of sports in the last two schools he served as teacher. Rahim was a professional footballer for a while, representing Qamar Club, which was then considered to be one of the best teams in the local league. Rahim also played for the Dutch Amateur League club HSV Hoek in the Netherlands, before going on to become a manager.

Hyderabad City Police

In 1950, Rahim joined Hyderabad City Police Club as coach. He succeeded Norbert Andrew Fruvall for the post. He managed the team from 1950 until his death in 1963. The Hyderabadi club won five consecutive Rovers Cups during his tenure from 1950 to 1955. He also took his team to five Durand Cup finals, winning three of them. One of the finest players of that team, Muhammad Noor, recalled the training session years under Rahim as: "Often at practice we had just one football and for refreshments afterwards just a cup of tea but our hard practice, a will to succeed and excellent coaching from the late Rahim Saheb enabled us to become a successful team".

Hyderabad

Rahim managed Hyderabad football team in Santosh Trophy, known as the senior national championships. He guided the team clinching two consecutive titles in 1956–57 and 1957–58, defeating the same team, Bombay, in finals. At the 1958–59 edition, Hyderabad were on the verge of a hat-trick of Santosh Trophy titles in Madras, but went down 5–2 to Services in semi-finals. Most of the members of his Hyderabad City Police team, represented Hyderabad in the tournament.

India

He became manager of the India national football team in 1950, the same year, India had not gone to the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Rahim's first assignment as the coach of India was to train the team that toured Ceylon in 1949. Rahim made the Indian team prominent during the "golden era" of Indian…

Rahim is considered to be the greatest football coach India has ever produced. His tenure is considered as a "Golden age" of Indian football. Rahim was a teacher in his early career and coached Hyderabad City Police FC, which made him a strict disciplinarian and a good tactician. Utilizing the available resources, he made the best out of them by conducting non-dribbling and weaker leg (the players supposedly play with their weaker foot) tournaments to improve one-touch play. Rahim introduced the classic 4–2–4 formation in Indian football team much before Brazil popularised it in the 1958 World Cup. The 1962 Asian Games was Rahim's final major tournament, winning a 2–1 victory over South Korea. Before that final, he famously said to his players, "Kal aap logon se mujhe ek tohfa chahiye...kal aap sona jitlo" (lit. 'I want a gift from you tomorrow...the gold medal').

When Indian national coach Alberto Fernando had gone to a workshop in Brazil in 1964, he said: What I learnt from Rahim in 1956 is being taught now in Brazil. Verily, he was a football prophet. Former Indian international Mohammed Zulfiqaruddin said about Rahim, as: He was a master at work. He made the Indian football team a formidable unit. He had the uncanny ability of spotting talent and turning them into solid players. But he was a strict disciplinarian.

Rahim was popularly known as 'Maulvi Sahib' due to his gentleman gesture and tireless works and dedications in developing football at that time. He went to the Nizam College, and later, was part of its football section. Rahim was married to Saira Rahim. Their son Syed Shahid Hakim was a former professional football player, who represented India at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Hakim also worked as a FIFA official, a squadron leader in the Indian Air Force, and a referee. He later managed the national team like his father, and was a recipient of the Dhyan Chand Award.