Till last season, Muhammad Suhail was known only to followers of Punjab FC. That changed in 2023-24 when the club won the Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) title, beating East Bengal in the final.
Suhail, just 17 then, was named the tournament’s best player – a breakthrough that led to his promotion to the senior team.
His first taste of top-level football came in the Durand Cup 2025, a competition he remembers fondly. “It was the first time I played senior football,” he says. “I understood where I was as a player and what I needed to do to consistently play at this level.”
Reaching the Indian top-flight was not easy. Suhail joined Punjab FC’s academy at the age of 13, leaving his home in Olavakkode, a railway town in Kerala’s Palakkad district, for Mohali – 2,761 kilometres away. On the advice of his elder brother, Muhammad Sulaiman, he attended Punjab FC’s trials in Coimbatore, where he was selected despite having no district-level experience.
Life at the academy was a shock. “It was very tough at the beginning. Everything was new – the culture, the professional setup. I was crying the whole time. I didn’t have friends and I was the only player from Kerala then,” he recalls.
His parents told him he could return if he was unhappy, but his brother pushed him to stay. Friends from his boyhood club, Marhaba FC, also encouraged him to persevere.
The Position Switch
Suhail joined the academy as a centre-back, but was shifted to a forward role in the Under-17s – a change that transformed his game. “That was when I realised my true game,” he says. “It opened up my chances in the senior team.”
After impressing in the Premier League Next Generation Cup in England, head coach Panagiotis Dilmperis called him up to the first team for the ISL 2024-25 season. “I expected just a few minutes as a substitute, but I got to start several matches. I made full use of the chances I got,” he says. Suhail ended the season with 13 appearances, 11 of them starts.
Lessons From Durand Cup
Punjab FC’s Durand Cup 2025 campaign ended early after a shock loss to Bodoland FC. Suhail, however, stood out with his pace and dribbling on the wings. “The competition was very high and the opposition physical. It was more than we expected, but it was a learning experience,” he says.
As for his goals, the soon-to-be 19-year-old keeps it simple: “I haven’t thought about anything to be honest. I just want to keep playing, scoring and assisting. The rest will come.”
From the mud grounds of Palakkad’s railway colony to the ISL stage, Suhail’s journey is a story of persistence, sacrifice, and seizing every opportunity – no matter how far from home it takes him.