Indian football team striker Bala Devi was already a path-breaker when she signed a professional contract for Scottish side Rangers in Janu...
Indian football team striker Bala Devi was already a path-breaker when she signed a professional contract for Scottish side Rangers in January. But away from home in a much higher level of competition, her professional career was well and truly beginning.
The Manipuri is no youngster at 30. She also boasts of a staggering scoring record for India having netted 52 times in 58 games. But this jump to Rangers, a powerhouse in Scottish football was going to test one of India’s greatest.
It was evident fairly early into her transfer to Rangers that the move was a footballing one and not a marketing gimmick to excite the football community of a country desperate to see one of their own make it big in Europe.
Bala Devi was given the No 10 shirt, usually reserved for the team’s most priced attacking talent. But more importantly, coach Grégory Vignal threw her straight into the action in their first official game of the season against Hearts in the Scottish Premier League.
“There was a lot of attention around my debut and I was overjoyed that it came in the first official match of the season,” Bala Devi told Scroll.in from Scotland.
Playing just behind the striker, Bala Devi played 80 minutes and assisted...
