Early career

Indian nationalists were fighting for independence from British colonial rule during the 1920s and 1930s. Many Indians took to football to answer British jibes that Indians were incapable of home rule. They played in bare feet and managed to defeat British teams wearing boots which was seen as evidence that Indians were in no way inferior.^[12] Salim did not find it difficult to join the Chittaranjan Club of Bowbazar, Central Calcutta. Managed by a group of educated Bengali middle-class patrons, they instilled in Salim the fervent desire to beat the European in his game. Salim then had a short stint in the B team of Mohammedan Sporting Club. Struck by Salim's exceptional talent, Pankaj Gupta, Bengal's legendary sports administrator, recruited Salim to play for his club Sporting Union. He went on to spend a season with East Bengal Club before moving to the Aryans Club under the auspices of Choney Majumdar, a leading sportsman of contemporary Bengal.^[13][14]

Mohammedan SC and Celtic FC

Salim rejoined Mohammedan Sporting Club in 1934 and was finally part of their first team setup. Salim was instrumental in helping the Club to five league titles in a row:

With Salim in their ranks, the Club for the first time in its history won the Calcutta Football League. Winning soon became a habit. For the next four years Mohammedan went on to win the coveted title with Salim spearheading the attack. Exceptionally talented, Salim was winning thousands of hearts with his ball control, dribbling, correct passes and lobs. He knew at what height a pass should be given. His passing was one of the greatest attractions for Mohammedan supporters. This winning spree continued for five years and Salim was at the forefront in most of these years. With each triumph the number of his fans multiplied. The more people wanted to touch him and embrace him the more emotional he became. He celebrated his fifth straight league win by shedding a couple of teardrops and by thanking God for having helped him achieve what he wanted.^[15]

After the title win of 1936, Salim was invited to play in two exhibition matches against the Chinese Olympic side. The first would be an All India XI and the second would be a select civil and military side. These games were the first international matches played in India, organised by the provincial IFA, but it was not until the following year that the India national team began in earnest with the founding of the AIFF. The first match between the Indian and Chinese sides was a draw with Noor Mohammed scoring for the Indian team.^[16][17] After the first game, Salim was praised by the Chinese official Dr Chi Chao Yung:

Allow me to congratulate most heartily the members of the India side for their wonderful display of good footwork. In the course of the game they showed perfect understanding and exceptional speed. It was most unlucky that they did not come out the winners. The forwards, Salim, Rahim, Bhattacharjee and Abbas were exceptional in their display.^[18]

Before the second match took place, Salim had disappeared. The police were solicited to search for him and advertisements were inserted in newspapers requesting that he join the Civil and Military XI immediately. These efforts were in vain as Salim was en route to Britain via Cairo. A relative called Hasheem who lived in England was visiting Calcutta and witnessed the first match. Having seen Salim's exceptional display, Hasheem had persuaded him to try his hand at European football.^[19]

After a few days in London, Hasheem took him to Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland. Salim was surprised to note that all the Celtic players were professionals but he was confident that he could compete with them. Hasheem spoke to Willie Maley, the Celtic manager, "A great player from India has come by ship. Will you please take a trial of his? But there is a slight problem. Salim plays in bare feet."^[12]

The idea of a bare-footed amateur from India competing against Scottish professionals was difficult for Maley to believe but he agreed to give him a trial. Salim was asked to demonstrate his skill before 1,000 club members and three registered coaches. Salim's ability, even in bare feet, astonished them. They decided to play him in two upcoming Alliance matches.^[19] As both of these games were friendlies, he is not recorded to have played.^[20]

Salim made his debut in a 5–1 victory against Hamilton Accies, where "he took a penalty and scored with a great shot."^[21] He thus became the first player from the Indian sub-continent to play for a European club.^[12]

On 28 August 1936, he helped Celtic win 7–1 against Galston. The Scottish Daily Express carried the headline "Indian Juggler – New Style" along with a magical description of Salim:

Ten twinkling toes of Salim, Celtic FC's player from India hypnotised the crowd at Parkhead last night in an Alliance game with Galston. He balances the ball on his big toe, lets it run down the scale to his little toe, twirls it, hops on one foot around the defender, then flicks the ball to the center who has only to send it into goal. Three of Celtic's seven goals last night came from his moves. Was asked to take a penalty, he refused. Said he was shy. Salim does not speak English, his brother translates for him. Brother Hasheem thinks Salim is wonderful – so did the crowd last night.^[22]

The following is an excerpt from the Glasgow Observer:

Abdul Salim, Celtic's Indian International trialist, tickled the crowd at Celtic Park on Friday with his magnificent ball manipulation. In his bare feet, he was a conspicuous figure but this was further emphasised by his dark skin against the white and green of the Celtic strip. His play was top class. Every ball he touched went exactly to the place he wanted it to. Not one inch was it out. His crosses into goal were simply shrieking to be nodded into the net. I wouldn't like to have calculated the score had McGrory been playing ..... [Danny] Dawson missed a penalty kick which Salim, despite the invitation of Alex Millar, refused to take.^[23]

Alan Breck's Book of Scottish Football also recorded Salim playing for Celtic:

Celtic introduced a novel touch when, in an Alliance game against Galston, they fielded Abdul Salim, an Indian. Salim played without boots, his feet being tightly bandaged, as the pictures show. Mohamed Hashean, to give him his right name, proved an expert in trapping and lobbing the ball towards goal. He fairly hypnotised the opposing defenders, and seven goals were actually the outcome of his moves. Foreign footballers are by no means rare. But all have played in the regulation boots. Salim preferred to stick to his native way, and, what is more, he "saw the boots off" the other fellows. His accuracy in shooting and ball control greatly tickled the crowd.^[21]

Salim soon became homesick and was determined to return to India.^[24] Celtic pleaded with him to remain in Scotland for a season, even offering to organise a charity match on his behalf and promising him five percent of the total gate proceeds. Salim refused and asked that the money (£1,800; a large amount of money at the time) be donated to local orphans who were also to be invited to the match.^[25] Salim was also offered a professional contract to play in Germany.^[19] In the end, he travelled back to India to rejoin Mohammedan Sporting Club in time for the beginning of the 1937 Calcutta Football League.