Jaffar Khan

Jaffar Khan (Urdu, Pashto: ; born on 10 March 1981) is a Pakistani football manager and former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the current head coach of Pakistan Army football team.

Jaffar played for Pakistan Army from 1998 till 2019, and captained the Pakistan national team from 2003 until 2013 since his first selection in 2001. Despite his lack of height needed for modern goalkeepers, he was praised for his shot-stopping skills and reflexes. He is considered as one of the most successful goalkeepers to play for Pakistan. Khan also served as a soldier in the Pakistan Army.

Club career
Khan was inducted to the Pakistan Army through the sports quota in 1998.

In 2000, he kept a clean sheet in the PFF President's Cup final against Allied Bank in which they won 1–0. Khan helped them retain the trophy in 2001 until 2006-07 where he set a new goalkeeping record by not conceding a goal through 16 matches.

In 2001, Khan reportedly received an offer from a second division club in the UK and also a first division side in Korea, but was not given permission from the superiors in the Pakistan Army.

2001–2003: Rise to prominence
Khan was discovered by then Pakistan youth team and under-23 manager John Layton back in early 1999, and found his way into the Pakistan national football team soon enough. He started his international career with a tour of England in 2001 against Coventry City. He subsequently played at the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification in 2001, and a friendly test series against Sri Lanka in 2002. He was also called by the Pakistan national under-23 team for the 2002 Asian Games. After participating in the 2003 SAFF Gold Cup, he featured in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification.

2003–2013: Captaincy
At the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification in November 2003 against Kyrgyzstan, Khan replaced Haroon Yousaf as the captain of the national team.

After playing at the 2004 Summer Olympics qualifiers, he took the under-23 side all the way to the final of the 2004 South Asian Games against India, where his string of saves gave Pakistan a 1–0 victory. After playing in the 2005 Islamic Solidarity Games, he retained his captaincy for a three-match friendly series against India in 2005, later playing in the 2005 SAFF Gold Cup and the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification the same year. He also captained the national side at the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup.

Like several players of Army FC, Jaffar Khan remained actively serving in the Pakistan Army as a Non-Commissioned Officer and during the 2007–08 season, he received a summons to join the UN peacekeeping operations in Congo. When he was away on military duty, Pakistan succumbed to one of their worst defeats, losing by 7–0 to Iraq.

In December 2009, at the end of the SAFF Championship in Bangladesh, Jaffar publicly stated his decision to retire from international football after a fallout with Pakistan's Austrian coach György Kottán, but returned later on captaining the under-23 side at the 2010 Asian Games.

In 2011, he played at the 2014 World Cup qualification. At the 2011 SAFF Championship, he conceded a single goal in the three matches all resulting in a draw, failing to register the qualification for the semifinal round. After a series of friendlies against Singapore, Nepal and Maldives in 2012 and 2013, he played his last match for the national team against Macau at the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification. He was ruled out of the 2013 SAFF Championship due to knee injury during a match of the Inter-Services Football tournament at the Naval Sports Complex.

Coaching career
Khan got an AFC License C and did a specialised goalkeeping course in Bahrain. He was briefly appointed as goalkeeping coach for the Pakistan national team from 2014 to 2015. In 2019 following his retirement from football, he became the goalkeeping coach for his club. In 2021, Khan was appointed as head coach of Pakistan Army.

In August 2023, Khan was appointed as the goalkeeping coach for the Pakistan under 16 national team for the 2023 SAFF U16 Championship held in Bhutan.

Personal life
Khan was born in Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province into an ethnic Pashtun family. Like several players of Army FC, Jaffar Khan was still in service with the Pakistan Army as a Non-Commissioned Officer with the Frontier Force Regiment, and during the 2007-08 season was called up to service for UN peacekeeping operations in Congo. On 7 May 2009, Jaffar received AFC Distinguished Services Awards from FIFA President Sepp Blatter at Kuala Lumpur during the AFC 23rd Congress.

Honours
Pakistan Army
 * Pakistan Premier League: 2005–06, 2006–07
 * Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup: 2000, 2001

Pakistan U-23
 * South Asian Games: 2004