Goodfellas Retire
Ahead of the 2025/26 season, two of CSKA Carnabys’s most familiar faces in Tejas Shah and Manish Verma have both announced their retirement from the game.
Both players were able to end their CSKA journey on a high having secured Stokes Cup Winners medals at the end of 2024/25, and whilst both have left the door slightly ajar for a possible return, we must honour them and thank them for their outstanding loyalty and commitment to CSKA Carnabys.
Manish Verma
Manish joined just months into the 2017/18 season operating primarily as a central midfielder for CSKA II. He made his competitive debut in November 2017 in a home game for CSKA II against Ratby Sports. His abilities and strong work ethic didn’t go unnoticed and within a season found himself in the fringes of the first team.
His first team debut came in November 2018 away at Midland FC, however his key role in the centre of the CSKA II midfield limited his first team opportunities but he continued to thrive under the guidance of Karsandas and Maggs.
Verma was recalled to the CSKA first team when Chris McCafferty took over as manager at the end of the 2021/22 season, and immediately repaid his manager as a second half substitute away at Black Dog Oadby, by putting in a MotM performance as well as scoring a last minute header to give McCafferty his first win as manager.
His remaining years at CSKA Carnabys were placed between first team and reserve team. Showed up wherever he was needed and duly delivered. Never made a fuss, always with a positive attitude, Manish was an absolute joy to have around the club.
The last of his 133 appearances for CSKA was as a second half substitute in the 2025 Stokes Cup Final, coming on to tidy up the midfield and see out a historic win.
We will remember Manish fondly for his nice-guy attitude, apologies on the pitch, beautiful hair, and of course his infamous yellow under-armour / red boots signature look!
Tejas Shah
Tej joined in the summer of 2018 along with close friends Damian Wright and Amit Patel. He made his debut that September in the victory over Maidstone Rovers. He quickly established himself as CSKA II’s first choice goalkeeper, however did make the occasional appearance in the centre of defence.
His first team debut came in the aforementioned victory over Black Dog Oadby where he found himself on the winning side on his debut, and setting an early marker down as the man to succeed the retiring Richard Augustus. Despite missing a lot of the pre-season games in 2022/23, Tej was given the No1 jersey and had a solid first season as first team goalkeeper as CSKA finished 4th in Division 2, securing promotion to Division 1 for only the second time in the club’s history.
That following season was to be Tej’s strongest, setting the standard in early October where an inspiring performance in the match and in the penalty shootout win away at Premier League side Braunstone Irons earned him the first of 4 MotM awards that campaign. More heroics followed in wins against TopHouse and Birstall Social, culminating in winning Manager’s Player of the Season for 2023/24.
An injury during pre-season kept him out for a large part of the 2024/25 season, but he did return for the end of the season run in that earned him a place in the Stokes Cup Final squad where he would pick up a winner’s medal.
Relocation of his business has meant that Tej has had to unfortunately leave the UK. He was a very popular character at the club and was a mainstay at most of the social gatherings. He was a great goalkeeper despite the odd sudden bouts of unavailability, but none of that takes away from the fact he is an absolute genuine guy and great friend to us all.