Shyam Thapa is a retired Indian footballer who played for the India national football team and was the bronze-medallist at the 1970 Asian Games. Coached by P. K. Banerjee, Thapa became one of the finest and aggressive strikers of the country during the 1970s, known for his bicycle-kicks.

Shyam Thapa was first discovered when he scored the match-winner for Gorkha Military Higher Secondary School (HSS) against Anjuman Islam Higher secondary school, Mumbai in the 1964 Subroto Mukherjee Cup final.

His finest hour came in the 1969 Durand final when he scored an opportunistic match-winner in the reply against the redoubtable Border Security Force (BSF). General Maneckshaw witnessed that match and invited the entire Gorkha Brigade team for a party the next day. At that party, Shyam requested Maneckshaw, who became a Field Marshal later, to release him from the army so that he could pursue his career as a professional.

In 1970, Thapa helped India win bronze medal in Merdeka tournament. In that year, he won bronze at the Bangkok Asian Games, with P. K. Banerjee managed and Syed Nayeemuddin captained team. He scored in India’s 3–0 win over Indonesia in the 1970 Asian Games and also in the 3–1 win over Malaysia in the Merdeka tournament.

Shyam Thapa’s career, however, suffered a setback. His family was worried about the increasing Naxalite violence in Kolkata and asked him to leave. He took a transfer to Mafatlal Mills, Bombay, and linked up with former Gorkha Brigade players like Ranjit Thapa, Bhupender Singh Rawat and Amar Bahadur. He stayed with Mafatlal Mills from 1971–74.

He became India’s most sought-after player and in the 1977–78 season, Mohun Bagan paid a record fee of Rs. 50,000 for his services. He was the highest-paid player in India that year and helped Bagan win a historic treble – IFA Shield, Rovers Cup and Durand tournament, in a single season and his brilliant goal against rivals East Bengal in an IFA league match with a back volley is still remembered. In the Durand Cup final, he scored the equalizer against JCT, darting onto a rebound from goalkeeper Surjeet Singh and bulging the net. In the replay, he set up the match-winner for Mohammed Akbar.

From 1977–1980, he figured in four consecutive Durand finals for Mohun Bagan winning in 1977, 1979 and 1980. During the same period, Mohun Bagan also won the IFA Shield thrice in a row, 1977–79 and the Rovers Cup in 1977. From 1970–77, he was a regular in the Indian team. He played as a striker in Mohun Bagan’s historic match against a star-studded New York Cosmos spearheaded by Pelé on 24 September 1977, in which both the teams shared honours as the match ended 2–2. Under P. K. Banerjee’s guidance, their performance against the American club featuring Pelé, Carlos Alberto Torres and Giorgio Chinaglia, earned popularity worldwide.