He was a member of the Shadhin Bangla Football Team, which played across India to raise awareness about the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

He holds the record of scoring the country's first ever goal at the AFC Asian Cup, coming in their maiden appearance in the tournament in 1980.

[11] Later that year, at the request of his sports teacher, Salahuddin played as a striker for Dilkusha SC in Dhaka Second Division League.

By his first season at the top-tier, Salahuddin had made a name for himself as the country's youngest football prospect and, in 1970, he was snatched up by Mohammedan SC, the leading club of East Pakistan.

His father agreed and he crossed the border to reach Agartala where he joined the training camp for the guerilla soldiers.

The journalist, from Kolkata, convinced him to play for the team and explained to him the importance about growing public support for the war.

That day Salahuddin accompanied Enayetur Rahman Khan, in the team's forward line, as the game ended 2–2.

[15] Gostha Pal, a central defender nicknamed 'the Chinese Wall' had played with great distinction for Mohan Bagan in the early part of the 20th century.

Salahuddin carried on to play in different parts of India with his team to raise money and create public support for Bangladesh.

[19] On 13 May, Mohun Bagan took on the "Dhaka XI", who were the unofficial Bangladesh national team, consisting of the best players in the country at the time.

[20] Salauddin gave Bangladesh football hope.During the latter stages of 1972, Salahuddin and the Dhaka XI took part in India's Guwahati to partake in the Bordoloi Trophy.

His team finished the tournament as runner-up, losing to East Bengal in the final, and by the end of the year, Salahuddin had established himself as Bangladesh's first sports icon.

Also, his combination with left winger Ashrafuddin Ahmed Chunnu served both the club and then national team greatly for almost a decade.

[23] In 1976, Salahuddin became the first player after independence to score 7 goals in a league game, as Abahani thrashed his former club Dilkusha SC 10–0.

A few days before Salahuddin, Mohammedan's Hafizuddin Ahmed became the first player in independent Bangladesh to score a double hat trick in the First Division.

However, the court held them accountable for conspiring a military coup against Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who was the country's dictator at the time.

[26] Salahuddin made his debut for the Bangladesh national football team in 1973, when they were invited to participate in the 1973 Merdeka Cup, held in Malaysia.

[29] Returning to Dhaka, Salahuddin saw his fellow Abahani players and staff devastated and thus, decided to leave the country.

During the qualifying stage Salahuddin had created a striking partnership with Ashrafuddin Ahmed Chunnu and Abdul Halim, and the trio's goals guided Bangladesh to the main tournament.

With Salahuddin being arrested alongside his Abahani teammates (Chunnu, Helal and Kazi Anwar) during the Black September event, he was yet again left out of the national team, missing the 1982 Asian Games.

The same year, Salahuddin completed his hattrick of titles by winning the 1985 First Division, despite Ali Imam's Brothers Union team giving Abahani a fight till the end.

Abahani's historic hattrick league triumph meant that Salahuddin had won the first two titles as a player (1983 & 1984) and the final one as the coach, which is a unique record in Bangladesh's domestic football.

His side caused a major upset by defeating the Syria national team, thanks to a goal from Fakrul Kamal.

Salahuddin was in charge of Abahani until 1987, and in 1988, he coached Bangladesh once more, and this time during the 1988 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in Abu Dhabi.

[35] Salahuddin became the vice-president of the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) in 2003 and subsequently assumed the chairmanship of the National Team Management Committee.

[40] Following his election, he secured a three-year sponsorship deal worth BDT 160,000,000 (equivalent to USD 2,285,714 appx) with the multinational mobile operator Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited (Citycell), setting a record in the country's football history.

In 2009, he organized the koti takar khela' (Million dollar game) between Mohammedan and Abahani which was the final of the first ever Super Cup tournament in Bangladesh.

[48] His most notable achievement was to bring the Argentina national football team along with superstar Lionel Messi to Bangladesh in 2011, in order to play a friendly game against Nigeria.

[49] Despite his achievements, he is widely criticized for the recent downturn in Bangladeshi football as the nation's ranking had stooped to its lowest ever position 196, in 2018.