"People talk about wanting to see the next I M Vijayan.
I myself am waiting for the next Vijayan and I’m praying that somebody comes through to lift Kerala football again. During my time, we had an amazing group of players like Sathyan, Pappachan, Ancheri. There were some great players and I had the fortune of playing with them. We shared a close bond both on and off the field.
There are so many memories from the time I’ve been playing football. I remember the times when we were playing, spectators used to jostle for space to watch us. Be it Kerala Police matches or Santosh Trophy. People wanted to see us play. You should have seen the team that we had at Kerala Police.
Four to five players were regular national team players. It is sad to see how things went down with clubs shutting down and tournaments like Federation Cup and Santosh Trophy losing their value. A lot of players lost out on opportunities because of that.
There were no clubs for players to go to and no tournaments to play in. It was one of the reasons new players were not coming up after us. They had no platform to prove themselves. I’m a bit hopeful now.
There are two teams at the national level from Kerala. We’ve seen Gokulam beat East Bengal and Mohun Bagan to win the Durand Cup which is a good sign. Kerala Blasters have a good team this season and if they manage their season, they can do well. Sahal and Ashique offer a lot of hope and I am praying to God that these players come up to the level which we enjoyed during our time. Kerala football needs that."