THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is quite customary for African and South American footballers to move to Europe in search of greener pastures. But what is not a commonplace occurrence is when a trio of Kerala footballers is wanted by a foreign football club.
That is exactly what happened to Shaji Varghese, Shibu Stellas and Shyam Simon, all from Shangumugham near here, in 2004 when Sri Lanka’s Renown Sports Club offered them a one-year contract to play football in the island’s top division league.
“We used to play as guests for teams like Kerala Police and Travancore Titanium XI in the local leagues for around `5,000 a month when the Sri Lankan club offered us a US $ 300 per month contract,” Shaji said adding that they had no second thoughts of putting pen to the paper.
As children, wing back Shaji, midfielder Shibu and forward Shyam grew up playing football together on the beaches of Valiyathura and were to continue playing together with and against each other for several years at various grounds around the state. But a permanent posting in the Police or Titanium kept eluding them.
That was when the chance to play in Sri Lanka came along. The threesome were invited for trials at Tuticorin where they were watched by the Renown SC’s officials in two practice games. And the deal after that was only a matter of formality.
“We were taken by surprise by the facilities and quality of football. The grounds were all lush green and the league was an eight-month-long affair and everything was very professional,” Shibu, now 35 and an employee at the Trivandrum International Airport, said.
Playing for the Renown Sports Club, based at Kotahena, Colombo, the trio were able to realise two of their lifetime wishes. Renown featured in the 110th IFA Shield in 2004 at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.
“Coincidentally, Renown were invited to play in the IFA Shield. It was a dream always to play in Kolkata and that too with a foreign club in one of the oldest football tournaments in the world came as a double delight,” said Shaju. Almost a decade on from their exploits in the island, football is still a way of living for them. Shaji and Shyam still feature in various football leagues in the UAE while Shibu takes to the beaches of Thiruvananthapuram to give lessons to young footballers.