V. P. Sathyan
Personal information
Date of birth (1965-04-29)29 April 1965
Place of birth Mekkunnu, Kannur, Kerala, India
Date of death 18 July 2006(2006-07-18) (aged 41)
Place of death Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Position(s) Full-back, Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1982 Spirited Youth Club
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983 Lucky Star Club
1984–1992 Kerala Police
1992–1993 Mohun Bagan
1994–1995 Kerala Police
1996 Kerala Police
International career
1985–1995 India 81 (4)
Managerial career
2001 Indian Bank (football club)
2002 India (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vatta Parambath Sathyan (29 April 1965 – 18 July 2006), popularly known as V. P. Sathyan, was a former Indian professional footballer who played the centre back position. He was the captain of the India national football team from 1991 to 1995. He was named the 1992 AIFF Player of the Year.[1][2][3]

Career

Sathyan started his career in 1983 representing Kerala in the Santosh Trophy National Championship. He attended the South Zone camp for Indian probables under Amar Bahadur in 1985. Strongly built and a capable defender, he joined the national team for the 1985 SAF Games in Dhaka. By 1986, he had represented the country in the Nehru Cup in Thiruvananthapuram and in the Seoul Asian Games.

Sathyan was a key member of the Kerala Police Football team which won the Federation Cup twice in 1989–90 and in 1990–91. He went from the Kerala Police team to Kolkata in 1991, where he played for two seasons, one in Mohammedan Sporting Club and one in Mohun Bagan before returning to the Kerala Police again and then moving to Indian Bank in 1996. Sathyan served first as a player from 1995 to 2001 and then as the team's coach.

In 1991, Sathyan became the captain of the Indian team for the World Cup qualifiers in Beirut and Seoul. He led the Indian team to a gold medal in the 1995 SAF Games in Madras (Present Chennai).[4] He also led Kerala to the Santosh Trophy title in 1992.

Sathyan was the AIFF player of the year in 1992. As a coach, he was an assistant to Stephen Constantine in 2002 when India toured South Korea.

International goals

Scores and results list India's goal tally first..[5][6][7][8]
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 26 July 1986 Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  South Korea
3–3
4–3
 1986 Pestabola Merdeka
2. 30 January 1993 Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai, India  Cameroon
1–2
2–2
 1993 Nehru Cup
3. 7 May 1993 Beirut, Lebanon  Lebanon
2–2
2–2
 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
4. 15 May 1993 Beirut, Lebanon  Bahrain 1–2 1–2 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Personal life

VP Sathyan was born on 29 April 1965 in Mekkunnu near Chokli, Kannur district, to Vatta Parambath Gopalan Nair and Narayani Amma. He was married to Anith, who is now working as a clerk at the Sports Council Office in Kozhikode and had a daughter Athira, who got married in 2017. Unfortunately, VP Sathyan committed suicide by jumping in front of an oncoming train in Chennai on 18 July 2006 because he was suffering from depression due to the lack of recognition/credits/awards he received, and the loss of income after retirement from his football career. [9]

In popular culture

The 2018 Indian biographical film Captain is based on Sathyan's life. Jayasurya portrayed Sathyan in the film, while Anu Sithara played his wife, Anitha.[10] In 2019, Jayasurya won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Captain.[11]

Honours

India

Individual

References

  1. ^ "VP Sathyan: The captain gets an elegy". The Times Of India. 18 February 2019. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  2. ^ "VP Sathyan commits suicide". Hindustan Times. 19 July 2006. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  3. ^ "ഇനതയന ഫടബോളില ശവാസവായ നിറചച വിപി സതയന യാതരയായിടട പതിമനനാണട". 18 July 2019. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  4. ^ "A footballer who never got his due". The Telegraph. 19 July 2006. Archived from the original on 23 October 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  5. ^ Merdeka Tournament 1986, archived from the original on 8 January 2019, retrieved 17 November 2018
  6. ^ SK Indian Football Tribute: VP Sathyan aka Jayasurya - Remembering the life of a legend, archived from the original on 17 July 2021, retrieved 17 November 2018
  7. ^ Nehru Cup 1993, archived from the original on 5 October 2018, retrieved 17 November 2018
  8. ^ The Indian Senior Team at the 1994 World Cup Qualifiers, archived from the original on 19 August 2016, retrieved 17 November 2018
  9. ^ "V P Sathyan commits suicide". Rediffnews. 18 July 2006. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  10. ^ "Jaysurya in movie on V P Sathyan". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  11. ^ "Kerala State Film Awards: Soubin Shahir, Jayasurya share Best Actor award, Nimisha is Best Actress". The New Indian Express. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  12. ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava. "The Indian Senior Team at the 1993 Lahore SAARC Cup". Indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Indian Football "HALL OF FAME": V.P. SATHYAN". indianfootball.de. IndianFootball. 2005. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  14. ^ "AIFF PLAYER OF THE YEAR — FROM STARTING". Kolkata Football. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Jeje Lalpekhlua is 2016 AIFF Player of the Year". AIFF. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  16. ^ "All India Football Federation Awards: Sunil Chhetri and Bala Devi win Player of the Year Trophy". India Today. 14 February 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.

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