The Kerala Football Association (KFA), on Thursday, named Mahindra United defender Justin stephen as the KFA Player of the Year for the season 2008-09.
Justin is raised from the Uzhavoor village of Kottayam district in Central Kerala. He completed his studies at OLLHS, Uzhavoor and went for further studies at Christ College, Kottayam. The defender started his Football career with Unity Soccer Club, Thodupuzha and later went on to play for his College side of Christ College.
The turning point of Justin’s career came when the Kerala side Viva Kerala signed the defender in 2006 during their pursuit for top division football. Justin could only manage one year at Viva, as his potentials were spotted by the premier club Mahindra United. He signed a contract with Mahindra United in 2007 and is with the club from then.
Amrita Aravind of Pathanamthitta was named the best player among senior women. Jabir S (Thiruvananthapuram), Jipson Justus (Thiruvanthapuram), Akshay N Joshi (Ernakulam) and Anees K (Malapuram) were picked for the award in the under-21, under 19, under-16 and under-13 sections among boys.
The Under-13 section winner, Anees joined SEPT in 2004 as part of their first batch and hails from Therattammal in Malappuram District. He is a class nine student of Farook Higher Secondary School, Calicut.
In the girls' category, Hafsath A, Manila L (both Thiruvananthapuram) and Nikhila T (Kozhikode) were named for the prize in the under-19, under-17 and the unde-14 sections.
The gold medals will be presented in Kochi on August 20 during the KFA Annual Meeting.
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Saturday 25 July 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.