The VP Sathyan Memorial Trust and Cultural Forum will commemorate the 3rd death anniversary of former national team captain VP Sathyan at the Rama Vilasam HSS, Chokli, on August 3. The programme includes a 21 kilometer half marathon and a public meeting to be inaugurated by the MLA, KP Mohanan.
Former Internationals KT Chacko and U Sharaf Ali, team-mates of the late footballer in the Kerala Police, state and national teams, will give the commemorative lecture and conduct the prize distribution respectively. The half marathon carries a prize money of Rs. 10,000, Rs. 6,000 and Rs. 4000 for the first three finishers respectively.
Born on April 29, 1965, in Mekunnathu in Kannur district, Sathyan was a late-starter who was initiated into the game, which in later years would help gain much acclaim, only after he had passed out from school. Naturally, it was tough climb to the top for the gangling defender until he gained his initial breakthrough while playing for the then famed club Lucky Star.
Selected to the Kerala team for the 1983 National championship for the Santosh Trophy in Chennai, he moved to Kerala Police in 1984. It was during his tenure with the police side that he gained his first Indian cap at the 1985 SAF Games in Dhaka. Thereafter, it was all smooth sailing as Sathyan soon established himself as a regular in the Indian team until 1997, with sheer dint of hard work and determination.
Altogether, he played for India in over 80 matches and was captain of the side on more than 10 occasions. Over the years, Sathyan regarded by many as the best Indian defender since Jarnail Singh, did move from behind to the middle, contributing his services as a solid midfielder who could surprise rival goalkeepers with his lethal long-rangers. What made him dangerous to rival defences was the intelligence with which he approached set play, whether it was his conversions of free kicks or penalties.
The two-time All India Footballer of the Year, Sathyan was also a recipient of the 1987 KFA Footballer of the Year and the 1998 G.V. Raja award. It was under his captaincy that Kerala regained the Santhosh Trophy in 1992 in Coimbatore after a gap of 19 years. Besides Kerala Police with which he had won the Federation Cup in 1990 and 1991, Sathyan had also served Kolkata powerhouses Mohammedan Sporting and Mohun Bagan with distinction before joining Indian Bank in 1995.
He was one of the few of his generation who had the ability to analyse the game, which was to stand him in good stead during recent years when he served as coach of the Indian Bank and as assistant coach of the Indian team. He was a total footballer and Sathyan will surely be sorely missed by the legion of his fans in Kerala and elsewhere.
Compiled from: The New Indian Express and The Hindu
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Saturday 25 July 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.