SS Narayanan, who was part of the Indian national football team which reached the semi finals of the 1956, has said that he “does not see a solution” for the state of Indian football in the near future.
“Earlier, Mumbai would provide quite a few players to the Indian team. It’s not the same anymore. Lack of grounds has affected the game. Even the Elite Division matches weren’t played this season. Players pursue the game till school but disappear from the scene. I don’t see a solution,” Narayanan said during a ceremony hosted by the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) to honour him on Saturday.
Narayanan, born in Ottapalam in the Palakkad district of Kerala in 1934, also added that “During our times, a huge crowd would watch games at Cooperage. Even the lower division teams would get a sizeable number of spectators. WIFA organised the Rovers Cup and MDFA the Harwood League during those days.” He evaluated the present condition of football in Mumbai.
Though born in Kerala, Narayanan moved to Bombay during his childhood where his footballing career flourished at the Indian Gymkhana. Narayanan would go on to to be a part of the Indian team that played the 1952 Olympics in Australia and the 1956 Olympics in Rome.
“Our team improved under coach Syed Abdul Rahim. After losing badly in the 1952 Finland Games, we did well to get to the semifinals of the 1956 Olympics in Australia. However, we lost the bronze medal match to Bulgaria 0-3,” he told of the golden period of Indian football.
The 79-year-old former goalkeeper was felicitated by MDFA in the presence of Marto Gracias, Santosh Kashyap and Steven Dias.
Photo Courtesy: DNA
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Monday 15 July 2013. The database copy of this article was lost; it was recovered in 2026 from the Internet Archive's saved copy of the live page.