I. M. Vijayan Wiki,

Some Lesser Known Facts About I. M. Vijayan

• I. M. Vijayan is a former Indian footballer-turned-actor and member of the technical committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

• He faced extreme poverty during his childhood. Vijayan was late for his classes as he went to play football matches every morning. He excelled in football from a young age and followed the football games, which were held at the Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium, near his home.

  

• He used to sell soda at 10 paise per bottle during football matches at the Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium to support his family.

• According to Vijayan, he failed five times in the fifth standard while studying at the Church Mission Society High School. In an interview, he pointed out that he was always late for classes as he never skipped his morning football practices at the Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium. He further said that since he was the eldest in his class, the new students, who came into class fifth each year, referred to him as Vijayan Chetta (elder brother).

  

• Vijayan became a part of his school’s football team and participated in various school competitions. During an interview, he admitted to having limited proficiency in spoken Hindi. He also mentioned that when he was chosen to represent the school in a football match in Kashmir, his Hindi teacher assisted him by teaching him a few Hindi phrases so that he could converse. He talked about it and said,
  

  He also warned me never to ask for “chor” (rice in Malayalam and thief in Hindi) and advised me to ask for “chaval” instead.”

• He lost his father at the age of twelve and started helping his mother who used to collect scraps and waste papers to support the family.

• At the age of 17, he was able to impress the then-coach of the Kerala Police football club A. M. Sreedharan and was selected for the team. He played for the club for five seasons and scored 33 goals for them.

• The 1989 Quilon Nationals, became a milestone in his professional career. He was able to impress the national football selection committee with his performances in the competition.

• He made his debut for the Indian national football team in 1989 and scored 32 goals in 77 matches during his international career. He also captained the team.

• In 1991, he left the Kerala Police football club to join Mohun Bagan. This move helped him achieve his dream of building a house and provided him with financial security.

  

• However, in 1992, he returned to Kerala in the next season and played with them before making his return to Mohun Bagan in 1993.

• Vijayan joined the JCT Mills Phagwara in 1994 and played for them till 1997. JCT won the first edition of the National Football League (NFL) in 1996-1997

• In 1997, he joined FC Kochin in their debut season and won the Durand Cup.

  

• In an interview, the former Indian national football team coach Sukhwinder Singh stated that he was lucky to have coached Vijayan, Bhaichung Bhutia, and Sunil Chhetri.

  

• The documentary film titled ‘Kalo Harin’ directed by Cherian Joseph is based on the life of Vijayan.

• He made his return to Mohun Bagan in 1998. This was his third and final stint for the club and he left the club at the end of the season. He scored 51 goals for Mohun Bagan across three seasons.

• In the same year, a documentary titled Kalo Harin, based on his life, was released.

• In 2001, he made his debut in the Malayalam film industry with Jayaraj’s directorial Shantham, and he debuted in the Tamil film industry with Thimiru (2006) directed by Tarun Gopi.

  

• Vijayan rejoined FC Kochin in 1999, but the club failed to emulate their previous glory, and he left the club at the end of 2002.

• In 2002, he signed a two-year contract with JCT Mills Phagwara, and he scored 29 goals during his stint with the club.

• He played for Churchill Brothers S.C. between 2004 and 2005 and left them to join East Bengal in 2005. This was his final season as a professional football player, and he bid farewell at the end of the season.

• Vijayan and his wife, Raji, were featured on the cover of Mangalam Weekly magazine

  

• On 17 July 2010, he joined Southern Samity as their head coach.

• Vijayan was an ardent supporter of the Sevens football format, which is popular in Kerala, India. He was often seen participating in the sevens football tournaments after announcing his retirement as a professional football player. He owns the Sevens football club, Usha FC Thrissur, which was named after his mother.

  

• Vijayan was a Brazil supporter during his early days, he later started supporting Argentina after he fell in love with Diego Maradona. In 2012, he met with Maradona in Kannur, Kerala, India. Vijayan has even got inked Maradona’s name and his Jersey number, 10, on his leg.

• In 2013, as an armed police inspector, Vijayan earned a monthly salary of Rs. 33,357.

• In 2015, Vijayan’s mother, Kochammu, passed away. It was she who raised both Vijayan and his brother after the death of his father. In 2018, his brother, Biju, met with an accident in Thrissur, Kerala. His condition was critical, and he passed away shortly.

• In the same year, Vijayan was invited to a reality TV show named Comedy Super Nite as a guest. The show was aired on Flowers Channel. On the show, he revealed that as a footballer, he made two records in his school.

• In 2017, he was named the national observer of football by the Government of India, and in 2022, he became a member of the technical committee of the AIFF.

• In 2019, he expressed his desire not to contest Lok Sabha elections on an INC ticket. Reportedly, he was approached to contest elections by Anil Akkara, an INC MLA in Kerala.

• AIFF recommended his name for the Padma Shri Award in 2020.

• He played the lead role in the Malayalam film ‘Mmmmm,’ which won the Best Film (feature) award at the 2021 Paris Film Festival. ^[7]Mathrubhumi Prior to the film Mmmmm, he appeared in many South Indian films including Quotation (2004), Asuravithu (2012), Abrahaminte Santhathikal (2018), and Muddy (2021).

  

• In 2021, he was promoted to the rank of assistant commandant.

• I. M. Vijayan was a spectator in all the FIFA World Cup tournaments from 2002 (Japan and South Korea) to 2022 (Qatar). In 2022, he witnessed his favourite team, Argentina, lifting the trophy.

• According to Raji, she and Vijayan dated each other for ten years, during which they spent only ten days together.