Famous Football players in India

I. M. Vijayan
Inivalappil Mani Vijayan (born April 25, 1969) is one of the leading Indian football players of modern times. Vijayan started out as a seller of soda bottles in the Trichur Municipal Stadium, earning 10 paise (0.02 Cents) a bottle. Eventually he was chosen to play for the Kerala Police club and rose to become one of the top names in domestic football. A highly aggressive player, he eventually became the highest earner in Indian club football as well as a regular in the India team. Amongst his achievements in the game Vijayan was crowned Indian Player of the Year in 1992, 1997 and 1999. He also represented the victorious Indian team in the 1999 South Asian Football Federation Cup and scored the fastest international goal in history during the tournament, hitting the net against Bhutan after only 12 seconds. He also finished top scorer in the Afro-Asian Games event held in India in 2003 with four goals. Vijayan's talents attracted interest from clubs in Malaysia and Thailand, although he spent his entire career in India until retirement. Since retiring Vijayan has set a football academy to train young players in his home town.

The unmatching story of Vijayan translated into celluloid in 1999. The film, Kalo Harin, was directed by Cherian Joseph. Other members of the team: A. N. Raveendra Das, N. P. Chandrasekharan (Script), N. P. Chandrasekharan (Lirics), K. Raghavan Master (Music) and P. J. Cherian (Cinimatography). This film finds the life of Vijayan as the struggle for existence and expression by a poor Dalit in mordern India. This film won the National Award and the John Abraham Award in 1999. It also attracted mass appeal in Kerala, the home state of Vijayan at that time. Even though a short non feature film, it was exhibited in local theaters through ticket selling. That was a new episode in the history of Malayalam Film Industry. And, the songs of this film, with their folk touch and Dalit vigour, also became hits then.

Baichung Bhutia
Baichung Bhutia (born December 15, 1976 in Tinkitam) is a football player from India. He is known by his fans as the torchbearer of Indian Football in the international arena. He currently plays in India for Mohun Bagan.

Early life
Baichung (literally "Younger Brother") was born on December 15, 1976 to Dorji Dorma and Sonam Topden in Tinkitam, a sleepy hamlet in South Sikkim district, in the state of Sikkim. As indicated by his surname, he belongs to the Bhutia community.

Football career
He started his eduction is St. Xaviers School, Pakyoung, East Sikkim and eventually won a SAI Scholarship to attend the Tashi Namgyal Academy in Gangtok. He went on to play for several school and local clubs in his home state of Sikkim. A stellar performance at the 1992 Subroto Cup brought him to the notice of the football establishment.

In 1993, at the age of sixteen, he left school to join the professional East Bengal Club in Calcutta. In 1995, he moved to JCT Mills, Phagwara, which went on to win the India National Football League that year. Bhutia was a top scorer in the league, and was chosen to play in the Nehru Cup. He was named "1996 Indian Player of the Year", and has won numerous other awards.

In 1997 he returned to East Bengal, and became team captain in the 1998-99 season. In 1999 he travelled overseas to play for Bury F.C. after unsuccessful trials with both Fulham F.C. and Aston Villa F.C. with the move improving his conditioning and strategy. In 2002 he returned to India and played for the Mohun Bagan AC for a year before returning again to the East Bengal Club, and helping them to win the Asean Cup Club Championship. He also signed up to play for Perak, the Malaysian championship club, from August to October of 2003. For the season 06-07 he has again signed for Mohun Bagan AC. He signed an endorsement deal with Adidas India Marketing Pvt. Ltd in November of 2003. Currently he is endorsing Nike India.

Chuni Goswami
Subimal Goswami (January 15, 1938 - , commonly known by his nickname Chuni Goswami (Bengali: চুনী গোস্বামী)is a Bengali footballer, and cricketer. He was born in Kishoreganj District, Bengal (now in Bangladesh). As a striker, he played 50 international soccer games representing India. His career begun in 1946, with Mohun Bagan club in Kolkata, where he played until 1968. He also served as the manager of Indian national football team and as the vice president of Mohun Bagan club.

After retiring from soccer, Chuni Goswami focused on playing Cricket. He led Bengal cricket team to the Ranji Trophy final twice. In his cricket career, he played 46 first class matches, scoring 1592 runs and obtained 47 wickets.

Mohammed Salim
Mohammed Abdul Salim (born 1904 in Calcutta, India) was an Indian footballer. Famously the first person from the Indian sub-continent to play for a British football team during a short but significant spell with Celtic F.C.

After showing amazing skills as an essential member of Calcutta's Mohammedan Sporting Club side in colonial India, a cousin urged Salim to try his hand at European football. In the summer of 1936 Salim arrived in Glasgow by ship. In August of 1936 Salim was signed for Celtic by manager Willie Maley after impressing and winning over doubters in a trial. Mohammed proved to be an extremely skilful and daring winger at Celtic and became popular with the Parkhead faithful during his time in Glasgow. Salim also became famous for playing the game in bandaged bare feet instead of the customary football boots. On his debut in 1937 Salim, in bare feet, proved exceptional helping Celtic win 5-1. In his second match against Galston, Celtic won 7-1 and his performance led the Scottish Daily Express to write: "Indian Juggler - New Style." Ten twinkling toes of Salim, Celtic FC's player from India, hypnotised the crowd at Parkhead. He balanced the ball on his big toe, lets it run down the scale to his little toe, twirls it, and hops on one foot around the defender. Despite the attempts of the club to persuade him to stay Salim left Celtic, feeling deeply home sick, after only a few months. He returned to Calcutta where he continued his career with the Mohammedan Sporting Club. Celtic had discovered a true gem but the culture shock ultimately prevented the Scottish public from witnessing the full extent of this talent.