Vijayan hopes his Padma Shri honour encourages youngsters to 'pursue' football

Honoured with the Padma Shri, Indian football legend IM Vijayan on Sunday hoped this honour encourages the country's youngsters to "pursue" the sport. One of India's greatest footballers, the 55-year-old is serving as the assistant commandant in the Malabar Special Police and is the director of the Kerala Police Football team. He is also the chief of the technical committee in the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

"I am happy, extremely happy. You ought to feel satisfied when your services are recognised," Vijayan told the AIFF.

"I don't know how much this award will help Indian football. At the same time, this may encourage some youngsters in some parts of the country to pursue football. If so, it would give me a deep sense of fulfilment." The accomplished striker of the '90s, who has been conferred the country's fourth highest civilian award for his distinguished career in the game, has also served as the captain of the Indian football team.

"I dedicate my award to every football fan in the country. What I am today is because of them," Vijayan said from his home in Kerala. "I am not sure how good I was as a footballer. But the love I received from the fans was the biggest achievement of my career. They are the people who are responsible for taking the beautiful game to this height," said the man, who donned the senior India colours 88 times, scoring 39 goals.

Having started his national team journey in January 1991 against Romania in the Nehru Cup in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Vijayan remained the backbone of the Blue Tigers for 12 years. By the time he hung up his boots after the Afro-Asian Games final in Hyderabad in October 2003, he became a legendary figure on the pitch. He, along with another Indian football great Bhaichung Bhutia, formed a deadly attacking duo that once instilled fears in the minds of many a defence.

The Padma Shri award is another feather in the cap of his decorated career. The scorer of India's fastest hat-trick in international football (against Pakistan, 1999 SAF Games), Vijayan was three times adjudged the AIFF Player of the Year (1992, 1997, 2000) and was conferred the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2003. Vijayan is the ninth Indian footballer to be conferred the Padma Shri after Gostho Paul, Sailen Manna, Chuni Goswami, PK Banerjee, Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri, Bembem Devi, and Brahmanand Sankhwalkar. PTI