Family of custodians creates record

“I’m glad the record still stands,” said a beaming Vijaya Kumar, a former Indian junior. Vijaya Kumar has rosy memories of the 1966 senior Nationals in Kollam. The tournament, for three of the Avittappally family, was a memorable occasion. Soman Nair, Vijaya Kumar and Babu Nair represented three different state sides in that Nationals Maharashtra, Kerala and Services respectively.

The saga of the goalkeeping brothers began four decades ago with N Soman Nair, the fourth of the nine sons of Narayana Pillai. Soman was the first to turn to goalkeeping, thereby paving way for his younger brothers to follow suit.

“Lucky Star, a local club in Changanassery, asked him to keep the goal on a day when the regular keeper was down with an injury,” recalls Vijaya Kumar. “It was a memorable debut for my brother who was a school student then.”

Soman Nair displayed his keeping talents during his college days in Perunna too. Later he joined the Indian Navy and made it to the Services team as the deputy of Peter Thankaraj. A string of splendid performances helped Soman blaze out of the shadows of his famous guru . He switched over to Caltex and later to Mafatlal in 1962. He guided the Mumbai side to a series of triumphs in major tournaments including the Rovers Cup and the Harwood League.

During his long stint with Mafatlal, Soman donned the Maharashtra colours in Santosh Trophy for four years in succession. He played for India in the Test series against the visiting Russians in 1969 before bidding farewell and resuming his career as the manager of Mafatlal. Presently Soman is a purchase executive with a reputed hotel in Mumbai.

Vijaya Kumar, who began his career as the goalkeeper of the Kerala University, later represented the UP junior and senior sides and rose to be the keeper of the Indian youth team for the Asian championship at Kuala Lumpur. He kept the goal for Kerala seniors in three successive nationals starting from 1964.

Vijaya left the game prematurely, following a head injury he suffered while playing against Jallundar Leaders in the 1971 Bandodkar Cup. The ex-keeper is still busy with his soccer activities in Kottayam.

Babu Nair, who played for Services and Kerala in the Nationals, later donned the Indian jersey against Bangladesh in Mumbai in 1972. He has also represented Kerala state in the junior Nationals. Babu is presently working as a chief security officer in Kochi.

Vinaya Kumar who played for Kerala juniors, later joined the Tatas and emulated his elder brother by playing for Maharashtra in the Santosh Trophy for three years — 1982, ’83 and ’84. He is now with Mahindra and Mahindra.Sasi Kumar and Prakash Chandran, who showed promise as goalkeepers during their college days, left the scene quite abruptly after dazzling at the university level.