Victor Amalraj is one of the few players who has captained Mohammedan Sporting, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan during his playing career.
HYDERABAD (India): Former India captain Victor Amalraj and midfielder always had this knack of being at the right spot at the right time, a quality liked by most of his coaches at Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Mohammedan Sporting and Indian national team.
Amalraj started his career as a youth player at the Secunderabad-based Bolarum Sporting in the Senior Division Rahim League in 1974-75.
Bolarum has produced some of India’s greatest footballers including Anthony Patrick, KP Dhanraj, Dharmalingam Kannan, Peter Thangaraj, Tulasidas Balaram all whom played in Calcutta.
But it was his successful career in the Calcutta clubs that brought out the best in him.
“I miss Calcutta. I’ve played 14 years there. The city is close to my heart. It was my home. I can’t forget the years I’ve spent there,” said Amalraj, who made his debut with Sporting in 1978.
Just like his elder brother John, who passed away in 2015, he earned fame and popularity in a city where top footballers gave Bengal film icons a run for their money in the seventies and eighties. Such was their charm and star appeal that most of the magazines during that era had cover stories on them.
Brother John was his role model
John, who led Sporting to Calcutta League title in 1967, was a huge influence on him.
“He pushed me to go to Calcutta after Andhra Pradesh beat Bengal in the B C Roy Trophy final in 1976. I scored the only goal in the match. Railways offered me a job, but my brother advised me to go to Calcutta,” added Amalraj, who possessed excellent passing and shooting skills.
Calcutta evokes memories of his wonderful years spent with the top clubs.
“I would love to spend a day in Calcutta. I want to take a stroll at the Park Street and have breakfast at the Flurys followed by a spicy dinner at the Amber,” added the former attacking midfielder, who had captained all the Calcutta clubs during his playing career from 1978 to 1990.
Asked why football is dead in his own city, he said, “We need a sports culture in the schools, which lack infrastructure. The kids have a difficult choice to make between academics and sports. With such constraints, it’s difficult to produce good players. We can expect talent from small towns and villages, but not from cities. But we’re hopeful Hyderabad will once produce good players in future.”
Good story Sir