I.M. Vijayan
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 25 April 1969 | ||
| Place of birth | Thrissur, Kerala, India | ||
| Height | 1.8034 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1987–1991 | Kerala Police | ||
| 1991–1992 | Mohun Bagan | ||
| 1992–1993 | Kerala Police | ||
| 1993–1994 | Mohun Bagan | 15 | (8) |
| 1994–1997 | JCT Mills Phagwara | 14 | (11) |
| 1997–1998 | FC Kochin | 17 | (14) |
| 1998–1999 | Mohun Bagan | 12 | (5) |
| 1999–2001 | FC Kochin | 14 | (2) |
| 2001–2002 | East Bengal Club | 6 | (1) |
| 2002–2004 | JCT | 34 | (10) |
| 2004–2005 | Churchill Brothers | 6 | (2) |
| 2005–2006 | East Bengal Club | 4 | (1) |
| 2012–Present | Kerala Police | ||
| National team | |||
| 1989–2004 | India | 70 | (32) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Inivalappil Mani Vijayan (born 25 April 1969) is a former professional Indian football player. Playing in the striker position, he formed a successful attacking partnership with Baichung Bhutia for the Indian national team in the late nineties and early 2000s. Vijayan was crowned Indian Player of the Year in 1993, 1997 and 1999, the first player to win the award multiple times. He was also awarded the Arjuna award in 2003.
Vijayan started out as a seller of soda in the Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium, Kerala 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. He scored one of the fastest ever international goals in a match against Bhutan in the 1999 SAF Games, when he managed to do the same in 12 seconds. Faster international goals on record include ones by Davide Gualtieri in 8 seconds and Hakan Şükür in 11 seconds. Vijayan's talents attracted interest from clubs in Malaysia and Thailand, although he spent his entire career in India until retirement. By the end of his career he had scored 40 international goals in 79 matches for India. Since retiring from international football Vijayan has set up a football academy to train young players in his home town.Since a short gap presently he is playing for Kerala Police.
Vijayan was born on 25 April 1969 at Thrissur City, Kerala. He began his life in a gravely poor environment, and had to sell soda bottles in the Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium for helping his family. He studied in CMSHS Thrissur. He had a passion for the game of football, and somehow caught the eye of the then DGP of Kerala, M.K. Joseph who got him selected for the Kerala Police football club at the age of 17 years. Vijayan delivered brilliant performance for Kerala Police at Quilon Nationals 1987, and was able to impress the national football fraternity very soon with his impeccable skills and highly aggressive style of playing. He continued to play for Kerala Police until the year 1991, when he switched to Mohun Bagan He came back to Kerala Police in 1992 and the next year switched back to Mohun Bagan. The very next year in 1994 he joined JCT Mills Fagwara, and stayed with them for 3 years till 1997, when he left JCT to join FC Kochin. After spending a one year tenure with the club, he again moved to Mohun Bagan in 1998 and came back to FC Kochin in 1999.
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