TK Chathunni

Select Language Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Basque Belarusian Bulgarian Bengali Catalan Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician Georgian German Greek Gujarati Haitian Creole Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Javanese Kannada Khmer Korean Latvian Lithuanian Macedonian Malay Maltese Marathi Nepali Norwegian Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swahili Swedish Tamil Telugu Thai Turkish Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese Welsh Yiddish

This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. Additional information may please be sent as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.

A brief biography

Rayson Tennyson, June 13, 2024: The Times of India

Kochi: TK Chathunni, the player-cum-coach who lived football every moment of his life, passed away in Karukutty near Thrissur. Chathunni, 79, had been battling cancer.


“When I die, place a football on my body instead of flowers,” he would say. Many remember him as the coach who out-thought PK Banerjee’s mighty East Bengal side to give Salgaocar a famous Federation Cup title at the heaving Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata in 1997. A year later he would help Mohun Bagan win their first National League title. 
A strict disciplinarian, he played a pivotal role in shaping the careers of some of India’s best. “Chathunni sir made IM Vijayan,” an emotional Vijayan told TOI on Wednesday. “Chathunni sir moulded me into the footballer that the country knows me as today,” he added.


“Chathunni sir taught us to play aggressively,” Jules Alberto, who was part of that title-winning Salgaocar side, told TOI from London. “He would keep shouting from the sidelines and was very aggressive. All these things were new for us as the Goan style of play was to take everything at a slow pace,” added Alberto.


“I wish we could have had him here in Kolkata for a longer period of time,” said former India international Satyajit Chatterjee, and a key member of Bagan’s NFL-winning squad. “It’s not easy for an outsider to get adapted to the demands of Kolkata football and live up to expectations. But he took charge of a Bagan team left behind by Amal-da (Amal Datta) and eventually took them to the pinnacle of success,” added Chatterjee.


Hailing from Chalakudy, Chathunni was a dependable defender at Services and Vasco Goa. He also donned the Indian jersey on six occasions. But he found his true calling as a much sought-after coach in the 1990s. Though Chathunni’s first major assignment as head coach of Kerala in the Santosh Trophy in 1979 came to a disappointing end, with the team bowing out even before reaching the semis, he reignited his managerial career by making the Kerala Police team a force to reckon with on the national stage. Their maiden Federation Cup triumph in 1990 also made Chathunni a hot property of clubs in Goa and Kolkata. After stints at MRF Sports Foundation and Dempo SC in Goa, he arrived at a beleaguered Salgaocar SC. The club at the time was on the verge of shutting down, and Chathunni weaved his magic to guide them to their maiden Federation Cup title in 1997. Chathunni is survived by his wife and two daughters.


(WITH INPUTS FROM NILESH BHATTACHARYA)