I. M. Vijayan

A highly aggressive player, he eventually became the highest earner in Indian club football as well as a regular choice in the Indian team. Vijayan's talents attracted interest from the clubs in Malaysia and Thailand, although he spent his entire career in India until retirement. Since retiring from international football, Vijayan has set up a football academy to train young players in his home town. He was the captain of Indian football team from 2000 to 2004. Vijayan has also acted in some notable roles in many movies. One of his movies, Mmmmm was shortlisted for India's entry into the 93rd Academy Awards. He received many awards and honors including the Arjuna Award in 2003 and Padma Shri in 2025.

• Name — I.M. Vijayan • Fullname — Inivalappil Mani Vijayan • Born — 25 April 1969 • Birthplace — Thrissur, Kerala, India • Position — Striker • Years1 — 1987–1991 • Clubs1 — Kerala Police • Caps1 —? • Goals1 — 33 • Years2 — 1991–1992 • Clubs2 — Mohun Bagan • Caps2 — 27 • Goals2 — 27 • Years3 — 1992–1993 • Clubs3 — Kerala Police • Caps3 —? • Goals3 — 30 • Years4 — 1993–1994 • Clubs4 — Mohun Bagan • Caps4 — 55 • Goals4 — 18 • Years5 — 1994–1997 • Clubs5 — JCT Mills Phagwara • Caps5 — 44 • Goals5 — 19 • Years6 — 1997–1998 • Clubs6 — FC Kochin • Caps6 — 50 • Goals6 — 24 • Years7 — 1998–1999 • Clubs7 — Mohun Bagan • Caps7 — 33 • Goals7 — 15 • Years8 — 1999–2001 • Clubs8 — FC Kochin • Caps8 — 47 • Goals8 — 22 • Years9 — 2001–2002 • Clubs9 — East Bengal FC • Caps9 — 18 • Goals9 — 19 • Years10 — 2002–2004 • Clubs10 — JCT • Caps10 — 34 • Goals10 — 10 • Years11 — 2004–2005 • Clubs11 — Churchill Brothers • Caps11 — 16 • Goals11 — 22 • Years12 — 2005–2006 • Clubs12 — East Bengal FC • Caps12 — 41 • Goals12 — 11 • Totalcaps — 365+ • Totalgoals — 250 • Nationalyears1 — 1991–2003 • Nationalteam1 — India • Nationalcaps1 — 74 • Nationalgoals1 — 29 • Medaltemplates — Country

• Illustration — Vijayan in action for India against Bangladesh at the 1999 South Asian Games semi-finals Vijayan was born into a Malayali family on 25 April 1969 in Thrissur City, Kerala. He began his life in a gravely poor environment and had to sell soda bottles in the Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium to help his family. He started out as a soda seller in the Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium, Kerala, earning 10 paise (0.02 cents) per bottle. He studied at Church Mission Society High School, Thrissur (CMSHSS, Thrissur). Vijayan had 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 17 years of age. Vijayan delivered brilliant performances 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 1991. He then joined Mohun Bagan, before coming back to Kerala Police in 1992 and then switching back to Mohun Bagan the very next year for a second spell at the club. In 1994, he joined JCT Mills Phagwara and stayed with them for 3 more years until 1997, when he left JCT to join FC Kochin. After spending a one year tenure with the club, he moved once more to Mohun Bagan in 1998, his third spell with the club, and then returned to FC Kochin in 1999. In August 2000, during the off-season, Vijayan joined the Bangladeshi Dhaka Premier Division League club Muktijoddha Sangsad and appeared in five league matches, while the lack of an international transfer certificate behind the signing caused a fine of 50,000 rupees by the All India Football Federation in March 2001. He rejoined FC Kochin later and played until 2001. He later signed with East Bengal before leaving in 2002 to join JCT Mills Phagwara once more. After finishing a two-year stint with the club, he left JCT in 2004 and joined Churchill Brothers S.C. He left the club after one year and joined East Bengal in 2005, which was his last professional football club as an active football player. He left East Bengal in 2006. In the 2020–21 season, Vijayan appeared with Gokulam Kerala's futsal team.

I.M. Vijayan made his debut in international football in the year 1992 and played in a number of tournaments such as Nehru Cup, Pre-Olympics, FIFA World Qualifiers, SAFF Championship and SAF Games. Vijayan was part of the victorious Indian team in the 1999 South Asian Football Federation Cup and scored one of the fastest international goals in history of sport during the tournament, hitting the net against Bhutan after only 12 seconds. He also finished top scorer in the Afro-Asian Games event held in India in 2003 with four goals. Vijayan formally retired from international football after the Afro-Asian Games of 2003.

FIFA Statistics • Year — Apps — Goals • 1991 — 2 — 0 • 1992 — 2 — 2 • 1993 — 17 — 6 • 1994 — 4 — 0 • 1995 — 3 — 2 • 1996 — 3 — 0 • 1997 — 7 — 6 • 1998 — 7 — 1 • 1999 — 12 — 10 • 2000 — 1 — 0 • 2001 — 8 — 3 • 2003 — 8 — 2 • Total||74||29 Key • Indicates India national football team won the match • Indicates the match ended in draw • Indicates India national football team lost the match List of international goals scored by I. M. Vijayan • Scores and results list India's goal tally first • No. — Date — Venue — Opponent — Score — Result — Competition • 1. — 9 May 1992 — Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata — 1–0 — rowspan="2" align="center" — 1992 Asian Cup qualifier • 2. — 2–0 • 3. — 24 January 1993 — Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Madras — Cameroon — 1–0 — align="center" — 1993 Nehru Cup • 4. — 13 June 1993 — Bourj Hammoud Stadium, Beirut — 3–1 — rowspan="1" align="center" — 1994 World Cup qualifier • 5. — 16 July 1993 — Railway Stadium, Lahore — 1–0 — align="center" — 1993 SAFF Championship • 6. — 21 July 1993 — Railway Stadium, Lahore — 1–0 — align="center" — 1993 SAFF Championship • 7. — 23 July 1993 — Railway Stadium, Lahore — 1–1 — align="center" — 1993 SAFF Championship • 8. — 23 December 1993 — Mirpur Stadium, Dhaka — 2–1 — align="center" — 1993 South Asian Games • 9. — 23 December 1995 — Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Madras — 1–0 — align="center" — 1995 South Asian Games • 10. — 25 December 1995 — Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Madras — 1–0 — align="center" — 1995 South Asian Games • 11. — 7 September 1997 — Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu — 1–0 — rowspan="2" align="center" — 1997 SAFF Championship • 12. — 2–0 • 13. — 11 September 1997 — Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu — 1–0 — rowspan="2" align="center" — 1997 SAFF Championship • 14. — 2–0 • 15. — 13 September 1997 — Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu — 3–0 — rowspan="2" align="center" — 1997 SAFF Championship • 16. — 5–1 • 17. — 7 December 1998 — Supachalasai Stadium, Bangkok — Turkmenistan — 1–3 — align="center" — 1998 Asian Games • 18. — 26 September 1999 — Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu — 3–0 — rowspan="3" align="center" — 1999 South Asian Games • 19. — 4–0 • 20. — 5–0 • 21. — 4 October 1999 — Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu — 1–1 — align="center" — 1999 South Asian Games • 22. — 20 November 1999 — Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Abu Dhabi — 1–0 — align="center" — 2000 Asian Cup qualifier • 23. — 24 November 1999 — Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Abu Dhabi — 2–1 — align="center" — 2000 Asian Cup qualifier • 24. — 28 November 1999 — Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Abu Dhabi — 1–0 — align="center" — 2000 Asian Cup qualifier • 25. — 4 May 2001 — Althawra Sports City Stadium, Sanaa — Yemen — 3–2 — align="center" — 2002 World Cup qualifier • 26. — 20 May 2001 — Bangalore Football Stadium, Bangalore — Brunei — 2–0 — align="center" — 2002 World Cup qualifier • 27. — 26 June 2001 — Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur — 1–2 — align="center" — 2001 Merdeka Tournament • 28. — 18 January 2003 — Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka — 1–0 — align="center" — 2003 SAFF Championship • 29. — 24 March 2003 — Fatorda Stadium, Margao — DPRK — 1–0 — align="center" — 2004 Asian Cup qualifier

A biographical film, titled Kalo Harin and directed by Cherian Joseph, was released in 1998. The title translates as blackbuck and is a reference to Vijayan's popular nickname during his playing days.

After retiring from football, Vijayan started his acting career. His debut was through playing the lead role in the film Shantham, directed by Jayaraj. Later on, he went to act more than 20 films, in Malayalam & Tamil. In 2021, the movie 'Mmmmm' (sound of pain), starring Vijayan in the lead role was shortlisted as one of India's official entries for the Oscars. • Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2001 — Shantham — Velayudhan • Akashathile Paravakal — Walayar Manikyam • 2004 — Quotation — Vettu Rajan • 2005 — Ben Johnson • 2006 — Thimiru — Chinna Karuppu — Tamil film • Shyaamam • Kisan — Himself • Mahasamudram — Himself • 2012 — Asuravithu — Valarpadam Kurudhu Musthafa • Bachelor Party • 2015 — Komban — Muthukalai — Tamil film • 2016 — Gethu — Rajendran — Tamil film • 2017 — The Great Father — Anto • Mythili Veendum Varunnu • 2018 — Mattancherry • Abrahaminte Santhathikal — DYSP Muhammed Jalal • 2019 — Ganesha Meendum Santhipom — Katthari — Tamil film • Porinju Mariam Jose — Kuriyachira George • Bigil — Alex — Tamil film • 2021 — Muddy • Mmmmm: Sound of Pain — Oscar shortlisted • 2022 — Siddy • The Teacher — Gunashekharan • Anaparambile Worldcup — Himself • 2024 — Idiyan Chandhu • Adios Amigo — Himself • Gumasthan — Bhadran

Vijayan is married to Raji. He has 3 children: Aromal, Archana and Abhirami. He has a son in law, Abdul Aadil, and a granddaughter named Adeeva.

• Illustration — Vijayan being felicitated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup opening ceremony, in New Delhi, 6 October 2017. • Illustration — Vijayan with Bhaichung Bhutia in the inauguration ceremony of Palakkad Noorani Football stadium India • SAFF Championship: 1993, 1997, 1999; third place: 2003 • South Asian Games Gold medal: 1995; Silver medal: 1993; Bronze medal: 1999 • Afro-Asian Games Silver Medal: 2003 Kerala • Santosh Trophy: • Winners:1992–93 • Runners-up: 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1999–2000 Bengal • Santosh Trophy: 1993–94 Kerala Police • Federation Cup: 1990, 1991 Mohun Bagan • Federation Cup: 1992, 1993, 1994 JCT Mills • Federation Cup: 1995, 1995-96 Individual • Padma Shri: 2025 • Arjuna Award: 2003 • AIFF Player of the Year: 1992, 1997, 2000 • Nehru Cup Best Player: 1993 • SAARC Gold Cup top scorer: 1993 • Afro-Asian Games top scorer: 1993 • Nominated for Padma Shri: 2020 • Doctorate from Northern State Medical University, Arkhangelsk, Russia.

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. He received the Padma Shri in 2025.