The defender, who was born in Mekkunnu in 1965, left a mark in Indian football excelling in a number of roles.

On this day, 10 years ago, the Indian football fraternity froze in shock as news broke that V.P.Sathyan, one of the best Indian defenders of the late eighties and nineties, has been knocked down by a suburban electric train at Pallavaram station. He was only 41. Goal takes a look back at the illustrious career, that has been easily forgotten.

BY

ATANU MITRA ( @Atanu00 on Twitter )

The arrival of Vatta Parambath Sathyan in the squad was an unexpected boon for the gaffer of the national team. With star defenders Subrata Bhattacharya and Manoranjan Bhattacharya both unavailable, the legendary P.K.Banerjee decided to gamble by playing an unknown 19-year old just in front of the back-line, as a sweeper in the 1985 SAF Cup. After a splendid show in that tournament in Dhaka, Sathyan never had to look back and became a household name among the followers of Indian football.

Having started his career at Spirited Youth Club as a teenager, he had moved to Lucky Star Club in 1983. The most important decision of his career was taken in 1984, when he signed for the mighty Kerala Police and soon became a first team regular. He had already represented Kerala at the Santosh Trophy a year back, but after donning the Police jersey, clubs outside Kerala got to know about him.

In 1985, Amar Bahadur Gurung, a former India national team stalwart selected him during the zonal camp for the national team selection. After playing in Dhaka, he became a regular member of the national team squad. He scored a 35-yard scorcher when India notched up a memorable 4-3 victory against South Korea in the Merdeka Cup a year later. He was part of the squad in the 1986 Asian Games and won the gold medal at SAF Games in Calcutta in 1987, when Amal Dutta and Syed Nayeemuddin were making the calls. A sturdy defender, Sathyan would go on to become the captain of the Blue Tigers in the next few years. He led the team in World Cup qualifiers in 1991, 1993 Nehru Cup (Chennai), 1994 Independence Cup (Doha) and led the team to a gold medal at the inaugural SAFF Cup in 1993.

On the other hand, he was also on a mission to help Kerala become a major force in Indian football. With no national league existing in the country back then, the Federation Cup used to be the most sought after tournament for the Indian clubs. The Kolkata clubs, especially Mohun Bagan were always the hot favourites in the competition, given their splendid record, but the domination was fizzled in the late eighties, when Goan giants Salgaocar winning the cup in two consecutive seasons (1988 and 1989). Kerala Police, under the leadership of Sathyan, followed suit and won the competition in the next two seasons - beating Salgaocar and Mahindra & Mahindra in the finals. He also led the team in the Santosh Trophy in 1992, as the South Indian state won the silverware.

This was one of the highest moments for Kerala football at the national stage. It was only obvious that one of the Kolkata clubs would then make him an offer that he couldn't refuse. Sathyan moved to Mohammedan in 1992 and a year later, signed for Mohun Bagan. He reunited with his old coach Nayeemuddin in Kolkata and had decent success while he also played a key role in bringing the deadly duo of I.M.Vijayan and Jo Paul Ancheri to Kolkata.

He was named the AIFF player of the year in 1993 for his contribution for the national team and in club football. He is the only center-back other than Gouramangi Singh (2010) to have won this accolade.

Sathyan became homesick during his two-year stint in Kolkata and re-joined Kerala Police. However, his previous employers were not too happy about his ambitious move to Kolkata and hence postponed the promotion that he deserved. The national team captain left the club and joined Chennai based side Indian Bank.

After hanging up his boots, he coached Indian Bank and won them the promotion to the National Football League (now called I-League). While the side stayed afloat in the first season, they couldn't avoid the drop in the second campaign in India's top flight league. Sathyan was appointed the assistant of Stephen Constantine. the new national team coach in 2002 and accompanied him in the South Korea tour. After leaving that role, he was part of AIFF's selection committee.

In 2006, the ever-smiling professional, who was a popular figure in Indian football, passed away in mysterious circumstances. Four suicide notes were recovered from his pocket - one for his wife, two for his office colleagues and one for a top AIFF official. The national team captain for more than half a decade, Sathyan never got his due, something that is pretty common for footballers in this country.

A couple of years later, AIFF did their bit by donating 5 lakh Rupees for the education of his daughter. A football academy was opened in Kozhikode a few years back that bore his name. However, nothing could stop us from mourning the unimaginable loss and big void that can never be filled.