A great footballer remembers the barefoot generation

A member of the 1952 Olympic and 1951 Asian Games-winning teams, T Shanmugham one of the stalwarts of Indian Football went on to become a respected coach, winning the Federation Cup twice with Salgaocar. The 90-year-old has a sharp memory and still follows the game closely.

Early years
I was born in Austin Town in 1920. My forefathers are from Mysore. There was an Officers' Training School near our home, and all the British officers and Italian prisoners used to play football. I used to watch them all the time and they would invite me to play too. I studied in Austin Town High School and RBANMS High School and represented them in football tournaments.

Austin Town had a lot of footballers. Half the members of the national team were from that area. I started playing at the age of 13 for Maharaja Socials.

Police career
I joined Sullivan Police Sports Club in 1941. We got to play with Britishers, and that's why our competency was very high. The commissioner of police, JM Greene, used to encourage all sports.

I joined the police force, and remained with them for 35 years.  I was security officer to two Governors. I had received a lot of offers from the big Kolkata clubs, they offered me a lot of money, but I was reluctant to leave Bangalore.

The Asian Games
My international debut was in 1949 with an Afghanistan tour. I was also part of the 1951 Asian Games team in New Delhi, where we won the gold. There was a lot of support for us, and we defeated Afghanistan, Indonesia, and Iran with much difficulty in the final. I remember the final — we took the lead, they equalised, and then Mewalal scored the winner. India was then the best team in Asia. But we seem to have declined even at the Asian level.

The Olympic experience
I was selected to the 1948 London Olympics camp. I went for the camp in Calcutta, but I wasn't selected. But I was one of those selected to the 1952 Olympic team. Sailen Manna was the captain. There were so many players from Bangalore — Ahmed Khan, Venkatesh, Sattar, myself, Anthony.

We were all barefoot players, and we were used to playing on hard grounds. At Helsinki the ground was grass, and we were asked to play with shoes. We were not used to that, and we lost to Yugoslavia 10-1. I remember the weather was chilly, and that affected us.

Second World War
I remember it well. Bangalore is a British cantonment city. During the War, there were troops all over — mounted troops, gunners, and so on. A general blackout was imposed, and we weren't even allowed to light lamps at home. We were forced to support the British, we had no choice.

World Cup 2010 
I've been watching the World Cup every day. I still love watching football; I won't miss a match even if it's late at night. Brazil or Argentina might win the title this time. These days it's all one-touch football; no one is dribbling. It's about passing and immediately taking position. This is the pattern.

The formations have changed. We had five forwards, three half-backs and two full-backs. Now, all the teams have strengthened the defence, with four full-backs and four half-backs. Those days we had more attacking football. I used to play centre-half.

Secret of longevity
I was born in 1920. I've led a very disciplined life. I get up at 6.30 every day and take a walk. I'm a vegetarian, and I've never smoked or touched alcohol.