When Major P.S. Paul came to Victor Manjila’s house and invited him to join the Premier Tyres football team in 1972, he was thrilled. The company, at Kalamassery in Ernakulam, was posting impressive profits, it was No. 3 among Indian tyre manufacturers and it wanted to start a football team.
“I was just completing my B. Com and I joined,” said Manjila, the former Indian goalkeeper, in a chat with The Hindu at the Maharaja’s Stadium here on Wednesday.
T. Abdul Rahman, who played in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics where India entered the semifinals, was roped in as coach and he signed some of the best talent available. The team then had stars like Xavier Pius, K.P. Sethumadhavan, C.C. Jacob, and T.A. Jaffer.
