Chekiyot Kizhakkeveettill Vineeth (born 20 May 1988), commonly known as C. K. Vineeth, is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Super League Kerala The Super League Kerala (SLK), officially known as the Mahindra & Mahindra, Mahindra Super League Kerala due to sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional sports league, franchise association football, football league in the state of Kerala ...

club

Thrissur Magic FC Thrissur Magic Football Club is an Indian people, Indian professional association football, football club based in Thrissur, Kerala, that competes in the Super League Kerala. The club was established in 2024 during the league's 2024–25 Super Le ...

Personal life

Born in

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the maj ...

district in the state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, he studied in JNV

Kasaragod Kasaragod () is a municipal town and the administrative headquarters of the Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1966, Kasaragod was the first municipal town in the district. It is the northernmost district of Kera ...

and the

S. N. College, Kannur Sree Narayana College, Kannur is a post-graduate college affiliated to the Kannur University in India. Notable alumni * Sahal Abdul Samad, Indian International footballer * Prakash Bare, Indian film actor * C. K. Vineeth, Indian footballer ...

Club career

Chirag United Kerala

Vineeth made his debut for Chirag United Kerala in the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

during the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season after starting his amateur career with Chennai Customs and Kerala State Electricity. He scored the first professional goal of his career on his debut. During the 2011–12 season, Vineeth scored eight goals for Chirag Kerala.

United Sports Club

Before the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, Vineeth signed for

United SC The United Sports Club () is a professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. United SC was founded in 1927. The club competes in the I-League 2, as well as the Calcutta Football League, the oldest football league in Asia. Un ...

(then Prayag United) of the

. Vineeth made his debut for the club on 7 October 2012 against

Air India Air India is the flag carrier of India with its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, and secondary hubs at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, alo ...

. He played 82 minutes and scored a goal as United SC won, 5–1. Vineeth scored a hat-trick later that season against Air India on 2 February 2013 as United SC won 4–1. Vineeth went on to score seven goals that season, the most among all Indian players.

Bengaluru FC

On 30 January 2014, it was announced that Vineeth had been released by

due to financial difficulties and then signed for

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () (Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು.ಎಫ್.ಸಿ) is an Indian professional football club based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club w ...

, the new direct-entry

side, for the remainder of the season. In his debut season with the club, he won the

, as the club was declared winner after defeating

Dempo Dempo Mining Corporation Limited is a prominent mining company from the western Indian state of Goa. The mineral business was founded by Vasantrao S. Dempo in 1941, along with his younger brother Vaikuntrao Dempo. Vasantrao was the founding c ...

. Bengaluru would extend his contract after an impressive half season. He signed a two-year contract with Bengaluru at the end of the season 2014–15 season, which would keep him at the club until the end of the 2016–17 I-League season. He was with the team when they won their maiden Federation Cup title. In 2015-16 I-League season, he scored 4 times in the league, thus helping his team win the league title for the second time in 3 years. His brace against

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

in the finals of 2016-17 Federation Cup final won his team their second title in 4 years.

Kerala Blasters

In July 2015 Vineeth was drafted to play for

Kerala Blasters FC Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Blasters, is an Indian association football, professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of football in Indi ...

in the

2015 Indian Super League The 2015 Hero Indian Super League was the second season of the Indian Super League, a professional football league played in India since 2014. The season featured eight teams. The regular season kicked off on 3 October and ended on 6 December, ...

. However, he had a poor season as he was hardly chosen, and Kerala Blasters ended up last in the table. In 2016, Vineeth could only start playing for the Blasters in the eighth game as he was playing the AFC Cup with Bengaluru FC. He had his first appearance as an 85th-minute substitute against

FC Goa Futebol Clube de Goa is an India, Indian professional association football, football club based in Fatorda, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of Football in India, Indian football. The club was established on 2 ...

, where he scored a 95th-minute winner to help the team record a 2–1 win against FC Goa. In his next match, he scored 2 goals in the 85th and 87th minute respectively to help Blasters win against

Chennaiyin FC Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural sea ...

3–1. Vineeth scored several crucial goals to guide his team to the finals, where they were defeated by Atletico de Kolkata on penalties. He ended the campaign as the top Indian goalscorer with 5 goals from 9 matches.

2017–2018

On 5 July 2017 it was announced that Vineeth had been retained by the

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of football in India. The club was esta ...

for the 2017–18 ISL season. He made his first appearance for the club during the first match of the season against ATK on 17 November 2017. Vineeth started and played 80 minutes as the match ended 0–0. On 3 December 2017, in the team's third match of the season against Mumbai City, Vineeth was sent off after being issued two yellow cards within nine minutes. On his return from suspension, Vineeth scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory for the Kerala Blasters over

NorthEast United NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded on ...

Chennaiyin FC (loan)

Vineeth later moved to

on loan from

and also participated in the AFC Cup 2019. Vineeth made 13 appearances for Chennayin, including 7 in the AFC Cup 2019. He also played in the Hero Super Cup 2019 final against

, which he lost 2–1.

East Bengal

In May 2020, Vineeth shifted his base from

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

International

Vineeth made his international debut for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 6 February 2013 against

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

in an international friendly, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for

Clifford Miranda Clifford Rayes Miranda (born 11 July 1982) is an Indian professional football manager and former player who is the assistant coach of Indian Super League club Mumbai City and the head coach of the India national under-23 team. Miranda was an ...

as India lost 4–2.

Career statistics

Club

International stats

''Statistics accurate as of match played 17 February 2014''

Honours

Club

; Bengaluru FC *

: Winner (2) : 2013–14, 2015—16 * Federation Cup: Winner (2) : 2014–15 2016-17 ; Kerala Blasters FC *

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

: Runner-up (1) :

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

; Chennaiyin FC *

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

: Runner-up (1) :

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

Indian Super League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vineeth, C. K. 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Kannur Indian men's footballers Chirag United Club Kerala players United SC players Bengaluru FC players Kerala Blasters FC players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Kerala I-League players India men's international footballers Kerala Blasters FC draft picks Indian Super League players 21st-century Indian sportsmen East Bengal Club players Jamshedpur FC players Kannur University alumni