Denson Devadas (born 20 December 1982) is a former Indian professional
footballer who played as a
central midfielder.
Career
Early career
He was born in Burnacherry (Burnshire),
Kannur,
Kerala. His grandfather was a
hockey player who played the Senior National Championship. His father, Devadas Anthony, was a footballer who played for
Services football team in the
Santosh Trophy
The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...
.
He started playing football when he was studying in the Army School, Kannur. The school was famous for sports and he was the Captain of his school team. After passing out from school, he joined Srinarayana College, Kannur where he used to play for his college team. He was a
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
both while in school and college. Later on, he also was the Captain of the University team.
In the year 2004,
Viva Kerala selected him after conducting a trial. He got selected as a striker. Chathuni Sir was the Coach of Viva Kerala at that time. He stayed in Viva Kerala till 2006.
It was Chathuni Sir who brought him to the midfielder. Viva Kerala was playing a friendly match against the
Kerala football team and one of his team midfielders got injured. The coach asked him to play in midfield. Seeing his performance, he asked him to continue playing as the defensive medio. His team became the State League Champions that year.
Viva Kerala qualified for
2006-07 Indian National Football League. They defeated
United SC 2-0. During that tournament, he got offers from
Salgaocar
Salgaocar Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Vasco, Goa, that competes in the Goa Professional League. They have also played in the I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. Founded in 1956, the clu ...
,
ONGC
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It is headquartered in New Delhi. ONGC was founded on 14 August 1956 by the ...
and
United SC. After consulting Chathuni Sir, he moved to
Kolkata to play for United Sports. United Sports was in 2nd Division in the year 2007 and qualified for the
I-League. He stayed in United Sports till 2011.
In 2010, playing for
West Bengal in Santosh Trophy, he scored a brace in the final against
Punjab leading West Bengal to their 30th title.
Mohun Bagan
Denson joined Mohun Bagan in 2013. In his first season, he played 25 matches and scored 2 goals. Denson left Mohun Bagan at the end of the 2013-2014
I League
The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...
. However, he was signed back by Mohun Bagan for the 2014-15 season, after he played for
Chennaiyin F.C.
Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural season o ...
in the
Indian Super League.
FC Goa
In July 2015 it was announced that Denson would join
FC Goa for the
2015 Indian Super League season
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 features eight teams. The regular season kicked off on 3 October and ended on 6 December, ...
.
Personal life
Denson's favourite football club is
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
and his favourite football playing nation is
Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina.
Nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' ('The White and S ...
. His favorite players are
Zinedine Zidane, Basudev Mondal and
Climax Lawrence.
He is married to Dr. Anisha Gopal from
Wayanad and the couple have a son, Dhruvith Denson.
Honours
Individual
*"Karuna Sankar Bhattacharya" Memorial Award for best footballer: 2013
References
External links
* http://goal.com/en-india/people/india/26293/denson-devadas
* http://news.oneindia.in/2010/08/09/santhosh-trophy-kerala-denson-shines-for-bengal.html
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110716073446/http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/story.php?id=96167
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devadas, Denson
Indian footballers
1982 births
Living people
I-League players
Chirag United Club Kerala players
United SC players
Mohun Bagan AC players
Chennaiyin FC players
FC Goa players
Sporting Clube de Goa players
Odisha FC players
Indian Super League players
Association football midfielders
Footballers from Kerala
People from Kannur district