Happy 80 Thanabalan, football hero who embraced nation before fame and fortune

The little man, once labelled a 'national property', remains everything young players should aspire to be

Frankie D'Cruz and Thomas Samuel

29 Apr 2023

N Thanabalan with his cups and medals, testimony of the character of a dedicated sportsman with a winning mentality, at his home.

PETALING JAYA: To be in the company of national and Selangor football legend N Thanabalan, to hear him speak, to listen to him reminisce, is something precious if you love a dedicated sportsman.

To him, sport is in many ways reflective of the national soul, central to who Malaysians are as dreamers, storytellers and trendsetters.

Thanabalan was known as "Lilliput" during his playing days because he was small in size, standing 4' 6" tall, but he was a towering sportsman in the 1960s and 70s.

The little wing wizard had impressed on every stage presented to him, swatting away concerns over his height along the way, and leaving fans dazzled by his speed, humbled by his talent and captivated by his style.

The man, who was once labelled a "national property" by former national football team manager Harun Idris, turns 80 today.

Former Malaysia football captain Soh Chin Ann and fellow legends Shukor Salleh and Santokh Singh led the birthday messages to Thanabalan, hailing him "an icon, a hero, and everything young players should aspire to be".

Thanabalan said football not only elevated his life, but gave him much pleasure and joy. "And the pride of wearing the national colours was unequalled in stature."

He bemoaned the lack of the same pride and passion among the current generation of players in the national squad.

For Thanabalan, wearing the national colours gave him unbridled joy.

"The present players do not seem like they are playing with passion and commitment for the country.

"During our time, donning the national team jersey was more prestigious than being awarded a datukship," he said.

"Being paid as professionals to play should have improved the standard of our football by many folds.

"Instead, money has become the disruption to performance as the current players play for the money and not for the love of the game."

Thanabalan never really had one highlight; it was all one big highlight.

Just as he had a tough childhood, coming from a daunting neighbourhood in Brickfields, he had an arduous upbringing in football too.

He began playing football with the older tougher boys in Brickfields, including at the field that was close to his home, at the former government quarters called 100 Quarters, on Rozario Street.

With the big boys, he knew he would get hit if he wasn't faster than them.

Thanabalan (squatting right) with the 1960 Victoria Institution football team.

After finishing Standard 6 at Batu Road primary school, he studied at the Victoria Institution, where his football skills improved to a higher level.

He received his first pair of boots, a Puma, from his father, Nadarajah Chelliah, when he represented the Selangor combined schools team against the Singapore combined schools team in 1960.

Before having the luxury of branded boots, Thanabalan used Fung Keong boots (a cloth based boots with hard rubber studs).

National team mainstay

Soon he became a speedy forward, a menace from the flanks.

At 17, he represented the country at the 1960 Asian Youth tournament and later became a mainstay in the senior team from 1963 to 1971.

He often said that in the early years of post-independence, it was passion that drove sports, not the lure of fame or fortune.

Writing his experiences in a book, "Sports Flame: Stories Never Told Before", he recalled that players were content with an allowance of RM2 per day when playing locally, and RM5 per day while on international duty.

He said 15 players would be cramped into one dormitory on double decker beds when training at Stadium Merdeka.

Selangor's victorious 1968 Malaysia Cup team. Thanabalan is standing second from right.

"We only had hot tea to look forward to after training, while our coach Choo Seng Quee had a bottle of orange squash in his room.

"So we would sneak in and help ourselves to his drink once in a while, not knowing he had marked the level since he had already suspected us of drinking his juice," he said.

Those little gulps of sheer pleasure came with a painful price.

On discovering the cause of his dwindling bottle of squash, Choo punished his squad to run 20 laps, sometimes more, around Stadium Merdeka in the blistering afternoon sun, without their shirts on.

But it turned out to be a blessing as the players got tougher and fitter, and displayed a force that carried a well-built national team to an entirely different level.

"We were happy with the simple meal and accommodation, and took the punishing training in our stride. The pride was in representing our club, state or country," he said.

Thanabalan has four Malaysia Cup medals with Selangor, and his most memorable moment is the four goals he scored in the 8-1 demolition of Penang in the 1968 final.

His mind-blowing feat for an incredible Selangor team, coached by Edwin Dutton and captained by Abdullah Noordin, remains unmatched after 55 years.

Thanabalan receiving a memento after the 1968 Merdeka Tournament from then FA of Malaysia (FAM) president Tunku Abdul Rahman as team official Peter Velappan looks on.

Penang's Lee Ah Loke and Selangor's Abdul Ghani Minhat had scored four goals in a Malaya Cup final in 1952 and 1963 respectively.

'National property'

It was also in 1968 that Thanabalan, 26, was the hero of the famous Merdeka Tournament when he scored a goal, his eighth in six matches, in Malaysia's 3-0 win over Burma (Myanmar) in the final on the eve of his wedding day.

The next day at the wedding reception, Harun Idris, the manager of the Malaysian team, told Thanabalan's bride, Jayaletchumy, "take good care of our national property".

Thanabalan had earned 107 caps playing for the country at the Merdeka Tournament, SEAP Games, Asian Games, Asian Cup, King's Cup in Thailand, and Vietnam Cup.

He also represented Malaysia in friendly matches against Arsenal FC and the Asian All-Stars, playing alongside legends of that era such as Stanley Gabriel, Chow Chee Keong, Wong Choon Wah, Abdullah Nordin, Sardar Khan, Ibrahim Mydin, Namat Abdullah, Shaharuddin Abdullah and M Chandran.

At the 1966 Asian Cup tournament in Vietnam, he was temporarily blinded in the right eye after taking a nasty elbow hit.

He also bled from his nose, while goalkeeper Lee Soo Pang was on the next bed in hospital from injuries after being trampled on.

"I was frightened and was imagining the worst. Fortunately, a traditional Chinese sinseh helped restore my eyesight.

"We were promised an insurance payout for the wounds inflicted. We are still waiting for it," he recalled in the "Sports Flame" book.

An injury forced Thanabalan to an early retirement in 1971, leaving him with the disappointment of missing out on the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.

After his playing days, Thanabalan, a former National Electricity Board (NEB, now TNB) executive, was active in junior development with club sides such as Kilat Club, TPCA FC and Sentul Indian Rangers.

His love for the game continues to thrive through his involvement in nationwide grassroots programmes organised by the Malaysian Indian Football Association (MIFA) as well as with Kilat Club's veteran football team.

As the founding member and deputy president of the Ex-State & Ex-National Footballers Association of Malaysia, he takes a great interest in the welfare and health of the former players.

He was awarded the title "Datuk" by the Sultan of Pahang when he was 74 years old, four years after he was inducted into the Olympic Council of Malaysia's (OCM) Hall of Fame.

Asked how he kept slim and healthy, he said: "I eat healthy food, exercise regularly, and take good rest."